It’s often said that there’s nothing guaranteed in life except for death and taxes. But that’s not true. Something else that is guaranteed in life is pain. It can be physical pain, it can be emotional, it can be psychological, and it can even be all three. Everyone will be hurt in some way at some point in their lives.

Most people move on from the things that hurt. Some pick themselves up and walk off. But certain kinds of pain aren’t easy to shake off. Women will have to face certain realities in life, and these realities can sometimes hurt them in ways that can stay with them for years after the fact.

At Luxe Recovery, we want to help those who have to struggle with substance abuse, process addiction, and mental health concerns such as trauma.

What is Post-traumatic Stress Disorder?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that develops as a result of trauma. People who have PTSD struggle with symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive thoughts, and severe anxiety regarding the event that traumatized them.

People with PTSD often become avoidant as they become anxious about triggering their symptoms. Because of this, PTSD can have a debilitating impact on a person’s day-to-day life.

To be diagnosed with PTSD, symptoms must be present for at least a month in adults. However, it should be noted that not everyone who experiences trauma will develop PTSD as a result.

Prevalence of PTSD

Approximately 6 out of every 100 individuals will encounter PTSD at some point in their lives. While everyone who experiences a traumatic event is at risk of posttraumatic stress disorder, women are particularly prone to developing the disorder. Some figures estimate that women are twice as likely to develop PTSD than men, though other reports suggest that they are three times more likely.

How is PTSD diagnosed?

The diagnosis of PTSD is carried out by a qualified mental health professional, who employs a range of thorough clinical assessment tools.

This process encompasses a clinical interview, various psychological assessments, and a review of the individual’s medical history. The clinician engages in a discussion regarding the signs and symptoms to determine if they are attributable to PTSD or another mental health disorder.

Additionally, the presence of co-occurring disorders (comorbidities) is assessed and excluded. A diagnosis is generally made when the symptoms are enduring over time and result in considerable clinical distress or functional impairment across multiple domains.

Why Are Women More Likely to Develop PTSD?

The reasons why women are more prone than men to develop PTSD are varied. One of those reasons is that women have a higher prevalence of certain traumas. As mentioned above, women are more likely than men to be the victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse.

Societal factors can influence the prevalence of PTSD. Some studies show that in communities with more traditional gender roles, wherein men have more apparent social power than women, PTSD is more evident because women are in a more precarious position.

Women may also experience trauma more than once in their lifetimes. For example, it’s often the case that a woman will be sexually assaulted more than once. This doesn’t mean that she’ll be raped more than once per se, but it can mean that she will be groped, harassed, or coerced more than once in her lifetime.

Another reason that men and women have differences when it comes to PTSD is in the way that they process trauma. Men with PTSD are more likely to deal with their issues externally, which can sometimes lead to developing substance use disorder (SUD).

Women, conversely, are more likely to internalize their problems, which can make them more vulnerable to developing anxiety and depression.

Women are also more likely to wait before seeking treatment for PTSD. Men, on average, wait about a year, while women wait around 4. Untreated PTSD can have serious mental and physical effects on a person’s health.

Causes of PTSD in Women?

People develop PTSD as a result of experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. This traumatic event can be fighting in war, being involved in a major accident, getting caught in a natural disaster, or being the victim of violence. Men and women who experience or witness these traumatic events may experience PTSD as a result.

When it comes to women developing PTSD, the traumatic event is often sexual. Women are at high risk for some form of sexual assault (SA). The CDC estimates that more than half of all women in the United States will experience some form of sexual violence, and 1 in 4 women will be the victim of either completed or attempted rape.

This can be further complicated by the age at which women are first assaulted. Around 4 out of 5 rape survivors were attacked before they turned 25, and half of them were assaulted before they turned 18.

Sexual assault already carries some of the highest risk for long-term trauma, but trauma early in life can have a greater impact. Girls are more likely than men to be victims of childhood sexual abuse, with reports indicating that about 1 in 4 girls are victimized compared to 1 in 20 boys.

