Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Table of Contents

Post traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that a person usually develops after living or seeing an event that threatened or caused death or serious harm. People who usually suffer from the disorder usually remember the experience or event through flashbacks and nightmares, and they find it hard to sleep. These symptoms can last long and be severe enough impairing the daily life of the person. It is common for a person to feel sad, anxious, frightened, and even disconnected after a traumatic event. However, if the feeling does not fade and often have painful memories, it is likely for a person to be suffering from PTSD. This disorder can be overcome by seeking treatment, developing new coping skills, and reaching out for support (Dawe & Schroder 2007). PTSD normally affects those people who experience the catastrophe, the witnesses, and the people left to pick up the pieces.


PTSD on solders

PTSD tend to develop following an event that was traumatic that threatens a person’s safety or make them feel helpless. Many people associated with this disorder are soldiers. Soldiers usually develop the symptoms some few days or even hours after the happening of the traumatic event. Studies indicate that soldiers with pre existing mental disorder normally have higher chances of getting PTSD after sent to the battlefield. Those soldiers diagnosed with depression, anxiety disorder, psychiatric disease, and personal disorder also have the potential of developing PTSD.  People who are suffering from PTSD have a disrupted life. Soldiers tend to experience some symptoms, where some may persist and even get worse (Dawe & Schroder 2007). This people tend to avoid people, experience nightmares, social avoidance, mental and emotional numbness, and experience flight syndrome. People suffering from PTSD are likely to harm people because of their irritability, moodiness, and outburst of anger. Other effects that people with the disorder might experience are chest pain, stomach problems, dizziness, body pain and have a weak immune system. Most of the solders have high chances of experiencing PTSD because they have at least 1year experience during deployment.


A study conducted by Rinaldo (2012) indicate that one in every 8 soldiers usually report of having symptoms of PTSD. Soldiers are people normally involved in wars. Some of the missions that they get involved usually exposed to life threatening and horrible experiences. A soldier has chances of involved in events where they see death happening, they can experience their friends being shot, or shot. Soldiers who get involved in these types of events have high chances of suffering from PTSD.  Combat situations may add more stress to situations that are already stressful, and this may contribute to other mental health problems and PTSD. According to Rinaldo (2012) research, it indicated that less than half of the soldiers with PTSD sought help mostly because of the fear of hurting their loved ones or stigmatization.Soldiers suffering from PTSD are likely to have other conditions like anxiety, substance abuse, and depression. Research indicates that soldiers with PTSD have alcohol problems. Soldiers tend to get involved in taking alcohol as they think it helps in making them forget about the incidence. Soldiers with PTSD have more problems with their families, problems with employment, interpersonal relationships, and they have an increased incidence of violence.


Human development and socialization

Human development can be referred to as the social, physical, and psychological behavioral change, which occurs over a span of time. Socialization usually happens through experience, observation, and instruction. Socialization and human development are processes that tend to continue all through a person’s life span. Soldiers with PTSD have a hard time socializing that people without the disorder. This is because soldiers with PTSD usually attached to themselves making it hard for them to integrate in the social setting. Human development usually happens in social settings; therefore, the development of the soldier’s family can also be affected. The development of children may also be affected as it based on the expectations of the parents.


Treatment of PTSD on Soldiers

Treatment of PTSD can be through psychotherapy. The soldiers can undergo exposure therapy, cognitive, behavioral therapy, reprocessing therapy, and eye movement desensitization. This treatment can be managed with medical treatment. Soldiers can be provided with medication like cortisone, ecstasy, and benzodiazepines. A survey conducted by Wiederhold (2010) indicates that roughly half of the soldiers who return after wars with PTSD fail to seek treatment. For those who get involved in therapy, they tend to drop out early before the session is over. Today soldiers are professionals and not draftees, and it tends to cause reluctance in being engaged in PTSD therapy. Soldiers want to be selected for combat mission; thus, they are reluctant for the therapy because they think that it will prevent them from being deployed. Getting the soldiers to seek treatment is not enough as doctors should get ways of maintaining them in the treatment. There are many reasons as to why soldiers drop out of the treatment. They might lack trust to the mental health professionals as there is a belief that psychological problems usually work out themselves.


Reference

Dawe, R & Schroder, W (2007). Soldier’s Heart Greenwood Publishing

Rinaldo, E (2012). Psychological trauma and PTSD/soldiers Author House

Wiederhold, B (2010). Coping with post traumatic stress disorder in returning troops IOS Press





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