Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment Plan

PTSD is not easily treated. Sometimes people can not only suffer mentally but have physical impairments from the event as well. This can make it hard for them to obtain the treatment they need. A combination of medications and psychotherapy is usually recommended and is the most effect form of treatment for PTSD. The earlier a person seeks treatment for this disorder the better the outcome will be. The medications are used to help people cope with their emotions while the psychotherapy will help

James D. Johnson elaborately explains the everyday battles of living with PTSD in the book, Combat Trauma: A Personal Look at Long-term Consequences. Johnson describes living with PTSD as a, “lifetime sentence”. There are many ways that PTSD is being treated in the United States, including psychotherapies and pharmacological drugs. The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) works with veterans that struggle with PTSD to help them overcome their traumas and try to get the veterans back to living their normal everyday lives.

The first method of treatment is trauma-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy. In this method, a patient is gradually but carefully exposed to feelings, thoughts, and situations that trigger memories of the trauma. By identifying the thoughts that make the patient remember the traumatic event, thoughts that had been irrational or distorted are replaced with a balanced picture. Another productive method is family therapy since the family of the patient is also affected by PTSD. Family therapy is aimed at helping those close to the patient understand what he/she is going through. This understanding will help in the establishment of appropriate communication and ways of curbing problems resulting from the symptoms (Smith & Segal, 2011).

Posttraumatic stress disorder can occur after someone experiences a traumatic event. Once the mind hits the coping threshold, it is imperative to seek professional help. The VA offers evidence-based treatments, individual, group treatments, and medications. Coping mechanisms range from individual to individual, hence the need for a diverse PTSD program. Under the evidence-based treatment there are two sections: prolonged exposure therapy and cognitive processing therapy. Prolonged exposure therapy is when someone continues to talk about their fears/trauma to gain control of feelings associated with those fears. The cognitive processing therapy is to understand the feelings associated with trauma and finding a way to replace negative feelings with positive

In regards to treatment there are good treatment options available for those who have been diagnosed as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. When first diagnosed, it may be

Trauma can be defined as an event or experience that hinders an individual’s ability to cope (Covington, 2008). These experiences have the power to alter biology and brain function, especially earlier on in life. Trauma can change an individual’s world-view, impacting their sense of self. This can lead to difficulties with self-regulation and higher incidences of impulsive behavior (Markoff et al., 2005). Often, individuals who have endured traumatic incidences turn to self-medication as a form of coping (De Bellis, 2002).

Treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder is possible. The current treatment of PTSD encompasses several types of psychotherapy combined with a medication regimen. Cognitive therapy is one type of therapy used to combat PTSD. The goal of cognitive therapy is to allow the patient to slowly experience feelings, thoughts, and events associated with the trauma in a controlled setting. This allows the PTSD sufferer, to categorize the traumatic feelings associated with the event and assign a more positive meaning to them. Thus providing a coping mechanism. Another school of thought places the therapeutic focus on gradually exposing the PTSD sufferer to elements of the trauma. The goal is to desensitize the patient to the traumatic event. This allows the patient to resume a normal life. One other form of therapy used in treatment of PTSD is EMDR. EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a form of exposure therapy that places the emphasis on guided eye movements. The theory is that the movements help retrain how the brain reacts to memories of the traumatic event. Success has

However, you can manage your symptoms and live a very productive life. Most people with PTSD have issues dealing with past feelings and keep them inside. Counseling or Talking to a Therapist is very beneficial in getting better. One of the most effective treatment for PTDS is Cognitive Behavioral therapy or CBT. The two forms of CBT most frequently used are Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy. The four main parts of CPT are: patients learn about the symptoms of PTSD, they become aware of their thoughts and feelings, they learn skills to help question and challenge their thoughts and understand the changes in your beliefs. There are also four main parts to PE therapy they are: education, breathing, real world practice and talking through the trauma. The most common medication to treat PTSD is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants. (Cohen, H. (2015). Some alternative treatments are yoga, acupuncture and

