Published: Jun. 10, 2025 at 4:13 PM CDT
Watch the video on the KKTV 11 News Website.
Porch Light Health spoke with KKTV 11 News about how to help yourself or a loved one with PTSD.
Aspen Andrews
Welcome to the 11 Alert Desk. I’m digital content producer Aspen Andrews, and I’m here with Steve Carleton, Chief Clinical Officer at Porch Light Health. June is PTSD Awareness Month. Today, we’re going to talk a little bit about what exactly is PTSD and how can you help a loved one who’s struggling with PTSD. So first off, I’d like to start with, how exactly does trauma factor into PTSD?
Steve Carleton
Yeah, great question. Good to be with you, Aspen. So when we think about trauma, this word gets thrown a lot lately. And when we’re talking about trauma, specifically, we’re talking about an incident so horrific or terrifying or shocking or outside of the norm that you actually experience this chemical, toxic experience, this adrenal dump, that can cause lasting impacts. Anytime our body is shocked like that, it takes time to recover. And so when we talk about trauma, it’s less about what happened and more about this physiological response in the body that people need to recover from.
Aspen Andrews
Could you explain a little bit about what exactly is PTSD?
Steve Carleton
Absolutely. Experiencing a trauma, unfortunately, is something that the vast, vast majority of humans are going to experience in their lifetime. It’s a part of life, death, dying, and accidents, and other incidents that that we’d prefer to not experience, but unfortunately, they are more commonly a part of human life. What we know about trauma, specifically, is that out of the 100% of traumas that occur to people, only about 15% of people go on to develop PTSD. When we think about PTSD, we’re more thinking about what is interrupting that recovery process. A good example of this is if you think about if anybody out there has ever been rear-ended in their car. It probably took weeks, if not months, before that immediate, anytime you hit your break at a stoplight, being hyper vigilant, looking in your rear view mirror, wondering if you’re going to get hit again. It took time for that to go away. That is a normal reaction. That’s a healthy reaction. Anytime a trauma happens, it resets our safety meter, so to speak, and that’s normal. Ptsd happens when People just… That natural recovery process is interrupted in some form or fashion.
Aspen Andrews
Yeah, and following up with that a little bit, what exactly can happen to a person if they don’t address the PTSD?
Steve Carleton
If they don’t address the trauma and PTSD develops, there’s four main symptoms of PTSD that I can explain to people relatively quickly. This is what starts happen if something interrupts that recovery. So the intrusive thoughts, memories, right? And this intrusive memory of the trauma, it can come up in a number of different ways. It can come up as images. It can come up as nightmares. It can also just come up as an emotional charge, an emotional shock, right? So you’re not actually tying what’s happening physiologically and emotionally to the event, but your body is remembering that event at inappropriate times and throwing it. So this intrusive aspect to it Avoidance is the next piece. It’s really common after people experience a trauma to try and shove it down, to try and avoid it, to not think about it, talk about it, deal with it. It’s a common issue. The next piece is just mood and cognitive changes. It can change how people think, and it can change how people interact and function on a day-to-day basis. Then lastly, just the hypervigilance. If you’re dealing with these intrusive thoughts, and you’re trying your best to avoid them, and you’re managing these changes to how you perceive the world around you, it can just lead to people feeling on edge, right?
Steve Carleton
And that impacts sleep, that impacts relationships, that impacts just how safe you’re going to feel out there in the world. And so that’s in a nutshell, what can start to happen with unresolved trauma.
Aspen Andrews
Could you talk a little bit about why exactly veterans can be prone to it?
Steve Carleton
Yeah. So when we When you think about veteran populations, especially people that have served downrange, people that have served overseas in combat zones, you’re talking about stacking multiple traumatic events on top of one another. It’s a common experience among veterans. When you start to stack these traumas on top of each other, let’s say every day you got in your car, you went out and you got rear-ended. Daily, these things are happening that are interrupting, and you’re forgetting about the trauma trauma that happened two months ago and just dealing with the one today. And so your body, your mind, your heart, physiologically, you just never get to settle and come down. And so that’s what can lead to higher rates of PTSD among veterans.
Aspen Andrews
And how would you recommend for someone to talk to a loved one who might be experiencing symptoms of PTSD?
Steve Carleton
It’s a tricky thing. With trauma and with PTSD in particular, the main symptom of it is avoidance. So you’re dealing with a problem where the reason it is a problem is that people are prone to avoiding it. Nobody wants to talk about the worst things that ever happened to them. It’s a very natural response. And so what you can do is express concern. Find times to express concern, noticing differences, just showing up, being there for people. It can be really hard to find help as well. And so if you are a loved one and somebody, and you’ve had a conversation expressing concern and offering to help them find a therapist, offering them to help find a place they can go to talk and heal can be very helpful.
Aspen Andrews
As we wrap things up, could you tell our viewers exactly where they can go for more information?
Steve Carleton
Absolutely. I think porchlighthealth.com. is a great place to start. We offer services all over Colorado. I think psychology today is another great tool if you’re looking for a therapist. Those are great places to start to just go and learn more and get more information about PTSD and what your treatment options are.
Aspen Andrews
Well, thank you so much for joining us today to talk a little bit about PTSD.
Steve Carleton
Yeah, my pleasure.
