How to Help Someone with PTSD
It can be hard to understand what exactly someone with PTSD is going through unless you have gone through it yourself. It may be difficult to see your loved one being more intense and less affectionate. You will see your loved one being more angry, irritable, not being trusting, depressed, and dealing with substance abuse. It is important to remember that your loved one is stuck in a constant state of alert. Now is the time to be compassionate, understanding, and letting them know you will help them in any way you can.
One way you can be there for your loved one is to provide them with as much support as possible. This involves not pressuring them to talk and that you are just hear to listen and still be around them if they do not want to talk at all. That they do not have to tell you anything but they always can. Do normal things with your loved one that you both enjoy to do whether it is meeting friends for dinner, going to a movie, going dancing, taking a class, and anything else that will make you two have fun. Also, let your friend be the one to tell you how to provide support and how you can be there for them because only they know what they truly need. It also helps to educate yourself on PTSD by learning about the symptoms, effects, and different treatment options so that you have some idea what your loved one faces every day.
PTSD can make someone be afraid of the world and feel everyone is untrustworthy.
In order to help you loved on feel safe and that they can trust you, let your loved one know you are there for the long run. Make sure to keep any promises you have made to your loved one and do what you say you will do. It is also important to remind your loved on their strength and past successes to show them that they are capable of recovery. You should also encourage your loved one to go to a support group so they can hear the stories of other people who have gone through the same experiences and to feel less alone and damaged. Above all, your friendship should show your loved one there is still a goodness in the world and they will no longer be alone.
Cottonwood Tucson is an inpatient holistic behavioral health treatment center and addiction rehab. Cottonwood’s PTSD treatment plan involves group therapy, Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in order for patients to recall traumatic events with less emotional resonance. For more information, call us today at (888) 727-0441.
