What is post-traumatic stress disorder?
Understanding post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.
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Understanding post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.
Stress and anxiety can affect your nervous system no matter who you are. Our body’s response to dangerous or stressful situations causes changes in cognition, a flood of hormones to boost alertness and heart rate, and an influx of blood to the muscles to prepare the body for action – fight or flight. This reaction is a normal physiological reaction to these situations. However, sometimes our body continues to respond after a traumatic event(s), which could develop into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD can happen after a person suffers a trauma that’s shocking, terrifying, or dangerous. The trauma can be a single event, like a car crash, or from chronic traumatic stress caused by events such as the pandemic. Not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will develop PTSD. It depends on how an individual’s body and mind processes what was experienced. Anyone, no matter their age, ethnicity, or gender can develop PTSD.
Reliving a traumatic experience over and over (flashbacks), avoiding people or places that are reminders of the event, nightmares, emotional detachment, difficulty sleeping and focusing, irritability, and anxiety are some of the symptoms. Symptoms can happen any time, even years after a traumatic event.
If you’re experiencing chronic stress or PTSD symptoms, talk to your primary care provider or schedule an appointment with a therapist. Getting treatment as soon as possible can help prevent your symptoms from getting worse. If you need help finding a therapist near you, call Lucet at 1-866-287-9569.
*Florida Blue contracts with Lucet, a New Directions Behavioral Health company, to provide behavioral health services.
**meQuilibrium is an independent company contracted by Florida Blue to provide health and wellness services and resources to members. This benefit is available to Florida Blue members age 18 and older. Eligibility is limited to members with an individual or family plan, an individual or family ACA plan and members with coverage from their fully insured group employer health plan.
***Florida Blue has entered into an arrangement with Wellframe to provide members with care decision support services, information and other services. All decisions that require or pertain to independent professional medical/clinical judgement or training, or the need for medical services, are solely the member’s responsibility and the responsibility of their physicians and other health care providers. Wellframe is an independent company that provides online services to Florida Blue members through the BlueforMe app.