Transactional Anisotropy Case Study

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.

Traumatic brain injury occurs when a person is hit in the head with a blunt force. This significant force to the head can happen playing recreational sports, on the playground, being in a car or motorcycle accident, falling down at home and your head impacting something, a blast or explosion. Traumatic brain injuries are also the leading cause of fatality rate and disability, especially in children, young adults and elderly. TBI is a devastating condition that affects millions of people nationwide, because it can affect the nervous system permanently, it also messes with the neurological, musculoskeletal, cognitive and much more. TBI force a family to deal with not just the physical disability, with the behavioral and emotional roller

This study uses secondary research in order to make connections between ideas and concepts that can illuminate the topic. Through search of databases and online book resources, the development of a rich foundation of resources can help to explore the subject matter. Using keywords to define the search, the literature can be used in order to determine how connections can be made between PTSD and TBI. Once the literature was accumulated and reviewed, the information from those works was put into context with the research questions and concepts were developed by creating connections between those works. This essay will therefore focus on the existing body of knowledge that has addressed the concepts of PTSD in details. Specifically, I would draw a keen and focused comparison or analysis between the effects of brain damage and the consequences or effects of PTSD, the level of damage and mitigative roles to combat the situation.

Dorothy Gronwall, a concussion specialist wrote in Cumulative and Persisting Effects of Concussion on Attention and Cognition, “After MHI (mild head injury), patients have difficulty in all areas that require them to analyze more items of information than they can handle simultaneously. They present as slow because it takes longer for smaller than normal chunks of information to be processed. They present as distractible because they do not have the spare capacity to monitor irrelevant stimuli at the same time as they are attending to the relevant stimulus. They present as forgetful because while they are concentrating on point A, they do not have the processing space to think about point B simultaneously. They present as inattentive because when the amount of information that they are given exceeds their capacities, they cannot take it all in.” All of these symptoms are permanent effects that a person can have after having only mild head injury. It is clear that it is important to take care of the injuries the correct

Medical and technological advances have led to greater survival rates in individuals suffering from various illness and injury throughout history. This includes individuals who suffer traumatic and nontraumatic brain injuries. Approximately 1.5 million people in the United States sustain a brain injury each year with the survival rate of over 90 percent making brain injury the leading cause for disability in the United States. (Mysiw, Bogner, Corrigan, Fugate, Clinchot, & Kadyan 2006). Cognitive, physical, sensory and behavioral changes are widely noted in individuals in the months and years following a brain injury. However, the psychosocial, psychological and emotional effects of these injuries are less discussed and therefore these aspects can be overlooked when anticipating a course of treatment. Individuals who sustain acquired brain injuries experience significant, lasting impairment in the psychosocial, psychological and emotional aspects of their lives and better understanding of these issues can lead to better treatment and coping skills for these individuals.

For example, one head injury might cause poor memory or slurred speech. It can also cause a personality change or someone to have sudden difficulties with math. People who have experienced TBI have a much higher likelihood of having depression because they compare what they used to be able to do. They might suddenly have greater difficulty with simple tasks, noise and crowds, and it makes them sad. Sleep insomnia is another common issue with this injury because it can mess up an individual's sleep

Traumatic brain injury is any damage caused to the brain. Individuals with TBI may show aphasia-like symptoms, yet the characteristics of TBI include mostly cognitive processes deficits. Those characteristics include disrupt orientation, attention, memory, visual processing, and executive functions problems. Penitents with TBI experience a blackout that can last anywhere between a few minutes up to months and usually wake up confused and disoriented. They do not have any recollection of the events that occurred. In addition to the common characteristics mentioned earlier, TBI patients exhibit communication deficits that relate to poor cognitive functioning such as problems with word finding, grammatical, spelling, reading, and writing. The cause of TBI is very straightforward, unlike SLI or ASD. Any injury to the head, for example motor vehicle accidents, falls, blast trauma, and more, can cause a TBI. These in turn can cause damage to multiple areas of the brain and impair motor, speech, language, and cognitive functions as discussed. It is important to note that unlike ASD that usually

The American Academy of Neurology defines concussion as any trauma-induced alteration in mental status that may or may not include loss of consciousness (1997). Concussion is one of the predominant injuries within the military, with a prevalence of around 15 percent (MacGregor et al., 2010). Military personnel who have sustained a concussion are often returned to full status duty shortly after the injury-causing event (Gondusky & Reiter, 2005). In order to determine whether this is an appropriate course of action, it is imperative to be able to measure the lasting effects of concussion on neuropsychological functioning.

