Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Essay

Hundreds of thousands of United States veterans are not able to leave the horrors of war on the battlefield (“Forever at War: Veterans Everyday Battles with PTSD” 1). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the reason why these courageous military service members cannot live a normal life when they are discharged. One out of every five military service members on combat tours—about 300,000 so far—return home with symptoms of PTSD or major depression. According to the Rand Study, almost half of these cases go untreated because of the disgrace that the military and civil society attach to mental disorders (McGirk 1). The general population of the world has to admit that they have had a nightmare before. Imagine not being able to sleep one

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.

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.

You hear people talking about PTSD all the time, what is it exactly? Post-Traumatic stress Syndrome or PTSD is a condition of persistent mental and emotional stress occurring as a result of injury or severe psychological shock, typically involving disturbance of sleep and constant vivid recall of the experience, with dulled responses to others and to the outside world. A veteran with PTSD experiences Fatigue, Anxiousness, Brain fog, sleep issues, depressed mood and hypervigilance. Hypervigilance is an enhanced state of sensory sensitivity accompanied by an exaggerated intensity of behaviors whose purpose is to detect threats. Veterans also have an increased anxiety which can cause extreme exhaustion which in turn causes loss of motivation.

Perhaps attesting to the enhanced understanding of PTSD and alarm at the troubling suicide rates of veterans, the media seems to be raising the public’s attention about the condition, for example, through the use of documentaries. In 2005, during the second push of the Iraqi and Afghanistan war PBS FRONTLINE released a documentary entitled, “The Soldier’s Heart,” This documentary gives an overview of the history of PTSD, but focuses specifically on the psychological toll of the Iraq war. It illuminates the fact that despite advances in our understanding of PTSD, there continues to be a stigma against psychological problems in the

The study of psychology refers to collective trauma as the effect experienced by many people in the aftermath of a tragedy or event. The pain of collective traumatic disorders is common among soldiers who experienced military combat, but has the potential to affect an entire community. Although, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can alter relationships with the family and the community, future generations will not have to endure combat directly to experience collective trauma. Many Veterans suffering from PTSD might shy away from others due to stigmas associated with the diagnosis. Some might have difficulty concentrating, or have guilty feelings, cannot find work, feel helpless, fearful, or have a loss of interest in usual activities. All

Other people—spouses, children, family members, friends, or co-workers—often are more aware of the veteran's emotional distress than he is himself.(Scurfeild, 1993)

As the Vietnam War began preventative measures were being taken to decrease the psychological impact of war on soldiers. Unfortunately as the war ended soldiers were often met with hostile demonstrations by anti-war activists and society offered little acceptance of Vietnam veterans even years after the war. This is when early studies on PTSD and the effects on military families began being documented. Early research showed that PTSD can have devastating, far-reaching consequences on the patients functioning, relationships,

MacArthur Fellow Shay, a man with 20 years of experience in treating veterans with mental issues, believes that, “Wounds most often occur when leaders betray soldiers in high stakes situations, whether or not that occurs in combat.” PTSD is a very under lying problem in society and that causes a lot of damage. This disorder has a deadly effect on people and overall can disable a person. PTSD have many symptoms and can be sometimes very subtle, but very harmful to the Veteran’s inner self. Some of the most common symptoms of these victims are depression, thoughts of suicide, traumatic flashbacks, irritability, and easy to startle. Guilt and Self Indictment is a reappearing symptom seen in Veterans with this mental illness. “Regret, doesn’t begin to capture what the soldiers I talked with feel. It doesn’t capture the despair or depth of the feeling - the awful weight of self indictment and the need to make moral repair in order to be allowed back into the community in which he feels he has somehow jeopardized his standing,” says Nancy Sherman while interviewing for her book. When dealing with this mental illness, most victims

“Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes,” (Feldman, 2009, p.5). There are many different views of psychological studies. However, they all share the basic foundation. They analyze memories, emotions, perceptions, thoughts, and reasoning processes, as well as the body’s functioning and what maintains these. In addition, each field of psychology strives to improve lives. Understanding behavior and mental processes aids in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses (Feldman, 2009, p.5). There is a vast array of recognized mental illnesses. This paper will reflect on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; the causes of it, the features and associated features, the major psychological perspectives on PTSD, the

A moment is defined as a brief period of time. (Merriam Webster) The average lifespan of a person consists of 27,375 days, that is 39,420,000 minutes. Within those hundreds of thousands of minutes humans have the opportunity to experience a moment. These experiences can be either good, bad or neutral. A significant moment in my life was the moment I was sexually assaulted. For a long period of time that experience held a negative impact in my life but also taught me that there are too many ongoing experiences to let one moment define the rest.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder that may develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which severe physical harm occurred or was threatened. Anyone who has gone through a life-threatening event can develop post-traumatic stress disorder including military troops who served in wars; rescue workers for catastrophes for example 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.; survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing; survivors of accidents, rape, physical or sexual abuse, and other crimes; immigrants fleeing violence in their countries; survivors of earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes; and those who witness traumatic events can also develop post-traumatic stress disorder

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be a very serious and debilitating condition that occurs after a person has been exposed to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical danger happened or was threatened. The kinds of traumatic events triggering PTSD in people include violent personal assaults (rape, mugging), natural disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes), man-made disasters (bombings), accidents or military combat. People who suffer from PTSD often relive the experience through nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty sleeping, and feel detached or estranged, and these symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to significantly impair a person’s daily life. PTSD is a complicated

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