A Primer on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD - and Self-Medication with Alcohol

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition that many people have suffered from at one time or another. If untreated,  PTSD can lead people to indulging in addictive behaviors.  For example, someone who was once a casual drinker may now have increased his alcohol consumption. 

We hear all the time about soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Exposed to the horror of actual or threatened death or serious injury, they re-experience the trauma through not being able to stop thinking about it, flashbacks, nightmares or intense body reactions to certain situations. They report feeling numb, not interested in anything, depressed and having no sense of future. Symptoms may include difficulty sleeping, irritability and always being on guard. Many military and ex-military self-medicate with alcohol or other drugs and become addicted.