Post-traumatic stress
One study of young adult survivors showed that more than 20% had post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD (W. Hobbie et al., Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 18, Issue 24 (December), 2000: 4060-4066). If you're having symptoms you think may be related to PTSD, learning about the most common PTSD symptoms and the criteria for diagnosing it can help you understand what is happening to your mind and your body. The most common symptoms of PTSD are:
- Memories, dreams or nightmares about events that intrude on daily life
- Flashbacks or feelings that traumatic events are happening again
- Feelings of intense distress, fear or anger when reminded of or when thinking about traumatic events
- Physical reactions such as nausea or rapid heart rate when reminded of or when thinking about traumatic events
- Problems with memory loss or attempts to avoid people or situations to protect yourself
- Feelings or outburts of extreme irritability or anger
- Feelings of being overly and constantly alert
- Problems falling asleep or staying asleep
- Exaggerated startle response
- Difficulty concentrating
In order to be diagnosed with PTSD, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV) states that the following two criteria must be met:
- The person must have experienced one or more events that involved threatened death or physical injury, or a threat to their own or others' physical integrity. These parameters specifically include learning that one (or one's child) has a life-threatening disease.
- The person's response included intense fear, helplessness or horror.
If you think you may have PTSD or if you are having some of these symptoms, talk to your doctor or social worker or other member of your health care team as soon as possible. They can help you get the support you need to work through your emotions and responses so that they don't intrude on your life.
Dr. Anne E. Kazak, Ph.D. did a presentation entitled "Post-traumatic Stress: Helping Families Survive Childhood Cancer" for one of our internet conferences. It addresses the issues related to survivor reactions to having had childhood cancer or to being the parent of a childhood cancer survivor and suggests strategies to reduce anxiety. Click here to listen to an archived version or here to order a free CD.
