Understanding PTSD, Trauma, Triggers, and Treatment

Over the last 15 years, I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of meeting hundreds of seniors and veterans with varying needs from many walks of life. A relatively small percentage of them, mostly veterans, have experienced serious trauma in their lives that has led to different degrees of post-traumatic stress.

Considering June is PTSD Awareness Month, and Independence Day is approaching with all of the celebrations that include loud fireworks displays, I see this as the perfect opportunity to develop a better understanding of PTSD, trauma, triggers, and treatment so we can all support those we know who suffer from this disorder.          

What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that some people get after seeing or living through a dangerous event.  When in danger, it’s natural to feel afraid. This fear triggers many split-second changes in the body to prepare to defend against the danger or to avoid it. This “fight-or-flight” response is a healthy reaction meant to protect a person from harm. In PTSD, this reaction is changed or damaged. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened even when they’re no longer in danger.

What constitutes trauma?

Merriam-Webster defines trauma as “an injury (such as a wound) to living tissue caused by an extrinsic agent; a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury; and an emotional upset.”

Therefore, trauma takes many forms. Veterans have often faced traumas that have occurred during military conflict. Women, men, and children have experienced trauma after physical, mental, emotional, and sexual abuse. Moreover, others have been involved in terrifying accidents that are considered traumas.

Regardless of the circumstances, trauma results in varying levels of PTSD more often than not.

What are the primary triggers of PTSD?

Dementech Neurosciences says, “PTSD triggers depend on the people, sounds, scents or sights that are around a person leading up to or during a traumatic event…and are associated with an extreme fear response.”

Dementech describes 7 primary triggers of PTSD:

• People: People who were near an event that was traumatic, or were perpetrators of trauma can evoke distress
• Places: People with PTSD might relive their trauma when revisiting places that are linked to a traumatic event
• Particular feelings: like panic or stress, can remind a person of how they felt during the traumatic experience, causing them to re-experience their trauma
• Objects: Certain objects that were present or implicated in a traumatic experience can trigger an emotional response related to PTSD. This could be an item of clothing, a model of vehicle, or anything that held significance leading up to or during the trauma.
• Smells: A certain smell can also trigger traumatic memories, as scents are believed to have a stronger connection to memory than other senses.
• Sounds: Sounds that are the same or similar to a sound that was part of a traumatic event can be extremely triggering. Sound-based triggers are particularly common among victims of violent crime and ex-army veterans.
• Significant dates: Knowing the significant dates surrounding a traumatic event can be anxiety-inducing for people with PTSD. The awareness of a significant date can bring on thoughts, feelings, and memories related to trauma.

Are there effective ways to treat PTSD?

Many treatment techniques, sometimes combined, are being used with varying degrees of success:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy, to help people recognize their ways of thinking, or cognitive patterns, that keep them “stuck”
• Exposure therapy, to help people safely face what they fear, in order to learn to cope with it (virtual reality devices are often used to simulate a situation or setting in which the trauma took place)
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), which combines exposure therapy with a series of guided eye movements that help people process traumatic memories and change the way they respond to those memories
• Anti-anxiety medications and antidepressants can also ease the symptoms of PTSD. Some people with PTSD whose symptoms include insomnia or recurrent nightmares, find relief with a medication called prazosin that blocks the effect of adrenaline in the body.
• Osanetant, a medication that has been tested in humans to treat schizophrenia, and was found to be safe but ineffective, has recently been found to block fear memories in mice shortly after exposure to trauma; it targets a distinct group of cells in the brain that controls the formation and consolidation of fear memories. According to Foundation Scientific Council member Kerry Ressler, M.D., PhD, who led the research at Emory University, Osanetant shows potential to aid in preventing PTSD from developing if administered in the emergency room or battlefield, for example, before traumatic memories consolidate.

Our care team at Home Helpers is highly trained and wants to support those who suffer from PTSD, no matter what treatments are used to help them.

My Home Helpers team of professional caregivers provides non-medical in-home care services, including companion care, personal care, specialized care, recuperative care, 24-hour shift care, and more, to help make life easier for seniors and veterans with PTSD so they can maintain their independence and avoid isolation.

Additional veteran care services include help with transportation, pharmacy pickups, medication reminders, grocery shopping, and meal planning and preparation. Caregiving support services are compassionately provided in the home, a hospital, a rehabilitation center, an assisted living facility, a retirement community, or wherever needed.

We, at Home Helpers® Clearwater, are honored to have been ranked among the Activated Insights Top 100 Leaders in Experience for home care providers in 2025 and to have received the Best of Home Care® Provider of Choice, the Best of Home Care® Employer of Choice, and the Best of Home Care® Leader in Experience Awards in 2025, along with the Caring Super Star 2025 Award.

Home Helpers Clearwater proudly serves male and female seniors, veterans, and differently abled individuals in Bayonet Point, Clearwater, Clearwater Beach, Dunedin, Gulfport, Holiday, Hudson, Largo, Madeira Beach, New Port Richey, North Redington Beach, Oldsmar, Palm Harbor, Pass A Grille, Pass A Grille Beach, Port Richey, Redington Shores, Safety Harbor, Saint Petersburg, Seminole, South Pasadena, Tarpon Springs, Tierra Verde, Treasure Island, Trinity, and surrounding areas. Home Helpers®…we are Making Life Easier® 727.942.2539

Sources:

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Dementech Neurosciences

Brain & Behavior Research Foundation