THERAPY SERVICESTRAINING SCHOOL
LOCATIONS
TOOTINGCLAPHAMMARYLEBONE
CALL 020 8673 4545BOOK AN APPOINTMENT
Product has been added to your basket.
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • THE AWARENESS CENTRE
      • About The Awareness Centre
      • The Team
      • Centre News
      • Media
      • Collaborative Partners & External Agencies
    • OUR PRACTICES
      • TAC Clapham
      • TAC Tooting
      • TAC Marylebone
      • How to Find Us
    • THE DIRECTOR
      • Michaela McCarthy
  • THERAPY SERVICES
    • NHS THERAPY SERVICES
      • NHS Lambeth
      • NHS Wandsworth
      • NHS Sutton
      • Our NHS Therapists
      • NHS Multilingual Counselling
    • PRIVATE THERAPY SERVICES
      • Online Counselling & Telephone Therapy
      • Low Cost Counselling, Psychotherapy & Counselling Psychology
      • Counselling
      • Psychotherapy
      • Psychology
      • Our Low Cost Therapists
      • Our Private Therapists
      • Private Healthcare Providers
    • SPECIALIST THERAPY SERVICES
      • Addiction Counselling
      • Anger Management Therapy
      • Bereavement Counselling
      • Child & Adolescent Counselling
      • Couples Counselling
      • Eating Disorders Therapy
      • Family Therapy
      • LGBTQ+ Counselling
      • Multilingual Counselling
      • Sex & Relationship Therapy
      • Trauma Counselling & Psychotherapy
    • FURTHER INFORMATION
      • Types of Issues
        • Abuse
        • Addiction
        • ADHD
        • Anger
        • Anxiety Disorders
        • Asperger’s Syndrome
        • Attachment Disorder
        • Bereavement and Loss
        • Body Dysmorphic Disorder
        • Bullying
        • Cancer
        • Carer Support
        • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
        • Communication
        • Dementia
        • Depression
        • Disability
        • Dissociation
        • Eating Disorders
        • Family and Relationships
        • Gender & Identity
        • Guilt and Shame
        • Hearing Voices
        • HIV/AIDS
        • Illness
        • Infertility
        • Isolation & Loneliness
        • Learning Difficulties
        • Life Transitions
        • Low Self-Esteem
        • Mental Health
        • Paranoia
        • Passive Aggressive Behaviour
        • Personality Disorders
        • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
        • Pregnancy & Childbirth
        • Psychosis
        • Rape
        • Redundancy
        • Schizophrenia
        • Self-Harm
        • Sex and Relationships
        • Sexuality
        • Spirituality
        • Stress
        • Suicidal Thoughts
        • Tourette’s Syndrome
        • Trauma (Child & Adult)
        • Trichotillomania
        • Workplace Issues
      • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Resources
      • Approaches to Therapy
      • Client Testimonials
      • Book an Appointment
  • FEES
  • TAC TRAINING SCHOOL
    • Meet the Faculty
    • Foundation Certificate in Counselling
    • Diploma in Integrative Counselling
    • Diploma in Clinical Supervision
    • Diploma in Working with Couples
    • Diploma in Executive Coaching
    • Corporate Mental Health Workshops
    • Testimonials for the Foundation Certificate
    • Testimonials for the Diplomas
  • PRIVATE PRACTICE
    • Private Practice
    • Hire A Room
    • Wimpole Street Practice
    • Join TAC Directory
    • Therapist Testimonials
  • BLOG
  • WORK AT TAC
  • COUNSELLING PLACEMENT
    • Counselling Placement
    • Counselling Placement Testimonials
    • Placement Training Testimonials
  • CONTACT
    • Appointment Request
    • Contact Us
How Can I Tell If I Have PTSD?

How Can I Tell If I Have PTSD?

If you’re asking yourself if you have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) then it’s highly likely you have lived through or witnessed a traumatic event – or series of events – that made you fear for your survival.

