There is no doubt that many people were traumatized following the incident in Manchester Arena back in May 2017, including and especially Ariana Grande.
The singer has been very vocal about the trauma she suffered following the incident which happened after the conclusion of her concert. She shared a very serious post on her Instagram feed a few days ago to highlight the level of the trauma she has experienced.
Severe PTSD
Ariana captioned the photo as something that is not to be taken as a joke. It was a screenshot of two brain scan images of her own brain which she had shared in a group chat with her friends.
These two images showed a comparison between her own brain at different times, whereby one side showed her brain to be completely normal, while the other side showed the impact of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that had affected her following the Manchester Arena incident.
Shockingly, the brain scan image which showed the impact of PTSD highlighted several parts of her brain while the healthy brain scan image did not have any such highlighted regions.
She wanted to show her followers the image of her brain which was affected by PTSD to show how severely the Manchester incident had affected her mental health.
What Is PTSD?
PTSD is a condition in the brain which transpires after a traumatic experience, one that brings a feeling of intense stress. It is usually triggered by an extremely shocking event, one which is either indirectly witnessed by a person or experienced directly.
Symptoms of PTSD vary widely but commonly include flashbacks of the traumatic event, heightened levels of anxiety, nightmares, and lack of control over the thought process.
To deal with PTSD, some people go into avoidance mode by actively ignoring the recurring thoughts of the traumatic event they have experienced. But this strategy does not help them in sustainably reducing the underlying causes of stress or PTSD.
Last year, Grande, who is 25 years of age, spoke about her heightened anxiety levels in her interview she gave to British Vogue. According to her, the intensity of her anxiety levels showed clear signs of PTSD.
She remarked that everyone around her was also of the same opinion that she was suffering from PTSD, yet she never spoke out about it before because she recognized that many people are suffering from ever greater and more severe losses.
Time Heals
Grande remarked that time is a tremendous healer and it heals almost any mental ailment, given that it is provided the right treatment.
Although she still remains doubtful about whether she should even be sharing her issues with anyone, the reason why she has eventually spoken out about it is that she wanted everyone to see the effects and realize the grave impact of PTSD on the brain.
Many people who experiencer PTSD usually get better with time after taking good care of their own self and by recalibrating with life using anxiety-coping techniques.
But if the symptoms are not improving with time and getting worse, or are persisting even after months or years of treatment, then perhaps more intensive care and intervention are needed.