The Effects Of Electroconvulsive Therapy And Psychotherapy For Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Posttraumatic stress disorder can occur after someone experiences a traumatic event. Once the mind hits the coping threshold, it is imperative to seek professional help. The VA offers evidence-based treatments, individual, group treatments, and medications. Coping mechanisms range from individual to individual, hence the need for a diverse PTSD program. Under the evidence-based treatment there are two sections: prolonged exposure therapy and cognitive processing therapy. Prolonged exposure therapy is when someone continues to talk about their fears/trauma to gain control of feelings associated with those fears. The cognitive processing therapy is to understand the feelings associated with trauma and finding a way to replace negative feelings with positive

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans has been prevalent in the United States ever since the diagnosis of shell shock after World War I. PTSD continues to be prevalent in veterans from the Vietnam War, to the Gulf War, to Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The estimated lifetime prevalence of PTSD among veterans during the Vietnam era was 30.9% for men and 26.9% for women (U.S. Department of Government Affairs, 2015). Based on a population study the prevalence of PTSD among previously deployed Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom was 13.8% (U.S. Department of Government Affairs, 2015). PTSD in combat veterans can be very difficult to understand. This is widely due to the lack of research

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

“People who are suffering from PTSD may have been through or witnessed terrifying or gruesome situations” (Should I talk to my Doctor About PTSD?).” Reaction to the extremes of combat causes physical changes in the brain” (Dr. John Fortunato). Being held as “Hostages, including combat veterans who are in a sense hostages to the war, experience shame, guilt, and helplessness” (Carolyn Simpson Consequences of PTSD for the self). “Combat soldiers face death every moment of their tour of duty. They may become dehumanized by all of the killing. The adrenaline rush a soldier experiences during war is hard to turn off, even when he safely returns home” (Carolyn Simpson Wars and Captivity). It would be unimaginable for many to possibly have killed another human being one day and then return to civilian life the next. How could anyone be expected to be completely normal again? Soldiers sometimes face terrorist incidents that would cause great fear, possibly resulting in

In the United States (US) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects 8 out of every 100 persons (United States Department of Veterans Affairs [USDVA], 2015). In which account for about 8 million people that include the military veterans (USDVA, 2015). About 10% of women and 4% of men will develop PTSD during some course of their lives (USDVA, 2015). Veterans are more susceptible to PTSD due to longer exposures to trauma, danger, or witness a violent life threaten incidence during their military service periods (USDVA, 2015). The development of PTSD becomes chronic after no longer seeing or under the “fight-or-flight“ experiences causing a psychological and/ or mental breakdown (National Institutes of Health [NIH], n.d). Such

“Treatment for PTSD is usually based on a combination of therapy and medication to manage symptoms”(SocialChoice). Some veterans may be embarrassed to get help. Group therapy is a good option for these people. During “group therapy members of the service talk about the trauma they have been through. They also learn skills to cope or manage their symptoms of PTSD”(military.com). Family and couples therapy is also an

Although American service members have felt the lasting effects of combat throughout the history of the nation, it was not until 1980 that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was formally added to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Once referred to as “irritable heart” or “shell-shock,” PTSD made its way into the national spotlight in the years following the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan due to U.S. military members having difficulty reintegrating into civilian life. High rates of suicide, depression, and elevated levels of violent crime within the veteran community made the need to find an effective treatment of this disorder a top priority for the Veterans Health Administration. While it is widely accepted by medical professionals that there is no single, definitive cure for PTSD, many different methods have been cultivated within the past 15 years that make coping with it an easier process; some to a greater extent than others. While medications, namely antidepressants and benzodiazepines, usually find themselves at the forefront of any discussion regarding mental debilitation, they are not a one-size-fits-all solution to the problems that combat veterans face. As this particular disorder is attached to a certain memory or traumatic occurrence, alternative methods of rehabilitation such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Prolonged Exposure (PE) have also shown promise in

