PTSD Resulting From Spine Surgery: A Research Proposal
Brendan Remus
Mercer University School of Medicine
7/31/15
PTSD Resulting From Spine Surgery:
A Research Proposal
Study Rational Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an interesting disorder because it has an identifiable starting point and a variable progression which can be characterized by spontaneous recovery or worsening symptoms. Although the progression is interesting, I have an interest in the acquisition of the disorder. I believe that invasive medical procedures with and without anesthesia can produce sub clinical PTSD which meet all of the symptoms except for criteria a, exposure. I have available to me a population of patients receiving surgeries which vary in invasiveness from outpatient procedures to craniotomies which require a week in recovery. I believe that observing the development of PTSD in a sample of these patients could produce some interesting findings relating surgery invasiveness to PTSD development. To my knowledge no study has done between group comparisons of different types of back surgeries and resulting psychological distress. Beyond concerns of patient health and wellbeing there is a financial cost to mental illnesses. A study at the Georgia Neurosurgical Institute (GNI) revealed that patients diagnosed with anxiety disorders stayed half a day longer for inpatient procedures (Floyd & Sanoufa, in press). The costs associated with anxiety disorders at GNI are not
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.
"PTSD is a whole-body tragedy, an integral human event of enormous proportions with massive repercussions." This is a quote from the wonderful author Susan Pease Banitt. Susan's view on PTSD is as raw and realistic as it gets. PTSD is a disorder that develops in people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event. The causes of PTSD can range from sexual assault to fighting in the war. It is a common occurrence for soldier to obtain some type of psychological disorder, such as PTSD, due to the insane events that take place on the battlefield. Disorders like PTSD, and other similar, often play with the victim's thought process, actions, and emotions.
Psychological Analysis. When an individual is diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), multiple criteria must be addressed which I will elaborate in the document. When Mr. Wertz was deployed to Iraq in the infantry division, he witnessed the death of a comrade and in his second deployment he had many mortar attacks fulfilling criterion A of PTSD. Conclusively, there was a presence of a trauma while in the army when Mr. Wertz witnessed the death of soldiers in his division. Mr. Wertz recounts having nightmares about his combat. The nightmares are described as reoccurring for the duration of two months. The dream described is Mr. Wertz and his unit being barricaded in a house and being fired at directly;
Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is sometimes considered to be a relatively new diagnosis, as the name first appeared in 1980, the concept of the disorder has a very long history. That history has often been linked to the history of war, but the disorder has also been frequently described in civilian settings involving natural disasters, mass catastrophes, and serious accidental injuries. The diagnosis first appeared in the official nomenclature when Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-I was published in 1952 under the name gross stress reaction. It was omitted, however, in the next edition in 1968, after a long
This study uses secondary research in order to make connections between ideas and concepts that can illuminate the topic. Through search of databases and online book resources, the development of a rich foundation of resources can help to explore the subject matter. Using keywords to define the search, the literature can be used in order to determine how connections can be made between PTSD and TBI. Once the literature was accumulated and reviewed, the information from those works was put into context with the research questions and concepts were developed by creating connections between those works. This essay will therefore focus on the existing body of knowledge that has addressed the concepts of PTSD in details. Specifically, I would draw a keen and focused comparison or analysis between the effects of brain damage and the consequences or effects of PTSD, the level of damage and mitigative roles to combat the situation.
According to The National Institute of Mental Health the costs related with mental illness from both the direct cost for mental health services and treatment and losses related to the disability caused by these
PTSD among combat veterans can be very complex for it has many different variables that can play a part in the severity and duration. The different variables can be found in prewar, warzone, and
Today's veterans offten return home and find themselves experiencing PTSD symptoms as a result of combat-related stress and signfigant amount of exposure to traumatic events. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among United States Veterans has risen to great numbers in recent years due United States involvement in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) thus far within the last 10 years 1,400,000 military service members have been engaged in these conflicts. Once Unitied States troops were deployed and participated in Operation New Dawn (OND) numbers began to rise over 2.5 million troops. (Rosenthal, J. Z., Grosswald, S., Ross, R., & Rosenthal, N. 2011) The veteran population will face exclusive types of stressors
PTSD having been on the rise following various deployments necessitated by the various wars against terror, where the soldiers encounter traumatic experiences like harsh training conditions, unfavorable living standards, enemy attacks, extreme working environment, explosions, torture by enemies, loss of colleagues as well as long term separation from family back at home (Melinda S & Jeanne S., 2012). This therefore calls for a concerted effort in handling the pandemic of PTSD since it has been constantly on the increase and as a
For centuries the world has combated various physical injuries, saving lives but until the twentieth century little was known about the emotional effect on soldiers. PTSDs longest dated back case was the writings of a Greek soldier fighting in the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, reportedly went blind after the man standing next to him was killed The blinded soldier "was wounded in no part of his body." and so had just been the first man to experience PTSD. Dating back the first name diagnosis was nostalgic or homesickness followed by shell shocked, combat exhaustion, and stress response syndrome the medical field more advanced leading to figuring out that the reaction is from our body trying to deal with what was happening. As time went on the medical field was furthered and now have what is known as PTSD the mental sickness that Plagues are
Hennessy, K. D., & Green-Hennessy, S. (2011). A review of mental health interventions in SAMHSA 's national registry of evidence-based programs and practices. Psychiatric Services (Washington, D.C.), 62(3), 303-305. doi:10.1176/ps.62.3.pss6203_0303
Chi et al. (2016) discovered that for all psychiatric medical services between 2001 and 2008, the relapse group had a higher frequency of care and cost than the non-relapse group. The relapse group incurred $19,033, which was 5.79 times higher than the non-relapse group, and 482.19
War traumas date back to the Civil War. During the Russo- Japanese War (1904-1905) a Russian psychiatrist compared traumatized train crash survivors and returning war veterans. The train crash survivors were said to have “railway spine”, the doctors believed their anxiety was caused by the compression of the backbone (Frey n.pag). World War I (1914-1918) was the first war that used bombs, fighter airplanes, and chemical warfare. In 1917, Robert Gaupp explained that “the main causes are the fright and anxiety brought about by the explosion of enemy shells and mines” (Scott 550). During World War I the technically term was not PTSD at the time they called it “Shell Shock”. The symptoms of Shell Shock were the inability to hear, talk, stand and walk. In addition the soldier experience “thousand-yard stare” a blank and unfocused expression (Frey n.pag). Conditions like these were called “combat fatigue” or “traumatic war neurosis” during World War II (1939-1945). PTSD affect a lot of the soldiers in the Vietnam War (1954-1975). After the Vietnam War, the term Post-traumatic Stress Disorder was coined, connecting the terms shell shock, combat fatigue, and traumatic war neurosis.
Post-traumatic stress were documented as early as the Civil War., yet only did it during World War I and II become known, it was known as “shell shock” or “battle fatigue”. Although they didn’t quite understand it yet, it was thought that shrapnel entered the brain during battle explosions and caused small brain hemorrhages. When symptoms occurred in war veterans who had not been exposed to explosions, it was then often viewed as a character flaw. In the 1970s, during and after the Vietnam War, post-traumatic stress received more serious research and documentation. In 1989, the National Center for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder was established in the U.S. About 5 percent of men and 10 percent of women in the United States have PTSD. In women, the
While untreated mental illness sufferers pay the ultimate price, stigma not letting sufferers get treatment also pays a toll on society. The first item that proves this is the money spent on large amount of medical costs from attempted suicides. In another finding from the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, among suicide attempts the medical costs such as ER visits and hospital stays