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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Disability

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder that is triggered by an extremely traumatic event. You can develop PTSD when a traumatic event happens to you. It can also happen when you see a traumatic event happen to someone else. A lot of people who witness traumatic events or are involved in traumatic events have a brief period of difficulty in coping and adjusting. Healthy coping methods and time usually help these traumatic reactions to get better on their own. In some cases, however, your signs and symptoms can get worse or last for months or years. Sometimes these traumatic events may even completely disrupt your life. In these cases, you may have post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD can affect survivors of such traumatic events as torture, war,  an airplane crash,  a natural disaster or a physical or sexual assault. Post-traumatic stress disorder can also affect rescue workers at the site of mass casualties or other tragedies. These kinds of events may cause intense helplessness, fear or horror. The disorder has been called by other names, including shell shock, combat fatigue, battle fatigue, combat stress, traumatic war neurosis or post-traumatic stress syndrome. In the American Civil War it was called "soldier's heart." Approximately 7 to 8% of people in the United States will likely develop post-traumatic stress disorder in their lifetime. The lifetime occurrence (prevalence) in combat veterans and rape victims ranges from 10 to as high as 30%. In any given year about 5 million American adults have this syndrome. Your or a loved one may be one of the millions suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It may have become so severe that you or your loved one is unable to work. PTSD may be the reason for you or your loved one's disability. If this is true, you are probably in need of financial help. You may have applied for that help from the Social Security Administration in the form of Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits. If you or your loved one was denied, what will you do now? If you have decided to reapply or appeal the denial by the Social Security Administration, here is something to think about. People with a trustworthy disability lawyer are approved more often than those who do not have an attorney. SocialSecurityHome.com is the right place to find a capable disability lawyer. A wise disability lawyer at SocialSecurityHome.com will help and guide you or your loved one in reapplying or appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration. Our dedicated advocates will help you fight for the disability benefits that you or your loved one suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder deserve. How much do you know about post-traumatic stress disorder? The more you know, the better prepared you will be to deal with this disorder. Here is some more information that may be useful and helpful to you. The signs and symptoms of PTSD typically begin within three months after a traumatic event. However, in a small number of cases, the signs and symptoms may not occur until years after the event. Some of the signs and symptoms are: These signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder can come and go. You may experience more symptoms during times of higher stress or when you have symbolic reminders of the traumatic event that happened to you. People who had not experienced signs and symptoms for years saw them come back again with the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Researchers are still trying to understand what causes a person to get post-traumatic stress disorder. Like most mental illnesses, it is probably caused by a mixture of: Even though the cause of post-traumatic stress syndrome is not fully known, there are some risk factors that are known. Most of the people with this disorder have gone through one or more of these four kinds of traumatic events: The diagnosis of PTSD is based on a psychological evaluation and the signs and symptoms you are experiencing. Your doctor may want you to describe the event that led to your signs and symptoms. He or she may want you to describe what your symptoms are, how intense they are, when they occur and how long they last. Treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder can be extremely effective. It can help you regain a sense of control over your life. You can also learn ways to cope if any symptoms come again and feel better about yourself with successful treatment. This treatment often includes both psychotherapy and medications. This combined approach can help improve your symptoms and teach you skills to cope better with the traumatic event and its aftermath. Post-traumatic stress disorder can disrupt your life. It can upset your job, your relationships, and your enjoyment of daily activities. Some of the complications resulting from this disorder are: Once again, this information is given in the hope that it will help you or your loved one in dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. If you have tried to get financial help by applying for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits from the Social Security Administration and been denied, remember the need for having a successful disability lawyer representing you or your loved one in this procedure. Again, SocialSecurityHome.com is the right place to find a determined disability attorney. A knowledgeable disability lawyer at SocialSecurityHome.com will stand with you or your loved one in appealing the denial or reapplying for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits from the Social Security Administration because of the disability caused by post-traumatic stress disorder and/or related conditions. Do not put this off. Contact an experienced disability lawyer at SocialSecurityHome.com today.