What is post-traumatic stress disorder?
Understanding post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.
Stress and anxiety can affect your nervous system no matter who you are. Our body’s response to dangerous or stressful situations causes changes in cognition, a flood of hormones to boost alertness and heart rate, and an influx of blood to the muscles to prepare the body for action – fight or flight. This reaction is a normal physiological reaction to these situations. However, sometimes our body continues to respond after a traumatic event(s), which could develop into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD can happen after a person suffers a trauma that’s shocking, terrifying, or dangerous. The trauma can be a single event, like a car crash, or from chronic traumatic stress caused by events such as the pandemic. Not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will develop PTSD. It depends on how an individual’s body and mind processes what was experienced. Anyone, no matter their age, ethnicity, or gender can develop PTSD.
What are the symptoms?
Reliving a traumatic experience over and over (flashbacks), avoiding people or places that are reminders of the event, nightmares, emotional detachment, difficulty sleeping and focusing, irritability, and anxiety are some of the symptoms. Symptoms can happen any time, even years after a traumatic event.
Need help?
If you’re experiencing chronic stress or PTSD symptoms, talk to your primary care provider or schedule an appointment with a therapist. Getting treatment as soon as possible can help prevent your symptoms from getting worse. If you need help finding a therapist near you, call Lucet at 1-866-287-9569.
Learn more
- To learn about mental health, go to the Your mental health matters section of BlueAnswers at FloridaBlue.com.
- Visit or call one of our Florida Blue Centers and talk with one of our community specialists. They can help connect you to resources in your area and answer any questions you have. Visit your local center or call 1-877-352-5830 to speak to a community specialist. Our Centers are available to anyone, whether you’re a member or not.
- meQuilibrium is an online mental well-being program designed to help you face each day with confidence. By using meQuilibrium, you can build resilience, learn ways to combat stress and cope with anxiety, improve your sleep, and learn tips to help others cope with their mental health. It’s available at no extra cost with most health plans. Look for meQuilibrium in the Find & Get Care section of your member account.
- Members can register for a Florida Blue health webinar. We offer different sessions on health-related topics that you may find helpful. If you’re not a Florida Blue member, you can find helpful mental health webinars on our YouTube channel. And, our Florida Blue Centers offer a mental health class every month that’s open to the public. Go to our Florida Blue Centers website to find more information about monthly classes.
*Florida Blue contracts with Lucet, a New Directions Behavioral Health company, to provide behavioral health services.
**meQuilibrium is an independent company contracted by Florida Blue to provide health and wellness services and resources to members. This benefit is available to Florida Blue members age 18 and older. Eligibility is limited to members with an individual or family plan, an individual or family ACA plan and members with coverage from their fully insured group employer health plan.