 beautiful people it's actually here and today's video is all about post traumatic stress disorder PTSD. It's an anxiety disorder that will develop in a person after they have been exposed to one or more traumatic events by either experiencing it or witnessing it. Now there's several kinds of traumatic events that can lead to the development of PTSD. The most common events are combat exposure, childhood neglect and physical abuse, sexual assault, being threatened with a weapon, natural disaster, fire, mugging or robbery, car accident, plane crash, torture, kidnapping, life-threatening medical diagnosis, terrorist attacks and other extreme forms of life-threatening events. Now many people who go through traumatic events have difficulty adjusting and coping to life for a while but they don't necessarily have PTSD. With time and good self-care they usually get better. However if the symptoms get worse and last for weeks or months and even years and they start to interfere with your functioning then there is the possibility that you might have PTSD. Now let's talk about the symptoms of PTSD. Symptoms usually start appearing within three months of the traumatic events but sometimes they might not appear until years later after the event and these symptoms can actually cause significant problems in social and work situations and even in relationships. PTSD symptoms are generally grouped into four types. Intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood or changes in emotional reactions. Symptoms of intrusive memories may include recurrent, unwanting and distressing memories of the traumatic event. Reliving the traumatic event as if it were to happen again, flashbacks, upsetting dreams about the event and severe emotional distress or physical reactions to something that reminds you of the event. Symptoms of avoidance may include trying to avoid thinking or talking about the traumatic event, avoiding places, activities or people that remind you of that event. Symptoms of negative changes in thinking and mood may include negative feelings about yourself or other people, the inability to experience positive emotions, feeling emotionally numb, the lack of interest in activities that you once enjoyed, hopelessness about the future, memory problems including not remembering important aspects about that traumatic event and difficulty maintaining close relationships. Symptoms of changes in emotional reactions. They may include irritability, angry outbursts or aggressive behavior. As I mentioned before PTSD is an anxiety disorder so you may always be on guard for danger, feeling overwhelming guilt or shame, self-destructive behaviors such as you drink too much or you're driving too fast, you have trouble concentrating or sleeping and being easily startled and frightened. Next up is risk factors. Now anyone can develop PTSD however there are some factors that may make you more likely develop PTSD and this can include experiencing intense or long-lasting trauma, having experienced other trauma earlier in life including childhood abuse and or neglect, having a job that increases your risk of being exposed to traumatic events such as military personnel and first responders, having other mental health problems such as anxiety or depression, a lack of good support from family and friends and having biological relatives with mental health problems that includes PTSD or depression. Next up, causes. Now when a person goes through a traumatic event what causes that person to develop PTSD? It can be due to inherited mental health risks such as an increased risk of anxiety and depression, life experiences including the amount and harshness of trauma that a person has gone through since childhood, inherited aspects of your personality, your temperament and the way your brain regulates the chemicals and hormones your body releases in response to stress. Complications. Now PTSD can pretty much mess up your whole life, your job, your relationships, your health and your enjoyment of everyday activities. Having PTSD can increase the risk of developing depression or anxiety, alcohol abuse and drug abuse, eating disorders and suicidal thoughts and actions. Well now I am done with explaining what post-traumatic stress disorder is and for the rest of the video, so for the rest of the video I'm gonna tell you guys how you can learn to cope with it. My dog realized that my blanket was on the floor so she decided to go for that instead. Now she's looking at me. You were the one who wanted to come up on the bed. Anyways, coping with PTSD. Now if you feel that the problems caused by the traumatic event is affecting your life, it's very important to see a healthcare professional. You can also learn about post-traumatic stress disorder. It's very important to understand what exactly it is you're going through. It's so that you can adapt the best coping strategies to help you deal with it. Take absolute good care of yourself. Get enough rest, eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly and take the time to relax. Do not absolutely do not self-medicate. Do not turn to alcohol and do not turn to drugs. Numbing your feelings is not healthy. This can even lead to more problems down the road. You can break the cycle. Whenever you're feeling anxious, you can go out for a walk or a jog or you can dive into a hobby in order to refocus. You can also talk to someone. Stay connected with supportive and caring people. Your friends, your family, your faith leaders, anyone. However, you do not have to force yourself to talk to someone if you absolutely don't want to. Just spend some time with them. Spending time with loved ones is a great way to receive love and comfort. You should also consider a support group. If you're seeing a healthcare professional, you can ask them about any support groups. You can also contact your community's social services system or you can look out for any support groups in online directories or your local phone books. As I mentioned, you can go seek a healthcare provider. It's important to seek one if your symptoms are lasting for more than a month, if they're getting too severe and they keep interfering with your everyday life. It's important to get treatment as soon as possible to avoid the symptoms from getting any worse. Now, when someone you know has PTSD, it's very important to know several things. The person you know and love may seem different from what they used to be before the trauma. Here's several things you can do. You can learn about PTSD. Understand what exactly is it that they're going through. Recognize that withdrawal is part of the disorder. If they resist your help, if they do not communicate with you, if you don't see much of them, allow them some space. Now, it's possible for you to attend medical appointments with them. So what you can do is, and if they are willing, attend the appointment so that you can better understand and help them. Be willing to listen. Be willing to listen. Let your loved one know that you're ready and waiting to listen to them, but you have to understand if they do not want to talk. Engage participation. Plan activities, events, outings, stuff like that with friends and family. Now, this last part is very vital. It's what to do if you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts. You can reach out to a close friend or a loved one. Now, if you yourself are having suicidal thoughts, reach out to a close friend or a loved one. Contact a minister, a spiritual leader or anybody else in your faith community. There are suicide hotline numbers all over the world, so call the one in your country. If you are seeing a healthcare provider, please call and make an appointment with them. Now, if someone you know is in danger of committing suicide or has attempted to, make sure you or someone else stays with that person and keeps a close eye on them, please, please understand that suicide is never the option. It is not the way out of whatever it is that you're going through. Take a minute and think about your family and friends that you're going to be leaving behind and how devastated they're going to be if anything like that would have ever happened to you. And if for some reason you feel that there's nobody and if you feel like there's nobody out there that cares about you, think about all the things that you've been through so far, all the things that you've experienced so far, the places that you visited, the delicious and glorious food that you ate, that one dessert that's your favorite that you can't live without, the movies that you love to watch, that one movie that you don't mind watching over and over again because your favorite actor is in there, because you love the plot so much, or the music that you love to listen to and to dance to, that one song that you stuck on repeat for days on end. You know, there's all these things and there's just so many more things to come in your future. So don't put an end to it all. It is so going to get better. I mean, as cheesy as that sounds, it will get better. Suicide is never the answer, not when there is still so much out there for you. So if any of you guys have ever contemplated suicide, I ask that you please not go through it and please think about the things that I've said so far. All right, well there you go, the definition of post-traumatic stress disorder and how to cope with it. So that is my time. Thank you so much for watching this video. The link to all of the sources that I used to make this video is in the description box below.