Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome
Introduction
Post traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety syndrome, which normally develops after one has been exposed to any event that may result to psychological trauma. This disorder develops as a result of terrible frightening, unsafe experiences or life threatening experiences. The sufferers of post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) tend to often experience the traumatic events and they avoid people, places or anything which will bring back memories of the traumatic event and these individuals are exceedingly sensitive to the normal life experiences. This event can result to the threat of death to someone’s physical, psychological or sexual integrity thus overwhelming the ability of an individual to cope. The effect of psychological trauma, post traumatic stress syndrome is more lasting as compared to acute stress response.
Post traumatic stress syndrome has diagnostic symptoms which include, one experiencing original trauma through, nightmares or flashbacks, increased arousal like having difficult in falling or staying asleep, avoiding the stimuli which is associated with trauma, hyper vigilance and anger (Davies, J & Krippner, S 2012). The formal diagnostic criteria for this syndrome require that the symptoms should last for more than one month and cause impairment in different functioning areas including occupational and social. This paper will discuss the effects, risk factors, symptoms, assessment, and treatment of post traumatic stress syndrome.
Discussion
This disorder has been recognized since 1980 as a formal diagnosis. During the American civil way, this syndrome was called in a different name, whereby when the veterans were considered as suffering from “soldier’s hearts.” The symptoms which were regular, with this disorder were known as combat fatigue. Complex post traumatic stress syndrome normally results because of having an extended disclosure to distressing events, and are usually characterized by problems that are long lasting. According to statistics, 7 to 8 percent of United States residents have higher chance of developing this syndrome in their life, while the life occurrence in victims of rape and combat veterans ranges from 10 percent to 30 percent (Keane, T et al 2009). Native Americans, Hispanics, and African Americans have higher rates of this disorder as compared to Caucasians who are living in United States.
This difference exists because of the high rate of dissociation just after and before the traumatic events. The tendency of individuals from the minority group tend to hold themselves responsible, they have very little social support, and there is also an increased discernment of racism for the cultural groups, and the difference in how the ethnic groups can express distress (Davies, J & Krippner, S 2012). The differences that have existed in the military populations are because of the increased exposure to war while at a younger age for groups in the minority. The likelihood of women to develop post traumatic stress syndrome is twice as that of men.
Half of the people who use outpatient mental health services suffer from PTSD. According to statistics 40% of children have had at least one traumatic event, and this has resulted to the development of PTSD (Davies, J & Krippner, S 2012). Children who have witnessed sexual abuse or assaults or seen their parents being killed are likely to develop PTSD and youth who are used to experiencing community violence like stabbing, shooting and many other types of physical attack are likely to suffer from this syndrome.
Effects of post traumatic stress syndrome
There are significant physical consequences to individuals who have been traumatized. Research show that those individuals who experience extreme stressors, their hippocampus is small, and this is a region located in the brain whose role is in the memory, than those people who have not experienced trauma (Roberts, C 2011). Hippocampus is a brain part that has an incredibly significant role in development of new memories about events in ones life. People who have developed PTSD are likely to use marijuana, cigarettes and alcohol. For those people who were suffering from this syndrome and they have received treatment, they are likely to succeed in overcoming the problem of substance abuse (Keane, T et al 2009). When this syndrome is not treated, devastating consequences can occur for the functioning of the person who is suffering from it, their society and their families. Women who are pregnant and are suffering from this syndrome, their symptoms include poor health behavior, emotional problems, and also memory problems.
Chances of developing complex PTSD are high to women who have earlier experienced sexual abuse and also “borderline personality syndrome”. The kids who have been born by mothers who have been suffering from this disorder while they were pregnant have a high chance of experiencing a chemical change in their bodies, and this increases the chances of the baby developing PTSD later in life (Davies, J & Krippner, S 2012). Those people who with PTSD have high chances of developing other medical problems and they may also have trouble in reproducing. People suffering from PTSD emotionally, might struggle very much in trying to achieve a better outcome from their mental health treatment, just like those people who experience other types of emotional problems. PTSD in children can significantly pose negative effects on the development of children socially and emotionally.
