An estimated 70 percent of adults in the United States have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives and up to 20 percent of these people go on to develop posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD. This means that an estimated 5 percent of Americans—more than 13 million people—have PTSD at any given time.
June is PTSD Awareness Month [Portal:Keywords] so I thought I would address the elephant in the room – I Don’t have PTSD How Can I Help Someone Who Does?
This is a question I get asked a lot when I am speaking on Mental health Recover or PTSD Recovery and is one of the reasons I wrote #dealwithit – living well with PTSD.
One of the big things that you can do during PTSD Awareness Month [Portal:Keywords] is have a conversation with someone you know who is dealing with PTSD or maybe struggling to even admit that they are.
The simple statement to a loved one or a new friend of “I don’t have PTSD, how can I help you or understand?” is incredibly comforting and reassuring to someone that battles this mental illness. We believe PTSD Awareness Month [Portal:Keywords] should be more than just an opportunity to wear a ribbon, it should be an opportunity to start a conversation.
The other thing that Melissa and I deliberately do, is that when we are at the gym or out shopping we often will wear one of our PTSD Awareness Month [Portal:Keywords] t-shirts. Yes it gets looks, yes some people start, but it has also started some great conversations with folks about how they can help their loved ones
Get the book #dealwithit – living well with PTSD
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www.drjohnaking.com
#ptsd #cptsd