...Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Current State of PTSD Kriss Gross Argosy University GRADE 300/300 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Current State of PTSD When Johnny came “marching home”, there were ticker-tape parades and family and friends threw parties in celebration of their military member’s safe arrival home. Unfortunately, being home came with its own set of problems, as an increasing number veterans face a battle in their own minds. That battle is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and it has been affecting veterans for decades, as an anxiety disorder brought about by the exposure to a traumatic event that causes a “pathological memory”, which then emerges with symptoms of “generalized feelings of fear and apprehension” (Butcher, 2010, p. 158). The number of veterans diagnosed with PTSD and being treated through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has tripled since 2001; emphasizing the vital need for established therapies (Eftekhari, Ruzek, Crowley, Rosen, Greenbaum, & Karlin, 2013). According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), as of September 1, 2013, 625,953 veterans are being compensated for PTSD. The rise in the number of veterans presenting with PTSD is thought to be in direct correlation to longer deployments, decreased time between deployments and the increasing number of deployments (Cook, Dinnen, O'Donnell, Bernardy, Rosenheck, & Hoff, 2013). In order to be compensated for the disorder, veterans must meet the...
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...07/25/13 Summary for HES 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...
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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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...POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER Abstract This paper offers a clear understanding of posttraumatic stress disorder. Its signs, symptoms, treatment, and preventions. This disorder is commonly known to affect individuals who have been in wars and/or affected by a death of a beloved one. The disorder however varies from person to person in which each uses a different method of approach. It is believed Posttraumatic Disorder (PTSD) is mostly cured through therapeutic treatments, while many of these patients are on antipsychotic drugs which futermore produces unwanted side effects. Individuals with PTSD tend to have problems with transferring short-term to long-term memory. 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...
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...Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Abstract Posttraumatic 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...
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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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...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 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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...Psychology essay PTSD case 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...
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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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...Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a serious condition that occurs in people who have witnessed a natural disaster, serious accident, terrorist incident, sudden death of a loved one, war, violent personal assault such as rape, or other life-threatening events. PTSD is a serious problem that was first common and found in war veterans. This disease is interesting because of the way it affects the brain and makes you think. It makes people re-experience and avoid situations that caused them to develop PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is considered abnormal behavior because of the fact it causes people to be unable to interact normally in social settings. You can suffer from re-experiencing which means that during traumatic situation they will suffer from flashbacks, bad dreams where they can wake up screaming in terror. They also are subject to avoidance symptoms where they do everything in their power to avoid places that remind them of anything like the experience. Things that remind a person of the traumatic event can trigger avoidance symptoms. These symptoms may cause a person to change his or her personal routine. Another thing that makes PTSD abnormal behavior is the hyperarousal symptoms that are persistent and constant instead of something that is triggered by a traumatic event. It makes the person stressed and/or angry. It can affect daily routines like sleeping, eating, and even concentrating. There...
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...of such a traumatic event are signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Post-Traumatic...
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...The meaning of Post- traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) is a type of a mental illness that comes from a experiencing in a major traumatize event in life that can cause a victim to cope leaving them at the mercy of their worst fears. Most of the times that who has PTSD are this person who has served in the military. This person has dealing with particularly horrendous war and combat situation. There is much other type of life experiences that are blame to offset the PTSD. When the PTSD can be unexpected and cannot be controlled, which they are a type of candidate for PTSD. This type of illness not only impact on the person that has PTSD, it also affords other people that are dealing with the person who has PTSD. Example of these people who are there medical personnel giving care of the patients, family members, or co-workers. Some of the event that triggers the PTSD could become violent assault, a major accident such as sexual abuse, natural disaster, and rape, car crash ("Types Of Traumatic Events", 2009).History of the Illness The post traumatic stress disorder is a legitimate and can functional diagnose but is not the only answer to a trauma event. This type of disorder is frequency in the ordinary population is between 1-8%. This type of disorder is a type of linked with excessive rates of harm in the social and job-related operation. This type of disorder can be distinguished from a further psychiatric condition as a chemical substance in a living organisms...
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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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...Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD Jessica Crosier University Of Phoenix COM/156 Professor Steven Tate May 5, 2013 INTRODUCTION Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a crippling condition that comes from a mentally crushing experience. PTSD causes many individuals trauma, and untreated issues that may continue for years if not sought help. Being untreated can lead to not being accepted in many socially and physcological environments. Not all trauma survivors develope PTSD, about 20% of crime victims as well as many other crime victims relate to this. As well as many soldiers returning from war. . As we all take a look into PTSD and the effects and the causes that it has on the victim, there is some good points in here that will help you understand what causes PTSD. The number one cause of PTSD is trauma. Having a traumatic experience many people are cannot process the events of what has happened to them. Many victims are overwhelmed and sometimes haunted by the daily re-accurances of what happened. “Anyone who is involved with a traumatic event, either personally or as a witness, can develop PTSD. For example, a first-aid worker respond to a bad accident may be so psychologically affected by the experience that he or she experiences PTSD. Females seem to be especially vulnerable to the condition, as do people who have other psychological illnesses or a family history of mental disorders.” (Anonymous, 2012) . Symptoms...
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