Owen falls asleep to the whooshing of the ceiling fan
blades, which triggers a flashback. He relives a traumatic moment from
the war and wakes up to find he is attempting to strangle Cristina.
Luckily he woke up before he injured her seriously. But, after this
incident, Owen knows without a doubt he suffers from posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) and he knows it's time to seek out help.
PTSD is an anxiety disorder that begins after experiencing or
witnessing an extremely traumatic event which causes feelings of
intense fear, helplessness and horror. After the trauma has passed and
all is safe, the feelings of intense fear, helplessness and horror
return and begin to affect the ability or function in everyday life.
According to the DSM IV (the book of all things psychological) types of
events that can cause this type of response include:
* Military combat
* Violent personal assault (sexual assault, physical
attack, robbery, mugging)
* Being kidnapped or taken hostage
* Terrorist attack
* Being a victim of or witnessing torture
* Incarceration as a prisoner of war or in a
concentration camp
* Natural or manmade disasters (earthquakes,
hurricanes, atomic bombs)
* Severe automobile accidents
* Being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness
The symptoms of PTSD include:
* Reliving the event
* Playing the event over and over again in your head
* Feeling the strong emotions you felt at the time
of the event
* Flashbacks, something triggers an intense memory
of the event that feels like you're actually there
* Avoiding situations that remind you of the event
* Not being able to feel anything or emotional
numbness
* Feeling jittery (doctors call this hyperarousal)
In this episode, Owen tries to strangle Cristina. While it can happen,
it is very rare for PTSD patients to act out violently. An example of a
more common type of flashback is given by a nineteen year old woman,
suffering from PTSD who tells the story of a flashback she had, where
she relived a childhood trauma and hid under her dorm room bed until
her intense feelings of fear subsided.
It's common for someone who experiences or witnesses a trauma to have
some of these symptoms. It's PTSD when the symptoms don't go away or
are so strong that they interfere with your ability to live your life
for months. It's also possible that you can suffer from PTSD and have
no symptoms immediately after the event. Sometimes the symptoms don't
appear until months or years later.
Though the term PTSD was coined in 1980, this condition is not new. It
has had many names including stress syndrome, shell shock, battle
fatigue, traumatic war neurosis, or post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Scientists don't know why trauma causes PTSD in some people and not in
others. However, just because the cause hasn't been determined does not
mean it isn't treatable. It is extremely treatable by talk therapy
and/or medication. Many veterans have also found a great deal of relief
with peer group counseling which is available at Vet Centers and VA
hospitals. The important thing is to get help, you aren't alone and if
left untreated, it can lead to secondary conditions like drug and
alcohol addiction.
