POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
Is a Mental Injury, it’s real and it hurts. It can make you feel “crazy” with emotions. Emotions from sadness, irritability, anger, burden, guilt, accompanied sometimes by physical symptoms that can affect almost any part or function of the body. It can be debilitating at times, and non existent at others.
PTSD is result as a reaction to trauma. We are humans, our universal phobia is fear. We are only made to withstand so much trauma. Our minds and body’s will all react differently to different levels of exposures to trauma. PTSD doesn’t just affect the military but can affect anyone who suffered a trauma such as from rape or abuse or even witnesses to such an event. Nurses, Doctors, and First Responders are at a higher exposure to trauma, witnessing death, tragedy and suffering, even if through the lives of other victims. Police and medical responders are NOT immune to this and everyone has a different threshold. PTSD is a real documented, studied medical injury and dates back centuries, however even to this day this injury is not widely excepted among employers in the responder and medical field.
It Affects Everyone Involved
PTSD not only affects the injured person, but it also affects relationships and family. Left undiagnosed or treated PTSD can result in marriage problems, substance abuse, and even suicide. Family of PTSD survivors often have to endure moments of unexplained outbursts, agitation, depression, or mood changes.
Police PTSD
Constant exposure to trauma over the course of a Law Enforcement career can have detrimental affects on ones health. Fatal car wrecks, scenes of death, grieving people, moments of intensive fear and adrenaline create a toll on the body. At the end of the day, these tolls will have to be paid and dealt with in some form or another. Sights, smells, and noises may have not been processed correctly by the mind and they came come back to haunt even the most seasoned police sometimes even years later. Continuously being exposed in this kind atmosphere is not normal can adversely affect you physically and mentally. Cops are usually stoic individuals who need to carry out a job. They do this while hiding emotion then return to their patrol vehicle most of the time alone with no way to process of debrief what happened or what they saw. They then go home at the end of their shift and are supposed to check it all at the door.
