Traumatic Situations: Article Analysis

PTSD is not easily treated. Sometimes people can not only suffer mentally but have physical impairments from the event as well. This can make it hard for them to obtain the treatment they need. A combination of medications and psychotherapy is usually recommended and is the most effect form of treatment for PTSD. The earlier a person seeks treatment for this disorder the better the outcome will be. The medications are used to help people cope with their emotions while the psychotherapy will help

This includes teaching staff to manage their work capacities, withhold from meeting all traumatised clients in the same day (distribute them over the week), regular breaks from work; and moreover, disassociating work from your own private life (Berger, & Quiros, 2014). It is pertinent to educate staff on vicarious trauma well before them working, which in turn will make staff more open to support if vicarious trauma arises (Berger, & Quiros,

The term “Psychological trauma” refers to damage wrought from a traumatic event, which that damages one’s ability to cope with stressors. “Trauma” is commonly defined as an exposure to a situation in which a person is confronted with an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to self or others’ physical well-being (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Specific types of client trauma frequently encountered by which therapists and other mental health workers frequently encounter in a clinical setting include sexual abuse, physical , or sexual assault, natural disasters such as earthquakes or tsunamis, domestic violence, and school or/and work related violence (James & Gilliland, 2001). Traumatic

When choosing to pursue a career in the health care field, most enter the workplace with the desire to help and provide care for patients who are critically ill (Lombardo & Eyre, 2011). Far too often, these health professionals who were once sympathetic and caring become victims of compassion fatigue (Lombardo & Eyre, 2011). As a working health professional it is ones duty to compassionately care for the sick, wounded and traumatized patients, which involves being exposed daily to the patient’s pain, suffering and trauma (Coetzee & Klopper, 2010). Experiencing this type of trauma first hand is an un-recognized side effect of being a health care professional (Briscoe, 2014). It is easy to get wrapped up in patients, their

deal with it in a way that works for them. To refer to the “Myths of

I am analyzing the article “Cognitive Processing Therapy for Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Comparison Between Outpatient and Residential Treatment” by Kristen Walter. The purpose of this article is to compare the outpatient and residential treatment programs in veterans with PTSD. The authors claim that cognitive processing therapy is proven to reduce PTSD and depression symptoms in veterans in both outpatient and residential treatment programs. According to the article, Walter claims “We hypothesized that as residential treatment is designed for veterans with more impairing symptoms and complex psychosocial stressors, residential patients would endorse greater PTSD and depression symptom severity at pretreatment compared with outpatients. We also hypothesized that veterans in both

Traumatizing events are happening all over the world, and are being caused by pitiless gang

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).Arlington, VA: Author.

In 3 articles, survivors of healthcare worker directed violence admitted to knowingly spending less time with their patients after the attack.(8, 12, 16) Quality of care is also reduced as survivors admit to being fearful of their patients as well as being reluctant to care for specific patients or any patients at all.(8, 17, 19, 25) After an incident of workplace violence, survivors stated that they have decreased communication with their patients, patient families, and coworkers.(12, 27) Survivors also admitted to having reduced interest in being a part of patient care, as well as being in their current position.(8, 12, 14, 19) One article found that physiotherapists often reduced their expectations for their patients after experiencing an incidence of workplace violence from a patient.(8) Survivors also found that they had reduced empathy and gave reduced emotional support to patients and their families after returning to work.(15) After an attack by a patient, survivors admitted to lacking concentration that led to missed medication administration, increased falls, and increased errors in administration of care.(10, 15, 17, 27)

Childhood trauma contributes to the development of disorders later in life. Several psychological disorders may be caused by childhood trauma. These disorders may include: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, addiction, borderline personality disorder, and dissociative identity disorder.

Trauma occurs when a child has experienced an event that threatens or causes harm to her emotional and physical well-being. Events can include war, terrorism, natural disasters, but the most common and harmful to a child’s psychosocial well-being are those such as domestic violence, neglect, physical and sexual abuse, maltreatment, and witnessing a traumatic event. While some children may experience a traumatic event and go on to develop normally, many children have long lasting implications into adulthood.

Post traumatic stress can be developed in not just war zones but also with street/gang violence, sexual abuse, and physical abuse, therefore it needs more attention so victims will be less likely to commit suicide and will be able to get the right form of treatment.

Childhood trauma is one of the most heartbreaking situations to ever fathom happening. Childhood trauma includes neglect, maltreatment, physical and emotional abuse, and many other forms of mistreatment amongst children. Childhood trauma occurs between the ages of 0 and 6 years of age. When referencing to childhood trauma, one must take thought into who commits the abuse, who is affected by the abuse, and what long term effects can the abuse have on the victims. One must also take into consideration the sex differences when referring to childhood trauma. Numerous of studies have been conducted and many findings have been made. Prior to conducting this research paper, I only considered childhood trauma to be what it was and never considered the long term effects. Because of my assumption, I never even considered the other categories of the trauma.

The key concept of this literature review is to better understand how childhood trauma is associated with mental health, such as post-traumatic stress disorder

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.