Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD; what is it, what are the symptoms, how is it diagnosed, can it be treated, what affects does it have on the family? Growing up in a household with both parents suffering from PTSD; these are some of the questions I asked myself on weekly bases. Now that I’m married to a military man I find myself asking some of the same questions after each deployment. I wonder if he is going to come back the man I married or come back an unrecognizable void. I have done extensive research on the disorder to try to answer some of the questions that plagued me growing up, and by sharing with you what I have found, the information may give someone else a little more insight of what the disorder really is. What is post-traumatic stress disorder? “Post-traumatic stress disorder is a DSM-IV psychiatric disorder characterized by an acute emotional response to a traumatic event or situation involving severe environmental stress….” ( Mosby’s,2002) PTSD stems from events that you yourself experience, like abuse, combat, or a serious accident, but can also stem from a witnessed threat of harm or death to another, like 9-11-01. After such events happen you may feel scared, angry, or confused, which is perfectly normal but if those feelings don’t subside and start to get worse, there’s a good chance that you have developed PTSD, and need seek psychiatric help. What are the symptoms of PTSD? There a many symptoms to PTSD so they were are put into categories. Some say there are three categories in which PTSD can be grouped and others say there are four categories. They all agree on these three groups so I’m going to give you those. The First group is called re-experiencing; the symptoms within this group a... ... middle of paper ... ...s is determined; the doctor has to determine which form of therapy will work best for the treatment of the patient; exposure therapy, anxiety management, cognitive therapy, medication, or any combination of the four. PTSD is very serious disorder and should not be ignored, it not only hurts the person infected with it, but it hurts everyone around them as well, including the smallest of people in their lives. Works Cited 1) An Overview of PTSD Symptoms By Matthew Tull, PhD, About.com Guide Updated July 08, 2009 http://ptsd.about.com/od/symptomsanddiagnosis/a/PTSDsymptoms.htm 2) Drs. Foa and Riggs are providing their 2001 training manual, Brief Recovery Program (BRP) for Trauma Survivors, to support your work with trauma victims. http://ptsd.factsforhealth.org/treatment/exposure.asp Mosby's Medical, Nursing and Allied Health Dictionary, 2002
Today the definition of PTSD has broadened to include not just those in combat, but people who have experienced any man-made or natural disasters, accidents, violent crime such as rape, and abuse. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, emotional detachment, ...
What is post-traumatic stress disorder? Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a disorder that is characterized by the repeated experiencing or “reliving” of a traumatic event. With this disorder, the sufferer will also experience extreme emotional, mental, and physical distress. Recurrent nightmares, memories of the event, and vivid flashbacks are very likely too. (Wagman 915). PTSD wasn’t recognized as an illness until the 1980s, but it has been around as long as men have been killing one another (McGirk). Before PTSD was given its official name, many different names floated around within the whole entire world. In 1678, Swiss soldiers identified the disorder as nostalgia while German soldie...
PTSD is when a person experiences something traumatic but continues to feel threatened and fearful after the event has passed. Anyone who has experienced a traumatic event can suffer from PTSD. However, everyone reacts to the events differently. Therefore, some people that have
MedMD.com posted an article, “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,” about four main categories of common symptom that individual’s experience when having PTSD, which including:
Post-traumatic stress disorder is something that tons of people around the world struggle with daily. It is a disorder people battle from within that most people do not ever see or understand. It is referred to as the “invisible wound”. What is PTSD? What are the effects of PTSD? What are the treatment options for PTSD? The American Psychiatric Association first added PTSD to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980. Before it was recognized as PTSD, it was called many different names such as “battle fatigue”, “shell shock”, and “war neurosis”. Even though there are treatment options available, there is millions of dollars going
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.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a psychological disorder where the person diagnosed with PTSD encounters various symptoms caused by a traumatic event such as combat exposure, sexual assault or a serious accident. A traumatic event caused by unpredictable, unforeseen circumstances can lead to an intense negative nature. PTSD is caused by a feeling of not being in control of a situation where you or someone else is in a life threatening situation that is out of their control. The reaction a person feels during something so traumatic eventually diminishes, but PTSD is a disorder that causes these emotions to reoccur on a constant basis lasting several months to several years.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is defined as a psychological response resulting from exposure to a traumatic event or extreme stressor where an individual has felt significant fear, hopelessness or horror. While a number of events can trigger PTSD, this practicum is focussed on PTSD within the military community, primarily resulting from combat exposure. The three distinct categories
