This is the second of three blogs looking at the symptoms that define PTSD. Today we will be looking at Avoidant Numbing Symptoms.

AVOIDANT NUMBING SYMPTOMS

So we talked about the first cluster being that the person experiences the symptoms, now we see that the second cluster is the person trying to avoid the symptoms, either psychologically or physically. Here are the defined symptoms for Avoidant Numbing:
  •  Efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the trauma
  •  Efforts to avoid activities, places, or people that arouse recollections of the trauma
  •  Inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma
  •  Markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities
  •  Feeling of detachment or estrangement from others
  •  Restricted range of affect (e.g., unable to have loving feelings)
  •  Sense of foreshortened future (e.g., does not expect to have a career, marriage, children, or a normal life span)
There are other psychological strategies: psychic numbing to shut down their emotional capacity so they can't feel upset; they can't feel terrified; they can't feel afraid. But when you do that, you also shut down your capacity to feel pleasure, to feel love, and that's why marriages and family life are such a casualty in PTSD.
It is important to remember that there are many stages of dealing with grief caused by a traumatic event, and the effects of grief can be widely varied. PTSD is only one of several stress related mental health issues, and it is always a good idea to seek counseling if you or someone you know is experiencing any such symptoms.