Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome - Research Paper Example

 Post-traumatic stress syndrome Overview Post-traumatic stress syndrome is a severe anxiety disorder outlined in psychology. Post-traumatic stress syndrome often occurs in people that have experienced or witnessed an event that has caused psychological trauma. An event of this magnitude involves a person feeling threatened, being close to death, or otherwise involve sexual, physical or psychological virtues. Post-traumatic stress syndrome occurs after the traumatic event has taken place. According to the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic criteria, an individual must meet the following: exposure to a traumatic event as previously described; frequent re-experiencing of the traumatic event; frequent avoidance and emotional desensitizing; frequent symptoms of increased arousal not known prior to the traumatic event; the duration of the symptoms lasting for more than one month; significant impairment, especially in regard to relationships newly formed after the incident (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Symptoms As is the case with many psychological disorders, it becomes difficult to properly diagnose people with post-traumatic stress syndrome due to it sharing characteristics with similar disorders. When diagnosing an individual, the first thing that is immediately looked for is if the person has experienced or witnessed an event that is considered to be traumatic. Some of these events can include but are not limited to rape or attempted rape, an abusive relationship with someone that they had grown close to, being close to experiencing death or being threatened with death or an injury, or witnessing any of the aforementioned events being done to someone else. If the individual has experienced a traumatic event, the psychiatrist looks at the rest of the symptoms of the disorder, all of which are divided up into three separate categories as defined by Patrick Smith (2004). Re-experiencing the event is the first category of symptoms. A person who has experienced a traumatic event can also experience flashbacks, a disconnected reliving of the event, nightmares and night terrors, “which is a sleeping disorder in which the victim experiences severe terror and has the inability to regain consciousness (Winn, 1994).” One of the least common symptoms in this category includes reliving the event a a memory. Victims strive to forget what has happened to them, but sometimes they are unable to control the images that their brain produces. The repressing of these memories is often what causes the other symptoms in this group. The second category of symptoms involve the individual feeling paranoid. They become horrified by anything that might remind them of the situation, and they try their hardest to avoid these factors and characteristics. Certain people and places, and similar experiences, that remind the individual of their own experience brings about fear, which leads to paranoia and avoidance. Even if there is no direct connection to the incident; if the color red was scene during the initial incident, the individual becomes afraid of the color red. Emotions are also avoided, mainly those that bring along memories or flashbacks of the incident. Quite a few individuals that are subjected to traumatic events become emotionally unresponsive to other events in their lives, especially if it means experiencing a similar emotion that they did during the event. The individual ceases to be aware of themselves, which is yet another coping mechanism to help them push from their minds what took place during the initial event. They put every ounce of energy into forgetting as much of the event as they can, yet in the process they also begin to fear anything remotely related to the event. Symptoms dealing with hyperarousal make up the third category of symptoms. Individuals find it difficult to fall asleep or to concentrate. They often experience blackouts of have trouble remembering things, especially recent events or information, or they are easily startled. Hypervigilance can also be experienced, which is when the victim becomes overly aware of threats or potential danger (Egan, 2010). The symptoms in this category all involve avoiding the same or a similar threat. People that have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome often unconsciously become very aware of their surroundings. They trust nobody or anything; every person and every situation can be a potential threat, and they want to do everything within their power to avoid that threat. They allow themselves to become more aware of their environment. There are other symptoms that an individual with post-traumatic stress syndrome can experience that are not included in the above mentioned categories. These include having a lack of interest in people or activities; being thoroughly convinced that their life has been cut short by the event, which can, at times, lead to suicidal behavior and an avoidance of making plans for the future; and putting up a barrier between themselves and people, mainly those that remind them of the traumatic event. Prevalence and risk factors “Although most people (50-90%) encounter trauma over a lifetime, only about 8% develop full post-traumatic stress syndrome (Kessler, et al, 1995).” Post-traumatic stress syndrome is very common diagnosis for people who have served either on the front lines of a war while being in the military, or by being a medical personnel at a hospital in a war zone where the majority of patients are wounded soldiers (Tick, 2005). These people are subjected to intense violence, death, and the threat of death, whether experienced or witnessed. Some people develop post-traumatic stress syndrome when they have a fear of entering a war, such as when drafts are still required for certain age limits or a military unit has been given deployment instructions. Medical personnel outside of a military setting are also at risk for developing post-traumatic stress syndrome as they are constantly subjected to injury and death. This mainly holds true for people responding to the scenes of vehicular accidents or incidences of murder or rape; the more horrendous and gruesome the event is, the more at risk a medical personnel is at developing post-traumatic stress syndrome. As a whole, people who are constantly subjected to traumatic events are at great