PTSD services offered in Biltmore Corridor , Phoenix, AZ

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can strike people at any age, causing extreme anxiety and symptoms that make them withdraw from friends and trigger sudden anger or behavioral problems. At Cora Health Solutions in the Biltmore Corridor of Phoenix, Arizona, Betsy Serrano, PMHNP, offers personalized care for PTSD, using medication and therapy to ease your symptoms and help you learn to manage lingering emotions. Call Cora Health Solutions or use online booking to request an appointment and begin PTSD treatment today.

FAQ's

Why do I have PTSD?

PTSD develops after you experience a dangerous situation or threatening event or suffer long-term emotional abuse. The traumatic events that often cause PTSD include:

Military duty
Gun violence
Assault or abuse (physical or sexual)
Domestic violence
Robberies
Accidents (car, plane, boat, etc.)
Death of a loved one
Natural disasters

It’s natural to feel worried or fearful after a traumatic event. You may have PTSD if these feelings don’t improve within a month.

What PTSD symptoms might I experience?

Anxiety is the primary symptom of PTSD, but it’s not the only one you will experience. If you have PTSD, you also have:

Intrusion symptoms

Intrusion symptoms include nightmares and sudden flashbacks. Flashbacks bring back memories that trigger intense feelings of anxiety, anger, and fear.

Mood changes

Many people with PTSD develop depression. You may also feel guilt or shame over being unable to prevent the trauma (even though there’s nothing you could have done).

Avoidance

Avoidance means you go out of your way to avoid the places, activities, and people that remind you of the trauma. Your need to avoid memories may be so strong you change your daily life, possibly even avoiding work.

Arousal and reactivity symptoms

These symptoms include irritability, feeling on edge, insomnia, and behaviors like sudden outbursts of anger that are out of character compared to the way you were before the trauma.

Why do my PTSD symptoms suddenly flare up?

When experiencing a traumatic event, your brain takes in all the sights, sounds, and smells occurring in that moment. You don’t remember the details because your brain protects you by locking them into your subconscious.

One day, you encounter one of the details, and it triggers the memory. As a result, you suddenly relive the trauma, often triggering intense emotions and behaviors that you can’t control.

How is PTSD treated?

Your experienced Cora Health Solutions provider completes an evaluation and recommends a personalized treatment plan. The conventional approach typically involves medications that ease your PTSD symptoms as well as other issues you may have, like depression, anxiety, and anger.

Talk therapy can also help you process and overcome the traumatic memories and learn to manage your feelings and flashbacks.

Call Cora Health Solutions or use online booking to schedule an appointment and start treatment to overcome the challenges of PTSD.