Did you know that over 224 million Americans experience traumatic events? Some of them struggle with trauma on a daily basis. Among them, nearly 20 percent or 44 million end up with PTSD. Thankfully, National PTSD Awareness Day spreads awareness and helps encourage individuals to seek out trauma therapy for help.
What Is PTSD?
Firstly, it’s essential for people to learn about PTSD. It stands for post-traumatic stress disorder. Millions of people develop this problem after exposure to extremely stressful situations. Since everyone experiences stress, though, why doesn’t everyone need a PTSD treatment program?
Actually, the brain has mechanisms to process trauma in healthy ways. Unfortunately, sometimes these mechanisms fail to function properly, which leads to a much bigger problem.
When Is National PTSD Awareness Day?
National PTSD Awareness Day takes place on June 27. The government started to raise awareness for this disorder in 2010. Although, you might not see many people talking about National PTSD Awareness Day 2019. Why is that?
In 2014, the government extended PTSD awareness day into a whole month. Instead of recognizing National PTSD Awareness Day 2019, most people will engage in awareness month. With that said, this awareness month still occurs in June.
What’s the Link Between PTSD and Addiction?
PTSD causes a lot of uncomfortable symptoms for people. Rather than seek help, they often look for a way to cover up the symptoms. In these cases, drugs fit the bill.
Of course, drugs only cover up the symptoms for a short period of time. Because of that, people have to keep taking them in order to get relief. When you mix abusing drugs with a mental disorder, it doesn’t take long to develop an addiction.
Do People Who Go to War Experience PTSD?
Yes, going to war and seeing combat is a leading cause of PTSD. However, people didn’t always refer to this phenomenon as PTSD. When war veterans started to show symptoms, experts originally referred to the condition as “shell shocked.” This early terminology described people who had PTSD.
During these early years, many people didn’t know how to help them. Without a way to seek treatment, they turned to drugs and alcohol for relief.
In the 1980s, breakthroughs in psychology led to an understanding of PTSD. People were finally able to get the help that they needed. However, it took until 2010 for the government to establish National PTSD Awareness Day.
Unfortunately, a lot of people still don’t know about PTSD. For that reason, it’s more important than ever to spread awareness.
Get Help for PTSD and Addiction
At Red Oak Recovery, we’re proud to offer dual diagnosis treatment. Such addiction treatment programs ensure that we can help people who have an addiction and other mental disorders. A few of the other addiction therapy services that we offer include:
- Partial hospitalization and outpatient treatment
- Dual diagnosis programs
- Family counseling
- Group and individual therapy
- Intensive outpatient treatment
Don’t let untreated PTSD cause harm to you or your family. Learn more about what you can do to participate in National PTSD Awareness Day 2019. Reach out to us today at 828.382.9699 to find out what we can do for you or your family members.