Protective factors and risk factors of PTSD
The issues which pose a risk to people who are suffering from PTSD comprise of, having a lengthy period in traumatic events, higher rigorousness of experiencing trauma, enduring high number of traumatic events, having little social support from the family and friends, and having emotional condition from the traumatic events. The children, females, adolescents and people who have disabilities in learning or who experience violence in their homes have a high risk of developing PTSD after they have experienced an event that is traumatic (Keane, T et al 2009). Training in disaster preparedness is an excellent idea for improving the instant physical safety which is involved with events that are traumatic. The training provides extremely essential protective factors which prevents the development of PTSD.
Individuals who have professional level experience and training like firefighters, police, paramedics and mental health professionals are less likely to develop PTSD when they are coping with disaster than those who have not received any form of experience or even training. There are some types of medications which have proven to help in the prevention of development of PTSD; the medicines, which are used for treating depression, reducing heart rate, or the increase in the action of other chemicals in the body have been thought to be a very effective tool for prevention of PTSD. These medicines are effective if they are given to the individual just after the person has experienced the traumatic event (Blanco, C & Stein, D 2011).
Symptoms and signs of PTSD
The symptom criteria for assigning diagnosis of PTSD are:
- chronically physical signs of hyper arousal which might include having sleep problems, blackouts, poor concentration, difficult in remembering things, irritability, hyper vigilance to threat, trouble in concentration, and anger.
- Avoidance which can lead to having fear of people, places and experiences which might remind the person suffering from the disorder of the traumatic event or numbing of the emotional responsiveness.
- Recurrent remembrance of experience of trauma like having flashbacks which are as a result of reminders events, which are traumatic, recurring nightmares, troublesome memories etc.
Emotional numbing from a sufferer of PTSD can be presented as not showing any interest in activities which in the past used to be interesting, emotional deadness, avoiding other people, and lack of ability to think anything about the future. These symptoms are supposed to be present for at least one month, and one should show to have significant distress or impairment in your ability to function so that a person can be assigned diagnosis of PTSD.
If PTSD is persistent for more than three months, it is considered of chronic duration (Blanco, C & Stein, D 2011). A similar syndrome which is related to the symptoms of PTSD is “acute stress disorder.” The main difference that exists between these two syndromes is that the symptoms in “acute stress disorder” are persist from two days to four weeks and just a few numbers of disturbing symptoms is needed in order to make a diagnosis as compared to post traumatic stress syndrome.
For children, experiencing the trauma again and again can occur through having a repeated incidence that have traumatic ideas and having distressing dreams have more general content that the traumatic events itself (Blanco, C & Stein, D 2011). Diagnosis of acute stress syndrome is made when the above symptoms are present for less than a month. PTSD symptoms, which are related to complex post traumatic stress syndrome, include having a problem in regulating ones feelings which is likely to result to suicidal thoughts. It can also result to passive aggressive behaviors, dissociation, and feelings of helplessness, guilt, tendency to forget the trauma, being totally different from other people, loss of spiritual faith, hopelessness and despair.
Assessment of PTSD
Practitioners find it to be difficult to assess PTSD because the sufferers of PTSD tend to complain about symptoms instead of anxiety which is associated with the traumatic experiences. These symptoms include body symptoms, drug addiction or depression. Studies indicate that war veterans show more of physical symptoms of post traumatic stress syndrome rather than describing the associated emotional problems (Blanco, C & Stein, D 2011). Individuals who have been suffering from PTSD may show a history of attempted suicide.
In additional to substance abuse and depression syndrome, PTSD diagnosis usually occurs with eating syndrome, bi polar syndrome, and many other anxiety disorders. This can be panic syndrome, obsessive compulsive syndrome, social anxiety syndrome etc. Most practitioners when examining children of PTSD, they have to interview both the child and their parents, and this is done separately so that each one of them can be given the chance of speaking freely (Davies, J & Krippner, S 2012).
