PTSD raising awareness and understanding

 Let's get down to the nitty gritty about PTSD.   

• About 7 or 8 out of every 100 people (or 7-8% of the population) will have PTSD at some point in their lives. 
• About 8 million adults have PTSD during a given year. This is only a small portion of those who have gone through a trauma. 
• About 10 of every 100 women (or 10%) develop PTSD sometime in their lives compared with about 4 of every 100 men (or 4%). 

PTSD is a VERY REAL issue for far too many people.  The truth is that you probably know someone that has it and has or has not yet been diagnosed with it.   It's not one of those things that you can "just move on" from or that the person with PTSD is "living in the past" or how about "just stop thinking about it"...  When Trauma happens (without getting too technical) to someone there are parts of the brain that get permanently imprinted.  They can go anywhere from hours to years without any symptoms.  One day, one trigger can change all of that within an instant.  

What is a trigger?   A  trigger is an experience that causes someone to recall a previous traumatic memory,  although the trigger itself need not be frightening or traumatic and  can be indirectly or directly a reminder of an earlier traumatic  incident. Trauma triggers are related to PTSD, a condition in which people often cannot control the recurrence of emotional or physical symptoms.  It could be a repressed memory in some cases.  Triggers can be subtle and difficult to anticipate and can sometimes exacerbate PTSD. 

My triggers usually stem from cars/automobiles.  I've had PTSD for over a decade now.  PTSD does not go away and cannot be cured.  It get's more manageable and gets better over time, for the most part.  That is if you find the right treatments and have a good, strong and loving support system.  Sometimes when I get triggered it can be something as simple as seeing a car on the tv or hearing a car door shut.  When I get triggered, it's not a conscious thought.  My body just starts reacting like I'm going through that Trauma again.  "fight or flight" mode kicks in.  My heart races, my blood pressure rises, I start crying and sweating I get short of breathe and almost every time I can count on having nightmares about car accidents sometimes only for a day or two and sometimes for weeks.  When it's really bad my brain will produce images of cars driving into me, I'm not just talking about nightmares.  I KNOW that I'm safe and that it's not really happening.  I tell myself that I'm safe and its really not happening.  However, my body starts reacting like it really is happening.  It's an automatic response.  Similar to when someone throws something at you, your natural response is to either catch it or move out of the way.   It's not something that makes sense.  It just is what it is.  I really hope that anyone reading this can take note that it's not something that someone can just turn off.  The best thing you can do take the knowledge or the inside look that I'm giving you and put it in your conscious memory storage.  That way if you or someone you know has an episode (for a lack of better words) you can be their for them and understand a little more of what they might be experiencing. I really sincerely hope this helps.  

Thank you again for reading this, following me and resteeming to help me raise awareness for this invisible disability.  I appreciate any feedback or questions you have.  Let's start a dialogue.