Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Are you Struggling with PTSD?

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events. In PTSD individuals often relive traumatic events through nightmares and flashbacks, and may experience feelings of isolation, irritability and guilt. These symptoms are often severe and persistent enough to have a significant impact on the individual’s day-to-day life. PTSD is often associated with war veterans, but the truth is that it can affect anyone who has experienced a trauma. This includes events like road traffic accidents, fires, childhood abuse and neglect, or physical or sexual assaults.

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What is PTSD?

PTSD involves experiencing distressing feelings if reminded of the traumatic events (termed ‘re-experiencing’) as well as flashbacks (a visual image or emotion that is akin to feeling as if the event is happening again when it is not) and nightmares. Re-experiencing, flashbacks and nightmares can be very distressing and are associated with high levels of anxiety, anger guilt or shame following a traumatic event.  It often leads to avoiding individuals and places things that may trigger emotional upset.

Some individuals can also experience something called ‘complex PTSD’ which relates to having experienced difficult or traumatic events in childhood on a repeated basis (but isn’t limited to this). Complex PTSD can impact interactions in relationships and mean that individuals will present with longer standing difficulties that impact on how they see themselves, others, and the world around them – for example, it can make it hard to trust others and regulate emotions or feelings when interacting with others.

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What are the symptoms of PTSD?

Symptoms of PTSD generally are categorised by 4 main symptoms.

Intrusive symptoms

- These include flashbacks, where you may feel like you are experiencing the traumatic event again. - Nightmares or night terrors relating to the event, or that may bring similar feelings from when the event happened. - Strong physical reactions or emotional reactions to situations that remind you of the event. This includes excessive sweating, a raised heartrate or adrenaline spikes.

Avoidance symptoms

- Avoiding social activities or people because they remind you of the traumatic event. - Avoiding talking about what happened because it brings up painful memories that are too much to handle. - Becoming emotionally detached or feeling ‘numb’.

Negative thoughts symptoms

- Lower mood, with feelings of guilt or shame revolving around the event, you may even lame yourself for what happened. - Feeling hopeless or anxious about the future. - Loss of interest in activities or motivation to do things you did before the trauma.

Changes in personality or reactivity (hyper arousal)

- Being made jump or easily startled over small things, leading to feeling constantly on edge. - Becoming irritable or experiencing angry outbursts easily. - Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, such as insomnia. - Trouble concentrating on daily tasks or activities. - Engaging in reckless or self-sabotaging behaviour such as drinking excessively or taking drugs.

When to seek therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

You should consider treatment for your PTSD when:
You feel very anxious following a traumatic event, especially if this is accompanied by any re-experiencing, flashbacks or nightmares that relate to the traumatic event.
You feel ‘hypervigilant’ or jumpy, easily startled following the trauma.
You stop doing things that you used to enjoy following the trauma.
You avoid individuals, or places, or doing certain things in case they remind you of the trauma.
What do Onebright offer for PTSD?
We offer trauma therapy online and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for PTSD, as there is a good evidence base to suggest this is one of the most effective treatments available.
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Benefits of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for PTSD
CBT is an evidence based, goal-oriented and collaborative psychological therapy approach that focuses on understanding the past and present connections between thoughts, feelings, and behaviours (termed the ‘formulation’). It also offers powerful tools, strategies, and techniques to identify, challenge and reframe unhelpful thought patterns and associated feelings and behaviours, helping to significantly improve mental health and quality of life.
Learn more about our online CBT
Get started by answering some simple questions below or call 020 8175 4908

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Onebright's client liaison team are available Monday to Friday between 9am-5pm (excluding bank holidays).
You must be aged 18 years or above to access our therapy services.

Frequently asked questions

PTSD can be caused by a range of different traumatic events such as sexual assault, car accidents, being in the military, witnessing distressing scenes, grief and childhood trauma, although anything can trigger it. Some instances of PTSD can be caused by multiple ‘small’ events such as the end of a relationship, bullying or stressful situations.
PTSD is often diagnosed when symptoms last more than a month, they significantly impact your daily life or the condition worsens over time.
Although rarer, children can develop PTSD. This can result in behavioural changes such as aggression, bed-wetting and becoming unusually clingy or dependent.
Yes. Some people may live a normal life for years with no recognisable response to trauma, but an event or situation may trigger this memory leading to PTSD symptoms.