Treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder - Essay Example

The causes of PTSD are believed to originate from experiences of any event that produce intense pessimistic feelings of helplessness, fear, or horror to the victim. Some of the sources of such experiences may include: witnessing adult or childhood sexual or physical abuse, physical assault or sexual assault, occupations related to war and disaster, and being diagnosed with an illness that threatens life. PTSD may impact adversely on the victims. Some of its outcomes may include terror, fear, loss of memory among others (Acierno, 1999).

Diagnosis criteria of PTSD as mentioned above demands that the diagnosed symptoms last for more than a month and must cause a significant social or occupational impairment. The diagnosis can be categorized into the following: exposure to a traumatic event involving risk of death or serious injury, loss of physical integrity and intense negative feeling of fear, helplessness or horror; persistent re-experiencing of the events resulting in flashback memories, subjective re-experiencing of the trauma, reappearance of distressing dreams, and intense negative physiological or psychological response to any subjective or objective reminder of the events; persistent emotional numbing and avoidance of stimuli that are associated with the traumatic event, inability to remember the main parts of the trauma, and avoidance of people or places that may bring back the distressing memories; a persistent increase of arousal symptoms that were initially absent; symptoms lasting for more than one month; and significant social or occupational impairment (Cahill, 2004).

Prevention and intervention strategies of PTSD are needed to prevent the adverse effects of this condition on the victims. Experts have suggested cognitive behavioral therapy and critical incident stress management as intervention strategies to prevent PTSD. Other treatment measures include psychological debriefing, risk-targeted interventions, psychobiological treatments, and stepped collaborative care (Acierno, 1999). I would therefore counsel my patient accordingly referring to this paper and advising on the situations he or she should avoid so as she cannot experience the traumatic events.