Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - Research Paper Example

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder of PTSD A post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the psychiatric problem that is triggered by terrifying incidences, which a person witnesses or experiences. The mental health issue develops because of the individual going through uncontrollable traumatic events such as severe stress, terrorism, sexual assault or accidents. The condition may be caused by loss of valuable items and other threats that poses the danger to a person’s life. The traumatizing events makes the victims feel frightened, anxious, and sad. The traumatized people feel worthless and develop low self-esteem. The victims become hopeless and if the shock does not subside the victims get disturbed by painful memories. They feel that their normal status cannot be restored. Situational events that may trigger PTSD Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder usually occurs with battle scared military officers who go through a win or die battle. Many soldiers suffer from the disorder situations when they are fighting a losing battle. Traumatizing incidences such as bombast makes them scared. The soldiers get maimed while some die. The incidences and aftermath of the war have been the leading cause of the mental disorder. The disease is also prevalent in emergency care workers. Most of the emergency care workers who suffer the disorder are those who take care of the victims whose life is in danger. The death of the victims leaves shocking memories that they cannot forget. The medical officers who treat and take care of the victims of emergency events are also at risk of suffering from the disorder. Children are less likely to develop the disease than adults. They have weak memories, and they are less engaged in life-threatening events. The primary cause of Post-Traumatic Disorder among children is bullying. Bullying also affects adults. Individuals facing domestic violence are predisposed to the disorder. Disasters such as earthquakes and Tsunami results to the massive destruction. The victims of the disaster are traumatized. For many years terrorist attacks has been threatening peoples life. The effects of the attacks are unbearable and terrible. The disorder is prevalent among the people held hostages by terrorists. The torture the in the cells leaves the freed culprits traumatized. Drug abuse especially alcohol also co-occur with the mental disorder. Intake of narcotics hinders the recovery of the PTSD by medication. Alcohol abuse worsens the PSTD conditions (Krippner, 2012). Childhood neglect, kidnapping and sudden death of loved ones also put individuals at risk of getting the disorder. The police officers usually undergo traumatizing moments especially when they exchange bullets with bandits. They put their life at risk before taking hold of criminals such as murderers and terrorists. The law enforcers at a time get a physical injury when chasing a criminal. The disorder is also prevalent in the close relatives and friends of the victims of the traumatizing events. The disease develops differently from one person to another. Clinical manifestation of PSTD The symptoms may develop after a month or a year depending on the intense of the traumatizing event. The symptoms of the disorder can occur suddenly or gradually. The symptoms may come and then disappear after a time. The symptoms may develop after a month or a year depending on the intense of the traumatizing event. The symptoms are triggered by something that reminds the victims of the traumatic event. The victims may be recalled by a resemblance noise, certain words, smell or image. The symptoms of the disorder include flashbacks followed by uncontrollable memories about the incident that occurred. The victim experiences nightmares as images of the terrible event come into his mind. The victim also suffers severe anxiety and the victim breathes rapidly, sweats heavily and the heart pounds. Besides, the affected person lacks sleep due nightmares and suffers from poor concentration. The symptoms of occur when the distressing event leads to an over-reactive response of the adrenaline hormone that results in neurological patterns in the mind. The patterns continue for a long period making the person hyper-responsive to the emerging fearful situations. During the traumatic events, the body reacts by generating excess stress hormones. The high level of the stress hormones suppresses the hypothalamic activity, and this leads to the development of PSTD (Krippner, 2012). Treatment, therapies, and professional approach of a nurse The mental disorder can successfully be treated. The period which the victim experiences PSTD does not affect the processing of the disease. The type of the medication given depends on the severity of the symptoms and duration they take to appear. Several methods are used as medicine. One of them is watchful waiting that involve waiting changes to happen. The victim hopes that the symptoms will improve without medication. The second type of treatment recommended is a psychological one. The victim is advised to have cognitive behavior therapy (CBT).The cognitive behavior therapy aims at reforming the behavior of the traumatized person. There are several types of CBT. Exposure therapy aims at helping the victims face and overcomes the trauma. The therapy involves exposing the traumatized person to the trauma similar to the one they experienced and the helping the overcome it in a safe way (Krippner, 2012). Cognitive therapy helps the victims review the occurrences in a more realistic way. Cognitive therapy helps the victims have a sense of the shocking memories. The doctors may also prescribe the antidepressant medication such as paroxetine to the victim. Mirtazapine drug can be used as an anti-depressant. Another commonly drug used is sertraline (Zoloft). The antidepressants treat by controlling sadness, anger and worry. Another option of treating PSTD is psychotherapy. Psychotherapy involves giving psychological support to the depressed person by consoling the victim of the traumatic incidence. The relatives and close friends are the most recommended psychotherapists (Krippner, 2012). EMDR is another therapeutic procedure that can be used to restore the normal conditions of the victims of PSTD. This procedure is mostly done to the victims who become unconscious as a result of the traumatizing moment. It is a cognitive-behavioral procedure that eye movements stimulation. The method aims to restore the brains normal functioning and get rid of the shocking memories. Conclusively, the victims of the PSTD are advised to seek medication immediately the first symptoms starts to appear. Professional medical personnel can offer more advanced health care services that are helpful to the victims. A professional nurse should have an approach that provide makes the victim comfortable and safe. A nurse helps the individual to relieve the traumatic incidence by encouraging him to recall the rates that took place. The nurse provides an outlet to the stressing memories of the person. Afterward, the nurse prescribes medication to the victim. Any treatment for PSTD aims to restore the normal functioning of the brain and get rid of the powerful memory of the traumatic events (Krippner, 2012). The victims of the disorder should be encouraged to seek treatment as soon as the symptoms appear. People who cope with problem very easily minimize the risk of getting Post-Traumatic Stress disorder. References Krippner, S, Pitchford, D. B., & Davies, J. (2012). Post-traumatic stress disorder. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood. Read More