DSM And Language

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a relatively new diagnosis that was associated with survivors of war when it was first introduced. Its diagnosis was met largely with skepticism and dismissal by the public of the validity of the illness. PTSD was only widely accepted when it was included as a diagnosis in 1980 in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) of the American Psychiatric Association. PTSD is a complex mental disorder that develops in response to exposure to a severe traumatic event that stems a cluster of symptoms. Being afflicted with the disorder is debilitating, disrupting an individual’s ability to function and perform the most basic tasks.

The second case study consists of post-traumatic stress disorder in the victims of the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka. Watters recounts the story of a woman named, Debra Wentz, director of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health Agencies who was visiting Sri Lanka during the tsunami. She experienced the tragedy first-hand and became worried about the psychological implications that such a trauma plays on a person’s mental state. She vigorously worked to get American counselors to come to Sri Lanka to train local counselors on how to recognize the symptoms of PTSD and how to counsel the survivors. Her efforts, Watters states, “were clearly motivated by a set of assumptions and beliefs about the nature of psychological trauma and its appropriate treatments. Wentz assumed, as do many Western mental health specialists who focus on trauma, that the psychological reaction to horrible events is fundamentally the same around the world.” (Watters 68) Psychiatrists and

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)" plays an important role in providing information with regard to the disorder and thus makes it possible for readers to gain a more complex understanding of the condition. The article primarily documents the disorder's background, the prevalence with which it happens, and reasons why individuals come to suffer from the condition. By emphasizing that PTSD is practically the body's attempt to raise a person's awareness concerning the gravity of the situation that he or she has been in, the article makes it possible for readers to understand that one of the best way to fight the condition's harmful effects would be for the individual to acknowledge that he or she holds a great deal of power and that it is essential for him or her to make use of that power in order to improve his or her mental health.

PTSD is only now being recognized as a legitimate disease. When symptoms, of what is now PTSD, began showing up on the battlefields in the 1800’s, doctors of the military had “begun to diagnose soldiers with ‘exhaustion’” (Eagan,p. 360). Medicine of the time was about physical disorders. Doctors paid little to no attention to the enigmatic field of mind-body medicine. “Exhaustion” was the diagnosis of a “mental shutdown” caused by trauma (Eagan,p. 360). Diagnosing soldiers with ‘exhaustion’ was the military’s and

By telling the story of young men coming of age in a boarding school during the critical early years of World War II, John Knowles reveals several effects of war. In his novel, Separate Peace, Knowles illuminates some of the more commonly known consequences of war, but he also neglects to discuss a few other proven impacts of war. Additionally, Knowles expresses the influence that mental illnesses can have on soldiers, the repercussions of rations on society, the changes in the school system, and the effect on the work force in America. The story artfully details these results of war, while never touching on a few other ramifications of war, like the influence on a family.

As with all previous diagnostic manuals, the DSM-5 (APA, 2013) aims to provide a ‘common language’ for describing psychopathology in order to provide the best patient care for both the individuals. As useful as this manual has been in the past, worries have expressed with regards to future direction that psychiatry is moving towards following the many updates and additions made to the diagnostic criteria within the DSM-5 it has been argued “when does psychological suffering become an illness?”. The purpose of this writing is to critically discuss the necessity of a diagnosis from two stand points, firstly critiquing the negative impacts of a diagnosis for an individual and secondly the implications of a diagnosis at a professional level, the research presented points towards a diagnosis is becoming less necessary in today’s society. Lastly the future of psychiatry will be discussed to show how if diagnostic criteria becomes more scientific based then there may be more benefits

In the past, veterans who disclosed suffering from signs of PTSD encountered a great deal of ignorance and bias. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (n.d.), veterans who had the illness were often considered weak, were rejected by comrades, and even faced discharge from military service. In fact, even physicians and mental health specialists often questioned the existence of the disease, which of course led to society’s misconception of PTSD in general. Sadly because of this existing prejudice it appears even today soldiers are still worried to admit having PTSD symptoms, and therefore they do not receive the proper support they need. While individuals are assured that their careers will not be affected, and seeking help is encouraged, most soldiers see it as a failure to admit having a mental health illness (Zoroya, 2013). Educating military personal of this illness, and making sure no blame is put on the veterans who encounter this disease is therefore vital.

