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
Between February 2001 and April 2003, many were completed by approximately 9,282 Americans, 18 years of age or above, completed a survey that was conducted by The National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). According to The National Comorbidity Survey Replication study, 5,692 Americans were diagnosed with PTSD. However, this research used the DSM-4 criteria. It was estimated that the lifetime prevalence was about 6.8% for Americans in young adulthood. This was a jump from the previous year at 3.5%. The lifetime prevalence for women was higher, at 9.7%, than it was for men at 3.6%. “Kessler, R.C., Berglund, P., Delmer, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K.R., & Walters, E.E. (2005).”
The freedoms Americans enjoy come at a price; brave military men and women often foot the bill. Many men and women pay with their lives; others relive the sights, sounds, and terror of combat in the form of PTSD. Several causes and risk factors contribute to the development of PTSD. Combat-related PTSD appears slightly different than traditional PTSD. History tells of times when soldiers diagnosed with PTSD were viewed as “weak.” Resources have not always been available to struggling soldiers. The adverse symptoms of PTSD on soldiers and their families can be crippling.
In the United States (US) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects 8 out of every 100 persons (United States Department of Veterans Affairs [USDVA], 2015). In which account for about 8 million people that include the military veterans (USDVA, 2015). About 10% of women and 4% of men will develop PTSD during some course of their lives (USDVA, 2015). Veterans are more susceptible to PTSD due to longer exposures to trauma, danger, or witness a violent life threaten incidence during their military service periods (USDVA, 2015). The development of PTSD becomes chronic after no longer seeing or under the “fight-or-flight“ experiences causing a psychological and/ or mental breakdown (National Institutes of Health [NIH], n.d). Such
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is described as a type of anxiety disorder that can occur after experiencing a traumatic event that causes extreme emotional trauma. This emotional trauma is more often than not contributed to a fear of injury or death to either oneself or others. It is currently projected that one in three returning military service members will suffer from PTSD. Along with the rise in PTSD the suicide rate for military service members and veterans has increased astronomically with an average of 22 suicides per day. With so many of the nation’s veterans suffering from this disorder it has become the center for research and studies within the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). The focal point of this research being how to improve PTSD sufferer’s quality of life and if it is possible to prevent PTSD altogether.
Within the human experience, there has always been a risk of exposure to both physical and psychological trauma. The threat of violence, personal tragedies, and economic and social catastrophes are all possible triggers for an onset of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). What was once reserved as a diagnosis for veterans has been found to affect both young and old. The development of various assessment tools have been used in diagnosing PTSD and one of the most commonly used tests is the Post-Traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale. It is an assessment that was developed and validated by Edna Foa to provide a brief but reliable self-report measure of PTSD for use in both clinical and research settings (Zalta, Gillihan, Fisher, Mintz, McLean, Yehuda, & Foa, 2014). The Post-Traumatic Diagnostic Scale is an assessment instrument deigned to be taken by adults with at least an eighth grade reading level. This review of will evaluate the hits, misses, false positive errors, and false negative errors of this instrument and how to each area is applied in interpreting the construct measurement of this assessment tool. Although the Post Traumatic diagnostic Scale has consistently ranked high with clinicians and researchers, in self-reporting the definition of trauma can potentially become subjective and compromise the reliability of the assessment tool.
Race/ ethic differences in risk for PTSD can rise from two sources. Differences in exposure to qualifying traumatic events and differences in the risk for developing PTSD among those who are exposed to trauma. Epidemiology studies have shown that trauma exposure varies by demographic characteristics including race. Factors that lead to trauma exposure may be different from those that increase vulnerability to the effects of exposure. It is unclear whether all the general US population racial and ethnic differences exist in lifetime prevalence of PTSD, exposure to traumatic events and development of PTSD among
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sound mind.” ( 2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV).
PTSD used to be referred to as shell shock and battle fatigue for soldiers, but today it can affect people of all ages and all ethnic groups (Cohen 2016). Children that witness sexual abuse, adolescents that experience drive by shootings, and adults that go through natural disasters have the potential to be diagnosed with PTSD. Several recent studies have shown that trauma is fairly common in the United States. One study goes to show that over 50% of all people will experience a traumatic event some time in their lives. For women, this event is usually rape and sexual abuse. For men, it is most commonly combat exposure. Domestic violence is also a common precipitant of PTSD, but it is not as sufficiently recognized as a cause. Other causes that may lead to increased vulnerability are impairments in personal judgement, lack of supportive relationships, and previous traumatic experiences or underlying mental disorders. One common misconception is that PTSD is the immediate response to a traumatic experience. The majority of people that are exposed to a traumatic experience often develop insomnia for a short time but cope and recover fairly well. Less than 10% of people with symptoms showing PTSD go on to develop the actual disorder (Cohen
Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Often this is the case, however, certain trauma is too overwhelming for the body and mind to recover from. Instead of becoming stronger as the German philosopher quoted some things can emotionally and physically weaken the body. In fact when confronted with huge amounts of stress there are some who have emotional and mental breakdowns, which can result in posttraumatic stress disorder commonly known as PTSD. This anxiety disorder may occur after experiencing or witnessing a trauma or life-threatening event that causes severe feelings of helplessness and fear. In the following research paper the psychology and neuroscience background of PTSD will be examined, theories
The article Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Relationship to Traumatic Brain Injury and Approach to Treatment Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, characterizes PTSD as, “a specific clinical syndrome including re-experiencing symptoms, avoidance, and alterations in arousal, cognition, and mood, resulting from exposure to severe traumatic events” (Howlett, Stein). In the world today around 70% or 223.4 million people have experienced some kind of terrible or disturbing event at least once in their lives (“PTSD: National Center for PTSD”). However, out of these 223.4 million people only 20% or 44.7 million people experiencing a traumatic event will develop PTSD (“PTSD: National Center for PTSD”). Anyone is able to develop the illness of PTSD: victims
Mental diseases and disorders have been around since humans have been inhabiting earth. The field of science tasked with diagnosing and treating these disorders is something that is always evolving. One of the most prevalent disorders in our society but has only recently been acknowledged is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Proper and professional diagnosis and definitions of PTSD was first introduced by the American Psychiatric Association(APA) in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM-III) in 1980 (Friedman, 2016). The introduction of PTSD into the DSM-III was a step forward to helping victims of traumatic experiences. To be able to help people cope with these traumatizing experiences
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common and chronic anxiety disorder that develops, when a person is subjected to a distressing or shocking life event such as physical or sexual assault, terrorist attack, military warfare, and a natural calamity. This paper highlights the pathophysiology and age continuum; genomic issues; literature review; clinical guidelines and various approaches for the management of PTSD.
PTSD can be a debilitating disorder, and its symptoms can have a negative impact on a number of different areas in a person's life. In particular, PTSD can negatively affect a person's mental health, physical health, work, and relationships. The research is attempting to intensify cognitive, personality, and social protective factors and to decrease the risk factors to deflect fully-fledged PTSD after trauma.
It is well known that emergency service workers are exposed to multiple situations deemed traumatic over their careers, with the accumulation of these events resulting in psychological injuries such as Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This brief will highlight the significant impact PTSD has on emergency service workers and will discuss strategies that could be implemented to combat this debilitating problem, focusing on two main contemporary leadership theories transformational and situational.
Posttraumatic stress disorder has caused multiple drastic life changes on countless victims over the years. Different health models have been devised to help explain and predict possible behavior. This essay investigated the following RQ: “To what extent does post traumatic stress (PTSD) have an effect on a persons’ day-to-day life particularly on victims of Stockholm syndrome?