Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Global Problem

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, otherwise known as PTSD, is a serious psychological condition that occurs as a result of experiencing a traumatic event. It is a disorder most often associated with military personnel and veterans, most of whom have engaged in combat at some point in their military careers. However, this condition is not bound to limitations of our military men and women. No, this condition can have effects on all people, no matter the age, race, sex, religion or location. Although many of these factors affect the risk of developing PTSD, they are not the deciding factor on whether or not you can or cannot develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD is a universal condition reaching to all of the ends of our world.

When most people who are aware of PTSD think of the disorder, military soldiers and veterans are the first to come to mind as those who suffer from it. However, as mentioned in the introduction, PTSD is universal. It does not discriminate based on career, gender, location or so forth. A person becomes more susceptible to developing PTSD if he or she has been directly exposed to the trauma as a victim or a witness. Examples of events that can lead to a person developing PTSD are traumatic car accidents, natural disasters, violence – including domestic and warfare, rape, sexual abuse, school shootings, or any other event that causes the person to feel out of control and in danger. Other factors that increase the likelihood of developing PTSD are whether or not the person was seriously injured, the length of the event, if the person believed a loved one or self were in imminent danger and were helpless in avoiding or protecting themselves or others from the trauma. Yet there are even more contributor...

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