Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Research Paper Example

? Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Introduction: Post-traumatic stress disorder is referred to a condition of human health where an individual suffers from anxiety disorder resulting from events that are frightening, stressful, or distressing. Events that can lead to such stress disorder include severe accidents on roads, violent assaults such as robbery or sexual assaults, sexual abuses for a long period of time, neglect of family members and near ones, witness of violent incidents or deaths, experiences of being held as hostages, attacks of terrorists, or natural disasters such as earthquakes, severe floods or tsunamis. The disorder might either occur suddenly after any such incident being experienced by an individual or might even develops over a certain period of time (Post-traumatic stress disorder 2013). The present study focuses on having an understanding on the definitions, occurrence, sanctions, trends, cultural issues and other associated factors related to post-traumatic stress disorder. About Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): PTSD is a disorder in human beings causing severe anxiety resulting from the individual being experienced with some form of dangerous incident. When an individual finds himself in a dangerous situation, he feels scared which is normal to any living being. As a result of this fear in the mind of the individual, there are several changes that occur within the body trying to help the individual to deal with the situation or overcome the fear and avoid any negative situation. This is referred as a fight-or-flight response of the individual that reflects a healthy approach of any human being in protecting oneself from any injury or destruction (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, n.d., p.1). Individuals Who Are Affected: Any human being is prone to be affected by such negative situations and hence suffer from PTSD. Moreover, it can occur at any age irrespective of the gender of the individual as well. Individuals such as war veterans or those who have been survivors of any negative incidents, and assaults, violent experiences, disasters, abuses, or accidents might be the ones getting affected with this disorder. However it might not be the case that every individual suffering from this anxiety disorder has experienced any dangerous incident. It might also be the case that individuals get affected when they find any of their near or dear ones experiencing any violent abuses or assaults. Even when a close one dies, such an incident affects human beings drastically at times (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, n.d., p.1). Symptoms of PTSD: One of the most common symptoms of PTSD is to have distressing memories of the negative incident that occurred, repeatedly in the mind of the individual. It might be the case that the individual starts recognizing every phase of the incident and relives the incident thus having flashbacks and nightmares causing more fear in the minds of the individual. These are highly distressing and disorienting for the individual accompanied by certain physical symptoms such as shaking and sweating. Individuals might start avoiding people or situations that tend to remind them of the incident. This is an act of trying to avoid the memories of the incident that affected the individual and led to the PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): the treatment of PTSD in adults and children- Understanding NICE guidance – information for people with PTSD, their advocates and carers, and the public, 2005, p.8). There are four major symptoms of PTSD that can be pointed: Reliving the event: This is the symptom as discussed above. It leads the individual to bring back the memories of the negative incident and hence causes fear in the mind of the human being again. There might be something that the individual hears or sees and that acts like a trigger to bring the incident back to the mind of the individual (Symptoms of PTSD, 2013). Avoiding situations that remind of the event: This is another major symptom that influences the victim to avoid people or situations that remind him of the incident. The individual might not want to talk or discuss about the incident, might avoid crowds, or even avoid being busy with others (Symptoms of PTSD, 2013). Negative changes in beliefs: The trauma tends to change the beliefs and feelings of the individual affecting the positive feelings of the individual and also consider the world as a highly dangerous place and hence not trust anybody around (Symptoms of PTSD, 2013). Hyper arousal: An individual suffering from PTSD might become highly alert all the time affecting their sleep, cause difficulty in concentrating, might be frightened by loud noises, and so on (Symptoms of PTSD, 2013). Trends of Occurrence of PTSD: Studies reflect that the cases of individuals suffering from PTSD are not uncommon. In countries such as America, almost 70 percent of individuals are recorded to have experienced some form of traumatic incident. The intensity of the incident might be varied from individual to individual but the occurrence of such incidents is common. Of such people, around 20 percent are recorded to develop PTSD. Around 31.3 million people in the country are known to be struggling with the symptoms and effects of the disorder for any such incidents that they might have encountered. Considering women, studies reveal around 1 out of 10 women being affected with the disorder. In fact, the probability of occurrence of the disorder has been found to be twice of that of occurrence of the disorder in men (PTSD Statistics, 2013). Countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan have also reflected that 1 out of 5 military professionals suffer from the disorder. These included female military officials as well recording around 71 percent of all military troops. Children are also recorded to suffer from the disorder irrespective of their gender. Of all negative incidents experienced by boys and girls, small girls tend to be more affected and develop PTSD. According to the records provided by National Center for PTSD, “Rates of PTSD are much higher in children and adolescents recruited from at-risk samples. The rates of PTSD in these at-risk children and adolescents vary from 3 to 100%” (PTSD Statistics, 2013). Sexual assaults and parental homicides are the most common causes of trauma in children leading to development of PTSD. The stress suffered by them and even in adults result in problems in physical and psychological behaviors. They start suffering from lack of concentration, trust, memory, or making the right decisions (PTSD Statistics, 2013). Cultural Issues: Culture and cultural environment are largely associated with the occurrence and effects of PTSD. Studies reveal that cultural variations in different regions tend to influence individuals with different traumatic circumstances. Different cultures are associated with different patterns of lifestyles, rituals, and different protocols for treating individuals affected from any traumatic experience. Even though the occurrence of negative incidents is common across the globe, but the cultural variations across different places determine the social, psychological and physical behavior of the individuals before and after such incidents and during their suffering from the PTSD (Marsella, 2010, pp.22-24). Cultures tend to react to trauma associating them with several factors such as the religion. Studies have however tried to focus on the psychological behavior of individuals based on cultural differences. Several incidents that are considered as traumatic in one culture are ignored by other cultures, and thus the attitude and beliefs of the society largely determine the occurrence and effects of PTSD in individuals. If the severity of the traumatic events is considered, then the situations could be controlled in a better way, as need to be realized by different cultures across the globe (Herbert and Forman, 2010, pp.235-239). Conclusion: PTSD has become a major cause of concern for the society as more and more number of traumatic incidents are increasing the number of people suffering from the disorder. Although natural disasters may not be under control, but issues like homicides and parental abuses, and traumatic incidents within families need to be controlled to reduce cases of PTSD. References Herbert, J.D. and E.M. Forman (2010). Cross-cultural perspectives on posttraumatic stress. New Jersey: Wiley. Marsella, A.J. (2010). Ethnocultural Aspects of PTSD: An Overview of Concepts, Issues, and Treatments. Traumatology, 16.4, pp.17-26. Post-traumatic stress disorder (2013). NHS. [Online]. Retrieved on 18 November 2013 from: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/pages/introduction.aspx Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (n.d.). NIH. [Online]. Retrieved on 18 November 2013 from: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/nimh_ptsd_booklet.pdf Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): the treatment of PTSD in adults and children- Understanding NICE guidance – information for people with PTSD, their advocates and carers, and the public (2005). NICE. [Online]. Retrieved on 19 November 2013 from: http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/CG026publicinfo.pdf PTSD Statistics (2013). Healmyptsd. [Online]. Retrieved on 20 November 2013 from: http://healmyptsd.com/education/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-statistics Symptoms of PTSD (2013). PTSD. [Online]. Retrieved on 19 November 2013 from: http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/symptoms_of_ptsd.asp Read More