Mark Baxter

So by that I mean some of the common experiences are re-experiencing,

So that would be having intrusive thoughts or memories or dreams, having intrusive somatic or body-based or emotional kind of flashbacks.

So hugely elevated heart rate, gastrointestinal problems, flare-ups in kind of fear or terror.

People become very hypervigilant so that they're really worried about what's going to happen next.

They might be very, very hypervigilant about people in their environment if they've been hurt by someone else.

They might not be able to trust people in the same way, and that might really impact their ability to participate in life.

People can go into really big mood disturbances, so they can explode with anger, too much expression, or they can really go into a numb-out, too little expression, so they can't engage with any joy with activities they used to find enjoyable.

And also problems with concentration, problems with memory, anxiety.

So very debilitating problems where a person's constantly being activated and re-triggered.

So their body is feeling and acting as if the trauma is still happening.

And also these really impactful problems on mood, on perception, on belief systems about themselves and trust of others.

And also all these cognitive issues and problems in that way too.

And people who get stuck in post-traumatic stress disorder go on to have physical health problems as well.

That level of cortisol and adrenaline constantly going through the body.

can really ravage a person's physical health.

And obviously their relationships become affected, their ability to work.

And so it has a huge impact on people's livelihoods, on their mental health, obviously, and their relationships.

So it's a really difficult one for people to live with.

Yeah.

Yeah, and it's scary to get stuck in because people feel like they're losing their mind.