Ptsd Case Studies

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a relatively new diagnosis that was associated with survivors of war when it was first introduced. Its diagnosis was met largely with skepticism and dismissal by the public of the validity of the illness. PTSD was only widely accepted when it was included as a diagnosis in 1980 in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) of the American Psychiatric Association. PTSD is a complex mental disorder that develops in response to exposure to a severe traumatic event that stems a cluster of symptoms. Being afflicted with the disorder is debilitating, disrupting an individual’s ability to function and perform the most basic tasks.

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs, 2007. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has severely affected the lives of countless military veterans throughout the years. Consequently, there likely are many more PTSD cases that exist and go unreported, or misdiagnosed due to misconceptions when reported (Samuelson, Bartel, Jordan, & Valadez, 2017). To this extent, I am going to discuss my views on two articles. The first article explains the patient’s perceptions of PTSD symptoms. The second article explains the effects of performing Yoga as an unconventional form of treatment for PTSD patients. Each study was conducted on the men and women veterans of our Armed Forces. As citizens of the United States of America, we owe the Armed Forces a debt of

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event (National Institute of Mental Health [NIH], 2016). It is said that the psychic trauma that an individual suffers after the shocking experience causes the inner agency of the mind to lose its ability to control the disorganizing effects of the experience, and disequilibrium occurs. Many traumatic events can cause PTSD, like combat exposure, child sexual abuse or physical abuse, terrorist attacks, sexual or physical assault, serious accidents, or natural disasters. However, not everyone that suffers a traumatic event may develop PTSD. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (2016), it is not yet clear why some people develop PTSD and others do not. Many factors influence on whether or not an individual will develop the disorder, such as: how intense the trauma was or how long it lasted. Whether or not the individual was injured or lost someone important to them. How close the individual was to the event. How strong their reaction was. How much the person felt in control of the events, or how much help and support the person received after the event (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2016). PTSD is not exclusive to adults only, children can also have the disorder.

On, HelpGuide.org, Melinda Smith has given a seven step recovery program for PTSD. Her first step is titled, Get Moving, this step is meant to get the mind in a rhythm. This step can be accomplished in many different ways. Whether it’s swimming, running, or playing a sport. Any sort of physical activity that will make you focus on what’s at hand, instead of the stress. She recommends exercising for 30 minutes or more a day

been deemed breakthrough therapy by the Food and Drug Administration. The introduction of promising research from ecstasy to treat PTSD has allowed doors for researchers to begin working with LSD which is commonly called magic mushrooms that have shown a lot of promise in producing affective medications for combating PTSD. Along with these promising medications we also need to look at the home life of the veterans, a lot of veterans are either very old and have little family or do not have that family support system that are crucial in the healing process. Receiving treatment and therapy is crucial but if you do not have a strong support system it would be easy for veterans to slip down through the cracks which would allow PTSD to win the

According to a study done by the Nebraska Department of Veteran Affairs, “An estimated 7.8 percent of Americans will experience PTSD at some point in their lives, with women (10.4%) twice as likely as men (5%) to develop PTSD”. The common reasons for men to get PTSD is rape, combat exposure, childhood neglect, and childhood physical abuse. Women are more susceptible to PTSD because of rape, sexual molestation, physical attack, being threatened with a weapon, and childhood physical abuse. In 2013, the Boston marathon was bombed and 3 people died and over 200 were injured. Only a minority of people who were exposed to this attack as well as the subsequent manhunt and city wide shut down, will develop PTSD because the brain has other ways to heal itself. Some might develop relatively temporary anxiety and/or depression for example, they may have “survivor’s guilt”. Where the person who goes through a life-threatening experience and lives becomes depressed because he/she believes that they should not have been the one to live or they feel like it might be their fault that they were the ones to cause the incident in the first place. But for most, they will have the usual emotional response but will not have any illness at all. The most common place most people hear about PTSD might be from the news when they talk about the soldiers who come back from war. A study by the RAND Center for Military Policy Research shows that, out of 2.7 million Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans, more than 20% of veterans will be diagnosed with PTSD or have signs of PTSD. Out of those 20%, studies show that 5% to 50% of veterans will not seek out treatment and those who do only report “minimally adequate” treatment

Imagine living your entire life in constant fear. People often experience a sense of fear after living through an upsetting event. However, the feelings of fear, sadness, and anxiety slowly drift away and go back to normal. This is not the case for people diagnosed with PTSD. “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can be developed following a traumatic event that threatens your safety or makes you feel helpless”. (Smith, Segal, 2014). Society oftens links PTSD with soldiers being traumatized by war events, however, anybody can develop PTSD from any type of overwhelming life experience.