The Diagnostic and Statistical manual of mental Disorders also known as the DSM is used was published by the American Psychiatric Association as a way to set standard criteria for diagnosis of the different mental health conditions. Social workers, mental health practitioner and even researchers in order to, use this book to help them diagnose client. The book is intended to be used to make an initial assessment of symptoms that a patient might be facing and after the assessment is done then the clinicians can go about finding interventions to help the client overcome their disorder.

Mental illnesses have always been present in human society, and will likely always exist. However, this does not mean that the effects of said illnesses cannot be mitigated. Though slow, progress is being made on the subject through research on new drugs, treatments, and prevention methods. Ranging from actual medications to a strong communities, the possibilities of PTSD number more than ever before.

When people think of war, there first instinct is to think about the physical pain soldiers have gone through, the physical demand of training before and during. What people miss is the mental trauma that affects soldiers during and after the war. In today’s society it is much more acceptable to speak about mental health issues due to the war and we have established a term for it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We have established many options for soldiers and families who are affected by PTSD. The two books that I am analyzing speak about the idea of mental health or war trauma during World War I and World War II, instead of calling it PTSD the authors call is shell shock, which is close to the definition of PTSD. The two books that I am analyzing is Pat Barker 's Regeneration, which is focused on a mental institution and how soldiers deal with shell shock and many other internal struggles. The second is Elie Wiesel’s book Night, which speaks about a family that is taken to a concentration camp and is dealing with the mental trauma that they experience and how they are forced to change the way they think and feel in order to survive. Both touch upon very similar themes when it comes to trauma and survival during and after the war.

The main point of the chapter, Decentering PTSD: A war Outgrows a Diagnosis a Diagnoses, by Hautzinger, S., & Scandlyn, J is to highlight the relationship among the ‘invisible wounds of PTSD, TBI and depression’ (pp. 98). Although the rise of PTSD as a diagnoses has proven to be an important factor, however the overemphasis on PTSD might be used to cover other treatable conditions. There are other diagnoses such as TBI, depressing and anxiety disorder that can overlap with the symptoms of PTSD. An interesting part was the statistics of post 9/11 war veterans showing equal percentages of screening positive for PTSD and depression and slightly higher percentage for TBA. However, only PTSD is getting the higher recognition, but why? The chapter

DSM-IV TR, which stands for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition), Text Revision was published by the American Psychiatric Association in 2000 and serves as a guide book for many health professionals to diagnose a patient with a mental disorder. It also helps health professionals to determine what types of treatment could be carried out to help the patient. The latest DSM is widely used, especially in the USA and many European countries.1However, it may not be completely followed by health professionals as they know that there are some weaknesses of the latest version of DSM as well. This essay will discuss the strengths and

The portrayal of PTSD in the media is often authentic, however, it also perpetuates stigmas and misconceptions. The two stigmas present in the representation of PTSD in PLL and GA are that it only forms with extremely violent and dramatic events, and that the symptoms can just be “slept off”. This mental illness is an anxiety disorder that focus on the feeling of worry and emphasizes on the future. People who only watch media and are not well-versed in academia may think that PTSD symptoms for non-dramatic events are exaggerated, thus preventing people from seeking help. Correspondingly, the lack of treatments portrayed in these two television series demonstrates that people are able to dismiss symptoms, when in reality PTSD symptoms include

Culture has a great effect on attitudes toward therapy. According to the National Institution of Mental Health each individual or groups of people bring a variation of beliefs to the therapeutic setting such as communicating what issues to report, types of coping styles, social support, and cultural stigma towards mental health. More often it is culture that bears on whether or not an individual will seek help. For example there is a widespread tendency to stigmatize mental illness in Asian countries. People with mental illness are considered dangerous and create social distance and

Some of my main concerns with the DSM-5 are the possibilities for stereotypical conceptions about specific orders and the people who have them, as well as the potential for categories to be biased or “tainted” per se from past beliefs about certain disorders and conditions. For instance, before 1974 homosexuality was considered a mental illness. However, since then, it has been removed from the DSM as a diagnosis/disorder. But because of its past history as being considered a mental illness, it only added to the stigma that surrounds homosexuality. Not only did it make people who are homosexual feel as if something was terribly off within them, but it also made other people more judgmental than they might have been had it not been previously considered a mental illness (Beidel, Bulik, Stanley