You don’t have to wait and see if your symptoms go away. You don’t have to tough it out in silence. You deserve to feel better.
When you’ve experienced a trauma, it can be hard to figure out how to move forward. You might be weighed down by nightmares or struggle to feel safe in certain situations. You may turn to unhealthy ways to manage stress or drive those you love away from you.
All of this can feel isolating and overwhelming. But if post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is causing any of these symptoms, it’s important to know that PTSD is treatable and recovery is possible.
Whether you’ve tried treatment unsuccessfully in the past, or have convinced yourself that you can manage without it, it’s time to reconsider. Learn more about effective treatments for PTSD and the resources that can help you get the life you deserve.
About PTSD
PTSD is a mental health condition that may develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening or traumatic event. Symptoms may include reliving the event through flashbacks or nightmares, avoiding certain activities or places that are related to the trauma in some way, or experiencing increased arousal, such as being overly alert or easily startled. If these symptoms last for more than a month, it may be PTSD. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers a self-screening tool to help you find out if your feelings and behaviors may be related to PTSD. Only a trained provider can diagnose PTSD, but this is a straightforward, private, and secure way to begin the process.
PTSD is slightly more common among Veterans than civilians, and certain factors may make you more at risk. For example, if you deployed, saw combat, or suffered military sexual trauma, the likelihood of developing PTSD increases. In addition, PTSD rates are higher for Veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom than from other service eras.
The good news is that PTSD is treatable, recovery is possible, and there are several treatments that may be effective in improving the lives of Veterans affected by PTSD.
The Importance of Treatment
While it’s common for
people to assume that PTSD will just go away on its own or that they’ll just figure it out as time goes on, this isn’t always true. Research shows that when PTSD isn’t treated, it usually doesn’t get better, and it may even get worse. Even if you’ve tried treatment in the past or you’ve had PTSD for several years, treatments have improved, and it’s never too late to start.
Another reason people may avoid treatment is that they’re worried about what other people will think. But mental health concerns are just as common as physical health concerns, and the best thing you can do for yourself is to take control and get help. To hear from other Veterans who have turned their lives around with treatment, check out AboutFace or Make the Connection.
“Getting better” from PTSD means different things for different people. PTSD treatment can help you:
- Make sense of the traumatic event or events you experienced
- Get rid of or improve your symptoms
- Learn skills to better cope with symptoms when they arise
- Improve your daily life by focusing on the ways it affects your relationships, work life, and more
Treatment Options
There are several effective PTSD treatments, including the following:
- Talk Therapies – Studies suggest that talk therapies, where you learn to work through your trauma by visualizing, talking, or thinking about the traumatic event until it becomes less upsetting, work well. Effective talk therapies include:
- Cognitive processing therapy, which helps Veterans identify how traumatic experiences have affected their thinking, to evaluate those thoughts, and to change them
- Prolonged exposure, which helps Veterans to gradually approach and address traumatic memories, feelings, and situations
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, which involves calling the trauma to mind while paying attention to a back-and-forth movement or sound, like a finger waving side to side, a light, or a tone
- Medications – There are different medications for PTSD that are helpful for treating symptoms. You can work with your provider to find a medication, check on your response to the medication, discuss side effects, and make changes, if needed.
- Other approaches – Practices that support whole person health may be used alongside conventional treatments. Learn more about complementary and integrative health approaches for PTSD, such as mindfulness, acupuncture, yoga, nutrition, and more.
The PTSD Treatment Decision Aid is an online tool to help you find the best treatment for you. Using the decision aid, you can read about different treatments and watch videos explaining how they work. You can also build a chart to compare the treatments you think might work best for you and print a personalized summary that lists your treatment goals, preferences, and any questions you want to share with your provider.
Resources
- VA is ready to support you as you navigate PTSD. VA services include:
- 1-to-1 mental health assessment and testing to figure out if you have PTSD
- Medicine proven to work for treating PTSD
- 1-to-1 talk therapy, such as methods like CPT (described above)
- 1-to-1 family therapy
- Group therapy for special needs, like anger or stress management, or combat support
- Group therapy for Veterans who served in certain combat zones or who’ve been through similar traumas
- VA health care covers PTSD health services. To access these services, apply for VA health care. In addition, if you have symptoms of PTSD and suffered a serious injury, personal trauma, sexual trauma, or were threatened with injury, sexual assault, or death while serving, you may be able to get disability benefits or compensation.
- VA’s National Center for PTSD is full of information and resources. Learn more about treatment options, hear from other Veterans, learn how to find help in a crisis, locate a provider, access self-help and coping tools, and more. Their Understanding PTSD and PTSD Treatment booklet is another great resource.
- Healthy Homefront has several articles related to PTSD, including its effect on sleep, relationships, work, and more.
You don’t have to wait and see if your symptoms go away. You don’t have to tough it out in silence. You deserve to feel better. Treatment works, and recovery is possible.