Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD is a mental disorder that is mostly associated with traumatic events. When a person faces a life-threatening event to them or their loved one, they are likely to suffer from the disorder. PTSD is not a disorder that affects service members only, but it can affect anyone who experiences a traumatizing event like rape, assault, kidnapping, car accident, or torture. These events might occur directly to the person or to someone close to the person suffering from PTSD. The paper will analyze the disorder and provide some diagnosis and treatment methodologies currently in place. Based on research conducted by other scientists, one can see that there is need for further research in order to determine the effects of the various risks and resilience factors.
Introduction
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder a person will develop after been exposed to a traumatizing, horrific, or life-threatening situation (Stanley C. Krippner & Pitchford, 2012). PTSD is also a mental health condition triggered when a person experiences or witnesses a terrifying event. PTSD is not only related with combat fighters or military service men and women. The condition can affect any person in their everyday life. Whenever a person is in danger, they are naturally going to feel afraid, which causes their bodies to undergo split second changes. All this happens in order for the body to defend itself against the danger. Naturally, there are three distinct reactions to fear namely fight, flight, or freeze. These are all healthy reactions to a situation and a person will only experience one of them. In PTSD, this reaction is completely damaged or changed, which is why a person suffering from PTSD will still feel frightened or stressed when the danger has passed.
A majority of people who undergo a traumatic event will have difficulty coping and adjusting after the traumatizing event. However, this does not mean they have PTSD. Given good care and time, they can get better. A person is said to have PTSD if their symptoms last for months or they get worse, which interferes with their normal functioning. PTSD usually develops after a person has undergone a terrifying ordeal involving a threat of physical harm or caused physical harm. A person who develops PTSD does not necessarily have to be the one who harmed. They could develop PTSD after witnessing a harmful event happening to a loved one or a stranger. The person's loved one could also have been the one harmed. PTSD came to the limelight in relation to war veterans. The disorder can also afflict persons who undergo traumatic incidents like rape, kidnapping, mugging, child abuse, plane crashes, torture, accidents, train wrecks, or natural disasters.
Symptoms of PTSD
PTSD symptoms may appear within three months after a traumatic event, but there are times when the symptoms appear after many years. The symptoms of PTSD will lead to significant problems in the person's work or social environments. After a traumatizing event, it is natural for a person to experience these symptoms. Acute stress disorder (ASD) will occur when a person experiences serious symptoms that diminish after a few weeks, but when the symptoms continue for more than a few weeks, and they become a continuous problem then it most likely is PTSD. There are many symptoms caused by PTSD. The symptoms are grouped into three categories namely re-experiencing symptoms, avoidance symptoms, and hyperarousal symptoms. Re-experiencing symptoms involves flashbacks to the traumatizing event repeatedly (Roberts, 2003). The person would also have physical symptoms like sweating or increase in their heart rate. Bad dreams are also associated with re-experiencing of the terrifying event. The person could also have frightening thoughts. These symptoms would interfere with the person's everyday routine. They can be triggered by the person's own feelings or thoughts. Situations, objects, or words that remind the person of the event can trigger re-experiencing.
Avoidance symptoms involve blocking out the traumatic event. The person would change their normal routine in order to avoid triggering the event. For example, a person who was involved in a plane crash would avoid boarding any aircraft. The avoidance symptoms involve feeling emotionally numb, avoiding places, objects, or events that will remind the person of the event, feeling depressed, guilty and worried. The person could also lose interest in activities they enjoyed previously. Hyperarousal symptoms make a person to be easily startled, feel tense, have difficulty sleeping, and have angry outbursts. These symptoms are not triggered by anything that reminds the...
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