The Treatment Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

INTRODUCTION: How many people have a Veteran in their family or know one? If yes do you help them or is it someone else’s problem. Well many people think it’s someone else problem, but the truth is it’s our problem.

The first method of treatment is trauma-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy. In this method, a patient is gradually but carefully exposed to feelings, thoughts, and situations that trigger memories of the trauma. By identifying the thoughts that make the patient remember the traumatic event, thoughts that had been irrational or distorted are replaced with a balanced picture. Another productive method is family therapy since the family of the patient is also affected by PTSD. Family therapy is aimed at helping those close to the patient understand what he/she is going through. This understanding will help in the establishment of appropriate communication and ways of curbing problems resulting from the symptoms (Smith & Segal, 2011).

Spitalnick, Josh. Difede, JoAnn. Rizzo, Albert. O. Rothbaum, Barbara. “Emerging treatments for PTSD” Clinical Psychology Review, Volume 29, Issue 8, December 2009, Pages 715-726, ISSN 0272-7358, Web. 21 April 2016

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

But all family members need time to readjust their live style in order to reintegrate that one lost family member back. But issues begin to fly once that member falls into a mental illness, he/she begins to become different then before the war and the family begins not be able to recognize who this new fellow is, either the family or the individual will separate from the other. The separation is due to fear and because there wasn’t any idea of how to reproach each other after the length of war. Some cases are different, like a wounded soldier that no longer has a limb might cause insecurity by the veteran and might make him/her feel as if his/her family might not receive the back because they feel incomplete. Most family issues occur because families don’t know how to confront the situation at hand and tend to hope that in the long run everything will be just okay. According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), family members commonly react with avoidance, may enter a stage of depression, and create a sense of anger and guilt. Family members feel the same grind as of the afflicted veteran, and so they respond by devoting themselves entirely to care for that love one but during this process of helping their love ones, they forget about their own needs.

Rates of trauma and mental illness are reported to be disproportionately higher among American veterans, especially those of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The barriers to care after civilian reentry further disadvantage this already vulnerable population. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been the longest sustained US military operations since the Vietnam era, sending more than 2.2 million troops into battle and resulting in more than 6,600 deaths and 48,000 injuries. Veterans are at risk mental health challenges, as well as family instability, elevated rates of homelessness, and joblessness. Veterans have disproportionate rates of mental illness, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse disorders, depression, anxiety, and military sexual trauma.

As the veterans are coming back into the society, they must be helped to connect to the community. For example, these veterans were secluded from the functional family unit (International Council of Nurses, 2008).

Other people—spouses, children, family members, friends, or co-workers—often are more aware of the veteran's emotional distress than he is himself.(Scurfeild, 1993)

According to Tuerk, Yoder, Ruggiero, Gros & Acierno (2010), prolonged exposure therapy is a form of therapy treatment applied in posttraumatic stress disorders. Prolonged exposure treatment based on behavioral and cognitive levels of therapy, is a method used in treatment of trauma where the victim remembers the triggers of trauma rather than letting go, as it has been the case. Trained Social workers, psychologists and psychiatrist offer treatment to these conditions. What causes post traumatic stress disorders is not clearly known, but a mix of one's personality, inherited mental functionality risks, the way the brain releases chemicals in dealing with stress, and one's life experiences can be used to draw some insights (Powers, Halpern, Ferenschak, Gillihan & Foa, 2010).

A spouse may recognize these symptoms before the extended family. These may also cause strain on the marriage if the individual is not aware of their behavior. One of the lesson learned from the speaker’s experience is that forced treatment is not well received from trauma victims. Those individuals who just experience trauma like the victims from 9/11 was not ready to process their feeling, emotions or possible ways to rebuild. From the outside looking in we know that the sooner someone gets treatment the faster the recovery process but is it helpful for someone to be forced to process events before completely digesting the full extent of the hurt. We can transfer those feeling to how veterans feel when they come home from war. They might not understand how

The impact PTSD has on families is tremendous. It affects spouses, children and other members of the family (Bobo, Warner, and Warner 799). People with PTSD often have a hard time connecting and communicating the problems that they are facing with their family. According to respondents, victims with PTSD are worried about the seriousness of their condition and therefore choose not to tell their family simply because they do not want to hurt them (Buchanan et al 744). Telling their families about what goes on in their life is important because their families have a big influence on whether or not they receive help (Buchanan et al 744). Families need to recognize their role in facilitating engagements because it is currently being overlooked. The caregiver often feels as if there is a weight on there shoulder and nothing they do can will make it go away. With the weight of the world on the caregivers shoulders, stress can cause them to want to give up completely. When experiencing a trauma one often dulls their feelings and distances themselves from anything or anyone that reminds them of war. When families or spouses get shut out it can cause instability and decrease the relationship satisfaction (Buchanan et al 744). If families are aware, there will be a better understanding to why their loved one is acting in a different way and then can try to keep the relationship

It is said that there is no higher sacrifice than paying the ultimate price while in service to one’s country. Service members of the American military regularly put their lives on the line to protect their country. Yet when their service has ended, they are being left to fend for themselves in an unfamiliar world, with little support or understanding of the hurdles they will struggle against as they seek to find their place as a citizen again. These veterans are returning from combat deployments and are suffering from trauma they don’t truly understand until the effects are too obvious to ignore. They have become institutionalized to a world that tells them exactly their place in the social pecking order, gives them their daily orders and missions

As we look at the over, arching aspect of family implications, the most common aspect associated to this is the number of service member deaths. By the numbers alone, those killed in conjunction to the operations of the past 14 years do not hold a candle to the sheer numbers of World Wars I and II, Korea, or Vietnam. We must look past these numbers and look at all injuries, which will then significantly increase the casualty numbers. Many of the millions of wounded warriors resulting of their service, both the physical and emotional trauma, will affect them for the rest of their lives. (Morin, 2011) With casualty rates today we can no longer only look at the service members themselves, the burdens and joys of life continue even in their absence. Now, in today’s families, the decision to serve, or the continuation of service affect everyone within the household.

In most cases PTSD affects the individual more than the family. Author’s like Christine Zilka and Colby Buzzell understand this. In the short story “Bile” and the editorial “Thank You for Being Expendable,” the authors use their past experiences to show just how hard PTSD is on an individual because of the experience of war and the struggle to adapt to home life. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has a larger effect on the family member

The veteran would benefit from therapy to assist him with his emotional responses and communication skills. CBT and group therapy have the