risk for developing post-traumatic stress syndrome. Social worker that tend to abused children are at risk, just as volunteers that work in women’s shelters for abused women and children. Similarly, these children and these women are put at risk for going through the experiences first-hand. As such, locations that are high in crime, violence and abuse are among places in which post-traumatic stress syndrome is prevalent. Treatment It can become very difficult to treat individuals with post-traumatic stress syndrome given that there is no single medication or therapy option that tends to the syndrome in its entirety. Instead, psychiatrists treat as many of the symptoms as possible in hopes of alleviating the harsher affects of post-traumatic stress syndrome. Furthermore, for the patient to overcome their post-traumatic stress syndrome, they need to learn to overcome the fear of the situation that caused them to develop the disorder to begin with. Therapy is usually the first route that psychiatrists introduce their patients to and is administered based on the situation of the individual. Therapists and psychologists, as well as some hypnotherapists, that specialize in cases of post-traumatic stress syndrome begin by targeting the specific situation that caused the individual to be psychologically traumatized (Metcalf, 2009). As soon as the situation has been pinpointed, a task that becomes difficult as the individual is unwilling or unable to recall the event, the therapist works with the patient to determine methods that will help the individual to modify how they view the trauma. The method often resorted to is one in which the therapist tries to get the individual to focus more on the fact that they are still alive as opposed to having found themselves in a situation during which their life was threatened. The therapist focuses on helping the individual to cope with the event, with the major focus being on how the individual should manage their emotions in regard to the situation. If an individual is experiencing numerous symptoms, psychiatrists usually put the individual on various medications for each of the symptoms before continuing therapy, especially if the symptoms have the ability to get in the way of proper coping. Furthermore, the type of symptoms that an individual experiences will also determine whether or not they need an increased amount of therapy sessions (Shiromani, et al, 2009). If symptoms cause the individual to be harmful to people around the individual, they are put on the proper medication before being placed in a therapy program. This allows the individual to become more comfortable with the people that they will be dealing with while they are in therapy. There are a variety of classes, conflict-resolution education and specialized therapy groups for both the individual suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and their family members and friends (True, et al, 1993). The purpose of these classes is to aid the patient in regaining proper communication skills with the people close to them so that they do not lose these close relationships; it also helps them to start new friendships and relationships that might otherwise be damaged or dangerous due to having post-traumatic stress syndrome. These specialized therapy groups consist of people who have developed and overcome post-traumatic stress syndrome after experiencing similar events to the individual. They become a support group for that individual, using what they have learned from their healing to help this new person overcome the fears they have in regard to the traumatic event. As mentioned previously, each person needs to be tended to individually, since one method might work best on one person but not on another. Some symptoms can be tended to with medication, such as sleeplessness, the inability to concentrate, depression and trouble controlling certain emotions. These symptoms would be treated the same just as they would be in a person that only suffered from the symptom and not from post-traumatic stress syndrome. Treatment in New Jersey Each state has a plethora of treatment services and centers for people that have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome. In New Jersey, the leading facility is the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey’s University Behavioral HealthCare center. This center thrives on finding new, more beneficial approaches to helping individuals overcome post-traumatic stress syndrome. “Cognitive restructuring or techniques that people learn to help replace anxiety-arousing thoughts with more realistic appraisals about themselves and the level of danger in their environments (Nauert, 2009)” are among the methods used at the behavioral center for helping people to overcome the syndrome and get back to enjoying life without the constant worry and fear. References American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, Text revision (4th ed). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Incorporated. Egan, S. J. (2010). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Causes, symptoms, and treatment. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Nova Science Publishers. Kessler, R.C., Sonnega, A., Bromet, E., Hughes, M. & Nelson, C.B. (1995). “Post-traumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey.” Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 52 (12): 1048-60. Metcalf, G. (2009). Post-traumatic stress disorder. Florence, KY: Gale Group. Nauert, R. (2009). Treatment for PTSD and Another Mental Illness. Psych Central. Retrieved November 22, 2010 from http://psychcentral.com/news/2for-ptsd-and-another-mental- illness/4270.html. Shiromani, P. J., LeDoux, J. E., & Keane, T. M. (2009). Post-traumatic stress disorder: Basic science and clinical practice. New York: Humana Press. Smith, P. (2004). Post traumatic stress disorder. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis, Incorporated. Tick, E. (2005). War and the soul: Healing our nation's veterans from post-traumatic stress disorder. Wheaton, Ill.: Quest Books. True, W.R., Rice, J., Eisen, S.A., et al. (1993). “A twin study of genetic and environmental contributions to liability for post-traumatic stress symptoms.” Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 50 (4): 257-64. Winn, L. (1994). Post traumatic stress disorder and dramatherapy. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Limited. Read More