Post Traumatic Stress Controversy

This paper explores post-traumatic stress and how it is seen as a disorder. Post-traumatic stress can manifest into post-traumatic stress disorder. According to Sareen (2014), Post-traumatic stress disorder is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5 as having 4 core features that are as follows. First, the person must witness or experience a stressful event. Secondly, the person or persons would re-experience symptoms of the event that include nightmares and/or flashbacks. The person or persons would also have hyper arousal symptoms, such as concentrations problems, irritability, and sleep disturbance. The final core feature dictates

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.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can do a range of things to the brain. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder makes the victim continuously remember the event. It was originally known as “shell shock” where vets were struggling going through daily life. Finally after the Vietnam War Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was “identified and given its name.” When these discoveries were made, proper treatment was then given to the victims. Research shows that

Post-traumatic stress disorder abbreviated PTSD is a response to traumatic events in someone’s life. Traumatic events are events that provoke fear, helplessness or horror in response to a threat or extreme stressor (Yehuda, 2002). Soldiers and other military members are at a much higher risk to Post traumatic stress disorder due to combat and other stressful situations they are put into. People effected by Post-traumatic stress disorder will have symptoms including flashbacks, avoidance of things, people or places that remind them of the traumatic event. Also, hyper arousal which includes insomnia, irritability, impaired concentration and higher startle reactions. In this paper I will discuss post-traumatic stress disorder, its signs, symptom and effects on culture as portrayed in the movie, American Sniper.

When humans undergo traumatic events that threaten their safety and wellbeing, they may become vulnerable to nightmares, fear, excessive anxiety, depression, and trembling. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychological illness that results from the occurrence of a “terribly frightening, life-threatening, or otherwise unsafe experience” (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), 2012). This condition often leads to unbearable stress and anxiety. PTSD is significantly prevalent as indicated by data from the National Co-morbidity Survey which shows that at a particular time in their lives, 7.8% of 5, 877 adults in America suffered from PTSD (Andrew & Bisson, 2009). In the general population, the lifetime prevalence is estimated at 8%,

Post-traumatic disorder (PTSD) is one of the leading mental issues in the world right now. It includes introduction to injury including passing or the danger of death, genuine damage, or sexual brutality. Something is traumatic when it is exceptionally startling, overpowering and causes a considerable measure of pain. Injury is regularly sudden, and numerous individuals say that they felt feeble to stop or change the occasion. Traumatic occasions might incorporate wrongdoings, common fiascos, mishaps, war or strife, or different dangers to life. It could be an occasion or circumstance that one encounters or something that transpires, including friends and family. The post-traumatic stress is not subject to any definite experience a priori,

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric sequel to a stressful event or situation of an exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature. It develops after a person is involved in a horrifying ordeal that involved physical maltreatment or the threat of physical harm. These events can include combat or military experience, abuse during childhood or adulthood (physical or sexual), terrorist attacks, serious accidents or natural disasters. This person may have been the one that was harmed, witnessed a harmful event or had a loved one who was harmed. It is normal for the body’s fight or flight mechanism to engage in times of danger. With a person who has PTSD, that mechanism is damaged and the person feels this even when they are not in danger. Symptoms can be categorized into four different areas – re-experiencing symptoms (flashbacks, bad dreams, frightening thoughts) , avoiding situations that remind the person of the event, negative changes in beliefs and feelings (may be fear, guilt, shame or losing interest in those activities that once were enjoyable) and hypervigilence (always feeling keyed up, trouble concentrating or sleeping). There are also feelings of hopelessness, despair, depression or anxiety, alcohol or substance abuse, physical symptoms or chronic pain and problems with employment and relationships.

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…

Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is sometimes considered to be a relatively new diagnosis, as the name first appeared in 1980, the concept of the disorder has a very long history. That history has often been linked to the history of war, but the disorder has also been frequently described in civilian settings involving natural disasters, mass catastrophes, and serious accidental injuries. The diagnosis first appeared in the official nomenclature when Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-I was published in 1952 under the name gross stress reaction. It was omitted, however, in the next edition in 1968, after a long

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been studied extensively. The majority of the population has experienced an event that was traumatic enough to potentially cause Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder with it also being common for most people to experience more than one event with the potential to induce Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Kilpatrick, Resnick, Milanak, Miller, Keyes, Friedman, 2013). Studies have shown that veterans diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder show an escalation in the anxiety levels that is much greater than soldiers that have not been diagnosed with PTSD as well as higher than the general fit population (Olatunji, Armstrong, Fan, & Zhao, 2014).

Traumatic events also produce profound and lasting changes in physiological arousal, emotion, cognition, and memory. Moreover, traumatic events may result in the severance of these normally integrated functions from one another. Traumatized individuals may also suffer from the memories of the tragic or horrifying experiences they have undergone. Frequently, as a result of these many symptoms, it becomes inevitable for the individual to develop certain complications associated with trauma-related disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder.

At least 50% of all adults and children are exposed to a psychologically traumatic event (such as a life-threatening assault or accident, humanmade or natural disaster, or war). As many as 67% of trauma survivors experience lasting psychosocial impairment, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); panic, phobic, or generalized anxiety disorders; depression; or substance abuse.(Van der Kolk, et al, 1994) Symptoms of PTSD include persistent involuntary re-experiencing of traumatic distress, emotional numbing and detachment from other people, and hyperarousal (irritability, insomnia, fearfulness, nervous agitation). PTSD is linked to structural neurochemical changes in the central nervous system which may have a direct

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a widespread disorder that affects certain individuals psychologically, behaviorally, and emotionally following the experience of a traumatic event (Lee et al., 2005, p. 135). However, because of inconsistencies regarding the percentage of individuals who experience PTSD and the percentage of individuals who subsequently develop PTSD, researchers hypothesize that both biological and environmental factors contribute to the development of PTSD (Wolf et al. 2010, p. 328). In order gain a better understanding of this disorder and to discover contributing and predicative factors which contribute to the development of PTSD, this paper analyses the historical context and prevalence of PTSD, the

In The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the definition of PTSD is rather unusual in that it lists the etiology of the disorder. The DSM-III states: “the essential feature [of PTSD] is the development of characteristic symptoms following a psychologically traumatic event that is generally outside the range of usual human experience.” PTSD affects up to 20% of people who experience trauma. However, among people who are victims of a severe traumatic experience, 60 – 80% will develop PTSD. According to the Israel Trauma Center for Victims of Terror and War, “Every person has certain limits and it is almost certain that any person would develop PTSD if exposed to a sufficiently severe trauma.” There are three types of symptoms that must be present to diagnose PTSD. According to the DSM, “The first group requires that the veteran has intrusive thoughts about the event…nightmares or flashbacks in which the veteran feels like he…is reliving the event.” “The second group requires that the veteran avoids reminders of the trauma by either deliberately trying not to think about it, or avoids places and people that serve as reminders of it.” “The third group requires that the veteran experiences chronic physiological arousal as evidenced by difficulties sleeping, [or] outbursts.”

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects 7.7 million American adults and can also occur during childhood. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that stems from a recent emotional threat such as a natural, disaster, war, and car accidents. PTSD usually occurs from an injury or coming close death. A person who has experienced a past traumatic event has a heightened chance of being diagnosed with PTSD after a current trauma. PTSD can also be determined by looking at one’s genes, different emotions, and current or past family setting. Normally, when a person without PTSD goes through a traumatic event the body releases stress hormones, which in time returns back to normal; However, a person with PTSD releases stress hormones that do not return