When I was a teenager, I couldn’t decide what career path I wanted to pursue after my high school graduation. While I wanted to earn a comfortable living, money wasn’t the only factor guiding my decision. I also desired to have a job that would allow me to help others in some way. If you’re searching for a rewarding career, consider counseling. Counselors have the opportunity to help people solve complicated problems on a daily basis. For instance, as a counselor, you might help a couple resolve marriage issues, aid a teenager battling an eating disorder, or assist an adult dealing with depression. I didn't end up becoming a counselor, but on this blog, I hope you will discover some of the most interesting aspects of being a counselor.
Post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is typically associated with people who have been in hugely traumatizing events, like going off to war. However, it's entirely possible to develop PTSD from long-term stress and abuse. If you went through negative experiences in your childhood and struggle with fear and anxiety to this day, you may have PTSD. Read on to discover how this happens.
Traumatic Events
Traumatic events are at the core of PTSD, no matter where they develop. It's sort of like the fight or flight response is magnified immensely.
Children in abusive situations develop PTSD and fearful tendencies because it's a method of protecting themselves. By predicting what kind of abuse might be coming your way next, you can start to defend yourself against it. While this may be a valuable tool while you're still in an abusive situation, outside of it, it's debilitating.
Triggers
In real life as an adult, you may have noticed that there are triggers in your life that set off an anxiety or anger response. Chances are these are tied to what happened to you as a child.
When people grow up, that doesn't mean that the things that they went through previously go away. The same predictive response you used to follow as a kid may be following you to this day, and 'helping' you to be fearful or angry about situations you encounter in daily life. This is unfortunate, as your PTSD may be causing you to overreact to things that aren't a real threat to you at all.
For example, if you were chronically criticized and put down when you were a child by your parents as never being good enough, you may struggle with constructive criticism as an adult. It may feel more like an attack than an effort to make you do better.
Getting Help
The good news is, PTSD and other forms of trauma that develop in childhood can still be tackled as an adult. To do this, you need to go to a therapist.
Therapists, such as Dr. Susan Alexander, can help you to work through what you've been through by walking you through the abuse you were once in. This helps you to think about it from an objective point of view. Then, through gentle exercises in a safe place, you'll be introduced to the same kind of triggers that normally set you off and given an opportunity to voice how you're feeling. Then your therapist can work with you on releasing those feelings and not letting them hold you down when you encounter triggers anymore.
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