Regardless of the victim’s gender, the perpetrator is usually a family member or someone else whom the child knows and trusts.

This can make women feel powerless and leave deep psychological wounds that may never fully heal. For women who serve in the military, their trauma may be compounded as they may see active combat and be the victim of sexual assault.

Another traumatic event that can lead to the development of PTSD in women is intimate partner violence (IPV). This involves a romantic partner being physically, psychologically, or emotionally abusive.

Abusive behaviors can involve physical violence, sexual violence, stalking, or verbal abuse.

Around 41 per cent of women and 26 per cent of men will experience IPV in their lifetime. So, while it’s not exclusive to women, it’s more prevalent among women. IPV, especially if it turns physical, can lead to a person developing Complex PTSD (C-PTSD).

What Are PTSD Symptoms in Women?

The symptoms of PTSD can be similar between men and women. The main difference is that women tend to experience symptoms differently and have more distress from their symptoms than men, and certain symptoms, while they can be present in men and women, tend to be more pronounced in women. The symptoms of PTSD in women can include:

Avoidance

Avoidance behaviors are common in women who have PTSD. They may avoid places, people, or activities that can remind them of their trauma. This avoidance behavior can also include emotional avoidance, and women may avoid talking or thinking about the event that traumatized them.

Hyperarousal

Another common PTSD symptom in women is hyperarousal. What this means is that they will be more reactive and easily startled. They’ll constantly feel on edge and may have trouble sleeping. They may also have outbursts of anger and become hypervigilant.

Intrusive Thoughts

Many women with PTSD often re-experience their trauma in a variety of ways. Many will have flashbacks that will make them feel as if they are experiencing their traumatic event all over again. They may also have nightmares about what happened to them and even think about it, even if they’d rather not.

Emotional Irregularities

Women who have PTSD may find it difficult to regulate their emotions. They can have intense emotional reactions and mood swings.

Conversely, some women may become emotionally numb and shut their feelings down. They can become detached from others and even themselves. They may lose interest in things they once enjoyed. They may find it difficult to feel even positive emotions and become socially isolated.

Physical Symptoms

PTSD can present with several physical symptoms, such as headaches, gastrointestinal issues, and chronic pain. These can stem from the psychological stress of trauma.

How to Treat PTSD?

There are several ways in which a mental health professional may treat PTSD. Some of these ways include:

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is a type of therapy that believes that traumatic memories can get ‘stuck’ in the brain and cannot be properly processed.

By using bilateral stimulation techniques such as gentle taps, alternating sound cues, or following the movement of a therapist’s fingers, these memories can get ‘unstuck’ and be properly processed.

By processing these memories, the emotional intensity associated with them can be decreased. Many people with PTSD and other trauma-related disorders find that EMDR can be immensely helpful.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy is a type of therapy wherein a patient is gradually exposed to their triggers in a safe, controlled setting. The idea behind it is that gradual exposure can help someone acclimate to their trigger and develop a tolerance for it, reducing fear and avoidance.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Another effective form of treatment for PTSD in women is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT is focused on identifying and changing negative thought patterns and behaviors related to the trauma.

Medication

Medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) can be prescribed to manage depression, anxiety, and intrusive thoughts, all of which are PTSD symptoms. These medications can help stabilize mood and reduce the intensity of PTSD symptoms.

Manage Symptoms of PTSD at Luxe Recovery

PTSD has a profound effect on people. Hence, early diagnosis and treatment are essential. Many who have this condition can feel as if it is what defines them. To women who have it, the event that traumatized them can be a focal point in their lives.

The event can be a delineation between who they were and who the trauma made them. Many women stop seeing themselves as people and may see themselves as fundamentally broken.

But that’s not true at all. Being traumatized means that someone has been hurt. It doesn’t mean that they’re broken. Even if it did, what’s broken can be fixed.

At Luxe Recovery, we want to help you process your trauma. Contact us now, and we will help you begin to heal. We take most forms of insurance.