Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Analysis

“ It terrorises me at night. If you have a nightmare where your friends are being blown up, you relive these things over and over and over again.” These are the words from Pte Leroy Risi who was stationed in Afghanistan and is now struggling post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is an anxiety disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jump anxiety, or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience. Another war vet Vaughan Cook who also has PTSD states, “ I had very high levels of aggression, anxiety, paranoia. Then I got heavy on the drinking, two liters of whisky a day. I’ve done some bad things. I’ve self-harmed.” PTSD is a serious anxiety disorder that needs to be acknowledged, and PTSD does not only affect war vets, but millions of Americans across the country. PTSD appears to victims of accidents, disasters, and violent and sexual assaults. The biological process behind PTSD is that the limbic system increases susceptibility, by immersing the body with stress hormones repeatedly and repeatedly as images of the traumatic experience emerge into consciousness ( David G. Myers 639). PTSD patients often feel alone and vulnerable, and that no one can help them. Withdrawing from society and suicide are sadly the common outcomes if PTSD are not helped and treated.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, this develops after a person has suffered a traumatic incident. Incidences can be caused by any type of event, triggering PTSD by personally experience a trauma (near death experience), being a witness to a trauma (vehicle accident) and those having to deal with the aftermath of a trauma (EMT, Police). These are just a few examples. PTSD can be rated in 3 Phases, 1) Acute Phase: if symptoms last less than 3 months. 2) Chronic Phase: if symptoms last more than 3 months. 3) Delayed-Onset: if the symptoms last 6 months after the trauma. An episodic attack (flashback) can last a couple of seconds, to as long as 30 minutes. This is caused when a person feels threatened and feeling helpless in a place of unknown environment.

PTSD in America’s Military is a silent obstacle that must be overcome by not only the veterans suffering from the disorder, but also by the American people. To discuss how Americans deal with PTSD, we must first understand what it is. PTSD stands for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, as defined by the Department of Veteran Affairs PTSD “is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault.”(Department of VA). PTSD is a mental disorder that causes people to not behave as they normally would, due to them being “haunted” by some traumatic event that occurred. Some symptoms include: “recurring memories or nightmares of the event, sleeplessness, loss of interest, and feelings of numbness, anger or irritability, or being constantly on guard”(Make the Connection). These symptoms can lead to difficult, and even damaging problems to arise that affect not only the person suffering PTSD, but also those around them. Some of these problems include, but are not limited to, “feelings of hopelessness, shame, despair, depression, substance abuse, pain, and social difficulty.” (Department of VA). These problems lead to more problems, and if left untreated long enough can lead to even death. As you can see, PTSD is a debilitating disorder, that must be faced by veterans and Americans alike.

In the daylight hours, many people seem to have everything going right for them in their lives. A beautiful home, loving spouse, two-point-five children, all neatly tied up with the white picket fence. However, behind closed doors, past the sunny smiles and the bright attitudes, the true secret lies. Many seemingly “perfect” people in this world suffer from varying mental disorders. These disorders can be due to circumstances from earlier points in someone’s life, such as the trauma of war, or abuse and neglect. These harrowing experiences often lead to one mental disorder in particular, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. There are three overwhelming impacts of PTSD: The

PTSD is a psychological problem that affects people who have survived a traumatic experience. When a person experiences a traumatic event in their life, that event leaves a type of scar on their mind. Unlike physical scars, psychological scars may not heal and the person may be unaware of their symptoms. While these “scars” may not be obvious at first, they may cause problems later in life, sometimes months or years later. This makes recognizing the disorder difficult. However, much research in recent years has increased people’s knowledge of the symptoms of PTSD. It was first defined as a disorder in 1980 by the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) (Galea et al., 2005).

Chapter 10 examines various forms of abuse. Kanal (2011) sets forth that stress as it relates to abuse can cause Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. The author describes PSTD as a psychological disorder that is brought on by an event that occurs in a person’s life. PSTD is usually associated with military people returning from the combat but that is only one of many demographics that can be effected by the disorder; this chapter underscores in addition to PSTD abuse can manifest itself in a number of different ways. The author begins the discussion with child abuse. From a crisis professional’s perspective, dealing with children is complicated because depending on the age of the child, communication can be difficult. In addition, the child may

Imagine returning home unscathed from battle to your physical body. Staff Sargent shakes your hand will depart the ship and the reality of being a citizen never truly becomes a real reality. Losing fellow friends, seeing heinous and often gruesome separation of body and limps and doctors check off as “A ok”. The true effects of PTSD are not limited to soldiers and the effects of PTSD are so vast that medical professionals often have troubles diagnosing all cases. Not to mention many victims of PTSD are unaware of what is causing all their anxiety attacks or depression so mix that all in with a government that doesn’t properly fund its veterans returning from battle with medical therapy and we are left with one giant mess of ticking time bombs that are struggling to ever truly feel at peace. It is the goal of this research to bring to light some of the critical issues of PTSD as well as current systems in place for treatment.

