There are many kinds of stress in life. Without a curtain amount of stress, we would
never get out of bed, get to work, or grocery shop. With "normal" stress, there can
be cumulative stress. This means the stressful issues have piled up before any can
be addressed. Examples are the cars need new tires, Billy needs new shoes,
Martha and Jake are getting a divorce, the cat ran away. The list piles higher and
higher.
This stress may be normal for you. You may be able to cope just fine. However if you
"gunny sack" your stress" and you don't empty it , you have no room for anymore.
Then when some little something comes along and causes stress. You blow up,
usually with a response much stronger than the occasion calls for. It is the "straw
that broke the camel's back" So to speak. We must dump our "Gunny Sack"
Acute stress comes all at once, usually with little warning. A traffic accident, family
member illness, loss of a job and so on. Still if your "gunny sack" isn't full, you can
still manage to cope. You use coping skills that have worked before. Sometimes
you need a bit of assurance. This can come from a friend, pastor, or family member
who helps you sort through it all.
These names are generally the same. Police, Fire, EMS workers, and other
emergency responders, call it Critical Incident Stress. The medical community tends
to call it in civilians Traumatic Stress.
These types of stress usually result from a catastrophic event. Man made disasters
such as the World Trade Center, the Oklahoma City Bombing, schools shootings.
There are also natural disasters, floods, fires, and hurricanes.
These types of stress, take the person experiencing them, beyond their normal
coping ability. Although they may need some help in coping, their reactions are
usually normal for a major disaster or crisis. Although highly uncomfortable these
reactions normally resolve within 30 days.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder- PTSD
The symptoms created by Post Traumatic Stress in and of it
themselves are normal reactions to an abnormal event. In other
words expose 10 people to the same crisis and they all should react
the same way.
However if the symptoms don't resolve in 30 days, it can become
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). At that point it pathological
and you need a professional to help you.
