Symptoms And Treatment Of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

I. Introduction A. Attention Getter – Today, I am going to talk about something that is not talked about enough; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. For those of you who do not know, PTSD is defined by the Nebraska Department of Veterans Affairs as “a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a life-threatening event such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood.” (“What is PTSD?”) B. Tie to the Audience – I am sure that there are a few people in this class that have had a family member or friend suffer from PTSD.

This paper explores post-traumatic stress and how it is seen as a disorder. Post-traumatic stress can manifest into post-traumatic stress disorder. According to Sareen (2014), Post-traumatic stress disorder is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5 as having 4 core features that are as follows. First, the person must witness or experience a stressful event. Secondly, the person or persons would re-experience symptoms of the event that include nightmares and/or flashbacks. The person or persons would also have hyper arousal symptoms, such as concentrations problems, irritability, and sleep disturbance. The final core feature dictates

Most of the time the victim “experiences intense fear, helplessness, and/or horror following the traumatic event or accident.” If the event was a near death experience, caused a serious injury, and/ or the witnessing of someone else going through that can cause these symptoms. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder “involves re-experiencing, avoidance, and arousal.” Re-experiencing is when you feel like the event is happening again. Just a simple sound, smell, or sight can bring on the re-experiencing. Avoidance is when you avoid “thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the event.” Also many people will avoid place that remind them of the event. Arousal is when you have trouble sleeping, sudden anger burst, struggling with focusing on the task at hand, an being startled easily. These symptoms can cause “distress and impairment in social areas of functioning.” Sometimes they feel “guilty that they survived while others didn’t.” (Magill’s Medical

Stein, Dan J., Seedat, Soraya, Iversen, Amy, and Wesley, Simona, (2007), Post-traumatic stress disorder: medicine and politics, 369: 139 44

When humans undergo traumatic events that threaten their safety and wellbeing, they may become vulnerable to nightmares, fear, excessive anxiety, depression, and trembling. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychological illness that results from the occurrence of a “terribly frightening, life-threatening, or otherwise unsafe experience” (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), 2012). This condition often leads to unbearable stress and anxiety. PTSD is significantly prevalent as indicated by data from the National Co-morbidity Survey which shows that at a particular time in their lives, 7.8% of 5, 877 adults in America suffered from PTSD (Andrew & Bisson, 2009). In the general population, the lifetime prevalence is estimated at 8%,

intentionally or subconsciously changing your behavior to avoid scenarios associated with the event or losing interest in activities you used to enjoy

It is evident that reforms are necessary within the VA system and society in regards to PTSD and veterans. How can the American veterans be better taken care of? I will focus on the following four specific issues that are in need of reform,

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or as many know by the abbreviation PTSD, is a complex mental issue that affects several every day. People that know of post-traumatic stress disorder tend to connect it to military personnel. In recent years, PTSD has been diagnosed in people who have endured other types of high-stress experiences as well (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)). In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) added PTSD to the third edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III). Although PTSD was recognized as a mental disorder in 1980, in the 1800’s doctors began to notice that soldiers were “exhausted” from war and would experience mental shutdowns and similar symptoms of

The fast paced, often demanding world of life in the military, and the experiences of combat and death, create situations in which many veterans experience psychological stress. These stressful situations are typically complicated further by the self-medication of substance use, and other psychological disorders that may be present. There is a large number of military personnel that are facing stressful issues such as homelessness, suicide, and substance abuse, which could lead to them getting involved with the criminal justice system. There is approximately 18.5% of service members returning from Iraq or Afghanistan that suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, and about 19.5% of military personnel report experiencing a traumatic brain injury during their deployment in the middle east (Veterans and Military Families, 2014).

There are two forms of mental illness that are primarily associated with deployment, . they are post-traumatic stress disorder and Traumatic brain Injury. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a brain disorder that occurs after a traumatic event such as a car accident. This mental illness effects the psychological functions of the brain rather than the cognitive functions but can be caused by a physically traumatic event. The effect PTSD has on the brain causes people to have psychological flashbacks of an event when mental triggers similar to the traumatic event occur. When associated with war PTSD is commonly caused by death of a close friend or battalion member and can also be traced to isolation on the battlefield. Studies have shown that rates

This literature review briefly examines the scholarly journal articles and research cited above. The aim of these articles were to identify the effective intervention methods used for the treatment of co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUD). Although there is much evidence to support the high rate of individuals who experience symptoms of or are diagnosed with both PTSD and a SUD, there is little known about the comorbidity of these two disorders. There is also little research focused on specific populations, such as veterans, who experience a high rate of SUD diagnoses generally associated with combat PTSD. The literature also describes possible rationale for the high rate of

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a psychiatric disorder that can occur after experiencing life threatening events. I picked this topic for my Synthesis research paper because I have PTSD from being raped. I wanted to get to know my mental illness better and learn how to cope with it and this paper has definitely helped me understand it better and has already made a difference in my life.

Morris states that the worst things in the world enter the brain in an instant, though it may take the rest of someone’s life to understand what they saw (Morris 45). Monjaraz says that he saw brutal things and did not get affected by it until the night time came around. He cried in his sleep, made groaning noises, mumbled things and had night sweats (Monjaraz). Morris states that fundamentally, we do not know why some people are damaged by terror and some are not. He adds that according to the Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, the

Some of these factors: how extreme or how long the trauma lasted, if you or someone close to you was hurt, how near you were to the event, how you reacted towards the event and if you received any help after the trauma happened. Depending on these factors, people than start to develop four known symptoms of PTSD. These symptoms include reliving the traumatic event also known as flashbacks, staying away from things that remind you of the trauma especially anything that can trigger the trauma, individuals might refrain from talking about the trauma or thinking about it. Individuals start to develop negative changes in there thinking and state of mind which include negative feelings about themselves or others, lack of encountering positive feelings, they may feel fear, guilt and even shame. They may also start to feel nervous or get some type of anxiety also known as hyperarousal; they may have trouble sleeping and they are constantly on alert looking out for danger that may come their way.

PTSD affects 7.7 million American adults, but it can occur at any age (NIMH, PTSD, Who is at risk). The sight of violence and death leaves lasting effects on people. How do you think those people cope with what they saw when the Twin Towers went down? How do people cope with such traumatic experiences? The events that lead to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can impact one’s life, fortunately there are ways to treat it.