Since the military and VA healthcare systems are familiar with the high prevalence rate of PTSD among combat veterans, Capehart and Bass (2012) sought to address four primary objectives related to managing comorbid PTSD and TBI: cognitive problems, blast as an injury source for TBI, diagnosis and management of PTSD in the setting of mTBI, and management of additional neuropsychiatric comorbidity in the combat veteran with PTSD and mTBI. Although no clear guide exists on the simultaneous management of these conditions and managing PTSD and TBI remains challenging for the Dpartment of Defense (DOD) and VA clinicians in mental health and primary care, the researchers suggest that using psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy,

In the category of physical signs and symptoms experienced by young athletes post traumatic brain injury includes headache, dizziness or balance issues, fatigue, visual problems or photosensitivity, numbness or tingling, nausea, vomiting, tinnitus, and dazed appearance. In the category of cognitive signs and symptoms experienced by young athletes post traumatic brain injury includes inability to concentrate, feeling foggy or sluggish, and reduction in memory capacity, confusion, and delayed responsiveness. In the category of emotional or behavioural signs and symptoms experienced by young athletes post traumatic brain injury includes anxiety, irritability, and depression. In the category of sleep signs and symptoms experienced by young athletes post traumatic brain injury includes excessive drowsiness, inability to fall asleep, and sleeping more or less than usual (Hung et al.,

A traumatic brain injury (“TBI”) occurs when the brain is somehow injured, rattled, or wounded from an external source of force. The means of acquisition and the severity of TBIs are unique to each patient; therefore, symptoms and rehabilitation can vary greatly depending on the patient’s condition following the incident and how they sustained the injury. The severity of a TBI is generally classified into one of three categories: mild, moderate, or severe, and this type of diagnostic criteria influences how a patient with TBI is treated by medical staff and rehabilitation specialists. TBIs can affect a specific part of the brain that was directly impacted, leaving the patients with only one or a few areas of impairment, or the damage can

The cognitive challenges that can occur with Post-Concussion Syndrome include troubles with attention, concentration, memory, reasoning, planning, understanding, speaking, and language. As a result of damage to the upper brain stem and frontal lobes, the abilities to act upon and register messages from the brain and the outside world are impaired (Stoler & Hill, 2013, p. 206). These attention and concentration problems could impact alertness to react upon information, the capacity of sustained attention, and the ability to focus on one thing. Memory problems, associated with damage to the complicated memory system in the brain, could include issues registering information, perceiving input from the environment, storing information, especially

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in the military are a tangible threat to the men and women of the United States military. Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have created a spotlight on this injury, as the “signature injury”. Specific criteria makeup the definition of a TBI, which is certain symptoms and severity levels of those symptoms. Due to the capacity of this injury, the Department of Defense (DoD) and Congress have created mandates, along with treatment methods, and the ability to achieve an end goal of aiding an individual’s complete recovery.

The Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI), originally published by the Psychological Assessment Resources, in 1995 and created by John Briere Ph. D., is utilized to evaluate acute and chronic posttraumatic symptomology. The materials associated with administering this test include the use of a computer with Windows XP, 7, 8, or 10, must maintain a NTFS file system, CD-ROM drive for installation, internet connection or a telephone in order to activate. One can download all of the other necessary materials from PariConnect, which include the introductory kit, necessary software, professional manuals, scoring sheets, among other reusable booklets. Prices range from $52.00 upwards to $375.00.

The case study of a 27 year old male who is experiencing symptomology characteristics of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Biedel (2014) characterizes Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by psychiatric disorder resulting from a life-threatening event and requires a history of exposure to a traumatic event that results in minimum threshold of symptoms and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity. Due to the extensive list of criterion each section is broken down into Criteria A- Criteria H and each criteria has certain requirements that need to be met to have this diagnosis (Biedel 2014). Josh meets Criteria A because he witnessed a traumatic event in person, which was the murder of his fiancé, by a drunk driver. Criteria B-E requires the individual to report symptoms from each of the four symptom clusters, Intrusion (Criteria B), Avoidance (Criteria C), Negative Alterations in Cognition and Mood