June is the month for PTSD awareness. PTSD also known as post traumatic stress disorder is a mental disorder usually caused by a traumatic experience. Although PTSD is a well known mental illness, it is still oftentimes overlooked. Therefore, as June is PTSD awareness month, a great way to spread awareness would first be to learn about and understand the issue.  

What is PTSD and how can it affect a person dealing with it ? PTSD is a mental disorder caused by a traumatic event or experience such as being in a car accident, being assaulted, or experiencing the horrors of war. In fact, one of the best examples of PTSD is after the Great War or World War One, where soldiers that were returning home were experiencing various physiological symptoms due to their experiences in the war, such as the constant artillery shell explosion, which led to the name Shell Shock. It was not until the 1980s that PTSD became a mental health diagnosis. PTSD has many symptoms such as experiencing flashbacks, nightmares, extreme anxiety, or sensations such as sweating, feeling pain, or having nausea. These symptoms of PTSD could greatly affect a person’s life, especially with more severe PTSD which could often be debilitating. 

What are some ways a person can spread awareness of PTSD

Some great ways to spread awareness of PTSD can be simply speaking out about the issue such as by utilizing social media which is used by millions of people. You can talk about the issue with friends, family or just people in general. In addition, writing about PTSD or expressing the issue through creative ways such as art can also be great ways to gain more attention to the issue. 

How can you help a person with PTSD? 

Some ways to help or support a person with PTSD can include being respectful towards them, not judging them for having the disorder and to be supportive of them. Being a supportive person and comforting someone who is having symptoms of PTSD instead of ignoring it, or judging it, can really help the person better deal with the whole thing. In addition to this, some other ways to help a person with PTSD can be to learn about what triggers the person’s symptoms, so that you can better help the person deal with them. Lastly, another way to help someone with PTSD is to encourage the person to seek treatment. 

We can all do our part this month to spread awareness and understanding about  PTSD.