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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd )

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Abstract Individuals that show to have Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are significantly affected both mentally and emotionally due to the exposure to a traumatic event. PTSD is a life-long disorder that is being seen diagnosed more and more among returning soldiers and sexually-violated individuals. Because of its increased detection, the importance of constructing effective treatments for individuals living with PTSD is becoming increasingly recognized. Although effectively treating PTSD has shown to be rather difficult and complicated, there have been potential breakthroughs, and a large amount of research is still being devoted to discovering treatments for this disorder. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature that …show more content…

The first criterion, exposure to a traumatic event, is central to PTSD. One has to be exposed, either directly or indirectly (e.g. learning about a traumatic event), in order for them to acquire PTSD. Only being exposed to a traumatic event is not enough to acquire this disorder, though, indicating that the acquisition of this disorder is associated with both environmental and genetic causes. The rest of the criteria for PTSD are direct consequences of this first criterion (Friedman, 2013). Intrusion symptoms are those such as recurring memories, dreams, and flashbacks of the traumatic event that are distressful and unwanted. Intrusion symptoms also include psychological and physiological responses when exposed to reminders of the traumatic event (Friedman, 2013). Avoidance symptoms are the avoidant actions an individual takes to counter the intrusion symptoms. Since these intrusion symptoms are of a distressful nature, an individual might consistently and determinately attempt to avoid all things (memories, dreams, flashbacks, environmental reminders) related to the traumatic event (Friedman, 2013). The fourth criterion, negative alterations in cognitions and mood,

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