Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Case Study

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Introdcution
Prior to the codifying of PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) as a distinct mental health disorder in 1980 (APA, 1980), characteristic symptoms of PTSD had been recognized and documented in the 19th century in civilians involved in catastrophic events, such as railway collisions, and mainly in American soldiers fighting in the Civil War (Birmes et al., 2003; Jones, 2006; Welke, 2001). Most people have been diagnose with nostalgia or melancholia, characterized by lethargy, withdrawal, and “excessive emotionality” (Birmes et al., 2003). Others had diagnoses of exhaustion, effort syndrome, or heart conditions variously called “irritable heart,” “soldier’s heart,” and “cardiac muscular exhaustion.” Many medical professionals and surgeons at the time believed that those conditions arose from the heavy packs that soldiers carried, insufficient time for new recruits to acclimatize to the military lifestyle, homesickness, and, as one army surgeon stated, poorly motivated soldiers who had unrealistic expectations of war (Jones, 2006).
In other simpler terms, PTSD is known as a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault. It's normal to have upsetting memories,
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The current diagnostic criteria, taken from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), can be found in Box 2-1 (APA, 2000). PTSD symptoms usually start soon after the traumatic event, but they may not appear until months or years later. They also may come and go over many years. If the symptoms last longer than four weeks, cause you great distress, or interfere with your work or home life, you might have