Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Postpartum depression is a fairly well-known condition that women suffer after giving birth to a child. While depression once had a stigma attached to it, mothers have spoken out about their own experiences and brought an element of normalcy to the condition that affects nearly 10–15 percent of new mothers.

Now, a small portion of postpartum mommies are also experiencing post–traumatic–stress disorder (PTSD). The PTSD label is commonly used when referring to vets returning from war zones or people recovering from violet occurrences. To see what some contributing factors to PTSD are and what the government is doing about it, read more

People can develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after they experienced, witnessed, or been confronted with a horrible event such as a car accident, a rape, fighting in a war, or a national disaster.

Having a strong reaction to trauma is completely normal and expected, but PTSD involves an overwhelming reaction of the body's normal psychological defenses against stress. So after the trauma, your body has a hard time coping with regular stressful situations. Symptoms of PTSD include:

• Re-experiencing the traumatic event (daydreaming, flashbacks, and nightmares)
• Emotional detachment - the person avoids any thoughts, activities, places, people, or situations that may be associated with the traumatic event. They become numb and have trouble functioning normally because of it.
• Jumpiness - overreacting to loud noises or small things. They may also be constantly looking around to make sure there's no danger. They may also have trouble sleeping or staying asleep in this high state of awareness.

There's more. To hear the rest, read more