Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is defined by the Center for Addiction and Mental Health as an anxiety disorder that affects people who have experienced some sort of trauma. The CMHA states that " Trauma is a terrifying event in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened, and the person feels intense fear, helplessness or horror". This paper will discuss a brief history, some causes, symptoms and treatments for PTSD, focusing on adloscent.

Although post traumatic stress disorder has only been a recognized as a formal diagnosis since the 1980's, it has been around since mankind has had to endure trauma. Over the years is has been called many different things, during the American Civil War "soldiers heart" , during WW I "combat fatigue", during WW II "gross stress reaction", during the Vietnam War "post-Vietnam syndrome" and "shell shock" and more recently Gulf War Syndrome , with the events going on in the middle east (Roxanne Dryden-Edwards; Marshall).

Post traumatic stress disorder was once thought to affect only those soldiers who had faced heavy combat. However research now shows that it can affect civilians as well as soldiers, including children (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 4). PTSD will affect 1 in 12 people at some point in their lives and it will affect twice as many women as men, though the reasons for this are unclear (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 1; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 4). There is no prerequisite for who will be susceptible to this disorder, but researchers believe that, as with most mental illnesses, it is a combination of biology, genetics, life experience, temperament, duration of exposure to the trauma and changes in the natural chemicals in the brain (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 1; Self-Care and Self-Help Following Natural Disasters). Post traumatic stress disorder can occur at any age, although it is less frequent in the elderly, symptoms can usually begin within one to three months of the trauma, but may be delayed for several months or even years (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 3; Dryden-Edwards).

As previously mentioned PTSD is a type of anxiety disorder that develops as a result of a frightening, life threatening event, or an ordeal in which grave physical harm has occurred (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 2; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 3). Traumatic events that could trigger PTSD are; witnessing a severe accident or traumatic event, exposure to combat or natural/man made disaster, enduring physical, emotional or sexual abuse as well as involvement in civil conflict (Kanel 197-201; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 3; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 4; Dryden-Edwards; Paasche 149).

People with PTSD re-live the experience over and over, usually in the form of flashbacks, memories, nightmares, or by avoidance of people or places, or objects. The anniversary of the traumatic event may