Posttraumatic Stress Disorder - Case Study Example

The conditions POWs are exposed to are often severe and include captivity, fear, terror, pain, suffering, shame, humiliation, beatings, untreated medical problems, being deprived of food and shelter, forced relocation, excessive work regimes, and witnessing executions. Levels of comorbid conditions are also high, including depression and even neurological impairment.

Lyman though not a doctor tried to control his brother's emotions and treated him as a normal person. Treatment for veterans is unique in several keys way. To begin with, research indicates that overall, treatment is less beneficial for veterans; they come to treatment much longer after the initial trauma and have a more complex presentation, higher levels of comorbidity, and higher levels of social and occupational dysfunction. Those veterans with PTSD currently serving in the military present another complex group, and treatment suggestions include focusing on increasing coping and resilience factors and preventing relapse.

Veterans may also have a tendency to focus on somatic complaints. Without any knowledge about the disorder, Lyman helped his brother way out in a cognitive manner. Most of the Vietnam War veterans suffered from PTSD. Cognitive therapy is built on an information-processing model of psychology, viewing pathology as a consequence of systematic biases in the processing of information. In essence, the mediating role of thinking between stimulus and behavior is the critical point of change and alteration in cognitive therapy.

Errors in thinking and the processing of information, be it environmental or more internal in nature, are the targets of therapy. Many different concepts and terms are used to characterize and describe thinking and dysfunctional cognitions in cognitive therapy, such as schemas, automatic thoughts, conditional assumptions, maladaptive cognitions, and cognitive distortions. A specific type of cognitive error characterizes different classes of mental disorders. Henry used the cognitive method to treat his brother without any knowledge that he was treating his brother.

Henry used to get irritated at minute disturbances and in one scenario he bit his lip and blood oozing out. It didn't affect Henry. Behavior therapy emphasizes the unlearning of maladaptive or problem behavior and the acquisition of more adaptive and healthy behavior. Therapists attempt this with a number of techniques, including behavior modification, guided imagery, role-playing, self-monitoring, relaxation training, progressive relaxation, behavioral rehearsal, activity scheduling, and exposure techniques.