After surviving a traumatic experience, it’s common to feel sad, frightened, and anxious. However, if this upset is continuously present for extended periods of time, you may have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

PTSD is a mental health condition commonly associated with veterans and rape victims, but anyone who has lived through traumatic events can experience related symptoms. These include anxiety, panic attacks, major depression, suicidal thoughts, among others. Some people who experience this condition adopt unhealthy coping habits like drug or alcohol use, but there are better ways to manage your symptoms. Below are specific ways to manage PTSD at home.

Ketamine Therapy

Ketamine therapy is emerging as a viable treatment option for people experiencing severe mental health issues such as treatment-resistant depression and anxiety disorders like PTSD. This therapy is useful for those who aren’t experiencing sufficient remission from using mainstream antidepressants. Nasal sprays with lower ketamine dosages called Esketamine are also alternative ways to manage treatment at home. Alternatively, you can turn to ketamine infusion as an effective means to combat your symptoms.

This procedure is conducted using intravenous infusions, which last between 45-90 mins. Many experts recommend a series of infusions–up to six, over a 2-4 week period. Ketamine’s effects soothe patients and make them relaxed because pain receptors are temporarily blocked. Patients often describe floating, tingling sensations, and even mild hallucinations during the ketamine infusion process. Receiving effective treatment requires partnering with good ketamine treatment centers for the best results. Reputable alternative medicine resources such as Healing Maps can help with this need.

Healing Maps provides clients with useful information on several alternative medicine treatment options and locations for clinics, retreats, and centers. Ketamine clinics, ibogaine treatment centers, and ayahuasca retreats are the prominent alternative medicine treatment locations that clients can select from. They have an extensive network of ketamine providers that readers can browse to find the best ketamine clinics. The ketamine clinics of Los Angeles, Ketamine Center of Connecticut, and Ketamine Health Centres in Florida are some of the ketamine infusion clinics dispersed countrywide that clients can opt for. Additionally, their website has helpful articles that educate readers on a wide range of alternative medicine treatment options for mental health issues.

Aerobic Exercises

Health experts have frequently touted exercise as having many physical and mental health benefits for the human body. Multiple research proves that exercise effectively combats stress, making it an effective treatment against PTSD since it’s a stress-related disorder. Consequently, you can manage your symptoms at home by exercising to reduce stress. Aerobic exercises like walking, jumping rope, and jogging, are particularly effective in PTSD management since they keep heart rate and blood pressure normalized. You can also try hydrotherapy through swimming, as this improves stamina, releases endorphins, and boosts self-esteem, among other several relaxation benefits. A swimming pool at home would be the most convenient option for optimum exercising and relaxation therapy. Good pool companies such as Olympus Pools can help with these concerns.

Olympus Pools is one of the most recognized pool construction companies in Lakeland FL. They’re widely renowned for their quick completion times and top-notch artistry. Olympos Pools ensures that every pool design caters uniquely to customers’ tastes, budget, and space. Custom spas, waterfalls, and outdoor kitchens are other services they provide to bring clients’ backyard dreams to life. What’s more, these pool builders have an excellent customer service reputation, helping customers every step of the way through their new pool construction project.

Pets & PTSD

Using pets to cope with this condition is another practical approach that’s slowly gaining ground among sufferers of the condition. Several studies report the antidepressant effects that trained animals to have on people experiencing PTSD-related anxiety and depression. These trained animals can recognize, prevent, and interrupt the onset of your negative symptoms.

Research indicates that spending just a week with a trained dog can improve your PTSD symptoms by a whopping 82%, so having a trained pet around is a serious option to consider.

However, having animals around the home necessitates that you provide them with a safe environment. Having pet-friendly house plants is vital here, and Lively Root brands can help with these concerns. Lively Root ensures that you keep your furry friend safe by choosing non-toxic plants for your home. Common houseplants like the spider plant, Boston fern, money tree, African violet, ponytail palm, and staghorn fern are some of the pet-friendly house plants that homeowners can select from to maintain greenery around the home without endangering their pets.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been used by psychologists and psychiatrists alike in treating several mood disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder. CBT has also been employed in treating PTSD symptoms to help patients overcome their stress. Therapists help patients modify their cognitive distortions to develop more balanced ways of thinking. Patients are also exposed to trauma reminders in a controlled environment, allowing them to confront their distress head-on. This way, patients experience beneficial effects such as gaining a more objective understanding of their trauma, a greater sense of self-control and coping better with symptoms. Research shows CBT to be a safe and effective therapy for chronic and acute PTSD. CBT shows better remission rates than other supportive psychotherapy, psychodynamic therapy, hypnotherapy, and other treatment options.

Medications

Several medications are also useful in helping people cope with their PTSD symptoms. People with PTSD process threats differently due to an imbalance in the brain’s neurotransmitters, making them experience unwarranted flight responses. Medications work by helping patients avoid thinking about their stress and giving them a more positive outlook on life. Drugs that affect your brain’s serotonin or norepinephrine like paroxetine and sertraline are the go-to options for many mental health experts. Doctors may also prescribe certain “off-label” drugs, including antidepressants and beta-blockers if need be. The medication you’ll receive mainly depends on the kinds of trouble you’re experiencing and whether you have side effects like substance abuse or bipolar disorder.

In conclusion, PTSD can be stressful to manage due to the constant negative feelings that manifest as its symptoms. However, the above-listed suggestions combined with several other helpful options are useful in combating PTSD, allowing many people to live relatively normal lives.