Traumatic Events That May Trigger Ptsd

According to an article published in the International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, PTSD is an anxiety disorder that is triggered by a traumatic event that has endangered one’s physical integrity of one’s self, witnessing an event where death, injury, or threat of someone else’s physical integrity has occurred, as well as learning about traumatic events that has happened to someone close to the PTSD victim, much like it was described as in the book (Mendes, Mello, Ventura, Passarela, Mari, 2008). According to an article written by Naomi Breslau (2009), the term Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is actually a fairly new diagnosis as it was only adopted into the third edition of the DSM, published in 1980. PTSD was once considered a fairly rare condition, according to Keane, Marshall, and Taft, (2006), but as the years have passed more and more research has come out and it turns out that PTSD is in fact fairy common, especially among sexual abuse victims and combat warriors, however anyone can experience this disorder if they experience a trauma for themselves. PTSD is ultimately a product of extreme fear, according to C. Lin, Tung, P. Lin, Huang, and Liu (2016), in a recent article, as the memories of the traumatic event intrude on the areas of the brain that are associated with fear such as the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and the amygdala. Since memories of fear generally become extinct fairly easily, it takes an extreme case of fear to engrain itself into your brain and stay with you as it does with

PTSD is defined as an "anxiety disorder that can occur after you have been through a traumatic event. A traumatic event is something horrible and scary that you see or happens to you” (United States). In these types of events one can feel that they are not in control of what is going on around them and may feel helpless or in great danger. The Department of Veterans Affairs has listed various life threatening events that can evolve into PTSD. These events include but are not limited to "Combat or Military exposure, child sexual or physical abuse, terrorist attacks, sexual or physical assault, serious accidents, such as a car wreck, natural disasters, such as a fire, tornado, hurricane, flood, or earthquake” (United States).

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder also known as PTSD is an emotional condition that can develop following a traumatic or terrifying event. PTSD has only been recognized as a diagnosis since 1980. This emotional disorder was brought to public attention after soldiers would return home and often referred to as “shell shock or combat fatigue”.

Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is sometimes considered to be a relatively new diagnosis, as the name first appeared in 1980, the concept of the disorder has a very long history. That history has often been linked to the history of war, but the disorder has also been frequently described in civilian settings involving natural disasters, mass catastrophes, and serious accidental injuries. The diagnosis first appeared in the official nomenclature when Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-I was published in 1952 under the name gross stress reaction. It was omitted, however, in the next edition in 1968, after a long

It was not until the 1980’s that the diagnosis of PTSD as we know it today came to be. However, throughout history people have recognized that exposure to combat situations can have profound negative impact on the mind s and bodies of individuals in these situations. But there are other catastrophic events that can have such profound impact on people resulting in PTSD…

PTSD is listed among a group called Trauma-and-stressor-Related Disorders. For a person to be diagnosed with PTSD, they must have been exposed to, witness, or experience the details of a traumatic experience (e.g., a first responder), one that involves “actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence” (APA, 2013, p. 271). (PRU, 2016, p. 66). The aforementioned definition of PTSD relates to soldiers; the manifestations and causes experienced with traditional PTSD can look somewhat different. Obvious causes of PTSD in soldiers stem from exposure to stressful circumstances within combat, exposure to the suffering and death of others, destruction, personal danger, and injury. A study on Vietnam soldiers provides insight on less obvious causes of PTSD. The study suggests

(Rosenthal, J. Z., Grosswald, S., Ross, R., & Rosenthal, N. 2011) Veterans presenting with symptoms of PTSD will often engage in behaviors which can be dangerous for themselves, their families and socity. Lack of effective treatment can place the veteran at increased risk for drug and alcohol abuse or dependence, suicide ideations or attemps, and bouts violence toward others. (National Center for PTSD, 2010) PTSD can occur anytime anytime one has have been through the experience of a traumatic event. PTSD has been referred to by many names in past years such as post-combat disorders, shell shock, post-traumatic stress disorder, disordered or heavy heart, and war neurosis. In DSM-I PTSD was referred to as ‘‘gross stress reaction’’ this was the name of the diagnoises given to those individuals who had suffered combat exposure, and their minds had become psychologically altered. It was very helpful to have a name to the sympotms of military or civilian individual that had been exposed to combat exposure, ex-prisoners of war, and rape victims. This term had also been helpful in diagnosing Nazi Holocaust

PTSD, just the name strikes horror into the minds of millions of soldiers, and survivors. When PTSD is spoken of, only memories of pain and suffering will appear, as this disorder ravaged the minds of millions, and left them in a mentally weak state. Definition wise, this disorder can be defined as a disorder characterized by failure to recover after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. With this definition in mind, PTSD should be seen as a more serious subject/disorder, and should be treated more seriously, rather than being shrugged off.

