Daniel Chavez W0523798
Pysch 105-Abnormal Psychology

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D)
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is defined as a psychological reaction occurring after experiencing a highly stressing event that is usually characterized by depression, anxiety, flashbacks, recurrent nightmares and avoidance of reminders of the event (Merriam-Webster 2014). PTSD is an anxiety disorder that may develop after a person is exposed to one or more traumatic events, such as sexual assault, serious injury or the threat of death. When the symptoms of PTSD are present for 30 days or more a full diagnoses if given. Symptoms may begin immediately or in the future. While the majority of the population will be exposed to some sort of trauma in their lifetime only few people will develop PTSD (Kessler 1995). With the United States being in conflicts over seas, more and more of our military men and woman are experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder but are ultimately failing to seek the medical help they need and deserve.
Symptoms and Prevalence
Although PTSD symptoms can begin right after a traumatic event, PTSD is not diagnosed unless the symptoms last for at least one month, and either cause significant distress or interfere with work or home life. In order to be diagnosed with PTSD, a person must have three different types of symptoms: re-experiencing symptoms, avoidance and numbing symptoms, and arousal symptoms (Nebraska department of Veterans Affairs).
Re-experiencing Symptoms
Re-experiencing symptoms are when a person keeps reliving the traumatic event. People relive trauma in many different ways. Some have certain triggers the cause anxiety. For example a woman who has been raped by a man with numerous tattoos may become distressed when she sees a man who has tattoos on his arms. A soldier may become agitated during a 4th of July fireworks show because the sounds remind him of combat. These memories can cause both emotional and physical reactions. To a person who is suffering from PTSD these sights and sounds may seem so real that they have a flashback and loose sense of reality and feel as if they reliving the traumatic event.
Avoidance and Numbing Symptoms
A person who suffers from PTSD may go out of their way to avoid traumatic events. People who suffer from PTSD will deliberately avoid going in to places that remind them of the event. They won’t go to the place where the event took place, for example, a soldier may avoid watching movies that contain war scenes. One coping mechanism is to eliminate all sights, smells or anything that has to do with or reminds them of the event.
Numbing symptoms are ways that a person with PTSD will avoid the traumatic event. Individuals with PTSD find it hard to be in touch emotionally with others and to be in touch with their feelings. For example, they may feel as if they are lost and not want to be around others and have no desires to participate in activities they once enjoyed.
Arousal Symptoms
People with PTSD after the event usually are more alert and watchful to their surroundings. This is known as increased emotional arousal, and it can cause difficulty sleeping, outbursts of anger or irritability, and difficulty concentrating. They may find that they are always alerted and on the look-out for dangerous situations.
Causes
PTSD can be found in the general population. PTSD can affect people of all ages and does not discriminate based on sex or marital status. The rates of PTSD suggest the need for people to become more aware of the disorder and informed about PTSD. This can lead to early identification of it when it occurs and early intervention. Some of the causes of PTSD range differently in individuals. It can occur at any age, even in childhood, and can effects one’s personal, family, social, or occupational life (Comer page137). Any traumatic event can trigger PTSD symptoms such as: * Traumatic experiences, especially in early childhood * History of PTSD or depression in the family * Physical or sexual abuse * Substance abuse * Depression, anxiety, or another mental illness * Constant stress in everyday life * No support after the trauma * Lack of coping skills
Having a history of traumatic events in your life doesn’t mean you are guaranteed to develop PTSD or a stress disorder. Statistically 3.5 percent of people in the United States experience a stress disorder in any given year; 7 to 9 percent suffer from one of the symptoms in their lifetime and woman are twice as likely in comparison to men to develop a stress disorder (Comer page 137). Stress has a negative impact on people’s psychological and physical health, with 46 percent of 18-to-32-year-olds reporting that they have lain awake at night because of extreme stress, 38 percent saying that they over ate do to stress (Rathus page 273). So in turn, extreme stress is a leading cause for acute stress disorders such as PTSD.
Treatment
There are several effective ways to treat PTSD. Unfortunately, people who suffer from PTSD don’t always seek medical help because they don’t know the procedures or simply don’t know the facts about treatment of PTSD. PTSD if untreated, will more than likely lead to problems like depression, anxiety, substance abuse, chronic pain, or personality disorders. Treatment can be very helpful if symptoms are interfering with your daily work schedule, you are unable to enjoy life, make connections with peers or you are continuously sick. Treatments for PTSD are psychotherapy and medications. Each person is treated differently because all people are effected in different ways. One of the leading ways of treating PTSD is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT gives PTSD suffers exposure therapy which enables people to face and control their fear; Cognitive restructuring helps people to make sense of the bad memories; and stress inoculation training tries to reduce PTSD symptoms by teaching a person how to reduce anxiety (Hamblen, 2010).
Case 1
DTC is a former United States Marine who served in Operation Restore Hope: Mogadishu, Somalia. While serving as an Infantry Foot Soldier DTC was deployed in a special operation to aid the United States Army Rangers who were in a battle of survival with local Somali Insurgents. The battle became known as “Black Hawk Down”. During his time on the ground in Somalia DTC can vividly remember the sights, the smell and sounds of Somalia. The images of Somali Insurgents dragging American bodies through the streets of Mogadishu are a scar in his head that will never leave him. “The 1000’s of Somali’s that lay dead in the streets”... DTC recalls. “The smell of death was everywhere. You just couldn’t get away from that smell. Today, after 21 years I can still smell it! When I go to funerals and see the person in their casket… Images of my lost buddies and dead insurgents shoot through my head,”says DTC. Today DTC lives with the scars of war both physically and mentally. He has never sought help for PTSD and more than likely never will. He does receive medical help for the injury he sustained in combat. The sounds of war, the smells and everything that comes with it is something DTC calls his demons and in as he states… “Something I have learned to live with”.
Case 2
A few months ago, WS was in a major automobile accident. He sustained only minor injuries, but two of the friends riding in the car with him car were killed. At first, the accident didn’t seem real to WS. It was like a bad dream. Then after sometime WS started having nightmares and was constantly thinking about the accident. He even felt a sense of guilt for being the lone survivor. Now, the sight of an ambulance and the sounds of sirens is a trigger for him and can cause a panic attack.
WS can’t sleep at night and is always having nightmares about that fatal night. During the day he zones out and is always irritable. It seems as if there is always something bugging him or bothering him. He jumps whenever he hears loud noises and at times simply being in a car can be a trigger. He avoids driving on the freeway and never will approach an accident scene. WS also refuses to go anywhere near the site of the crash.

Works Cited
Hamblen, J. (2010, January 1). U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: National Center for PTSD. Retrieved August 10, 2010, from VA National Center for PTSD: http://www.ptsd.va.gov
Kessler RC, Sonnega A, Bromet E, Hughes M, Nelson CB. (1995) Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry; 52:1048-1060
Comer, Ronald J., and R. Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology,. Sixth ed. New York: Worth Pub., 2011. Print.
Rathus, Spencer A HDEV 3 what’s inside: Student Edition,. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2014. Print