In accordance with Sabella (2012), approximately seven point seven million people from ages eighteen and above suffer from PTSD in the United States. From every one hundred people, about seven or eight Americans will have PTSD at some point at their lives. A traumatic event possibly involving an assault is more likely to result in PTSD on both woman and child than with a man; which may result in long standing debilitating

Deyoung, Scott R. Sponheim, Tricia L. Bender, Melissa A. Polusny, Christopher R. Erbes, and Paul A. Arbisi. "Predicting Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans: Interaction Of traumatic Load with COMT Gene Variation.") Women are more likely to develop the disorder than men, and there is some evidence that PTSD may run in families PTSD is prevalent among military veterans, who witnessed many severe stressors.

As there is many causes of PTSD, there is also many ways that a doctor or therapist can treat it. However, just like there is different people, some treatments may not work on some people depending on the level of emotional trauma they have suffered. One way that therapists treat patients is by contacting them over the phone or Skype to give them sessions without the patient needing to be there physically (Brady, Grubaugh, & Tuerk). Through these calls, they will perform the regular exercises that they would do in the office, but rather at home for it to be more accessible to the patient as well as more convenient since they can do it from the comfort of their own home. One very effective form of treatment is exposure therapy. Through exposure therapy, the main goal is to get the patient to do things that they once previously avoided, but in a more stable and calm environment to acclimate them and make sure they get used to doing it (Brady, Grubaugh, & Tuerk). Some of these things include anything from driving in and around crowds, and driving over potholes in fear of them being IEDs (Brady, Grubaugh, &

Great case study, I like your scenario. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental condition that take place in a person mind (Cobum, 2018). PTSD is so real that it disrupts the individual and their family’s life. The person goes thru a traumatic event, such as rape, childhood abuse, combat, a near-death experience that they just can’t forget. This particular event causes them to have flashbacks, or nightmare. There are some people who have PTSD, but have not gone thru a traumatic event but have lost a loved one that causes them to have PTSD. PTSD affect the brain, but the deeps of it son unclear (Cobum, 2018). It was believe to be a condition that only people that engage in combat get, but that theory has proven false, because it can

PTSD can affect any person, no matter how resolute – each unique case of the affliction makes it near impossible to be given a foolproof “cure.” Knowing how the mind is affected is only possible through knowledge of how the physical body is affected. When exposed to acute stress, animals undergo what is called the "flight or fight" response, mediated by the sympathetic nervous system through adrenaline (epinephrine) and noradrenaline (norepinephrine) released by chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla. NE playsa particularly important role. In PTSD, individuals react strongly to stressful, traumatic experiences, yet not to non-traumatic experiences such as doing math problems or other menial “stressor.” Stress also results in the release of cortisol from the adrenal cortex, which both acts to mediate the stress response by raising blood sugar and blood pressure, as well as having a negative feedback role to turn off the stress response.

This, PTSD/PTSD by proxy, is a very sensitive topic in my family due to the fact my adopted siblings and I have been through the foster care system (for those who don’t know what that means, more or less your legal guardians were not raising you properly and had their rights of custody to you temporarily/permanently taken away while you are removed from the situation in placed in temporary/permanent care of a trained adult/adults). Due to a difficult life growing up, I am a bit experienced in how people with PTSD are treated in public and how treatment for such a disorder goes about. Trauma experienced directly and trauma experienced secondhand are very similar to me due to personal experience in both situations. Post traumatic stress disorder is defined as constant mental/emotional stress due to extreme psychological shock usually causing disturbed sleep patterns and reliving the experience.

Thanks for your input. I can relate how anxiety can become a major problem dealing with PTSD. PTSD will have you feeling fear and at unease. These physiological difficulties are problems where physical symptoms are  prominent and are accompanied by impairing psychological stress. Compliants about physical symptoms in the absence of medical evidence. They don't seek out mental health help but often turn to a medical