The experience of trauma can be subjective: what is totally overwhelming for one person may not be so distressing for another. Not all highly stressful experiences lead on to post-traumatic stress disorder. It is estimated that around a third of people may develop PTSD after a traumatic experience – but symptoms of the disorder can take months and even years to develop and manifest. Some people don’t even know they have PTSD. Life can change significantly after the traumatic event, and it may sometimes feel like a ‘new normal’ they’ve had to adapt to, rather than recognising that they might have a disorder.

If you’re concerned about your extreme thoughts, mood swings and over-reactions – especially if you keep reliving the stressful events in waking moments or nightmares – then it can be helpful to be aware of the symptoms associated with PTSD. Psychiatrists use criteria outlined in the DSM-5 manual to diagnose disorders.

The criteria used to diagnose PTSD:

1. Exposure

You were exposed to an event that caused actual death or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violation in the following ways:

  • You experienced the event.
  • You witnessed the event as it occurred to someone else.
  • You learned about an event where a close relative or friend experienced an actual or threatened violent or accidental death.
  • You experienced repeated exposure to distressing details of an event, such as a police officer repeatedly hearing details about child sexual abuse.

2. Re-experiencing

You keep re-experiencing the traumatic event in at least one of the following ways:

  • Upsetting memories of the traumatic event may pop up unexpectedly and repeatedly, intruding on your life.
  • You may keep having upsetting dreams that seem to relate to the story of the traumatic event.
  • You may experience flashbacks as if the event were happening again for real in the here and now – or you might find yourself dissociating.
  • Any cues or triggers – inside or outside your body – that take you back to the traumatic event can cause you strong and persistent distress.
  • Any reminder of the traumatic event can cause a strong reaction in your body, such as sweaty palms and increased heart rate.

3. Avoidance

You may find yourself going out of your way to avoid reminders of the traumatic event by:

  • Avoiding thoughts, feelings, or physical sensations that bring up memories of the traumatic event.
  • Avoiding people, places, conversations, activities, objects or situations that trigger memories of the traumatic event.

4. Negative changes in thought and mood

You may experience negative changes in thoughts and mood that have occurred or worsened after the traumatic event. These changes can manifest in the following ways:

  • You can’t remember an important aspect of the traumatic event.
  • You keep making negative evaluations about yourself, others, or the world. For example, you might feel you are unlovable, or you can’t trust anyone.
  • Blaming yourself or others for the cause or consequence of a traumatic event.
  • Your emotional state seems to take over – for example, experiencing shame, anger, or fear for a lot of the time.
  • You’re losing interest in activities you used to enjoy.
  • You feel detached from others.
  • You no longer feel able to experience positive emotions such as happiness, love or joy.

5. Arousal

The following symptoms are typically and commonly associated with PTSD, and can be strong warning signs of the disorder. Note in yourself if these symptoms have started or become worse since experiencing a traumatic event:

  • You’re behaving with more irritability or aggression.
  • You’re more impulsive or self-destructive.
  • You’re hypervigilant and feel constantly on the lookout for unexpected danger.
  • You react to everyday triggers in an extreme way: your ‘startle response’ is heightened.
  • You have difficulty concentrating and sleeping.

PTSD Diagnosis

To be diagnosed with PTSD you need to experience at least one symptom from all of the above categories. The symptoms need to last for more than a month, and they are bringing you considerable distress and interfering greatly with different areas of your life. Also, the symptoms are nothing to do with other medical conditions or situations.

If you recognise symptoms of PTSD in yourself…

Only a psychiatrist can diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder. So, if your concerns are escalating then the first port of call should be your GP, who will be able to refer you on for psychiatric diagnosis and treatment if appropriate.

Therapeutic treatments for PTSD include EMDR (which helps manage how your memories are stored in your brain and therefore alleviate your symptoms) and psychotherapy (which can help you work on the causes of your distress, become more aware of your triggers, and identify ways to feel safer in the world).

If you would like support to manage your post-traumatic stress symptoms, and want to find a way to feel less in the ‘grip’ of your past traumatic experiences, then get in touch with us and we will match you with a trauma-informed therapist. Call 020 8673 4545 or email [email protected] to book your first appointment. We have sessions available seven days a week at our centres in Clapham and Tooting.

