Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health disorder that occurs in people who have experienced one or more traumatic events. People may experience this in a number of different ways whether it's emotionally, physically, or both. This can affect one’s day to day life and may hinder their ability to function as usual. Examples of PTSD include accidents, school violence/school shootings, war, and sexual assault. An episode of PTSD may be triggered by anything related to the event that caused their trauma like a noise or a small touch, or by something that evokes similar uncomfortable emotions.
How do you know if it’s PTSD?
Symptoms of PTSD can be grouped into four types:
Avoidance
Intrusive memories or thoughts
Negative changes in mood
Changes in physical reactions
People struggling with PTSD will usually avoid memories or situations that remind them of the traumatic event. They often have disturbing thoughts and feelings long after the event has passed, including flashbacks and nightmares. Individuals diagnosed with PTSD may suffer from severe anxiety and difficulty adjusting to their normal lifestyle. Additionally, they tend to have negative thoughts about themselves and/or others. This includes an inability to trust others, guilt, shame, and fear. They may show self destructive behavior, be easily frightened or startled, easily irritated and aggressive, and have trouble sleeping or concentrating. All of these internal issues may lead people to detach from the world, leading to difficulties in forming and maintaining close relationships. These symptoms vary from person to person and in severity.
PTSD is often a term used lightly on social media and in popular culture when it is a very serious mental health condition. To be diagnosed with PTSD, symptoms have to be severe enough to cause stress in daily life and last for more than a month. Often the symptoms develop right after the traumatic event, but other times they may emerge long after. It can be very harmful to those genuinely struggling with PTSD to use this term carelessly, as it can make being diagnosed and getting effective treatment more challenging.
PTSD in Teachers & Students
PTSD can have serious impacts on the school environment. It can affect both teacher mental health and student mental health in various ways. In teachers or other adults, it may present as difficulty sleeping and concentrating, changes in mood, loss of interest or pleasure in life, and always feeling on edge. Someone who might’ve loved to teach previously can lose interest completely. Anxiety, depression, and fatigue are also ways PTSD can present in teachers.
Similarly, students might show symptoms like these. Teens in high school may be especially prone to depression and anxiety. This can cause them to be irritable and hostile towards their classmates or teachers which can altogether add stress to a classroom. It's also important to consider how other students may perceive this: students may bully someone with PTSD due to their difficulty focusing, or may isolate them due to irritability. Schools are uniquely situated to address this and create a safe, empathetic environment for all students, faculty, and staff.
What Can Schools Do?
Reduce stigma. Many people struggling with mental health issues like PTSD don't seek help or support due to the stigma around mental health. School administrators can prevent this by creating a culture of openness, understanding, and support for both students and staff. When people feel as though they will be supported, they are more easily able to open up about their struggles and, in turn, feel better.
Use digital mental health resources. While it's important to discuss mental health openly and have supports like counseling available, much of one's healing journey happens on their own. Digital mental health resources offer individualized, 24/7 support that can easily fit into anyone's day. Even incorporating these resources into the classroom directly can help foster conversation, ease anxiety, and build connections.
Have patience & kindness. PTSD might not be easily visible - many people are battling this without anyone knowing. Approaching your students and teachers with kindness and understanding can go a long way.
PTSD with Neolth
Neolth is a digital stress and mental health support program for students and educators. We’re on a mission to help you stress less, build resilience, and become a part of our compassionate community. Our app helps you when you’re feeling overwhelmed with self-guided content, personalized for your mental health journey. Neolth has a growing community of Student Ambassadors from 170 schools and works with schools to improve access to mental health support for their students and teachers alike. You can learn more at neolth.com or sign up today at cloud.neolth.com.
About the Author:
Tahsina Riju (she/her) is an Editorial intern at Neolth and a senior at Smith College studying Psychology and Economics. She is passionate about working towards making mental health issues more known and the resources to deal with those issues more accessible in immigrant communities. Some of the things in psychology that have caught her attention are gender role beliefs, immigrant generational differences, and religion as a healing source. After graduation she’s planning to go into a career that combines both psychology and economics. When not in school, she likes to spend time with her cat, watch shows, and go out with friends.
