During a visit to a support center for young gay men in New York City, singer Lady Gaga has revealed that she has a mental disorder known as post-traumatic stress, following a rape she suffered when she was nineteen.
PTSD is a disease that may be experienced by people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic experience. It is common among war veterans, and also among those who have been victims of assaults, accidents, rapes, or abductions. According to the specialists, if the cause that causes it has been human (as in the case of Lady Gaga), its sequels are usually more serious than when the syndrome is triggered by some natural event, such as surviving an earthquake.
Those suffering from these disorders suffer recurring nightmares related to what happened to them and frightening thoughts that they can not control. But they can also fall into a mood that oscillates between sadness, depression and fits of anger. And in some cases, they can even become self-injuring.
For a diagnosis of PTSD, it is necessary for these symptoms to manifest for at least one month after having suffered the traumatic experience.
Fortunately, it can be treated through different types of therapies. One of them is the so-called cathartic method, which applies to those patients who maintain an avoidance behavior, refusing to accept what happened to them. What is sought in this case is that the person verbalises the experience he suffered so that he can release the emotions he has repressed and be aware of what happens to try to overcome it.
There are no exact figures on how many people have this type of disorder, except in the case of war veterans. It is estimated to be suffered by nearly 7% of the US and British military who were in Iraq or Afghanistan.
What some studies have revealed is that it affects women more than men (or, at least, they recognize it in greater numbers) and people who have already suffered other negative or unpleasant experiences in their lives.
Fortunately, in the case of Lady Gaga, the singer says that the therapies and the support of the people around her have helped her to face this terrible experience.