Karen Dempsey
With a 20-year career in print and online publishing and an MA in creative writing, Karen Dempsey has worked as a journalist, editor and copywriter and has managed large editorial teams. She is a qualified, accredited and practising psychotherapist with an MA/diploma in transpersonal integrative counselling & psychotherapy.
How To Support Someone Who Self-Harms
Surviving Your Parents’ Divorce

Related Posts

Three ways to tackle exam stress

Three ways to tackle family anxiety around exam time

Anxiety

Anxiety

Coronavirus: How To Cope With Death Anxiety

Coronavirus: How To Cope With Death Anxiety

Eight Ways To Consume Bad News Without Increasing Your Anxiety

Eight Ways To Consume Bad News Without Increasing Your Anxiety

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Fill out this field
Fill out this field
Please enter a valid email address.

Subscribe to our newsletter



    Please add me to the list

    Categories

    • Abortion
    • Abuse
    • Acute Stress Disorder
    • Addiction
    • ADHD
    • Agoraphobia
    • Alcoholism
    • Anger Management
    • Anxiety
    • Ask Michaela
    • Attachment
    • Bereavement & Loss
    • Bipolar
    • Borderline Personality Disorder
    • Bullying
    • Children and Adolescents
    • Co-Dependency
    • Coaching
    • Coronavirus
    • Counselling
    • Counselling Placements
    • Couples
    • Dementia
    • Depression
    • Divorce
    • Domestic Violence
    • Dreams
    • Eating Disorders
    • Echoism
    • Ecopsychology
    • Empty Nest Syndrome
    • Family
    • Guilt
    • Health
    • Imposter Syndrome
    • Infertility
    • Insomnia
    • LGBTQ
    • Life Stories
    • Loneliness
    • Masochism
    • Meditation
    • Menopause
    • Mental Health
    • Mindfulness
    • Narcissism
    • News
    • OCD
    • Panic Attacks
    • Parenting
    • Personal Development
    • Personality Disorders
    • Porn
    • Postnatal Depression
    • Pregnancy
    • Psychology
    • Psychosexual
    • Psychotherapy
    • PTSD
    • Relationships
    • Sadness
    • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
    • Self Esteem
    • Self-Care
    • Self-Harm
    • Sex
    • Sexual Harassment
    • Sleep
    • Social Anxiety Disorder
    • Stress
    • Suicide
    • The Awareness Centre
    • Therapy
    • Training School
    • Trauma
    • Uncategorized
    • Workplace Issues

    TAC Brochure

    DOWNLOAD

    TAC has BACP Membership

    TAC Clapham

    41 Abbeville Road
    London SW4 9JX
    [email protected]
    020 8673 4545

    Available Services

    check_circle
    Low Cost Therapy
    check_circle
    Private Therapy

    Appointments

    Monday – Thursday:
    7.00am – 10.00pm

    Friday:
    7.00am – 9.00pm

    Saturday:
    9.00am – 5.30pm

    Sunday:
    10.00am – 2.00pm

    TAC Tooting

    74-80 Upper Tooting Road
    London SW17 7PB
    [email protected]
    020 8673 4545

    Available Services

    check_circle
    Private Therapy

    Appointments

    Monday – Thursday:
    7.00am – 10.00pm

    Friday:
    7.00am – 5.30pm

    Saturday:
    9.00am – 5.30pm

    TAC Marylebone

    85 Wimpole Street
    London W1G 9RJ
    [email protected]
    020 8079 0708

    Available Services

    check_circle
    Private Therapy

    Appointments

    Tuesday and Thursday:
    8.00am – 12.00pm

    Email
    Facebook
    Twitter
    LinkedIn
    YouTube
    Instagram
    Pinterest

    © 2023 The Awareness Centre Ltd.

    • OUR THERAPISTS
    • TYPES OF ISSUES
    • OUR LANGUAGES
    • FAQS
    • HOW TO FIND US

    The Awareness Centre Limited. A company registered in England and Wales, Number: 06194423. Registered Office: 74-80 Upper Tooting Road, London, England, SW17 7PB.  Trading as The Awareness Centre.

    This site uses cookies and data collection for personalised advertising. Your data may be shared with third parties for this purpose. Learn more about how we collect data and use cookies, and check that you consent. Manage PreferencesI Consent Learn more
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT