Although PTSD is associated with increased risk of violence, most people with PTSD have never engaged in violence. Research suggests that when risk and protective factors correlated with PTSD are considered, the association between PTSD and violence diminishes (2,3).
Emotional abuse can lead to C-PTSD, a type of PTSD that involves ongoing trauma. C-PTSD shows many of the same symptoms as PTSD, although its symptoms and causes can differ. Treatment should be tailored to the situation to address the ongoing trauma the person experienced from emotional abuse.
Anger is one of the most prevalent symptoms among those who experience PTSD. PTSD-related anger that is expressed outwardly, through hostility or aggression, can cause problems in all areas of your life. Internalized anger (self-harming, suicidality, self-hatred) can also be a source of significant distress and danger.
People with PTSD have intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings related to their experience that last long after the traumatic event has ended. They may relive the event through flashbacks or nightmares; they may feel sadness, fear or anger; and they may feel detached or estranged from other people.
Posttraumatic stress disorder after the intense stress is a risk of development enduring personality changes with serious individual and social consequences.
Triggers can include sights, sounds, smells, or thoughts that remind you of the traumatic event in some way. Some PTSD triggers are obvious, such as seeing a news report of an assault. Others are less clear. For example, if you were attacked on a sunny day, seeing a bright blue sky might make you upset.
intrusive thoughts or images. nightmares. intense distress at real or symbolic reminders of the trauma. physical sensations such as pain, sweating, nausea or trembling.
Emotional Trauma Symptoms
Psychological Concerns: Anxiety and panic attacks, fear, anger, irritability, obsessions and compulsions, shock and disbelief, emotional numbing and detachment, depression, shame and guilt (especially if the person dealing with the trauma survived while others didn't)
The main symptoms and behaviours associated with PTSD and complex PTSD include: Reliving the experience through flashbacks, intrusive memories, or nightmares. Overwhelming emotions with the flashbacks, memories, or nightmares. Not being able to feel emotions or feeling “numb”
People with PTSD may be angry about the trauma they survived or feel helpless or out of control. In the popular imagination, posttraumatic stress (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder. Many envision people who cannot leave their homes, who are easily triggered into fear or panic attacks.
Although intense anger can cause people with PTSD to be aggressive toward others, more often than not they'll try to push down or hide their anger. This can be effective in the short-term, but in the long-term, it can build up the anger until it's out of control.
Because of this relationship, "reckless and self-destructive behavior" has been added as a symptom of PTSD in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the handbook used to diagnose psychiatric conditions.
The symptoms of PTSD can cause problems with trust, closeness, communication, and problem solving. These problems may affect the way the survivor acts with others. In turn, the way a loved one responds to him or her affects the trauma survivor. A circular pattern can develop that may sometimes harm relationships.
The feeling of being powerful and in control gives some abusers immense pleasure. Abusers may also derive pleasure from seeing you suffer. Narcissists, psychopaths, and sadists may be drawn to emotional abuse because of the pleasure they take in having power over others or seeing them suffer (Brogaard, 2020).
Uncontrollable reactive thoughts. Inability to make healthy occupational or lifestyle choices. Dissociative symptoms. Feelings of depression, shame, hopelessness, or despair.
Feeling jittery, nervous or tense.
Women experiencing PTSD are more likely to exhibit the following symptoms: Become easily startled. Have more trouble feeling emotions, experience numbness. Avoid trauma reminders.
Smiling when discussing trauma is a way to minimize the traumatic experience. It communicates the notion that what happened “wasn't so bad.” This is a common strategy that trauma survivors use in an attempt to maintain a connection to caretakers who were their perpetrators.
Symptoms of complex PTSD
avoiding situations that remind a person of the trauma. dizziness or nausea when remembering the trauma. hyperarousal, which means being in a continual state of high alert. the belief that the world is a dangerous place.
People with PTSD may also experience physical symptoms, such as increased blood pressure and heart rate, fatigue, muscle tension, nausea, joint pain, headaches, back pain or other types of pain. The person in pain may not realize the connection between their pain and a traumatic event.
According to recent studies, Emotional Trauma and PTSD do cause both brain and physical damage. Neuropathologists have seen overlapping effects of physical and emotional trauma upon the brain.
Your brain is equipped with an alarm system that normally helps ensure your survival. With PTSD, this system becomes overly sensitive and triggers easily. In turn, the parts of your brain responsible for thinking and memory stop functioning properly.
When talking to your loved one about PTSD, be clear and to the point. Stay positive, and don't forget to be a good listener. When your loved one speaks, repeat what you understand and ask questions when you need more information. Don't interrupt or argue, but instead voice your feelings clearly.