A challenge of diagnosing children for PTSD is that they are likely to express their symptoms differently from adults and this symptoms may include the child moving backward in their development, being engage in risky behaviors, suffering from many physical complaints, becoming clingy, and becoming prone to accidents. Young children who are traumatized may have a problem in sitting still, or they may have trouble in managing their urge and many people mistake this from suffering from “attention deficit hyperactivity syndrome.” (Blanco, C & Stein, D 2011). Professionals can use a structures psychiatric interview or they can also use in children. The tools which can be used, are “diagnostic interview schedule for children version IV”, and diagnostic interview for children and adolescents revised.
PTSD treatment
PTSD treatment includes medical and psychological intervention. Information can be offered about the disorder, helping the sufferers manage the shock and this can be done by discussing the illness directly and also teaching the individual ways to be used to manage the PTSD symptoms. educating individuals with PTSD involve teaching them about what “post traumatic stress syndrome” is, telling them it is caused by extraordinary stress instead of weakness, letting them know how many other people suffer from the same illness, how the illness is treated and what they should expect from the treatment.
Providing people with education increases the probability of inaccurate ideas that individual might have about the syndrome, and it also minimized the shame that the individual might feel about it (Blanco, C & Stein, D 2011). Teaching PTSD people about the practical approaches of coping with the disturbing symptoms is a incredibly useful way of treating this syndrome.
Helping this people to learn how they can manage anxiety and anger, helping them so that they can improve their skills in communication and using relaxation methods such as breathing as it helps the sufferers of PTSD in having a sense of masterly over their physical and emotional symptoms. Another treatment is through the use of, cognitive behavioral theory that is exposure based can be used by practitioners.
The PTSD person is allowed to recall the traumatic events by use of images, or just verbal recall while they are allowed to use the coping mechanisms which they have been taught. Having a group or individual cognitive behavioral psychotherapy is essential as it can help individuals who are suffering from PTSD identify, and be able to adjust thoughts and beliefs that are related with trauma. By educating the individual on the relationship between feelings and thoughts, developing alternative interpretations, and exploring the negative effects that a traumatized person holds on practicing new methods of looking things.
Those families that have individuals suffering from PTSD can benefit from couple counseling, family counseling, conflict resolution education and parenting classes (Davies, J & Krippner, S 2012). The family members will be able to provide their loved ones history which the PTSD suffers might be unable or unwilling to provide. Another way of treating PTSD is by directly addressing sleep problems because it helps in reducing PTSD symptoms. Strategies that can be used in reducing sleep problems is by having positive self talk and providing training of methods of relaxation. Medication can be prescribed to individuals with PTSD so that it can relieve secondary symptoms of anxiety and depression. Zoloft and Prozac are antidepressants normally used as medication for post traumatic stress syndrome. These antidepressants reduce a person feeling of worry and sad, but they do not treat the causes of PTSD.
Conclusion
It is necessary for the individual who is suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome to take care of themselves and also ask for extra support. Post traumatic stress syndrome can affect the whole family if it is given a chance, therefore it is necessary to be very careful in trying to control it. PTSD symptoms can result to substance abuse, loss of job and other stressful problems, therefore it is essential to learn everything about post traumatic stress syndrome and know how you can treat it so that people are able to help their friends and families if they happen to suffer from this illness.
Reference
Blanco, C & Stein, D (2011). Post traumatic stress syndrome John Wiley & Sons
Davies, J & Krippner, S (2012). Post traumatic stress syndrome ABC-CLIO, LLC
Ford, J (2009). Post traumatic stress syndrome Elsevier Inc.
Roberts, C (2011). Coping with post traumatic stress syndrome McFarland & Company, Inc
Shiromani, J, LeDoux, J & Keane, T (2009). Post traumatic stress syndrome Springer Publishers
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