Accidents and post traumatic stress

Hello ,

Sunday past me and some friends had an accident , we knocked over a guy running across the road near a settlement , according to his friends he was a little drunk. I saw the whole thing and I assisted the guy when we stopped but when I got to him I could see he was dead. Looked like his neck was broken and I felt no pulse.

It happened so fast , the saying accidents happens quick is really an understatement. The cops said we should not stress too much and the ambulance guys was really supportive. They could see that it was an accident and we were not at fault (we were driving about 80-90km going uphil)

That was Sunday , at first I was okay and I could actually take charge of the situation , I could check the guys pulse , call the ambulance and police etc. The thing is I am OCD and are on meds which I suspect helped me cope a lot better. However when I got home I had to wash my hands seker 20 times , I could not get the smell out of my mine and I could not sleep. When I did manage to sleep I was restless and I dreamt alot of what happened and I also cannot get the guys eyes out of my mind.( He was looking open eyes when I got to the body)

I am just worried that I feel so little except for the smell and images that I cannot get out of my head. Other than that I am good , almost better than most days ? Anyone here ever go through something like that ? I read somewhere that for some it only hits home after 2 days ? Is it my meds ? I do know that I cannot drive without some anxiety issues which was normal for me (OCD thingie) I use to picture accidents in my mind involving me , basically things like the worst case scenario. Now I am a little worse I feel , I def more skrikerag when people walk on the side of the road or someone runs in the street.

Hey Sparticus,

I'm sorry to hear about your accident. I'm certain it was frightening. With regard to your question however, you may be suffering Acute Anxiety Disorder.

Let me explain. PTSD is a form of psychotic break. It is associated with a sensory occurences that do not exist in reality, hypervigilance of scenarios associated with the traumatic event and heightened arousal. You have these things, however PTSD is diagnosed if symptoms pervade for more than a month.

In this case your symptoms appeared within 48 hours of the event. There is no way of predicting how long your symptoms will last, but one thing is certain: you need psychological trauma counselling right now. Your OCD makes it highly likely that your AAD will become PTSD.

I am not trying to frighten you, but I want you to understand the severity of this situation. Please seek help from a qualified mental health practioner immediately.

Research shows that effective treatment in the AAD stage greatly reduces the chance of long term sufferance in all manner of patients, even patients who suffer schizophrenia and anxiety based problems! So the good news is adequate counselling now will definitely help you!

I hope this helps, and you are able to find some help. Best wishes to you!

Go see a trauma counselor at the local police station,hopefully they can help

Korn1 said:

Go see a trauma counselor at the local police station,hopefully they can help

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This.

Know the feeling OP as I had a similar experience a few years back. Only difference was that guy ran into the side of my car...

EnchanterG said:

Hey Sparticus,

I'm sorry to hear about your accident. I'm certain it was frightening. With regard to your question however, you may be suffering Acute Anxiety Disorder.

Let me explain. PTSD is a form of psychotic break. It is associated with a sensory occurences that do not exist in reality, hypervigilance of scenarios associated with the traumatic event and heightened arousal. You have these things, however PTSD is diagnosed if symptoms pervade for more than a month.

In this case your symptoms appeared within 48 hours of the event. There is no way of predicting how long your symptoms will last, but one thing is certain: you need psychological trauma counselling right now. Your OCD makes it highly likely that your AAD will become PTSD.

I am not trying to frighten you, but I want you to understand the severity of this situation. Please seek help from a qualified mental health practioner immediately.

Research shows that effective treatment in the AAD stage greatly reduces the chance of long term sufferance in all manner of patients, even patients who suffer schizophrenia and anxiety based problems! So the good news is adequate counselling now will definitely help you!

I hope this helps, and you are able to find some help. Best wishes to you!

Click to expand...

Thanks !! I already made an appointment with my doc and I also have a monthly support meeting which is fortunately this week.

Damn that sucks... but yeah, follow the advice by the previous posters, it'll help you alot.


//I was honestly not expecting this when I opened the thread, I was expecting someone to be going on about PTSD after being hit by another car and wondering whether they could claim extra for it//

Didnt hit anyone, but hit a horse instead in a rural area in the Drakensberg and we carried on riding home and didn't stop to check the damage, but a few months after that I would replay the same scenario everytime I went around that area or if I was a passenger of the car, since it hit on left side where I was.

Now I am alright and don't have the trauma as much anymore and fine when I drive myself around there.

Sorry to hear your story Sparticus

Have hit a person before and its not pleasant, lucky for me the guy did not die.
I recognize a lot of what you have experienced, unfortunately there are lasting effects of what has happened.
I am a less confident driver because of the shock of hitting a live person, I hate driving at night now and am slightly paranoid.

Its definitely something that should (and can) be delt with though and you must go to that counseling.

All PTSD is your brain telling you that it never wants that thing to happen to you again, so it keeps telling your body to watch out.
Those flash backs and rehashing is your mind going "remember that... we hated it !"
Its a very effective survival mechanism that is working overtime... pretty much because its not something the mind is used to.

Oh BTW I have been hijacked and assaulted a few times so... yes with help these trauma's do get better. Well the dealing with the trauma part.