Is ptsd be aggravated or another episode of it caused by?

performing cpr on a dead close relative?
What Im trying to ask is if someone already has ptsd, can there be more than one ptsd or is it all the same and just increased each time something else happens that traumatizes the person? Does retraumatization make it worse?
What causes the extreme imagery and severe memory increase of the flashbacks in ptsd?

I think everyone has different ways of dealing with PTSD.

I was involved with friends that had died during 911 and then took about 2 yrs to die after the planes hit due to injuries. THe Katrina happened.... I went down to help because I thought I was over it. I wasnt. I locked myself in my house for about 2 weeks when I got back home.

I really feel like if you already have issues on how you deal with things that will depend on how you deal with PTSD. I freaked out for about a 3 weeks. I alphabetized every canfood in my house, i smoked 2 packs a day , everything in my house and car was spotless. Then one day I ran out of energy and slept for about 4 days straight. Every since then I have been a productive member of society and I can deal with issues better. I felt like I have already seen the worst things in this life and I made it through it after a litte tweaking.
I kept a journal for about a year and then I burned it with a big ceremony with my friends and family.

You can only dwell on trauma for so long before you just have to say "snap out of it". I also realized I had adrenal fatigue so I started taking suppliments to help build my body back to normal. THen I got into working out 3-4 days a week.

Who know what really helped in the end. It may have been a combination and me just being a strong minded person to begin with. You never know something is really bad until you die........then and only then do you know if it was a bad experience... until then ......everything is a growing experience and should be embraced as such.

Peace, Stephanie

Check WikiPedia.org for more details but, there *is* a specific type of PTSD known now as Complex-PTSD, usually caused by repeating the traumatic experience in the world as you experienced it before and completely outside of any treatment. Report It

Having had one traumatic event that caused PTSD, then being retraumatized by another event would exacerbate the PTSD. PTSD doesn't differ for each event. It's the same thing. Only with each new trauma, you now have a compounded effect.

The extreme imagery and flashbacks are caused by the amygdala and autonomic nervous system going on hyper alert. Once there's been a major trauma it's as if your internal alarm system gets stuck in the ON position and you can't shut if off. You are forever reliving the previous trauma and you're forever on the alert for anything else that could possibly be similar.