Even though post-traumatic stress disorder is difficult to diagnose, with the right teaching, nurses can successfully assess and help diagnose a patient with PTSD. Significant signs and symptoms should alert a nurse to question whether or not a patient has PTSD. Military veterans are especially at risk for combat related PTSD and with the correct assessment by a nurse, the patient can get the correct treatment to overcome PTSD.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after a traumatic event (Riley). A more in depth definition of the disorder is given by Doctor’s Nancy Piotrowski and Lillian Range, “A maladaptive condition resulting from exposure to events beyond the realm of normal human experience and characterized by persistent difficulties involving emotional numbing, intense fear, helplessness, horror, re-experiencing of trauma, avoidance, and arousal.” People who suffer from this disease have been a part of or seen an upsetting event that haunts them after the event, and sometimes the rest of their lives. There are nicknames for this disorder such as “shell shock”, “combat neurosis”, and “battle fatigue” (Piotrowski and Range). “Battle fatigue” and “combat neurosis” refer to soldiers who have been overseas and seen disturbing scenes that cause them anxiety they will continue to have when they remember their time spent in war. It is common for a lot of soldiers to be diagnosed with PTSD when returning from battle. Throughout the history of wars American soldiers have been involved in, each war had a different nickname for what is now PTSD (Pitman et al. 769). At first, PTSD was recognized and diagnosed as a personality disorder until after the Vietnam Veterans brought more attention to the disorder, and in 1980 it became a recognized anxiety disorder (Piotrowski and Range). There is not one lone cause of PTSD, and symptoms can vary from hallucinations to detachment of friends and family, making a diagnosis more difficult than normal. To treat and in hopes to prevent those who have this disorder, the doctor may suggest different types of therapy and also prescribe medication to help subside the sympt...
PTSD is defined as mental health disorder triggered by a terrifying event (Mayoclinic). This ordeal could be the result of some sort of physical harm or threat to the individual, family members, friends or even strangers. (NIMH) While PTSD is typically associated with someone who has served in the military, it can affect more than just that genre of individuals. It could affect rape victims, victims in a terrorist or natural disaster incident, nurses, doctors, and police and fire personnel and bystanders. PTSD can manifest itself in many forms. The primary signs and symptoms of PTSD include but are not limited to re-experiencing symptoms (flashbacks, bad dreams, frightening thoughts), avoidance of places, situations, or events that may cause those memories to resurface, and hyperarousal symptoms (easily startled, feeling tense or on edge) (NIMH). Other symptoms may include not having positive or loving feelings toward other people, staying away from relationships, may forget about parts of the traumatic event or not be able to talk about them, may think the world is completely dangerous, and no one can be trusted.
Have you ever had something bad happen and feel it’s gonna happen again? This feeling can overwhelm most and it is very hard to overcome. That issue is called PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, it is a very interesting yet troublesome disease, especially in military service members. PTSD has many branches and issues that arise due to the unknown of mental illnesses. Mental health stigma/ military ethos, intervention strategies/ treatments, and the impact it has on the lives of the victims all go into the endless cycle of the matter. It is crucial to just dive right in and get to the bottom of it. First on the list is the impact of the disease.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood. (Nebraska) PTSD from combat-related symptoms varies in severity and can be very harmful to not only the individual but also the families. In the worst cases, individuals will be removed from the military and are advised to seek professional help if it is not already given to them. In the more mild cases of combat-related PTSD, individuals are authorized to stay in the military but must seek help and continue to speak to others frequently as well as possibly take
There are many different traumatizing life altering events that may cause PTSD. To be diagnosed with this illness there is a series of tests to take that a psychologist will administer. These will record the symptoms that you are experiencing to rule out other mental illnesses. PTSD can cause symptoms such as night terrors, flashbacks, and panic attacks. There are many forms of treatments such as therapy, medications, and massage therapy. PTSD is very treatable, it is important to seek treatment if you are experiencing any symptoms for a mental illness.
What is post-traumatic stress disorder? “PTSD is a condition that can develop after you have gone through a life-threatening event,”(Daniels and Steineke). Many veterans come home from war with post-traumatic stress disorder, and they need to start getting help. Many are uninformed of the seriousness of this disorder. In the following sources, “The Forever War of the Mind,” “Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),” and “Daddy’s Home” enunciate that veterans need help coping with post-traumatic stress disorder and it is not a joking-around matter.