Sleep disturbance

If you are constantly agitated, on alert for danger and unable to relax, it is very difficult to enjoy a good night sleep. Sleep disturbance is in fact the most common of the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Sleep disturbance in people suffering with PTSD may present itself in several ways: you may find it very difficult to settle to sleep; you may experience waking in the middle of the night having nightmares, you may be crying out in sleep or suffer with restless legs and arms or you may be waking very early in the morning being unable to fall back to sleep.

Peter describes his experience when he was 26 years old military pilot and one of the engines of his plane caught fire during a military air display. He managed to land the plane and he and his co-pilot was pulled out of the plane seconds before the plane exploded into a fireball. Immediately after the trauma he couldn’t stop himself from sleeping and slept for many hours and he describes it felt like being in a coma. Then four days later, exactly the opposite happened. He would lay awake in bed for hours unable to settle to sleep. When he eventually did get to sleep, he had horrible nightmares and kept waking up in cold sweat and terror. He would only be able to sleep up to four hours a night. He also became very irritable and experienced sudden rushes of anger which he found impossible to control. The smallest things would make him very angry, such as if someone forgot to close the door. After a while his friends started to behave cautiously around him. This made Peter feel even angrier and he became bitter and resentful towards his friends. He felt he had lost all his previous confidence. He had problems remembering appointments and dates and found it very hard to concentrate.

Bad temper and lack of concentration

You may find yourself becoming very sensitive, negative and irritable in ways that were very unlike you before the traumatic event. You can be angry with yourself for not being able to control and change these emotions. You may find yourself shouting at people around you at home or at work about trivial thing or because you feel they are pressing you to make simple decisions you feel unable to make. Often that deep-seated anger demonstrates itself in biting sarcasm.

Exaggerated concern for safety

If the trauma you experienced was sudden and dramatic, you may feel your previous sense of safety and your ability to handle situations has been shaken. You may start being overly watchful of your environment. You may see potential danger in ordinary situations, for example you may be very careful about where you sit when going out. This concern may also extend to the people you are going out with and they may see you as over-controlling. This feeling of being constantly on red alert can be extremely draining and energy consuming.

Exaggerated startle response and panic attacks

You may find that things like unexpected movements or sudden noises start making you feel nervous and on edge. This could lead to full blown panic attacks. A panic attack is a sign of an extreme stress overload and is a sign that there are still some deep feelings to be dealt with. You need to understand that panic attacks are not a start of a new disease; they are a way of your body telling you that you need to pay more attention to yourself and your healing. Using strategies described in The Linden Method can help you understand your panic attacks and teach you how to stop having them: