Modern Day Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Submitted By emcesol
Words: 1470
Pages: 6
Open Document
Modern day Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Javier Medina
Moraine Valley Community College

Javier Medina
Kimberely Passananti
PSY-101-592
11 Dec 2014

Abstract
In 1982, a research grant was submitted by the Department of Veterans Affairs resulting in the diagnosing of post-traumatic stress disorder. It was described as a physiological medical symptom linked with war experience. The personal accounts of American soldiers dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) date to the present Iraq/Afghanistan war and as far back as the civil war. The term PTSD did not exist until it was diagnosed by researchers, prior to that it was referred to different tittles and some believed it didn’t exist. Researchers concluded the disorder was developed when a soldier is exposed to traumatic situations, it does not leave physical damage but physiological damage affecting them even after the battle has ended. The aspects soldiers deal with, on a day in and day out basis during a combat battle can only be truly explained in a soldier’s life testimony.
During the beginning of World War I soldiers were referred to as suffering from “Shell Shock” later referred to as having “Battle Fatigue”. General ……… soldiers endured great hard ship dealing with traumatic experiences that no civilian could ever explain unless they have been through it themselves. Regardless of what type of person is wearing combat boots nothing could prepare them to see humanity at its worse. Soldiers are trained for one purpose and that is to be prepared for battle. They are pushed to their physical limits, installed with instincts to kill without any compassion to their enemy. The emotional detachment makes it difficult for a soldier to return to the social norm. A person develops PTSD in response to exposure to an extreme traumatic stressor involving direct personal experience of an event.
PTSD was split into five criterions, criterion B is were an individual experiences flashback and nightmares of specific events. Criterion B is the recurrent recollection of the event, reliving or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring. Exposure to an intense distress activates the episode. Examples are nightmares, flashbacks, shaking or sweating. Criterion C is the numbness an individual experiences to avoid thoughts about the trauma. They avoid anything that reminds them of the event and at times suffer from the inability to recall the event. The important aspect of trauma they avoid news, movies, crowded stores, drinking alcohol and drug use. Criterion D is the increased arousal of an individual, they have difficulty falling and staying asleep. They have difficulty concentrating, exaggerated sarcastic responses. An example would be high aggression, insomnia, keepings guns and checking locks. Criterion E and F is the duration of the episode lasting at least one month causing functional problems.
Time after PTSD was diagnosed researchers noticed other people with complex trauma were affected beyond veterans. They suffered from trauma histories such as victims of incest, child abuse, and domestic violence. They lacked aspects of normal emotion, cognitive, and neurobiological development. They suffered from concentration, somatization issues with chronic hyper arousal then eventually loathing themselves for what happened to them. The greatest inspiration for PTSD was Kardiner’s book The Traumatic Neurosis of war. He described his observations of World War I veterans suffering from a “physio-neuorsis”. Their bodies continued to react as if their stuck in the traumatic moment even taking the physical at the time of the trauma, such as fighting back, ducking, or becoming frozen.
Traumatized people of pure PTSD which are a small population often become alcoholics or drug addicts. They are depressed having issues with eating and self-injury. PTSD Traumas usually have more of a personal aspect they occur in the context of an intimate relationship.
Show More

Related Documents: Modern Day Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Individuals affected with PTSD seem to relive the trauma they experienced or witnessed, making it extremely difficult to keep their minds off of it. Flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety can arise for months to years after a single traumatic event. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder affects over 3 million people in the U.S. each year. 5-10% of all men and 7-14% of all women in the U.S. experience PTSD. While the likelihood of experiencing PTSD increases with increased exposure to trauma, it is one of the most…

Words 895 - Pages 4

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Essay

re-experiencing portions of the trauma, avoidance of reminders, emotional numbing and hyper-arousal. In spite of the deleterious impact of PTSD within the U.S. military, our current understanding of the human pathophysiology governing the divergent paths associated with extreme stress response the remains unabated. Given the widespread phenomenon of ‘trauma’, it begs the question of whether or not preexisting features accompany some suffers who have developed PTSD and why others may or may not face…

Words 2524 - Pages 11

Emotional Processing Theory Analysis

Many theories have been produced in the psychological field to try and explain the phenomenon that is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, known most commonly by its acronym, PTSD. Many psychologists and field researchers have tried explaining why many people have gone on to experience traumatic events but only a certain percentage develop this illness. Most of it is tied solely to the trauma survivor’s personal experiences, in terms of thoughts, memory, emotions, and behavior in underlying processes…

Words 1647 - Pages 7

Ptsd: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Delahanty et Al . Essay

Main Post Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that is triggered by a traumatic event. One can develop PTSD from experiencing or witnessing something traumatic, which causes intense fear, horror or helplessness. Symptoms of PTSD are re-experiencing the traumatic event, avoidance, reduced responsiveness, and increased arousal, anxiety or guilt as a result of the event that last longer than a month (APA, 2000). I will examine PTSD from a biological, developmental and motivational…

Words 328 - Pages 2

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.” Soldiers who are in the front lines of battle are put under some of the most intense circumstances during combat. In Junger’s Tribe, the author raises some provocative ideas. He cites research showing that likelihood of a veteran suffering PTSD is “in great…

Words 1488 - Pages 6

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders: A Case Study

Emergency service workers such as the Police, Ambulance Officers and Firefighters are among the most valued and trusted personnel of all professions. Due to their extreme working conditions, they are exposed to a significantly higher rate of trauma than the general population. These incidents include critical accidents, criminal activity, traumatic injuries and premature death. In a study completed on Ambulance officers in the Netherlands, 85% had experienced one or more critical accident in the…

Words 1475 - Pages 6

First Responder Profession

depression, PTSD, suicide, emotional illness, broken families, and more. Without proper emotional-survival training, the effects of the invisible wounds of the first responder’s job can destroy not just their lives themselves, but also their friends, family, colleagues, and the community they are devoted to protecting. About 50 percent of first responders retire early or leave on disability due to the wear and tear of the job (Willis, 2014). Losing a first responder to emotional and psychological trauma…

Words 936 - Pages 4

Essay on Acute Stress Response

Post-traumatic stress disorder victims have similar symptoms to acute stress disorder; however the symptoms persist for longer than a month. Treatment of both usually involves counseling and in extreme cases medications may be involved. Some victims of trauma tend to question their faith while others grow in their faith. At 46 years of age…

Words 3110 - Pages 13

Crisis Management Essay

daily life, they are experiencing PTSD. Elementary school-aged children show different signs of PTSD than adults. Instead of experiencing flashbacks or amnesia, children experience “time skew” (mis-sequencing trauma related events) and “omen formation” (belief that there were warning signs that predicted the trauma) and may reenact the trauma in play, drawings, or verbalization (Hamblen, 1998). Adolescents resemble the signs of adults, but may also reenact the trauma in some part of their daily life…

Words 1121 - Pages 5

PTSD In Warfare

to immediate death and destruction of property, the long-term effects tend to be mental, especially on those who participated in combat. The modern accepted definition of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is a psychological disorder in which the instinctual “fight or flight” response has been altered or damaged by, usually, situations that induce extreme fear, stress, and/or physical trauma onto the victim. There is no known cure for PTSD and the treatments that…

Words 1719 - Pages 7