There are a number of effective treatments for PTSD, and after completing these treatments, many people experience a long-lasting, if not permanent, reduction in their symptoms. However, long-standing recovery from PTSD requires that you maintain and continue to practice the healthy coping skills you learned in treatment. Some people may start to experience symptoms that could be warning signs that PTSD symptoms or other problems (for example, depression) are coming back. Given this, it is very important to be on the look-out for certain symptoms, as they could be signs that you are experiencing difficulties coping with heightened levels of stress. This could put you at risk for experiencing PTSD symptoms or other problems, such as depression or other unhealthy behaviors, like alcohol misuse. This article from About.com presents some warning signs that you want to be on the look out for.

If you have a diagnosis of PTSD, it is very important to work on developing healthy ways of managing stress. Daily life stress and how you cope with that stress can have a major impact on your symptoms of PTSD and the symptoms of PTSD can increase your experience of daily life stress.

One major stressor that all citizens of the U.S. face each year is tax day. The IRS deadline for 2011 taxes is looming and is generally a major source of stress for most people. This stress might be even greater for people with PTSD. The symptoms of PTSD (e.g., concentration problems) can interfere with even the simplest activities and can make more complicated activities (such as completing your taxes) feel impossible. Given this, as the tax deadline approaches, it is important to take some steps to manage your stress in a healthy way. The American Psychological Association has put together some tips on how to manage tax-related stress. You can also find some healthy strategies for managing your tax-related anxiety at About.com.

As the weather starts to warm up, now may be the best time to start a regular exercise program if you have PTSD. People with PTSD have been found to be at high risk for a number of mental health disorders, such as depression, other anxiety disorders, and substance use. However, in addition to these mental health problems, people with PTSD may also be more likely to suffer from a number of physical ailments, such as chronic pain, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Regular exercise can be an excellent way of reducing this risk. Regular exercise has a number of benefits. It can contribute to many positive physical health outcomes (such as improved cardiovascular health, weight loss, and greater flexibility and mobility). In addition to these physical health outcomes, exercise can also have a positive impact on mental health. Regular exercise can reduce anxiety and depression. There is also some evidence that exercise can help reduce the severity of PTSD symptoms.

You can learn more about the benefits of exercise if you have PTSD and potential obstacles to starting regular exercise in this article from About.com.

It is common for someone with (or in recovery from) post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to experience anger. In fact, because the experience of anger is so common among people with PTSD, it is actually considered one of the hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD. Although anger can often lead to unhealthy behaviors (for example, substance use or impulsive behavior), the experience of anger in and of itself is not a bad thing. It is a valid emotional experience that can provide you with important information.

However, according to Seeking Safety (a treatment for people with PTSD and substance use problems, developed by Dr. Lisa Najavits), anger can be expressed and experienced in two ways. It can be constructive or destructive. Constructive anger helps you understand your situation, other people, and yourself. Destructive anger is anger that is responded to in an unhealthy way. For example, a person may act out aggressively towards others. The anger might also be turned inward, resulting in deliberate self-harm or substance use. It is important to recognize these two types of anger.

In addition, if you have PTSD, it is very important to learn ways of managing anger. Anger is a difficult emotion to cope with; however, there are some healthy coping skills that can reduce the intensity of anger, as well as help you control your behaviors when you are feeling anger. You can learn some of these coping skills at About.com.