...However, there is not a specific way patient memories are affected. PTSD affects more than 3 million people in the U.S alone. This paper will further analyze insights and reports from other experts on managing Posttraumatic stress disorder more proficiently. Introduction This topic center concerns mental and emotional problems people experience in the wake of 'trauma', where trauma is understood to refer to an event involving being a victim of or witness to atrocity, violence, true horror and/or the death of another or near death of one’s self. Examples might include rape, murder, torture, accidents, terrorism, etc. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) describes two trauma disorders: acute stress disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. In a nutshell, acute stress disorder occurs in the time frame between just after exposure to a traumatic event to six months later, and posttraumatic stress beginning at the six month point and extending thereafter. This paper aim at explaining and exploring the signs, symptoms, treatments and preventions of post traumatic stress disorder. The phenomena of mental...
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...1 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Causes and Symptoms Every individual has gone through some sort of danger. Everyone, at some point, has been afraid. Fear triggers many instant changes in the body. These changes help the body prepare itself to defend against danger or to avoid it. This is taught as the “fight or flight” response. It is a healthy reaction meant to protect an individual from harm. But in post traumatic stress disorder, this reaction is changed or damaged. Traumatic events bring out a reaction from an individual that may be different from that of another. Everyone is unique to their own ability to manage fear or stress and to cope with any threats posed by a traumatic event. This is why not everyone who experiences or witnesses a trauma will develop post traumatic stress disorder. It is not known why traumatic events cause PTSD in some individuals and not in others. In a time a traumatic event, the body will release stress hormones and chemicals. Generally, the body will recover after the event, and hormone and chemical levels will return to normal. For some reason the body of an individual with PTSD will continue to release the stress hormones and chemicals. Whether or not an individual will develop PTSD depends on many contributing factors. Some of these factors can be genes, emotions, and family settings, the intensity or duration of the trauma, any injuries or deaths as a result of the traumatic event, the distance from the scene of the event, the...
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...Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Name Institutional Affiliation Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder mostly develops after a person is exposed to a horrible or terrifying ordeal that involved physical harm, death, or any other threat (Dunkley et al., 2015). Therefore, I can argue out that it is a mental illness that develops after some traumatic events. However, not everyone who has experienced or witnessed some traumatic event has this disorder. Those who develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder may at some point be the ones who were harmed, witnesses of harm that occurred to their loved ones or even strangers. Research shows that at some point, those who are victims of the disorder may experience stress and fear even when they are not in danger (Dunkley et al., 2015). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, commonly referred to as PTSD, develops in children, teens, as well as adults. Therefore, it does not have a limit because anyone can develop the disorder. However, adults have proved to experience severe signs and symptoms of the disorder compared with teens and children (Dunkley et al., 2015). Moreover, not everyone with PTSD has experienced or witnessed a terrifying event. However, adults are more likely to develop PTSD than children, particularly after a past trauma. Causes of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Research shows that PTSD is caused by the past exposure to the traumatic event. However, there are other causes of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder...
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...Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 3/29/2015 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder A mental illness refers to a group of psychiatric disorders that are characterized by severe disturbances in thought, mood, and behavior. According to Zelman, PhD, Tompary, PharmD, Raymond, PhD, Holdaway, MA, and Mulvihill, PhD (2010) mental illness affects one of every four Americans. The history of post-traumatic stress disorder goes back as long as since there has been any trauma. During the early periods, it was war that caused post-traumatic stress disorder. Signs and symptoms may start within three months from a traumatic event but sometimes it can also take years to develop. Post-traumatic stress disorder can be diagnosed base on signs and symptoms as well as psychological evaluation. Treatment for post traumatic disorder is psychotherapy but also includes medication. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can affect individuals who have been exposed to an overwhelming traumatic incident such as the events of Hurricane Katrina, war, and or encounters of trauma such as rape, violence or child abuse. Throughout the history of post-traumatic stress disorder, it was not recognized as a disorder until 1980 in the Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) (Zagata, 2010). In the earlier periods, post-traumatic stress disorder was limited to war experiences. During the American Civil War, many physicians in the military experienced emotionally behaviors to stress and fear of battle...
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...topic in further detail, specifically with her traumatic event with her own personal experience with her car accident as well as losing her father to a car accident. I could always assume that she has chose to cope with the traumatic event of being in the car accident by isolative behavior as well as disengagement from social events with her friends and family; however, this would need to be clarified with her to see if she has any awareness of this unhealthy coping mechanism. I would also need to know more in regards to her head injury-concussion, she had following her car accident to see if her isolation could be due to another medical condition that should be considered. I would need to have a medical exam conducted on Karen before diagnosing her with something that could be explained by a medical condition. 2) Provide your narrative diagnosis of this client, including WHODAS score, with rational. I would diagnose Karen with (309.81) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to her meeting the criteria for this disorder. WHODAS score was 2/5 and her Cross Cutting Symptom measure being highest on depression, Anxiety, Repetitive thoughts or behaviors, and personality functioning. My rational for diagnosing Karen with (309.81) Post Traumatic Stress disorder is due to her directly experiencing the traumatic event of being in a car accident (APA, 2013). Karen also experiences recurrent and involuntary memories of the traumatic event when she passes the...
