Case Study On Psychotrauma

Olivia is a 48-year-old female of New Zealand/European ethnicity who currently works as a full time teacher aid for a special needs school. She is happily married, with three grown children. Olivia is currently living in her own home with her husband and daughter in Auckland. After the birth of her daughter in 1996 she began to get severe pain in her shoulders and hands to the point where the pain would wake her in the night. Initially, Olivia’s general practitioner (GP) believed the pain experienced was related to an increase of hormones and depression post labour. For two years, Olivia lived with this pain waiting patiently for a diagnosis. In 1998, she consulted a recommended GP and was immediately diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).

Ruglass, L. P., & Kendall-Tackett, K. P. (2014). Psychology of Trauma 101 (1). New York, US: Springer Publishing Company. Retrieved from

Van der Kolk (1987) notes that human responses to trauma are relatively constant across various types of traumatic stimuli, where individuals have poor tolerance to arousal stimuli and may experience social and emotional withdrawal. These changes in the body’s arousal and perception prevent the continuance of “normal” life, and require help.

Achilles, once a figure of godlike power and bravery, now appears a very mortal figure suffering from the brutality of war. His fall from heroism to barbarism is no less tragic and no less horrid, but is much more understandable when viewed as a psychological phenomenon only recently identified by modern psychology. This understanding of Achilles also serves to bridge the cultural and temporal gaps between Homeric society and our own. The Iliad provides compelling evidence that PTSD is a cross-cultural and cross-temporal disorder which warriors have experienced since time immemorial. From Troy to Vietnam and beyond, soldiers have suffered trauma from combat which has in turn caused them to inflict violence on others, as well as on themselves. Achilles almost cuts his own throat in the opening lines of Book 18, and refuses to eat, drink or bathe for most of the rest of The Iliad. Thus, he effectively makes himself the living dead (in commiseration with Patroclus). Similarly, the number of Vietnam vets who have committed suicide exceeds the number who died during and after the war from wounds, and an estimated 1.5 million still suffer from

Trauma is an individual’s visceral reaction to a horrible event, events such as early childhood traumas, accidents, sexual abuse, or community violence (apa.org, 2016). An individual may react with shock and denial in the aftermath. As time continues some reactions may comprise of mood swings, intrusive memories, difficulties maintaining relationships and can manifest into physical symptoms to include headache or upset stomach. There are individuals who experience difficulties functioning in their daily lives; these observable responses are a normal response to the trauma (apa.org, 2016).

J.F. is a 50-year-old married homemaker with a genetic autoimmune defi ciency; she has suffered from

During the war, many soldiers get injured, incapacitated, and/or killed; thus physical wounds are something that every soldier accepts both mentally and physically. Tim O’Brien is shot twice during the war. The first time he is shot, the medic Rat risks his life to help Tim, but when he was shot the second time the new medic Jorgenson is too afraid to move, and Tim nearly dies from shock. This injury has a big impact on Tim, and he is not only physically wounded but also psychologically as he was traumatized from the incident. Tim suffers a lot from his wound. For example, he says that “a couple of weeks later my ass started to rot away. You could actually peel off chunks of skin with your fingernail” (190) but the worst part for him is the shame. Tim O’Brien explains that “Pride isn't the right word. I don't know the right word. All I know is, you shouldn't feel embarrassed. Humiliation shouldn't be part of it” (191) and this is why he wants to take revenge of Jorgenson. Although Tim overcomes the physical wound, he can’t let go of the emotional wounds

For centuries the world has combated various physical injuries, saving lives but until the twentieth century little was known about the emotional effect on soldiers. PTSDs longest dated back case was the writings of a Greek soldier fighting in the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, reportedly went blind after the man standing next to him was killed The blinded soldier "was wounded in no part of his body." and so had just been the first man to experience PTSD. Dating back the first name diagnosis was nostalgic or homesickness followed by shell shocked, combat exhaustion, and stress response syndrome the medical field more advanced leading to figuring out that the reaction is from our body trying to deal with what was happening. As time went on the medical field was furthered and now have what is known as PTSD the mental sickness that Plagues are

Many of those that suffered from this were either shot or had to undergo electric treatment. The emergence helps to inform many of those who are not aware of the variety of extreme events that millions of people battle with and how they can be diagnosed and treated. It also changed the public’s views, which included a new way of looking at violence and death; some have called it the “culture of trauma”. Before the Vietnam War, trauma was just another word used to describe your typical life-threatening events. Then after the war took place, it was then talked about more frequently with a great range of experiences. The war is still a mystery to so many, but what they do know is that it changed the political climate and turned it into a public conversation about trauma. One of the biggest things I took away was that all of the wars are damaging, but those in the Vietnam suffered the most. It was built on lies and represented crimes against humanity.

During World War I, thousands of British soldiers were diagnosed with “shell shock,” a condition which was thought to encompass both physical and psychological symptoms. The discovery of shell shock is typically considered to be an important catalyst in the gradual recognition of mental illnesses caused by combat. However, the characterizations of shell shock as an early discovery of post-traumatic stress disorder made by many historians are false. Shell shock should not be thought of as a credible wartime medical advancement, but as a false and primitive identification of war-trauma.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic syndrome that is characterized by inflammation of the peripheral joints, but it may also involve the lungs, heart, blood vessels, and eyes. The prevalence of this autoimmune disease is between 0.3% to 1.5% of the population in the United States (Feinberg, pp 815). It affects women two to three times more often than men, and the onset of RA is usually between 25 and 50 years of age, but it can occur at any age (Reed, pp 584). RA can be diagnosed by establishing the presence of persistent joint pain, swelling in a symmetric distribution, and prolonged morning stiffness. RA usually affects multiple joints, such as the hands, wrists, knees, elbows, feet, shoulders, hips, and small

Posttraumatic stress order, also known as PTSD or Posttraumatic syndrome, is a mental disease that affects individuals who have been exposed to different types of trauma. At least 8 million Americans will experience PTSD in their lives, and unfortunately more women will be exposed to the disease than men. Throughout this paper, although technically it is not a “disease” per se, I will sometimes refer to it as such because if PTSD is not treated properly, it can have the power to take over the body and more importantly, the mind. Unfortunate as it may be, there are more times than none where PTSD can result in suicide. According to U.S. department of veteran affairs, it has been an ongoing debate as to whether or not individuals with PTSD have

numbing, and hyperarousal descriptive of PTSD, as listed in the DSM-IV-TR (2000), as well as

When comparing this patient to a healthy patient it is obvious that she has some mobility issues and some pain. Mrs. Johnson’s RA has taken a toll on the body and joints. Her ankles showed signs of swelling. She cannot sit for too long, otherwise her legs will start to fall asleep and she will have a lot of trouble standing up. Mrs. Johnson has a great attitude and manages to get around fine. She moves slow and stiff but gets where she needs to go.

Trauma can be defined as an event or experience that hinders an individual’s ability to cope (Covington, 2008). These experiences have the power to alter biology and brain function, especially earlier on in life. Trauma can change an individual’s world-view, impacting their sense of self. This can lead to difficulties with self-regulation and higher incidences of impulsive behavior (Markoff et al., 2005). Often, individuals who have endured traumatic incidences turn to self-medication as a form of coping (De Bellis, 2002).