“They were all drunk. I had been in bed sick that night, and I woke up and this was happening to me, and it was horrific,” Blake says. The third man, who was Blake’s domestic partner of eight years, claimed to be on the balcony smoking while the assault took place, Blake says. I need help, I’ve been attacked, Blake yelled as his partner walked into the room. “He didn’t understand, and then he assaulted me,” says Blake, saying that his partner had been under the influence at the time. Blake was able to break away to call 911 from his balcony, but a struggle ensued with one of the men, and Blake alleges he was pushed down seven stories. He says he almost died. Blake says he knew something bad had happened to him that night but never brought charges against the men he says attacked him. And as time passed after the traumatic event allegedly occurred, Blake says he never shared the story of his experience with anyone but one friend. “I started shutting down. I started pulling away and isolating from people. I had explosive bursts of anger where I had no idea what was happening to me,” he says. Two years later, Blake was reading an article about sexual assault and called the friend he had told. “I think this actually happened to me that night,” he explained. I know it did, he says his friend replied. “He knew I wasn’t processing it.” A few months later, Blake sought out a therapist who diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative amnesia, a condition characterized by memory gaps and the inability to recall personal information, usually after a traumatic event. “It’s not that you don’t remember,” he remembers the therapist explaining. “Everything is there — it’s just fragmented like a broken mirror.” Hyperarousal symptoms — which can include irritability, aggressive hypervigilance, and a heightened startle reaction — are also hallmark signs of PTSD, Berry says. “They’re always scanning their environment for some type of abuse or trauma that could happen,” she adds. People with PTSD avoid situations that remind them of the trauma, such as crowded subways or events where large groups gather. They also have negative thoughts, feelings, or views; a decreased interest in activities; and feelings of isolation, which worsen after the trauma. PTSD is more common in women than in men. About 10 percent of women will develop PTSD compared with 4 percent of men. (2) Military service members in combat also have higher rates of PTSD, Berry said.
PTSD Risk Factors
Although many people will experience a traumatic event, “not everyone exposed to trauma actually develops PTSD,” Berry says. Nevertheless, experts say there are several risk factors that can make a person more likely to develop PTSD. Some include: (3)
Severity and frequency of traumaChildhood traumaA history of mental illness or substance abuseLittle or a lack of social support after the eventDealing with extra stress after an event such as the loss of a loved one, a job or home
In 2015, he mixed the medications he was taking in an effort to end his life. “You reach a point where there’s no quality of life left,” he says. But the following afternoon, Blake woke up, grateful to be alive. After the sexual assault, Blake’s 51-year-old sister, Kristin, of Carlsbad, California, frequently traveled to see him. She offered for him to stay with her, or help him find and pay for therapy sessions. “I have always told him he always has a place wherever I am, and whatever I can do for him, I’d be more than happy to do that, no questions asked,” says Kristin, whose last name is omitted for her privacy. So when Kristin learned about the suicide attempt, she was shocked. “I was devastated,” she says. “I thought, ‘What didn’t I do enough of, and what can I do for you now to help you along with this?’” she says. Kristin wasn’t at fault. A wealth of research suggests there’s a strong link between PTSD and suicide. A study in the journal Depression and Anxiety found that of those who reported a past traumatic event, 28 percent had attempted suicide. (4) And a study published in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology found that of those with chronic PTSD, more than half had some suicidal thoughts, and nearly 10 percent had suicide attempts after the trauma. (5) Military service members, either past or present, have the highest risk for suicide. According to a study in the journal Annals of Epidemiology, veterans on active duty during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars had a 41 percent to 61 percent higher risk of suicide than the general population. (6) It’s unclear, however, whether there’s a direct link with PTSD or if it’s mediated by something else. “One of the concerns is that there tends to be a lot of comorbidity, or overlap, between PTSD and other psychiatric disorders,” says Berry, explaining that PTSD often co-occurs with depression, traumatic brain injury, and substance abuse. “When people have a substance use disorder, their level of impulsivity tends to increase,” she says. People with PTSD who are more likely to attempt suicide are those who have suffered for a longer period of time, have intrusive symptoms, and lack support. Those who have intrusive memories, impulsivity, and anger management problems also have a higher risk for suicide. Men are nearly four times more likely than women to carry out suicide. (7) “The speculation is that men tend to have more lethal ways of [attempting to kill] themselves,” Berry says.
How to Help Someone With PTSD Who May Be at Risk of Suicide
Research suggests that when PTSD is treated, the risk for suicidal thoughts decreases. A 2013 study in the journal Depression and Anxiety found that people who were treated for the mental health disorder had a significant reduction in suicidal thoughts for up to 10 years. (8) Treating PTSD can be particularly difficult for men, who, unlike women, are less likely to seek support and instead try to be “strong” and handle it on their own, Berry says. (9) “A lot of people suffer in silence.” If you have a loved one who you believe is struggling to manage PTSD, it’s important to acknowledge that something isn’t right. One myth that can prevent people from getting help is the idea that talking about PTSD with the person suffering will give them the idea and make them more likely to attempt killing themselves, Schwartz says. In reality, talking about the issue can act as the catalyst the person needs to get help, she explains. “Most of the time what happens is the individual experiences a significant release to know that they’re not alone with the difficult, dark, painful thoughts,” Schwartz says. “The more space we give around that kind of thinking, the more relief the individual will feel.” Kristin says that although she was always supportive of Blake, she also had to find a balance. “If you keep pressing too much, he seems to pull away, so I didn’t want to do too much, and I wanted him to be the one to tell me what he needed.” The next step is to seek help from a primary care physician or a mental health professional. Veterans can contact the National Center for PTSD. If you or someone you know is in crisis, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline (1-800-273-8255) is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Blake decided he would go out into the community every day to meet new people and share his story. The people he meets often have similar stories of PTSD and depression, and write encouraging messages on the poster boards he carries. At night, Blake goes home and reads the messages. This personal effort has offered Blake a way to heal. “Now I feel like I’ve taken control of this story. It’s not controlling me anywhere near as much,” Blake says. At the time of this interview, Blake had gone out for 847 days and met about 1,300 new people. “People hug me on this journey, they pray for me, they dance around me. I needed to be around people,” he says. Although he says he still has days when he struggles with PTSD, Blake says he’s trying to move forward. “I’m in a much better place than I was.”
