The Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

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.

“My mind is on fire as I fear that any second, another enemy round will rip into my body and finish me off” (Johnson 2). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) effects the lives of many soldiers after returning home from war. PTSD is a psychiatric condition described in the DSM-IV as, a condition that requires a specific event to have occurred as a criterion for the diagnosis. The criteria for this disorder, according to the book Combat Trauma, can include flashbacks, times where you feel as if you are reliving the traumatic event, shame or guilt, upsetting dreams about the traumatic event, trying to avoid thinking or talking about the traumatic event, feeling emotionally numb or not feeling at all, anger or irritability, poor or destructive relationships, self-destructive behavior, trouble sleeping, memory problems, hallucinations, not enjoying activities you one enjoyed and feeling as if you no longer know who is living your day-to-day life.

PTSD, or Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood. Most survivors of trauma return to normal given a little time. However, some people will have stress reactions that do not go away on their own, or may even get worse over time. These individuals may develop PTSD. People who suffer from PTSD often relive the experience through nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty sleeping, and feel detached or estranged, and these symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to significantly impair the person’s daily life.

The symptoms of PTSD, while generally not life threatening, can be very distressing and have serious effects on a person’s health and well-being. There are three classes of symptoms related to PTSD, re-experiencing symptoms, avoidance symptoms, and hyperarousal symptoms. The re-experiencing symptoms are generally flashbacks, bad dreams and frightening thoughts. These symptoms are produced from the persons own thoughts and can be triggered by anything reminding them of the experience. The second classification of symptoms are called the avoidance symptoms and they include staying away from places and other objects that remind the person of the experience, as well as feeling strong guilt, depression, worry, emotional numbness, and a loss of interest in the world around you. The final classification, hyperarousal symptoms, includes being easily startled, feeling tense, having angry outbursts, and insomnia. These symptoms are

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric sequel to a stressful event or situation of an exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature. It develops after a person is involved in a horrifying ordeal that involved physical maltreatment or the threat of physical harm. These events can include combat or military experience, abuse during childhood or adulthood (physical or sexual), terrorist attacks, serious accidents or natural disasters. This person may have been the one that was harmed, witnessed a harmful event or had a loved one who was harmed. It is normal for the body’s fight or flight mechanism to engage in times of danger. With a person who has PTSD, that mechanism is damaged and the person feels this even when they are not in danger. Symptoms can be categorized into four different areas – re-experiencing symptoms (flashbacks, bad dreams, frightening thoughts) , avoiding situations that remind the person of the event, negative changes in beliefs and feelings (may be fear, guilt, shame or losing interest in those activities that once were enjoyable) and hypervigilence (always feeling keyed up, trouble concentrating or sleeping). There are also feelings of hopelessness, despair, depression or anxiety, alcohol or substance abuse, physical symptoms or chronic pain and problems with employment and relationships.

12. When your mind blocks it out, it is essentially just shutting down your emotions like a light switch. However, it doesn’t know when to turn it back on. It could be days, weeks, months or even years before your mind will allow you to be capable of emotions again.

PTSD is a well known disorder that has many symptoms and affects. Anybody can suffer from this disorder like adults, children, and adolescents. The symptoms of this disorder are intense fear and feelings of helplessness, recurrent and intrusive recollections, flashbacks, and dreams of the events, physiological reactivity when exposed to cures the symbolize the events, avoidance of stimuli associated with the event, numbing of feelings, inability to recall aspects of the event, feelings of detachment, pessimism about the future, sleep

In its initial introduction, PTSD was identified as a catastrophic stressor that was caused by an even outside normal human experience such as war, torture, rape, the Holocaust, the atomic bombings and natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tornados. The initial DSM classification attempted to include such instances as divorce, failure, serious illness and rejection but ultimately did not include them as they were categorized as ordinary stressors and therefore did not meet the

The Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder, also referred as PTSD, is classified as a psychiatric disorder that is caused by experiencing or witnessing life-threatening events (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 2007). Several examples of life- threatening events include military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 2007). Individuals that suffer from post- traumatic stress disorder continue to relive the experiences through “nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty sleeping and feel detaches or estranged,” which can prolong for a short time or get worse over time (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 2007).

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that holds a great cost over individuals and society as a whole. PTSD commonly develops after a person has been exposed to a traumatic event such as child abuse, warfare, or rape. Once a person has developed PTSD they suffer numerous haunting symptoms, including avoidance and re-living the traumatic event. Negative societal consequences of PTSD include suicide, decreased physical health, substance abuse, homelessness, and strained relationships (Eibner, 2008). Research pertaining to the negative economics of PTSD have shown that the average cost per case of PTSD over a two-year period ranges from $5,904 to $10,298 (Eibner,

Like everything else, there is a romanticized idea of art. A balcony overlooking Los Angeles/ New York/ Italy/ France/ Greece. A misunderstood starving artist conveying their emotions by painting on a canvas. The underlying aspect is emotion. Art is a way to express emotions if you look at the work of Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso what you will see is subconscious emotions on a canvas. Art making is hypothesized to involve bilateral stimulation, engaging the integrating and planning functions of the prefrontal cortex to sequence narratives using left brain functions. Slowly evolving to being used by psychoanalysts and art therapy becoming a profession. This essay will show how art plays an important factor in psychological

The first stressor criterion specifies that a person has been exposed to a catastrophic event involving actual or threatened death or injury. The second criterion, or intrusive recollection, includes symptoms that are distinctive and easily identified of PTSD. These emotions manifest in daytime fantasies, traumatic nightmares, and psychotic reenactments know as flashbacks. The third criteria, avoidant/numbing, consists of symptoms that reflect behavioral, cognitive, or emotional strategies the PTSD patients use in an attempt to reduce the likelihood that they will expose themselves to trauma-related stimuli. The fourth criteria, hyper-arousal, most closely resembles those seen in panic and generalized anxiety disorders. While symptoms such as insomnia and irritability are generic anxiety symptoms, hyper-vigilance and startle are more characteristic of PTSD. The fifth criteria, duration, specifies how long symptoms must persist in order to qualify for a PTSD diagnosis. The last criteria, functional significance, specify that the survivor must experience significant social, occupational, or other distress as a result of these symptoms. Since 1980, there has been a great deal of attention devoted

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common and chronic anxiety disorder that develops, when a person is subjected to a distressing or shocking life event such as physical or sexual assault, terrorist attack, military warfare, and a natural calamity. This paper highlights the pathophysiology and age continuum; genomic issues; literature review; clinical guidelines and various approaches for the management of PTSD.

There are specific diagnostic criteria that must be met in order to be diagnosed with PTSD. A patient must have been exposed to an extreme stressor or traumatic event where he

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that can be overly diagnosed or underdiagnosed. According to James and Gilliland (2013), individuals must meet some certain criteria to meet the criteria for PTSD. The first criteria the person must have been faced with some kind of serious trauma. Second the person must relive the trauma event. For example, an individual could relive that trauma in a dream or flashbacks, then third the client must meet three criteria of avoiding stimuli. They must insistently avoid stimuli. Then the client must meet the fourth criteria and that is, the client must have increase arousal of the nervous system.