Over the last 6 years I worked with Veterans that have been diagnosed with PTSD. I have seen symptoms of this diagnosis play out in a variety ways. This experience has only fueled my passion to want to become more educated and experienced on the topic so that I can better service to Veterans. I also believe that becoming better educated on the topic will allow me to dispel some of the myths associated with PTSD. As discussed in class, before the accept into the DSM-3 in 1980 service member that experienced symptoms of PTSD were seen as unfit to handle the psychological casualties that came with the War. They were often viewed as weak and were forced back on the battlefield despite showing clear indicators that the fatigue that comes along with battle had begun to affect their daily lives. After the mainstream acceptance of PTSD in 1980 many active duty service members and Veterans still had a hard time proving to the VSA that they were indeed suffering from PTSD. Over time there has been a mainstream acceptance that many Veterans as well as other populations may suffer from PTSD. The mainstream acceptance of PTSD has the ability to offer hope to those that are affected by the

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a relatively new name for a condition that has bedeviled veterans of the military service members throughout the history of warfare. It has taken people around the world, especially within the military branches an exceptionally long time to understand and face the reality of a growing epidemic known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The best and ideal starting point to understand PTSD would be by raising the question, what is PTSD? According to physiological explanation PTSD is an anxiety disorder that may develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which severe physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or unnatural disaster, accidents or military combat.

War traumas date back to the Civil War. During the Russo- Japanese War (1904-1905) a Russian psychiatrist compared traumatized train crash survivors and returning war veterans. The train crash survivors were said to have “railway spine”, the doctors believed their anxiety was caused by the compression of the backbone (Frey n.pag). World War I (1914-1918) was the first war that used bombs, fighter airplanes, and chemical warfare. In 1917, Robert Gaupp explained that “the main causes are the fright and anxiety brought about by the explosion of enemy shells and mines” (Scott 550). During World War I the technically term was not PTSD at the time they called it “Shell Shock”. The symptoms of Shell Shock were the inability to hear, talk, stand and walk. In addition the soldier experience “thousand-yard stare” a blank and unfocused expression (Frey n.pag). Conditions like these were called “combat fatigue” or “traumatic war neurosis” during World War II (1939-1945). PTSD affect a lot of the soldiers in the Vietnam War (1954-1975). After the Vietnam War, the term Post-traumatic Stress Disorder was coined, connecting the terms shell shock, combat fatigue, and traumatic war neurosis.

Although PTSD is a somewhat new diagnosis that was related with military service members when it was first introduced. "During a period roughly from the end of the Second World War to the early 1990s, neither epidemiology, medical geography, nor medical sociology tended directly to study the impact of the local social or physical environment on human health," according to Perspectives in Medical Sociology (Brown 2008). PTSD was accepted everywhere when it was introduced as a diagnosis in the early 1980s in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) of the American Psychiatric Association. Although PTSD diagnosis met largely with skepticism by the public of the validity of the illness when first came out. Blair Wheaton and Shirin Montazer provided a detailed definition of Traumatic Stress in their chapter of Stressors, Stress, and Distress by stating, "some stressors are thought to be so serious and so overwhelming in their impact that we must give them a separate status to distinguish them from the usual class of events that we designate as stressful. The most applicable term for these stressors is traumas" (Wheaton & Montazer 2010). In other words, 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 and disrupt an individual’s ability to function and perform the basic tasks. PTSD affects 3.5 percent of the U.S. adult population and approximately about 7 million Americans. Women however are more likely to develop PTSD than men, and about 37percent of those cases are classified as severe. Although PTSD can occur at any age, however the average is in the early 20s in person's

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.

PTSD is a term that has gotten a lot of traction or attention in recent years. There was a time where soldiers would come back from war and if they acted differently, say for instance when they came back from World War I they were shell shocked. When the veterans came back home from World War II and Korea, it was known as combat fatigue (Tick, 2005). Once soldiers started coming back home from Vietnam, and then both Iraq wars and Afghanistan did the term PTSD get the recognition that it does