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...study PTSD what is post-traumatic stress disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a condition of stress which is caused by an event, and now you get flashbacks. Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder which is caused by an event earlier in life that is very stressful or psychologically disturbing. People with this disorder may have flashbacks and relive the event through their nightmares, and they could also have trouble sleeping at night. PTSD happens most often in soldiers and those who have been in the war due to the extreme situations that arise from it. Symptoms, Biological, Mental. The symptoms of PTSD are …. The biological symptoms of PTSD are. One of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder is the constant feeling of danger. The symptoms are increased anxiety, experiencing the event again through flashbacks or nightmares. Another symptom is avoidance of things that remind you of the event, being unable to remember some parts of the event, and also loss of interest and feeling detached from others. Memories of the event will be intrusive. The physical symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder are dizziness, shortness of breath also possibly chronic pain and tightness in the chest. A common symptom is a feeling of intense fear. Other symptoms are persistent depressive feelings and dissociation. This disorder often coexists with anxiety or eating disorders, or depression. In the case study Andy’s initial symptoms after the event were distress and feeling...
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...Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sean C. Hall Colorado Technical University In recent years, the United States Armed Forces has become increasingly alarmed at the growing problem of severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), resulting in the increased rate of suicides in their troops. While most agree that PTSD deserves attention, consensus dissolves around how to effectively respond to the problem. In 2008, the Us Army commissioned the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) on behalf of their soldiers; in an effort to better understand and maximize treatment for soldiers diagnosed with sever Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Vietnam veterans are particularly vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder. Thousands of the 600,000 Americans who served in that war still suffer feelings of alienation, sleeping problems, relieving of painful experiences, and difficulty concentrating. Most veterans do not suffer from the disorder; of those who do, many did not experience symptoms until months or even years after their return home. Those who suffer from the disorder seem more likely to have other stressful events in their lives, which in turn make the disorder seem worse. The wounds of war do not go away with time, or just by leaving them alone. They need to be addressed, and this is something that you cannot do alone. If you were wounded physically during combat, you would allow a medic to attend to the wound. This is no different. Your psychological wounds must be attended...
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...stress disorder is a common and disabling disorder that develops as a consequence of traumatic events and is characterized by distressing re-experiencing portions of the trauma, avoidance of reminders, emotional numbing and hyper-arousal. In spite of the deleterious impact of PTSD within the U.S. military, our current understanding of the human pathophysiology governing the divergent paths associated with extreme stress response the remains unabated. Given the widespread phenomenon of ‘trauma’, it begs the question of whether or not preexisting features accompany some suffers who have developed PTSD and why others may or may not face the same effect. Much research has been conducted in this arena and it seems that no one researcher has a definitive cause, much less a standardized treatment approach for PTSD sufferers. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops as a consequence of traumatic events such as interpersonal violence, disaster, severe accidents, or other life-threatening experiences. The most common characteristics of PTSD are the re-experiencing of symptoms linked to a specific event. Patients involuntary re-experience aspects of the traumatic event in a very vivid and distressing way. This includes: flashbacks, in which the person acts or feels as if the event were recurring, nightmares, intrusive images or other sensory impressions from the event. For example, one soldier witnesses another, mortally wounded during a bombing...
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...Imagine that you experienced something terrible, unimaginable. No one understands you. You have no one to talk to. You live in fear. How would you handle it? “The brave men and women, who serve their country and as a result, live constantly with the war inside them, exist in a world of chaos. But the turmoil they experience isn’t who they are; the PTSD invades their minds and bodies.” Robert Koger said this thought-provoking quote in his book, Death´s Revenge. The quote captures the chaotic and fearful nature of PTSD. PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault ("What Is PTSD?"). People who suffer from PTSD can have various symptoms. They often will have vivid flashbacks of the event that triggered the...
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...Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the invisible wound, affects 11% of veterans of the war in Afghanistan and 20% of Iraqi war veterans (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD: A Growing Epidemic / Neuroscience and PTSD Treatments, 2009). The diagnosis of PTSD or the suspicion that one has PTSD alone does not label a combat veteran as violent. There may be other factors at play which could make the person a threat or that may play a role in a crime already committed such as emotional disorders or substance abuse. Violence such as abuse or assault with a deadly weapon taken in the context of war may be adaptive and appropriate because anger instincts are often difficult to reconcile into everyday life. If treated, post-9/11 combat veterans diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder typically are not dangerous and do not pose a...
