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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Essay

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

With the recent release of the popular movie and book American Sniper, much attention has been drawn to the effects of the disease of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on its victims. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a mental illness from going through a traumatic experience, is more prevalent in veterans and men currently serving in the military, and it is important that effective treatment be sought.
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 …show more content…

Most of the time the victim “experiences intense fear, helplessness, and/or horror following the traumatic event or accident.” If the event was a near death experience, caused a serious injury, and/ or the witnessing of someone else going through that can cause these symptoms. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder “involves re-experiencing, avoidance, and arousal.” Re-experiencing is when you feel like the event is happening again. Just a simple sound, smell, or sight can bring on the re-experiencing. Avoidance is when you avoid “thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the event.” Also many people will avoid place that remind them of the event. Arousal is when you have trouble sleeping, sudden anger burst, struggling with focusing on the task at hand, an being startled easily. These symptoms can cause “distress and impairment in social areas of functioning.” Sometimes they feel “guilty that they survived while others didn’t.” (Magill’s Medical

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