Treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Las Vegas, NV

We at EVOLVING REFLECTIONS COUNSELING CENTER are committed to helping people who have PTSD in Las Vegas, NV. Let us evaluate your situation and conduct psychotherapy sessions. With our licensed therapist’s reliable guidance and effective treatments, you can be confident that you will be better, healthier, and happier.

What Is PTSD?

This is a psychiatric disorder that may happen in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic incident such as a natural disaster, severe accident, terrorist act, war/combat, or rape. They have also been threatened with death, sexual violence, or severe injury. PTSD can occur in people of all ages and any ethnicity, nationality, or culture.

An estimated 1 in 11 people will be diagnosed with PTSD in a lifetime, and approximately 3.5 percent of U.S. adults every year are affected by this condition. Women are most likely to have PTSD than men, and U.S. Latinos, African Americans, and American Indians are disproportionately affected and have higher rates of PTSD than non-Latino whites.

Individuals with PTSD have intense and disturbing thoughts and feelings related to their past traumatic experiences. Through flashbacks or nightmares, they can relive the events and feel sadness, fear, or anger. They may also feel detached or estranged from other people. People who have PTSD may avoid situations or people that remind them of the traumatic event. Also, they may have strong adverse reactions to something as ordinary as an accidental touch or loud noise.

A diagnosis of PTSD requires exposure to an upsetting event. However, the experience could be indirect rather than first-hand. For example, PTSD could occur in individuals learning about the violent death of a close family or friend. It can also occur due to repeated exposure to horrible details of the trauma, such as police officers being exposed to details of child abuse cases.

Symptoms and Diagnosis

Symptoms of PTSD fall into four categories. Specific symptoms can vary in severity.

Intrusion

Some of the symptoms include repeated involuntary memories, distressing dreams, or flashbacks of the traumatic event. Vivid flashbacks can cause one to relive the traumatic experience or see it before their eyes.

Avoidance

People with PTSD may constantly avoid people, places, activities, objects, and situations that trigger distressing memories. They try to avoid remembering or thinking about the traumatic event as much as possible and may resist talking about what happened or how they feel about it.

Alterations in Cognition and Mood

Due to the inability to remember important aspects of the traumatic event, people may have negative thoughts and feelings or ongoing, distorted beliefs about themselves or others (e.g., “I am bad,” “No one can be trusted”). The wrong thoughts about the cause or consequences of the event may lead to wrongly blaming the self or others, ongoing fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame. Also, they will lose interest in previously enjoyed activities, feel detached or estranged from others, or be unable to experience positive emotions.

Alterations in Arousal and Reactivity

Symptoms may include being ill-tempered and having angry outbursts, behaving recklessly or in a self-destructive way, being too alert of one’s surroundings in a suspecting way, being easily frightened, having difficulty concentrating on tasks, or having sleeping problems.

PTSD often occurs with depression, substance use, memory problems, and other physical and mental health problems. For an individual to be diagnosed with PTSD, symptoms must last for more than a month and must cause significant problems in their daily actions. Many individuals develop signs within 3 months of the trauma, but these may appear later and often persist for months and sometimes years.

Some Types of Psychotherapy for PTSD Treatment

Cognitive Therapy

This type of talk therapy helps you identify the thoughts (cognitive patterns) that keep you stuck, such as negative beliefs about yourself and the ideas of traumatic things happening again. Often, cognitive therapy is applied along with exposure therapy.

Exposure Therapy

This behavioral therapy helps you safely face both circumstances and memories that you find terrifying. Exposure therapy can be beneficial for flashbacks and nightmares.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR combines exposure therapy with a series of guided eye movements that help you process and change how you react to distressing memories.

Here at EVOLVING REFLECTIONS COUNSELING CENTER, our therapist can help you develop stress management skills that will enable you to handle stressful situations in your life better. All these approaches can help you gain control of lasting fear after a traumatic event. Our mental health professional can discuss what type of therapy or combination of treatments may best meet your needs.

Several Types of Medications That Help Improve PTSD Symptoms

Antidepressants

These medications can help with symptoms of depression and anxiety and improve sleep problems and concentration. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), Sertraline (Zoloft), and Paroxetine (Paxil) are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for PTSD treatment.

Anti-Anxiety Medications

These medications can relieve severe anxiety and related problems. Some anti-anxiety medicines have the potential for abuse, so they are generally used only for a short time.

Prazosin

While several studies indicated that Prazosin (Minipress) might reduce or suppress nightmares in some people with PTSD, a more recent study showed no benefit over placebo. However, participants in the current study differed from others in ways that could impact the results. If you’re considering Prazosin, it is best to speak with a doctor to determine whether or not their particular state might merit a trial of this medication.

If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of PTSD, please reach out to us. We are here to help.