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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Research Paper

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Introduction According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM-5), the projected lifetime risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is 8.7% by the age of 75 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). While 8.7% may not initially seem like much, that is almost 28 million people living in the United States who could develop PTSD by the time they turn 75. The most disconcerting aspect about this statistic is that it does not include other factors that increase the risk of developing PTSD. The DSM-V diagnostic criteria for PTSD expanded the scope of PTSD diagnosis by no longer requiring the individual to fear for one’s life when exposed to a traumatic event; this illustrates just how important a …show more content…

Even though nationally representative epidemiologic information on PTSD is difficult to gather, the literature seems to keep growing. Trauma exposure effects psychological and physical health, along with cognitive and social functioning. Even though they experience traumatic events, some youths do not seem to experience any harmful outcomes. While others, especially youths who experience multiple events are significantly at risk. Youth trauma exposure is linked to PTSD and a myriad of other psychological problems. More extreme forms of and more experiences of trauma correlate with higher rates of psychopathology. Cognitive functions are also affected by exposure to trauma. In maltreated youths with PTSD, trauma exposure has been associated with attention and problem-solving. Youths who were exposed to urban violence showed lower school attendance and lower grades, along with decreased reading ability and IQ. Impaired self-esteem and disrupted interpersonal relationships are a few of the negative social-emotional outcomes associated with trauma exposure (Davies-Mercier et al., 2017). Lower socioeconomic adolescent males have increased risk of trauma exposure, even though males have reported higher rates of trauma exposure, females have reported higher rates of PTSD symptoms. Youths are not the only group of people that are negatively affected by traumatic events and PTSD. In adults, some negative outcomes of

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