PTSD Inpatient Treatment

Choosing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment

PTSD is a disorder that affects many people. While it has made its way into the common discussion, it’s still mostly misunderstood by people who don’t suffer from it. People who do have PTSD are often misunderstood by others because of their disorder. However, recent advances and research have uncovered new ways of dealing with PTSD and treating trauma, such as excellent ways of providing PTSD inpatient treatment.

Icarus Behavioral Health provides a unique, individualized approach with our PTSD treatment program. We understand that treating the disorder requires us to delve into its causes. Read on to learn more about how PTSD can affect a loved one and what you can do about it.

What is PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a mental health condition that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a stressful, traumatic event. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 7.7 million adults in the United States had PTSD in 2017. Many people associate PTSD with overtly traumatic situations – war, witnessing a murder, violence, etc.

However, experiencing trauma is not a one-size-fits-all phenomenon, and trauma responses can manifest in many forms. A traumatic incident doesn’t have to be physically violent. Persons with emotionally abusive or manipulative histories also tend to suffer from this condition. People with PTSD often feel stressed and anxious. They might also have trouble sleeping, feel on edge, or be irritable. Many have problems in their relationships.

What are the Symptoms of PTSD?

The symptoms of PTSD typically appear within three months after the trauma but often begin immediately and can last for years. In cases of abuse, trauma bonds can linger until treated effectively. The symptoms can generally be divided into three categories:

Re Experiencing the Trauma

Symptoms include nightmares, flashbacks, and intrusive thoughts about the traumatic event, as well as dissociation and feelings of detachment from reality. These are often triggered by a reminder of the event, such as an anniversary or a loud noise that brings back memories. Re-experiencing symptoms can occur in any situation, but they’re often worse when you’re away from home and sleeping in different surroundings than when you experienced the trauma.

Avoidance of Reminders of the Trauma

People with PTSD try to avoid situations that remind them of the traumatic event — for example, avoiding driving on freeways or shopping at stores where they were attacked. They may also try to avoid people who remind them of their attacker (for example, by staying away from people who look like their attacker). Avoidance can make it hard to live your everyday life and maintain relationships with family members, friends, or co-workers. This is particularly true if loved ones are the source of trauma, such as with those suffering from enmeshment trauma complications.

Emotional Numbness

Many people with PTSD feel emotionally numb or distant from other people, including friends or family members who haven’t experienced trauma themselves. It’s also common for people with PTSD to feel disconnected from their own emotions — as if they’re watching themselves rather than actually existing within their bodies. This also occurs in disassociative disorders, which share some overlapping symptoms with traumatic stress.  If you suffer from PTSD, it’s common to feel as though you’re having an out-of-body experience when this situation arises.

This is particularly commonplace in those with complex forms of trauma that often have childhood origins.

The Risks Associated with PTSD

The effects of PTSD can be devastating. If you suffer from PTSD, you’re more likely to develop mental illness. You also have a higher risk of death from suicide or substance abuse. Due to the severity of the above-described unpleasant symptoms of PTSD, many persons develop co-occurring disorders that become a part of their experience in life until they have sought PTSD inpatient treatment services. PTSD is a serious illness, and you should take treating it seriously.

PTSD shortcuts your normal functioning state of mind and thus can result in inner turmoil that eradicates the possibility of experiencing what you see as a “safe environment.” This can manifest in several unique ways, including:

• Eating disorders
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Substance use (as a means of self-medicating)
• Self-harm
• Social isolation
• Suicidal ideation

Mental health treatment for PTSD seeks to give individuals a chance to deal with their trauma. PTSD and inpatient trauma treatment vary from location to location, with some residential trauma treatment programs focusing on a particular type of treatment. For those suffering from PTSD, there are many ways and places they could get treatment, but only one Icarus. Our trauma treatment center offerings are centered around client needs, with a plan of action as unique as you or your loved one.

PTSD Inpatient Treatment Options

Treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be challenging. Sometimes, people with PTSD may not want to talk about their experiences. They may feel they should be over their trauma by now and be able to move on with their lives. Others may feel ashamed or scared to seek treatment because they fear being judged or labeled as crazy or weak. The truth remains, however, that mental health treatment is the only tested way to deal with PTSD.

Psychotherapy is a common component of a good PTSD and trauma inpatient treatment program. It involves meeting with a therapist who can help you identify and manage the symptoms of PTSD. In many cases, the goal of psychotherapy is to help you feel better so you can get back to your everyday life as quickly as possible. Effective treatment in trauma therapy involves a thorough assessment and subsequent “unpacking” of the traumatic events to process the event and move forward.

Addiction concerns with PTSD are nothing new. Many people end up with a substance use problem due to poor coping skills and no support for PTSD. This is known then as having co-occurring disorders. Quality care with a dual diagnosis treatment for PTSD involves treating both conditions simultaneously so that both can be managed effectively.

This means that if a person has both PTSD and addiction, they will need to be treated for both simultaneously. Dual diagnosis treatment provides an opportunity for individuals suffering from mental health conditions to get help more holistically while treating any substance abuse problems they may have simultaneously. At Icarus, we accept many forms of health insurance, both public and private, to ensure clients needing dual diagnosis and trauma treatment can use health benefits to offset costs.

A Holistic Approach to Inpatient Trauma Treatment

Trauma recovery can and should take a holistic approach to comprehensive care for persons with PTSD. This direction can include approaches such as exposure therapy for trauma, as well as family therapy sessions. Family support can be a significant factor that makes a difference in treatment outcomes but is only offered to clients for whom it is accepted and beneficial, never forced.

Individual therapy is vital, but lacking a good support network can make treatment goals feel like far-off pipe dreams. Building healthy relationships between those in a family unit can be instrumental. Group therapy can make a huge difference, as well as peer and support groups. At Icarus, our trauma treatment center staff make good use of DBT (dialectical behavior therapy) models and have found this form of therapy to be extremely effective when helping trauma clients overcome struggles and find success with new approaches to living.

Depending on the degree of PTSD, a partial hospitalization program or residential treatment might be recommended. PTSD inpatient treatment includes residential care as part of the treatment plan, where the person stays at a treatment center in a safe environment until they are sufficiently healed.

Get Help for PTSD Today with Icarus Behavioral Health!

Post-traumatic stress disorder is no joke. At Icarus Behavioral Health, we take PTSD treatment seriously. At our treatment center, you will be met with the gold standard in PTSD treatment services and an individualized plan tailored to your specific situation.

Call or message us today to learn more about our admissions process and get started on the road to recovery!