preview

Definition And Diagnostic Criteria Of Dd

Decent Essays

In this paragraph I will describe the definition and diagnostic criteria of PTSD.
What is trauma? According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV). It is direct personal experience of an event that involves actual or threatened death, or serious injury, or other threat to one’s physical integrity or witnessing an event that involves death, injury, or threat to the physical integrity of another person. Trauma can also be caused by learning about unexpected or violent death, serious harm, or threat of death or injury experienced by a family member or other close associate. Current studies show that currently deployed US Service members are exposed to more trauma than average Americans.
PTSD is one of the most debilitating psychological conditions affecting service members and veterans. PTSD is the most prevalent mental disorder arising from combat, but it can also strike military men and women deployed in peacekeeping missions, humanitarian missions, responding to acts of terrorism, caught up in training accidents, or victimized by sexual trauma. The burden of PTSD may be transient or long-lasting. The response to psychological trauma is probably as old as human nature, but the diagnosis of a traumatic stress disorder is among the newest in current diagnostic classification systems.
The PTSD diagnosis first appeared in DSM-III in 1980. Prior to 1980, PTSD was not recognized as a mental illness. The change came largely due to efforts of Vietnam Veteran supporters.

Get Access