Houston PTSD Therapy
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What is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health disorder that is triggered by witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event. Traumatic events can vary significantly for each individual but common ones can include experiences with war, violence, and physical/emotional abuse. Symptoms of PTSD can include unpleasant flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and intrusive thoughts about the traumatic event.
Types of PTSD
Intrusive thoughts and memories are a common symptom of PTSD. These often consist of unwanted, recurrent memories about the event, vivid flashbacks of the event, and intense distress when exposed to reminders of the event.
In an attempt to avoid being reminded of their traumatic experience, those with PTSD often exhibit avoidance behaviors. This can include trying to avoid thinking or talking about the traumatic event, but it can also include avoiding places, people, or activities that remind them of their traumatic experiences.
Experiencing negative thoughts is a common symptom of PTSD. These negative thoughts can be directed at oneself or to other people or the world in general. Furthermore, feelings of hopelessness, emotional numbness, and anhedonia are also common.
Arousal and reactivity changes are also a common symptom of PTSD. These include being easily startled, being constantly on guard for danger, being easily irritable, and having trouble sleeping or concentrating.
PTSD Diagnosis in Houston
If you are struggling with PTSD, our providers here at Houston Mind and Brain can see you for a consultation and provide you with a diagnosis after a thorough evaluation. They can then provide you with further guidance on ways to manage and treat your PTSD through medications, lifestyle changes, EMDR therapy and psychotherapy.
PTSD Treatment in Houston
At Houston Mind and Brain, we are happy to offer a wide variety of services to help patients who are struggling with PTSD. Our compassionate providers can help patients manage their PTSD through medication management. In addition, we offer additional treatments for PTSD and co-morbid mood and anxiety disorders including psychotherapy through our clinic’s psychotherapist and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.
Houston PTSD Psychiatrist
Dr. Raymond Cho is our psychiatrist here at Houston Mind and Brain. He has extensive experience seeing patients with PTSD and a wide variety of other mental disorders. Having over 27 years of clinical research involving cognition, brain physiology, and neurostimulation for psychiatric disorders, he is one of the most capable PTSD psychiatrist in Houston.
Frequently asked Questions about PTSD
There are a number of risk factors that can affect the likelihood of developing PTSD. Doctors currently believe that the development of PTSD is caused by complex interactions between stressful life experiences, inherited mental health risks, inherited personality features, and individual response to stress.
People of all ages can develop PTSD. Most commonly, this includes war veterans and children/adults who have experienced physical/sexual assault, abuse, accidents, disasters, or other serious events. It is estimated that around 7% of people will experience PTSD at some point in their lives.
There are a number of available treatments for PTSD. Common treatments include therapy, cognitive processing therapy, prolonged exposure therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR therapy), stress inoculation training, and a variety of different medications. And while not yet FDA approved for PTSD, clinical research studies Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation can be helpful for PTSD symptoms.
PTSD treatment is effective. Although each individual will respond differently to different types of PTSD treatment, the overall consensus is that PTSD treatment can significantly lessen the severity of symptoms and improve the management of PTSD symptoms.
Although there is no definitive cure for PTSD, there are many types of treatment that can help alleviate PTSD symptoms and aid in the management of PTSD. Oftentimes, these treatment methods can minimize and even eliminate symptoms of PTSD.
There are a number of ways to support someone with PTSD. These include providing social support, encouraging treatment, being a good listener, dealing with irritability, and anticipating/managing potential triggers.