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Living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can feel like carrying the weight of your past every day—but healing is possible.
At Beach House, we understand how trauma reshapes your life, especially when it’s compounded by substance use. Many people turn to drugs or alcohol to cope with the resulting overwhelming emotional pain and distress. While they may offer a temporary respite, they often worsen trauma and add new challenges to your recovery.
If you or a loved one are struggling with disruptive PTSD symptoms, personalized post traumatic stress disorder treatment at Beach House can help you rebuild confidence, reclaim peace of mind, and find a lasting path to healing.
PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is a mental health condition that can develop in response to experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event.
What makes PTSD different from the temporary emotional instability that generally occurs after a life-altering ordeal is its progression. Although many people will endure a psychological or physical shock at some point, the emotional disruption will eventually decrease with time, support, and self-care. When a person’s trauma worsens, that person likely has PTSD.
PTSD can affect people of all ages and backgrounds and occur after various traumatic experiences. This condition can cause a variety of symptoms and co-occur with other psychological disorders, like anxiety or depression.
Common signs of PTSD include the following:
People struggling with PTSD generally experience persistent negative thoughts and feelings of anxiety. However, some social or environmental triggers can generate sudden emotional and physical responses. Minor, unexpected sounds or motions can cause a surge of adrenaline and feelings of terror. It is widespread for people with PTSD to actively avoid situations that might generate such responses.
Additionally, unmanaged PTSD can have physical ramifications. A chronically elevated stress response can trigger the following physical symptoms:
Unfortunately, recognizing PTSD is often challenging. Sufferers can learn to conceal their symptoms from their loved ones effectively. Sometimes, PTSD symptoms do not emerge for months or years after the traumatic event.
Any emotionally or physically traumatic circumstance can lead to emotional disturbances. However, events commonly known to cause post traumatic stress disorder include long-term sexual or physical abuse, violent assaults, and automobile collisions.
Military combat is also a prevalent cause of PTSD. Beach House Center for Recovery is passionately committed to supporting our veterans with military addiction treatment and as a participating provider for the VA and Tricare.
PTSD is a complex condition that can manifest in various ways, and it’s often categorized into different types based on specific features or causes.
Some common types of PTSD include:
ASD is a type of PTSD that occurs immediately after a traumatic event. It involves symptoms like PTSD, such as intrusive thoughts, nightmares, and hypervigilance. However, ASD typically lasts a shorter duration (a minimum of three days to a maximum of four weeks) and may resolve independently without becoming chronic.
Complex PTSD is associated with prolonged exposure to repeated trauma, often when a person has limited control or escape. It can result from experiences like long-term abuse, captivity, or ongoing interpersonal trauma. C-PTSD is characterized by symptoms like PTSD but with additional challenges in emotion regulation, self-esteem, and interpersonal relationships.
Some individuals may not develop full-blown PTSD immediately after a traumatic event but experience delayed-onset symptoms. These symptoms can emerge months or even years after the trauma occurred.
This type of PTSD is characterized by symptoms of dissociation, where individuals may feel disconnected from themselves or their surroundings. They might experience amnesia, depersonalization (feeling like an observer of their own life), or derealization (feeling like the world is unreal or distorted).
Some individuals experience PTSD symptoms following a traumatic childbirth experience. This can include feelings of powerlessness, distressing medical interventions, or complications during delivery.
Military personnel exposed to combat situations may develop combat-related PTSD. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, and hypervigilance related to combat experiences.
Survivors of natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, or wildfires, can develop PTSD symptoms due to the traumatic event.
It is estimated that people seeking post traumatic stress disorder treatment are 14 times more likely to have a co-existing substance use disorder.
Because PTSD disrupts the brain’s ability to self-regulate, people who struggle with the disorder often gravitate towards mood-altering substances, like alcohol or narcotics, that promote feelings of euphoria.
PTSD and addiction often result in patterns of emotional dysregulation. PTSD causes debilitating symptoms that the sufferer addresses with drugs or alcohol. This can quickly lead to a co-occurring diagnosis of PTSD and alcohol abuse or substance abuse disorder.
It is essential to know that drug or alcohol use causes the symptoms of PTSD to worsen over time while causing additional physical and emotional deterioration. This phenomenon is called an addiction cycle and can be hard to break for many. That’s where we come in, providing comprehensive dual diagnosis treatment that meets you where you are.
If you’ve experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, you may have post-traumatic stress disorder.
A healthcare provider or mental health professional can accurately diagnose this disorder using criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR) book by the American Psychiatric Association.
To confirm a PTSD diagnosis, a person must have exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violation. This exposure must result from one or more of the following situations:
As a result of this exposure, a person must experience clinically significant distress or impairment in social interactions or other important areas of functioning (e.g., work, school, etc.).
If you or a loved one is struggling to cope with a traumatic event, we recommend a post traumatic stress disorder assessment from a licensed professional. They can help you understand the root cause of your PTSD symptoms and determine the best treatment options. Here is what to expect during an assessment:
Once your mental health provider understands your type of trauma and what caused it, they can develop a personalized post traumatic stress disorder treatment plan to help you heal. Treatment options for post-traumatic stress disorder can be highly effective in helping individuals manage their symptoms, improve their overall well-being, and regain control over their lives.
Treatments depend on individual needs, preferences, and the severity of PTSD symptoms. Early intervention and ongoing support can significantly improve the prognosis of individuals with PTSD.
Standard treatment options include:
It’s important to note that the treatment choice should be made in consultation with a qualified mental health professional. Effective treatment often involves a combination of therapies and may be tailored to address an individual’s unique needs and circumstances.
Struggling with post traumatic stress disorder and substance misuse without professional clinical support can be life-threatening.
As one of the leading post traumatic stress disorder treatment centers in Florida, Beach House prides itself on partnering with our patients to discover the safest, most comfortable, and most effective treatment plans for addressing addiction and their co-occurring disorders.
We offer evidence-based clinical treatment, medically supervised detox, and a broad spectrum of intensive therapeutic interventions and mental health treatment, allowing our patients to explore the root causes of their traumas and addictive behaviors.
Please contact our compassionate and helpful admissions counselors today to learn more about our treatment programs.
