Orlando Trauma PTSD Counseling Therapy: Expert Services – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

I recently received a phone call asking, “Is it possible to have PTSD after a car wreck? I thought this disorder mainly occurred in veterans or child abuse survivors.”

Absolutely! Car accidents can certainly be traumatic! You don’t have to experience military combat or childhood abuse to develop it. The probability of developing PTSD increases if you or someone else was seriously injured, felt out of control, believed you were in grave danger, or experienced a previous car accident or another traumatic incident.

People rarely expect that a car accident could have such far ranging psychological consequences as PTSD. After an accident, people may fear riding in a car, driving by the accident site, jump when they hear sirens, experience nightmares, and may not be able to articulate what happened to them. Getting to sleep or remain sleeping at night may become a problem. These are a few of the symptoms that can occur following a car wreck. However after a few months, most people’s fear and anxiety dissipate. However with PTSD, these symptoms continue to persist and interfere with their lives. I often work with insurance companies and lawyers to provide treatment for their clients. A self-report test is given initially to see if there are sufficient symptoms to warrent a diagnosis of PTSD. This test also determines the severity of the symptoms and ways in which the accident has disrupted a person’s life. View more symptoms at the bottom of this page.

Grief counseling may be called upon when a person suffers anticipatory grief, for someone may feel that a loved one is going to die but it’s not likely. Anticipatory mourning also occurs when a loved one has a terminal illness. This can handicap that person’s ability to stay present whilst simultaneously holding onto, letting go of, and drawing closer to the dying relative.

Cartoons represent dog bites as silly, seemingly harmless events. The truth is far more serious. A large percentage of dog attacks leave their victims with debilitating scars, both physical and psychological. The sound of dogs barking or even venturing outdoors can become a fear provoking situation. Because dogs target the face, neck and head of a child, reconstructive surgery is often required. Even with these surgeries, a child may remain disfigured. So not only do these children have to face corrective surgery, they also may have difficulty finding friends. It is not unusual for children as well as adults to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from dog attacks. These attacks may remain very traumatic and stress provoking long after the bites occur.

If you have suffered from a dog bite and have continued fears, nightmares, and difficulties handling difficult situations with life, call us for a PTSD evaluation (407) 248-0030. It is possible to recover from this trauma and gain a better capacity to deal with the difficulties stemming from this very terrifying occurrence.

The Center for Disease Center and the American Veterinarian Association reveal a great deal of statistical information about dog bites. Did you know that: Children are the most frequent targets.

1. The highest incident rate is for 5-9 year olds
2. For children 10 and under, 77% of injuries are to the face, neck, and head
3. The family dog was the aggressor in 47% of the attacks on children 4 and under.
4. 4.7 million attacks per year 800,000 of these require medical attention 386,000 require emergency room treatment 32 people died in 2007 from dog mauling and 3 of those were in Florida
5. Three breeds most likely to bite are Pit bulls, Rottweilers and German Shepards
6. Pit bulls comprise 1/3 of all fatal dog bites
7. Male dogs ages 1-5 are three times more likely to bite than spayed or neutered animals
8. Chained dogs are 2.8 times more likely to bite than unchained dogs
9. Majority of dog attacks occurred at home or at a friend’s house Insurance companies pay out about $1 billion dollars per year due to dog bites