When someone hears about Post Traumatic Stress disorder, they assume it only affects those in active duty or military veterans. However, it can affects those who have seen natural disasters, severe child abuse and horrible events. The national comorbidity survey replications did a survey on how many people in the US have PTSD they say, “(NCS-R), conducted between February 2001 and April 2003, comprised interviews of a nationally representative sample of 9,282 Americans aged 18 years and older. PTSD was assessed among 5,692 participants, using DSM-IV criteria. The NCS-R estimated the lifetime prevalence of PTSD among adult Americans to be 6.8% (1). Current past year PTSD prevalence was estimated at 3.5% (2).The lifetime prevalence of PTSD among men was 3.6% and among women was 9.7%.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a commonly recognized stress disorder found in many combat soldiers after exposure to life-threatening and traumatic experiences. Since 2001, the prevalence of PTSD has increased with over 2.4 million troops deployed to warzones in Afghanistan and Iraq (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2012). Although researchers and civilians commonly understand symptoms of PTSD, they often fail to recognize the difficulties veterans’ face- reintegration into civilian society, alienation, and identity crises (Demers, 2011). Currently there exist two major sources for best practice guidelines in the management of PTSD. They include the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Post-traumatic

Post-traumatic stress disorder is considered as a psychiatric disorder that creates impairments in occupational, interpersonal, and social functioning. Although there are several treatment processes for veterans suffering from this condition, some intervention may fail to generate desired results. Veterans who fail to show appropriate recovery should be supported with an alternative treatment plan (Aurora et al., 2010). Veterans develop the condition because of exposure to traumatizing

With the advances in technology and military medicine, improved amounts of armed veterans are surviving the injuries they endure at war. These brave men and woman are faced to enter the civilian life after enduring the things that they cannot remove form their memories. Posttraumatic stress disorder is a common psychological and physiological consequence of deployment for combat in military veterans. For an individual to be diagnosed of PTSD, the person had to have been exposed to an intense traumatic situation, which resulted in terror or helplessness and continue to re-experience the event for at least a month (World Health Organization). It can be very difficult for a military personal to return from active duty with the mindset that

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is defined as “a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. (1)” This issue is most commonly associated with war veterans who have given their life to the service of the country and have suffered because of it. These men and women suffer emotional, physical, mental, and neurological trauma, which is “a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury(2) ” In fact, the suicide rate of soldiers has increased since last generation, indicating that this is a very serious issue that must be understood from all perspectives. Psychologists, and those who study and help PTSD victims, including loved one of victims, must understand the neurological and spiritual elements

(1) “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder than can develop after a person witnesses a traumatic event. A traumatic event can take many forms; a natural disaster, sexual abuse or a terrorist attack such as 9/11, but for veterans, PTSD is most often related to combat or military exposure. In wars prior to Vietnam, the disorder was referred to as “shell shock” or “battle fatigue” and was not very well understood beyond the fact that it limited the soldier’s performance on the battlefield. Today, the disorder is more widely studied. We know that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can lead to other mental health problems such as depression, social withdrawal, and substance abuse.” This disorder is such a heavy price to pay for our soldiers. Many come home and can not function in normal society and never really get the help they need to cope with their problems. Many more soldiers suffer in silence and never even tell anyone that they may have these issues because so many of them feel they are ‘macho’ and can handle it alone, but the truth is that they simply can

Treating those with PTSD is a challenge because each individual suffers differently. Treatment strategies depends upon, “type of PTSD inducing trauma; PTSD chronicity and gender, number of times being exposed to trauma and age” (Iribarren, 2005). According to psychologists, combat survivors may be “less responsive to treatment that other victims of other traumatic exposures”, possibly because the PTSD is added to other psychological disorders such as depression and abuse. Common treatments for PTSD include:

There are several strengths that should be noted within this research design. By using purposive sampling, we are purposively studying veterans that are receiving services at the VA whom are diagnosed with PTSD. This is a strength because we are gaining knowledge on a specific population that has not been studied in depth, thus our research will hopefully shed light on the lack of treatment options that veterans at the VA have access to. By splitting the veterans into two separate groups with one group receiving EMDR and the other receiving CBT, we will be able to identify which therapy option is working more effectively. By using the CAPS-5 as our standardized measurement, we are able to identify whether or not CBT/EMDR therapy is successful