Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after War - Research Proposal Example

A Research Proposal on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after War War-related incidences present traumaticexperiences in life. They expose individuals to fright, anxiety, sadness, or a form of disconnection with the society. Such conditions are not easily overcome hence presenting a health risk to the individual involved. In most cases, the result is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To the patient reverting back to normal looks like a nightmare, however, through appropriate treatment measures the individual can be made to overcome the condition. There are a number of individuals that are exposed to traumatic events consistently hence presents a more complicated scenario. Such individuals include the war veterans, the individuals are exposed to incidences that relates to witnessing massive loss of lives to incidences of personal injuries. The proposed research will use a cohort of war veterans drawn across various parts in the United States and having participated in different wars. A sample of 30 veterans will be interviewed in an attempt to understand the vulnerability of war veterans to PTSD and the recovery process. Introduction Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is categorized as a form of anxiety disorder that results from an emotional trauma that is often associated with threats of death or even a loss of life. PTSD can be as a result of an event or a series of events and it is often associated with symptoms that constantly disturb the patient. Such symptoms include a reminder of the traumatic incidence, an attempt to avoid the memory of the event and sometimes the patient becomes highly aroused. A number of people who experience a traumatizing event have very high chances of developing PTSD (Savoca, 2011). PTSD has an underlying psychological cause that is mainly based on an extreme trauma. The situation resulting to the trauma is usually associated with a sense of extreme fear, powerlessness, and horror to the traumatized individual. A fatal, injury, death, or a life threatening condition to either an individual or others are the most common causes of PTSD especially among individuals engaged in war-like activities such as war veterans (Rosenheck & Fontana, 2007). The proposed research will help in creating awareness on the possible consequences of war-related trauma and how the victims can be helped to prevent development of PTSD. Literature Review War veterans are a group of individuals that have engaged in warfare in various capacities and are likely to have experienced loss of lives or severe injuries among other frightening incidences. On the other hand, a war veteran may be the only survivor in a war situation hence they develop a certain form of fear that makes it difficult to forget that particular incidence. These traumatizing events make war veterans highly vulnerable to post traumatic stress disorder (Savoca, 2011). However, its general prevalence in the population varies in terms of gender. Women are more vulnerable to PTSD after a traumatic event as opposed to men. In addition, the symptoms are more severe in women as opposed to their male counterparts. PTSD among the veterans has been shown to become more severe if early interventions are not developed for the war veterans. In addition, the Hispanics have been identified as the most vulnerable group while any event that brings stress after the traumatic incidences aggravates the development of PTSD (Schnnur, Lunney & Sengupta, 2004). On the other hand, when an individual is socially supported through counselling reduces the potential development of PTSD. PTSD is a condition that can result to severe consequences if not treated on time. Statistics indicate that approximately 7.7 million people in America suffer from this condition (National Institute of Mental Health, 2014). The severity of PTSD determines the ease of treatment. When the condition is left over a long time, the amount of time that is required for psychotherapy is exponentially increased while treatment is made easier through the adoption of an early treatment. In addition, treatment of PTSD requires personalized attention where the specialist should endeavor to understand the individual patient in order to develop an appropriate treatment (Meltzer et al 2012). PTSD is considered a problem because of the disturbance it causes to an individual resulting to an exponential decline in their productivity. PTSD can also alleviate the development of other stress-related conditions. PTSD comprises of a number of effects to the well-being of an individual. This condition can either result to hyper-arousal, the ability of an individual to avoid other people and having recurring experiences of the traumatic experience. When an individual is constantly remembering the experiences of the traumatic experience, their daily activities are interfered with hence, they do not execute their roles normally. The feelings as well as the thoughts of an individual are highly affected by the flashbacks of the traumatic event, dreams that remind them of the event and thoughts that frighten them. The retrieval of the incidences is made possible through an encounter with any kind of object, event, or even words that remind of the traumatic incidence. The overall outcome of the recurring experiences is that the individual lives in fear that they are unable to overcome (Pittman, 2007). In essence, their productivity declines exponentially. Apart from the experiences that recur, the patient develops a tendency of avoiding certain situations and places and events. Through the fear the person’s emotions are affected hence they live in extreme worry and are sometimes having a feeling of guilt. In addition, there is a high likelihood that the individual will live a depressed life. This depression makes the person to segregate themselves from other people. The person may ,be forced to adopt a new way of doing things due to the underlying fear and uncertainty that the event may recur (Mueser et al., 2007). What seemed enjoyable and the hobbies that an individual had before the traumatic incidence can be greatly affected. While the event may recur on the mind of the individual, connecting the incidences that leads to the condition becomes very difficult for the patient. These situations indicate that it is not business as usual for the patient; their activities are adversely affected as well as their productivity. The effect of PTSD affects people across the strata depending on their exposure to traumatic events. However, the vulnerability of individuals depends on the magnitude of the trauma and the care given after the trauma. In addition, women and children are more vulnerable. Considering the case of veterans, due to their engagements in various war-related activities, their chances of developing PTSD is relatively lower as compared to ordinary citizens who face similar traumatic events. This indicates that PTSD among the war veterans is not very severe as opposed to other citizens. Despite this, a number are affected and need support. Some of these people may leave the battlefield when they are normal but end up being influenced by other external factors such as stress to develop PTSD (Wood, 2012). Purpose of the Research To establish the prevalence of PTSD among veterans of war that have faced traumatic events To establish possible interventions that can be developed to prevent PTSD among war veterans Variables under Study Prevalence of PTSD War-related trauma Hypothesis All war-veterans are at a risk of developing PTSD. Research Strategy In order to test the hypothesis, the research will involve gathering of information from war veterans while at the same time analyzing incidences of reported cases of PTSD among them. Methods The research will take a qualitative approach. Research data will be obtained through use of interviews and gathering of data from veteran organizations. The interviews will involve 30 veterans drawn from different parts of the country and having engaged in different wars, for example, Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan among others. The recruitment of the research cohort will be done based on a criterion. This shall involve their age, the war they engaged with, and the location. Information about the veterans will be obtained from the Department of Veterans. References Meltzer, E. C., Averbuch, T., Samet, J. H., Saitz, R., Jabbar, K., Lloyd-travaglini, C., & Liebschutz, J. M. (2012). Discrepancy in diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Treatment for the wrong reason. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 39(2), 190-201 Mueser, K. T., Bolton, E., Carty, P. C., Bradley, M. J., Ahlgren, K. F., DiStaso, D. R., . . . Liddell, C. (2007). The trauma recovery group: A cognitive-behavioral program for post-traumatic stress disorder in persons with severe mental illness. Community Mental Health Journal, 43(3), 281-304 National Institute of Mental Health, (2014). What is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml Pittman, J. O., E., Goldsmith, A. A., Lemmer, J. A., Kilmer, M. T., & Baker, D. G. (2012). Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and health-related quality of life in OEF/OIF veterans. Quality of Life Research, 21(1), 99-103. Rosenheck, R. A., & Fontana, A. F. (2007). TRENDS: Recent trends in VA treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental disorders. Health Affairs, 26(6), 1720-7. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/204645152?accountid=45049 Savoca, E. (2011). Accounting for misclassification bias in binary outcome measures of illness: the case of post-traumatic stress disorder in male veterans. Sociological Methodology, 41, 49-XII. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/912208293?accountid=45049 Schunurr, P., Lunney, C. A. & Sengupta, A. (2004). Risk factors for the development versus maintenance of post-traumatic stress disorder. Journal of Trauma Stress, 17 (2): 85-95. Wood, D. (2012). Iraq, Afghanstan war Veterans struggle with Combat trauma. 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