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...NDIZIHIWE Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on Soldiers, Communities, Societies From War Participation MARCH 2012 TABLE OF CONTENT PROLOGUE PART I POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER Part II: IMPACT ON THE INDIVIDUAL Part III: IMPACT ON FAMILY Part IV: IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY PART V: OVERCOMING POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER PART VI: DISCUSSION BIBLIOGRAPHY Post-Traumatic stress Disorders on Soldiers, Communities, Societies from War Participation Prologue A few years back when I was in Rwanda, it was no longer surprising to a attend a memorial ceremony and each time, all of a sudden, some women would start screaming:"They are coming for me!" as if they were being chased to death or men losing control and start shouting at another group of people:"You murderers!". We were used to this phenomenon but a newcomer would certainly creep out. For me, their reaction is perfectly understandable and tough I view it from my country's perspective and experience, post traumatic stress disorder is a global sociological and psychological issue that needs to be addressed. Conflicts inciting violence are still going on, some have ended but a large number of war survivors and victims are still haunted by the memories, they have experienced the worst situations humanly possible and if the issue is not addressed properly, trauma can be perpetual. Post traumatic...
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...business from the tsunami. People who encounter a Tsunami event struggle with psychological problems days and weeks after the traumatic event such as depression and different levels of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Survivors constantly experience feelings of anxiousness and stress because of the fear of danger from another tsunami. Murdered Child – Personal Trauma causing Crisis - Effects on the Survivor The murder of a child can be devastating especially when it’s your own. The hurt and pain can be compound when the death is determined by a heartless human being. Parents and the family faces complicated issues such as trying to understand “why” someone would want to kill their child who they love and will miss. Coping with the “miss” is the challenging part. A parent of a murdered child handles grief differently. Some parents try to continue normalcy while others have extreme difficulty coping with the lost such as obsessive thinking, suicide, anger, fears and anxiety. The hard part is grieving; however; everyone grief’s differently must. Effects on First Responders First Responders are vulnerable to stress and trauma as they are exposed to events every day in their work lives or suddenly one day out of the blue. Even though, they are trained and skilled to handle the consequences of traumatic residual effects, first responders may experience repeated thoughts of the event, avoidance of traumatic calls, physical ailments, stress and anxiety. If the first...
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...Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders 1 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders: Defining, Diagnosing, Correlation with Insomnia and Nightmares as well as The Treatment and Recovery Processes in War Veteran’s Tammy L. Egan Fulton-Montgomery Community College Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders 2 Abstract Post-traumatic stress disorder or most commonly known as PTSD, is a common problem for veterans returning from war all over the world. It can often be misdiagnosed as a traumatic brain injury or overlooked altogether because of the similarities in their symptoms. This paper will define what post-traumatic stress is as according to the Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders, its correlation with insomnia and nightmares, traumatic brain injuries and rare heart conditions, and it summarizes various treatment options including virtual reality, the Recover process, cognitive processing therapy, clinical programs, the use of the drug propranolol, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. Lastly, it will review problems with those treatments, involving flaws in the research studies, ethical issues and gender issues. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders 3 Defining, Diagnosing, Correlation with Insomnia and Nightmares as well as The Treatment and Recovery Processes in War Veteran’s Wars have been fought for centuries, and the soldiers fighting these wars often come home scarred, either physically, mentally, or both. Soldiers who exhibit...
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...remembering the terrifying sounds and sights of such a traumatic event are signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Post-Traumatic...
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...Post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD is a psychological disorder that is triggered when an individual experiences a traumatic event in their lives. Most people that suffer from PTSD show symptoms that can have negative impacts on their lives. With the right professional help, sufferers of PTSD can recover and maintain a normal and healthy lifestyle. Following a traumatic experience, individuals may start showing symptoms of PTSD within the first month. However, symptoms may not surface for a year or more. The symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder are placed into three categories; intrusive memories, increased anxiety or hyper-arousal, or avoidance and numbing. An individual that has PTSD my show symptoms of; flashbacks, bad dreams about the experience, avoiding talking or thinking about experience, feeling numb emotionally, hopelessness, decreased activity, irritability, anger, guilt, sleep disturbance, or hearing or seeing things that are not real (Mayo Clinic, 2012). Negative emotions are a normal reaction that an individual may feel after experiencing a traumatic event, however, when the symptoms last more than a month medical attention should be sought. Symptoms arise when a person is not able to deal with the trauma experienced and in severe cases a person may want to inflict harm onto themselves or another individual (Mayo Clinic, 2012). PTSD may develop after a person experiences, sees, or learns of an event that causes...
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