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PTSD shatters assumptions about the person and the world.

Dr. Edward MacPhee, Psychiatrist, explains what PTSD is.

Transcript

PTSD, to me, centers on a traumatic experience,

which for most people is the absolute

worst experience that they can have.

People generally think of themselves as being

a good person, that the world is fair,

that the world is safe, and when a trauma happens,

it shatters these assumptions about

the person and the world.

And I think that the symptoms of PTSD

and the anxiety about this sort of thing

happening again, the avoidance of reminders

that can set off the anxiety, all these things

kind of tie into the traumatic experience,

and so PTSD is a continuation of that experience,

and I think the important thing with treatment,

especially with psychotherapy, is to create some sort of

understanding and resolution of these experiences,

to integrate them into the person's life

so that they can understand themselves

and their place in the world better.

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