PTSD In The Field Of Abnormal Psychology

It was not until the 1980’s that the diagnosis of PTSD as we know it today came to be. However, throughout history people have recognized that exposure to combat situations can have profound negative impact on the mind s and bodies of individuals in these situations. But there are other catastrophic events that can have such profound impact on people resulting in PTSD…

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.

My girlfriend’s brother, Mary served in the Marines for four years. In those four years, he made three combat tours and four other small deployments. During his first trip to Iraq, he was severely injured in a land mine accident. He was the only one out of the other three soldiers in the tank that survived. The accident left him with a severe brain injury and partly blind in his left eye. Mary was in an Iraqi hospital for about two weeks. He then decided to continue with his duty of being of Marine.

The disorder did not become more common until it was affecting the veterans at war who are haunted by the tragedies of war. “PTSD did not become an official disorder until the American Psychiatric Association added it to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM-III in 1980.” (Friedman) The DSM-III is a criterion for the classification of mental disorders that was first published in 1952. In today’s world, it is known as the DSM-V. PTSD in the DSM-III was classified as an anxiety disorder. However, today PTSD is now diagnosed as a trauma and stressor-related disorder. What we know now about PTSD is that under the classification of trauma and stressor- related disorder, a person must be exposed to a life stress related event to cause the disorder. What we also know now about PTSD is that it can occur in one of four ways: “direct exposure to trauma; witnessing trauma in person; learning a close friend or relative experienced trauma (indirect exposure); and repeated or extreme indirect exposure to aversive details of the event”

War traumas date back to the Civil War. During the Russo- Japanese War (1904-1905) a Russian psychiatrist compared traumatized train crash survivors and returning war veterans. The train crash survivors were said to have “railway spine”, the doctors believed their anxiety was caused by the compression of the backbone (Frey n.pag). World War I (1914-1918) was the first war that used bombs, fighter airplanes, and chemical warfare. In 1917, Robert Gaupp explained that “the main causes are the fright and anxiety brought about by the explosion of enemy shells and mines” (Scott 550). During World War I the technically term was not PTSD at the time they called it “Shell Shock”. The symptoms of Shell Shock were the inability to hear, talk, stand and walk. In addition the soldier experience “thousand-yard stare” a blank and unfocused expression (Frey n.pag). Conditions like these were called “combat fatigue” or “traumatic war neurosis” during World War II (1939-1945). PTSD affect a lot of the soldiers in the Vietnam War (1954-1975). After the Vietnam War, the term Post-traumatic Stress Disorder was coined, connecting the terms shell shock, combat fatigue, and traumatic war neurosis.

Using the diagnostic algorithm discussed in class as a guide, explain how you would arrive at a diagnosis of PTSD based on the clinical data in the case example. Be sure to justify the ways in which the client meets all of the diagnostic criteria for PTSD and provide information about how you would go about elaborating on your diagnosis according to this model.

PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is an increasing problem in our country. PTSD has its roots in the military, but the entire populace is subject to its effects. I served my country for the past 21 years and have seen the before and after of the effects of combat, so any discussions about PTSD, diagnosis, treatments, and cures is likely to catch my eye. In this paper, we will discuss the basics on PTSD, current rates in society, and list the possible cures and or treatments that are currently in use. The prevalence in society should show that all people should be familiar with the signs and systems, as well as knowing some of the basic treatments to assist afflicted individuals. The goal of this paper is to provide just that for the reader.

Mental health illness is a major issue that several United States systems faces daily. Mental illness can contribute to high crime rates, suicide, drug addiction, mass shootings, prison overcrowding, and several other problems. This paper will discuss and examine mental health issues as it develops and result in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the United States Military, and specifically how PTSD can result in suicide among military service members. PTSD is commonly and well known to infantry soldiers who were mostly deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq war between 2001 and 2003 due to an overwhelming and challenging environment. The war in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq conflicts, both have had a an actual impact on soldiers' mental health. In addition, infantrymen are most likely to experience at least one event as a minimum that may result in PTSD than any other divisions in the military. According to Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Major Gary Wynn provides statistics shows that "93 percent report coming under fire from artillery, rockets, and mortars. 91 percent say their unit has been attacked or ambushed. 87 percent say they know someone who has been seriously injured or killed" (Robson 2012).

The epidemic that is PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has been theoretically been around since the beginning man according to scientist (Friedman). Acclaimed literary works such Homer’s The Iliad, Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, and

As far back as time goes or at least written record men have gone to war. With a war comes physiological and psychological scars. Physical wounds may heal quickly and be forgotten, but psychological wounds may last a lifetime. In the past society did not understand the effects of war and mental illness nor how to treat it. In this paper, I will discuss the history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), explain the diagnostic description, and describe etiology and treatment for PTSD.

In this reading from Soldier’s Heart to PTSD, Post-traumatic stress disorder was finally acknowledge as a diagnosis. It explain how the term for PTSD was changed throughout the years as it develop. W.H.R Rivers explain how warfare inhibit the “higher function of the nervous system and the mental activity” of people who were involved. The causes of PTSD was becoming more clear as the war became to an end. It had to deal with the emotional aspect of war and how these men weren’t able to deal with the combat stress. They had to put themselves back together in order to return to war. In the model that the British and French development, the men who returned to combat were able to fully recover more quicker while the men who were sent home struggled

For over 240 years the United States Military has made it their job to serve and protect this Country. In 1775 the Revolutionary War begun, Since then the United States has had over 40 million Troops and has also fought in 134 Wars including Two World Wars and more then a Dozen Revolutionary Battles. Despite the bravery the 48million troops who served more then 38% come back with and Injury or Mental Disorder. The highest diagnosed mental disorder in Soldiers when returning home is PTSD(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) a Symptom usually cause by a traumatic event, Such as Death, Explosion and Terrorism. The symptoms are very stressful and can causes serious issues for the Soldier and his/her family.

been deemed breakthrough therapy by the Food and Drug Administration. The introduction of promising research from ecstasy to treat PTSD has allowed doors for researchers to begin working with LSD which is commonly called magic mushrooms that have shown a lot of promise in producing affective medications for combating PTSD. Along with these promising medications we also need to look at the home life of the veterans, a lot of veterans are either very old and have little family or do not have that family support system that are crucial in the healing process. Receiving treatment and therapy is crucial but if you do not have a strong support system it would be easy for veterans to slip down through the cracks which would allow PTSD to win the

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.

One of my patients, Jamelle Huston, had a session with me this past Monday. As the session started, I noticed her heightened anxiety response and overwhelming feeling of frustration and sadness. I actually had to do a combination of grounding and relaxation technique with her since her cognition and behavior really concerned me. She expressed ongoing frustration from being treated unfairly and unprofessionally by staff at New Phases, specifically by the director and her counselor. There have been several more incidents that have occurred;