People seek treatment for this disorder in hopes of being able to function normally in their day to day lives. There are many dependable and reputable treatments for PTSD. One just has to find the right treatment for them. Some treatments include: natural products, alternative traditional medicines, mind-body medicine, manipulative practices, and many more (Alternative). There is traditional chinese medicine that dates back more than 3,000 years (Alternative). Mind-Body medicine and natural products are good options for those who want to refrain from taking a lot of psychiatric medications. For example, yoga is a great stress reliever for those with high levels of anxiety. Decaffeinated green tea is a great natural product that helps build a healthy immune system (Alternative). Some patients even consider acupuncture, as it is said to increase blood-flow and reduce stress. Manipulative practices are a more extreme, but effective approach to treating PTSD. These practices include sessions in which the patient will be exposed to the stressor at hand and will endure the anxiety until it depreciates. After several sessions the patients levels of anxiety should go down after being exposed to the stressor and learning how to cope with it. In a TED talk, Hector Garcia mentions that receiving treatment

The symptoms that are being treated through this individualized treatment plan related to post traumatic stress disorder are: dissociative reactions, irritable and aggressive behavior, concentration problems, and trauma-related external reminders. The first goal is in place to assist Precious in learning to eliminate intrusive memories, a “notable feature of memory in PTSD is the reliving experiences or “flashbacks” to the trauma” (Berwin, 2003, p. 340), and addressing causes of these memories through the intervention of prolonged exposure. In addition, the second goal that is being implemented, preventing and addressing distortions, is being addressed through prolonged exposure. This technique is “a general treatment strategy for reducing anxiety that involves confronting situations, activities, thoughts, and memories that are feared and avoided even though they are not inherently harmful.” (Foa, 1998, p. 65). The flashbacks and distortions that Precious experiences are being addressed through prolonged exposure, due the fact that it

“Treatment for PTSD is usually based on a combination of therapy and medication to manage symptoms”(SocialChoice). Some veterans may be embarrassed to get help. Group therapy is a good option for these people. During “group therapy members of the service talk about the trauma they have been through. They also learn skills to cope or manage their symptoms of PTSD”(military.com). Family and couples therapy is also an

Post-traumatic stress disorder is considered as a psychiatric disorder that creates impairments in occupational, interpersonal, and social functioning. Although there are several treatment processes for veterans suffering from this condition, some intervention may fail to generate desired results. Veterans who fail to show appropriate recovery should be supported with an alternative treatment plan (Aurora et al., 2010). Veterans develop the condition because of exposure to traumatizing

This method is useful in trauma cases, which result to depression, anger and anxiety. It includes strategies and methods used to help individuals deal with past traumatic events in order to minimize anger and depression. Making an individual remember their past traumatic events enables them deal with their fears (Rizvi, Vogt, & Resick, 2009). The treatment period is dependent on the needs of a client and the healing progress. Edna. B. Foa is the scholar who developed the therapy program she based her study on the treatment of anxiety. Practitioners all over the United States have practiced her strategy on treating trauma caused due to rape, child abuse, motor

PTSD affects everyone differently, so developing a treatment plan that works best may take time. The most common types of treatment include psychotherapy and medication. Psychotherapy for PTSD usually lasts from six to twelve weeks before symptoms resolve depending on the individual. There are various forms of psychotherapy, but the most common form used to treat PTSD is cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is used to help identify the triggers of symptoms and how to manage the symptoms. Cognitive behavioral therapy includes both exposure therapy and cognitive restructuring. Exposure therapy helps people face and learn to control their fear. For this type of therapy, people are gradually exposed to the trauma they experienced in a safe clinical setting by using imagining, by writing, and by physically visiting the place where the trauma occurred. Cognitive restructuring, on the other hand, helps people make sense of the bad memories related to the trauma and helps people look at what happened in a realistic way. The type of medication used for treating PTSD includes antidepressants. Antidepressants are prescribed to help control PTSD symptoms such as worry, anger, or sadness (“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”, 2016). Symptom reappearance and intensification can occur in response to reminders of the original trauma, ongoing stressors, or new traumatic events. For older individuals, factors such as declining health, worsening cognitive function, and social isolations may worsen PTSD symptoms (American Psychiatric Association,

A little background: PTSD is a psychological disorder formed from traumatic experiences that involves physical harm or the threat of physical harm that make the person feel stressed or frightened when they are no longer in danger. Signs and symptoms of PTSD can be grouped into three categories: Re-experiencing symptoms, avoidance symptoms, and hyper arousal symptoms . The main treatment for this is psychotherapy or