Post Traumatic Stress Research

Sean and his aunt were in a good mood when the QP met with them for a session.

Today, 42.5 million Americans suffer from a mental illness. There are many different types of mental illnesses that affect over half of the population. Some are more severe than others, but still equally important. Two of the common disorders you hear about today are Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Post-traumatic-stress-disorder (PTSD) is part of many veteran’s lives in the U.S. today. PTSD is a serious mental and emotional disorder that people often don’t understand or don’t know about. It’s defined as a mental illness that develops after a person has lived through a traumatizing event, such as sexual assault, physical abuse, threat of death, or serious injury. Most people who experience a distressing event don’t develop PTSD, but for those who do, it’s extremely terrifying to go through.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder a type of mental health disorder that occurs after experiencing a traumatic event or a series of events that creates psychological symptoms that eventually lead to behavioral changes. This happens to people who have witnessed terrorizing circumstances. It is normal for your mind or body to be in shock after being in a catastrophic circumstance, with PTSD your nervous system gets stuck in a shocked state of mind which eventually leads to PTSD. This may take hours, days, or possibly months following the event for symptoms to side. There are four symptom groups, recurrent, extreme avoidance, negative changes in thoughts and mood, and being on guard all the time. When experiencing recurrent symptoms you go will have

Diagnostic criteria for PTSD includes a history of exposure to a traumatic event that meets specific stipulations and symptoms from each of the four symptom clusters included in the DSM-5: intrusion, avoidance, negative alterations in cognition and mood, and alterations in arousal and activity. The sixth criterion concerns duration of symptoms; the seventh assesses functioning; and, the eighth criterion clarifies symptoms as not attributable to a substance or co-occurring medical condition.

PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a disorder that occurs when someone has had something scary or dangerous happen in their life. In this disorder, it is natural for the person to feel scared during and after the situation they were in. In this disorder fear is triggered and changes in the body help defend them against danger, this response is healthy to protect this person from harm. Anyone with a reaction after trauma usually recovers, but those who continue may be diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.. People with PTSD might feel scared even when they are safe and out of harm. People with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder have symptoms for longer than one month. They cannot function as well as before they did before the tragic event.

Occupational therapy addresses impairments in different areas of occupation and teaches patients to adapt and learn new ways to perform the meaningful occupations successfully. Over the years, traumatic brain injury (TBI) has become the leading cause of disability and affects all age groups across the life span (Archer, Svensson, & Alricsson, 2012). TBI, is often a serious injury that occurs as a result of an accident or other trauma. When an individual experiences a traumatic brain injury, their life is normal one moment and shortly changed the next. When a person’s brain is injured, it can affect all aspects of their life, including their personality. Brain injuries also do not heal like other injuries and therefore can take much longer.

The fifth edition of the DSM, released in 2013, no longer considered PTSD an anxiety disorder. Instead, PTSD was moved to a new chapter called Trauma and Stress Related Disorders (Sareen, 2014). Additional criteria were also added to the fifth edition and in order to satisfy a PTSD diagnosis, a client must have at least one or more symptoms in each of the criterias from A through H. Typically, symptoms occur three months following the trauma. However, in some cases, there could be delayed expression which would represent a delay of months or years before a client meets the diagnostic criteria. In this instance, the symptoms may have been present immediately following the trauma; however, the postponement was in meeting the full criteria. Furthermore, PTSD symptoms can appear in individuals starting at the age of one years old. As a result, additional criteria was implemented for the diagnosis of children under the age of six as their PTSD symptoms differ from those seven years old or older (American Psychiatric Association & American Psychiatric Association,

Many individuals tend to experience a traumatic event that will change their entire lives short-term or long-term wise. Exposure to traumatic events are more common in military veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. By becoming exposed to the harsh conditions of a war-zone, such as violence or bloodshed, military veterans evoke a psychological response known as the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The common symptoms of PTSD tend to be aggressiveness, disturbances in sleep, and or paranoia. PTSD has the ability to severely damage the emotional and mental well-being of an individual. Not only that, but it also affects the way how one behaves around others. At times, PTSD and its severity goes unnoticed. This is a major reason as to why this topic will be explored in this paper. It is to bring awareness and urge the importance to go through treatments to cure

Post traumatic stress can be developed in not just war zones but also with street/gang violence, sexual abuse, and physical abuse, therefore it needs more attention so victims will be less likely to commit suicide and will be able to get the right form of treatment.

“According to the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the most traumatic events most often experienced in women are rape.” (Goulston, 2008; pg 17) PTSD appears in people who have encountered a traumatic event during their lifetime. Not everyone who has experienced a traumatic event may develop PTSD. “More than 70% of Americans suffer a traumatic event at some time in their lives. Of these trauma survivors, up to 20% develop PTSD.” (Goulston, 2008; pg 13) There are numerous of symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. Beckner & Arden state that, a normal indicator to stress and trauma involves females experiencing physiological, behavioural and physical symptoms. (Beckner & Arden, 2008; pg 25) With physiological

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a widespread disorder that affects certain individuals psychologically, behaviorally, and emotionally following the experience of a traumatic event (Lee et al., 2005, p. 135). However, because of inconsistencies regarding the percentage of individuals who experience PTSD and the percentage of individuals who subsequently develop PTSD, researchers hypothesize that both biological and environmental factors contribute to the development of PTSD (Wolf et al. 2010, p. 328). In order gain a better understanding of this disorder and to discover contributing and predicative factors which contribute to the development of PTSD, this paper analyses the historical context and prevalence of PTSD, the

In modern society there are many events that could trigger acute and post-traumatic stress disorders. For one, war has a great affect on those who directly experience it and those who may be affected because of a child or spouse or someone within a relationship is experiencing it and its dangers and stresses. Freak accidents such as near downing experiences or car accidents can cause stress disorders especially when the individual is near water or getting back into a car. I know I have a friend that was in a car accident about four years ago and she still says that if she isn’t driving she gets super anxious for the first 10-15 minutes of the car ride.

The survival status of burn victims is increasing and although this is an achievement for the medical field, it means that many burn victims are left dealing with psychiatric issues such as stress, depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Willebrand, Anderson & Ekeselius, 2004). PTSD is an anxiety disorder that results from a traumatic event in which the client’s life was or perceived to be threatened (Lonergan, 2014). There are three cardinal categories of signs and symptoms of PTSD: re-experiencing (flashbacks), avoidance/numbing and hyper-arousal (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). A female adult is admitted two months post burn to a mental health clinic located in the city. Upon further inquiry, the physician diagnoses her with PTSD based on her reported symptoms, using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (American et al., 2013). Collaborating with the mental health nurses results in two nursing strategies that are planned focusing on the current gold standard to treating the symptoms that characterize PTSD. This paper will outline two evidenced based strategies that a nurse can implement specifically, utilizing techniques of prolonged exposure (PE) therapy and medication education

The mental disorder I chose was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The DSM-IV-TR classifies it as one type of anxiety disorder. Clinicians need to understand PTSD, and identify the different symptoms and behaviors. There are PTSD characteristics associated with any trauma exposure, which can put the victim in a state of psychological shock. This can happen after a life threating, traumatic event like military combat, natural disasters, sexual assault, or any other threat of death or serious injury. It can also happen by learning about a traumatic event to others, involving injury, physical threat, or death especially to those who are close. Clinicians must identify these characteristics associated with PTSD. Symptoms and behaviors that