The United States has made sure to give veterans the respect and love they need for risking their lives to keep our country and freedoms safe. From national holidays to early retirement, the government has done everything they can to help aid the veterans once they return from combat. However, with the duty of protecting our country comes the risk of veterans’ lives. Even if they survive they will have aliments that will affect them for the rest of their lives. Most of the aliments people associates with veterans returning home from battle are physical, such as losing an arm or a leg. However, the mental effects of war are far more serious than any physical wound a person could ever have. Experiencing the horror of war effects how soldiers

The topic of this paper is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) viewed and discussed through a trauma theory lens. PTSD is typically associated with veteran and military personnel; in fact, one in six Army and Marine veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and women are more than twice as likely to develop the disorder than man (Satcher, Tepper, Thrashwer, & Rachel, 2012). Although usually associated with the military, PTSD affects many different facets of the population, such as minorities, the LGBTQ community, individuals with low socioeconomic status, and individuals exposed to disasters (Satcher et al., 2012). The paper outlines what PTSD is, the effects of the disorder, the neurobiological component of it,

PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a disorder that occurs when someone has had something scary or dangerous happen in their life. In this disorder, it is natural for the person to feel scared during and after the situation they were in. In this disorder fear is triggered and changes in the body help defend them against danger, this response is healthy to protect this person from harm. Anyone with a reaction after trauma usually recovers, but those who continue may be diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.. People with PTSD might feel scared even when they are safe and out of harm. People with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder have symptoms for longer than one month. They cannot function as well as before they did before the tragic event.

As a child, I had to deal with the lack of parental presence because my parents worked nonstop to make ends meet. Because I lacked guidance, school became dreadful. I had no friends, and dealt with anxiety. I experienced bullying, for being too “skinny” as my anxiety had led me to develop an eating disorder. I was diagnosed with anemia by Kindergarten, but I did not receive treatment.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a trauma-based mental disorder which could occur at any time throughout an individual’s life once a trauma is experienced, observed, or learned. The PTSD diagnosis is the culmination of a traumatic event in which the individual begins to have adverse symptoms such as emotional distress, hypervigilance, avoidance, concentration issues, anger, and uncontrollable negative thoughts about themselves and the world around them. The individual’s sense of significance, mastery, and formed attachments become compromised by their response to the trauma (American Psychiatric Association & American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

A victim/survivor suffering from PTSD is in a continual loop of unconscious self-traumatization, coping and exhaustion. When these symptoms are experienced on a chronic basis, they can devastate every aspect of the victim/client’s life, from physical well-being to the quality of relationships to the victim/survivor’s experience of the world (Cozolino, 2010).

The term "a perfect storm" is used to describe a serendipitous confluence of events which results in something astounding and often catastrophic. Considered on their own, each of the events is not terribly remarkable, but when the events are combined, the results can be devastating.Once the storm dissipates and reveals what is remaining then you can assess the damage. PTSD and TBI together create a diagnosis of a perfect storm. PTSD and TBI are medically considered two separate mental conditions; both triggered by a traumatic event. Diagnosis of both conditions have specific factors that lead events which trigger the prognosis. Sadly common, PTSD and TBI are commonly diagnosed together; deeply intertwined, making differentiating the two almost impossible for the patient. Medically, PTSD-”Post Traumatic Stress disorder” is a physiological condition caused by a traumatic event, most commonly diagnosed in war veterans.TBI- “Traumatic Brain Injury” is a physical condition caused by an external mechanical force which causes brain dysfunction.

One of the most common psychological effects among victims of stalking has been identified as post traumatic stress syndrome. Posttraumatic stress syndrome may include the victim having reoccurring memories or reliving their traumatic stalking experience. Depression was also identified a psychological effect of stalking. Amar (2006) asserts that depression is a common reaction to violence and is likely results caused by feelings of no control over a stalker and the repeated nature of stalking. One of the victims that was interviewed in the Impact of Stalking Victim YouTube video explains her intimate partner was so controlling over her that he became depressing that her happiness relied on the approval of her partner. Changes in behavior is