Why is it important that the symptoms of PTSD or Combat Trauma are acted upon and not ignored?
It is important to realise that PTSD is a long-term trauma reaction. What that means is that it lasts for longer than three months. To begin with, an Acute Stress Reaction (ASR) develops. It is quite normal for an ASR to develop following exposure to a traumatic event. All that this means is that the brain has registered the memories of a personally dangerous situation and is reminding the individual exposed to what actually happened and how they reacted to it emotionally. There is a very good reason for remembering a traumatic event, even over and over again, because it facilitates the imprinting in long-term memory of everything that might be useful to personal survival in the future and, if you like, ‘milks’ the experience for all that it is worth so that the most useful information is imprinted and never forgotten. Survival is the strongest human instinct and remembering everything that occurred during a survival experience is regarded as being vital for the future. This is especia
