What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder and mental health condition that can develop in individuals who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. Trauma is an experience that is physically or emotionally distressing, and often involves the threat of harm or death.
What Causes Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
PTSD can occur in anyone who has experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, such as combat, sexual assault, physical abuse, violence, death, natural disasters, or serious accidents. Around 4% of all individuals worldwide—nearly 320 million people—suffer from PTSD.
What Are the Symptoms of PTSD?
The symptoms of PTSD can include intense and persistent feelings of fear, anxiety, and helplessness, as well as flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive memories of the traumatic event.
These symptoms can interfere with daily life, including work, school, and social relationships. Individuals with PTSD may avoid situations or people that remind them of the traumatic event, which can limit their ability to engage in daily activities.
PTSD is a complex condition that can have a wide range of symptoms, and each individual's experience with PTSD is unique. Some people may develop PTSD shortly after a traumatic event, while others may not experience symptoms for months or even years.
How Do You Treat PTSD?
Treatment for PTSD typically involves a combination of medication and psychotherapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy that is often used to treat PTSD. CBT can help individuals identify and change negative thought patterns and behaviors related to their traumatic experiences.
Other types of therapy that may be effective for individuals with PTSD include exposure therapy, which involves gradually facing feared situations or memories related to the traumatic event, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), which uses rapid eye movements to process traumatic memories.
PTSD is a serious mental health condition that can significantly impact an individual's quality of life. With appropriate treatment, however, many people with PTSD are able to manage their symptoms and improve their overall well-being. However, there are many individuals around the world struggling with PTSD in areas where they don’t have access to the medical care they need. This can cause their PTSD to go untreated and even worsen over time, negatively affecting their overall well-being.
The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) continues to provide humanitarian aid and medical relief to children and their families—some of whom are refugees fleeing their home countries—through our pediatric cancer departments, humanitarian aid programs and projects, pediatric mental health initiatives, hospital infrastructure projects, orphan and disabled children sponsorships, medical sponsorships, treatment abroad program, and medical missions. These efforts help to ensure that children in need get the vital assistance they require, like therapy and medication to assist with PTSD.
PCRF has a committee of volunteer doctors and specialists on our Medical Advisory Board who are dedicated to building up services through training, programs, and guiding PCRF to improve the quality of pediatric care in Palestine, Lebanon, and other areas in the Middle East.
PCRF is not a political or religious organization. Our mission is to provide medical and humanitarian relief collectively and individually to Arab children throughout the Middle East, regardless of their nationality, politics, or religion. We rely on charitable giving to provide medical treatment, surgeries, safety, shelter, and support to children and their families in Palestine and the Levant. Find out how you can get involved and help make a difference in children’s lives today!