Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER.

INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC.

POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (ALSO KNOWN AS PTSD) IS A SEVERE ANXIETY DISORDER THAT CAN DEVELOP AFTER EXPOSURE TO ANY EVENT THOSE RESULTS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA. IT HAD BEEN DISCOVERED IN THE YEAR 1980.

THE EVENT CAN BE ANYTHING WHICH CAN STRESS A PERSON TILL THE EXTENT THAT IT OVERWHELMS THE PERSON'S ABILITY TO COPE.

IT IS CHARACTERIZED BY AVERSIVE ANXIETY-RELATED EXPERIENCES, BEHAVIORS, TERRIBLY FRIGHTENING, LIFE-THREATENING, OR OTHERWISE HIGHLY UNSAFE EXPERIENCE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES THAT DEVELOP MONTHS AFTER THE EXPOSURE TO A PSYCHOLOGICALLY TRAUMATIC EVENT. ITS FEATURES PERSIST FOR LONGER THAN 30 DAYS.

PTSD SUFFERERS RE-EXPERIENCE THE TRAUMATIC EVENT OR EVENTS IN SOME WAY, TEND TO AVOID PLACES, PEOPLE, OR OTHER THINGS THAT REMIND THEM OF THE EVENT (AVOIDANCE), AND ARE EXQUISITELY SENSITIVE TO NORMAL LIFE EXPERIENCES.

THE STATISTICS REGARDING THIS ILLNESS INDICATE THAT APPROXIMATELY 7%-8% OF PEOPLE WILL LIKELY DEVELOP PTSD IN THEIR LIFETIME, WITH THE LIFETIME OCCURRENCE (PREVALENCE) AND RAPE VICTIMS RANGING FROM 10% TO AS HIGH AS 30%. OTHER IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT PTSD INCLUDE THE ESTIMATE OF 5 MILLION PEOPLE WHO SUFFER FROM PTSD AT ANY ONE TIME AND THE FACT THAT WOMEN ARE TWICE AS LIKELY AS MEN TO DEVELOP PTSD.

UP TO 100% OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE SEEN A PARENT KILLED OR ENDURED SEXUAL ASSAULT OR ABUSE TEND TO DEVELOP PTSD, AND MORE THAN ONE-THIRD OF YOUTHS WHO ARE EXPOSED TO COMMUNITY VIOLENCE (FOR EXAMPLE, A SHOOTING, STABBING, OR OTHER ASSAULT) WILL SUFFER FROM THE DISORDER.

CAUSES AND THE EFFECTS.

PTSD IS MORE LIKELY TO BE CAUSED BY PHYSICAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA CAUSED BY HUMANS SUCH AS RAPE, WAR OR TERRORIST ATTACK THAN TRAUMA CAUSED BY NATURAL DISASTERS. POSSIBLE SOURCES OF TRAUMA INCLUDE EXPERIENCING OR WITNESSING CHILDHOOD OR ADULT PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL OR SEXUAL ABUSE.[1] IN ADDITION, EXPERIENCING OR WITNESSING AN EVENT PERCEIVED AS LIFE-THREATENING SUCH AS PHYSICAL ASSAULT, ADULT EXPERIENCES OF SEXUAL ASSAULT, ACCIDENTS, DRUG ADDICTION, ILLNESSES, MEDICAL COMPLICATIONS, OR EMPLOYMENT IN OCCUPATIONS EXPOSED TO WAR (SUCH AS SOLDIERS) OR DISASTER (SUCH AS EMERGENCY SERVICE WORKERS).

CLINICAL FINDINGS INDICATE THAT A FAILURE TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE TREATMENT TO CHILDREN AFTER THEY SUFFER A TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE, DEPENDING ON THEIR VULNERABILITY AND THE SEVERITY OF THE TRAUMA, WILL ULTIMATELY LEAD TO PTSD SYMPTOMS IN ADULTHOOD.[14]

PEOPLE MAY DEVELOP PTSD IN REACTION TO EVENTS THAT MAY NOT QUALIFY AS TRAUMATIC BUT CAN BE DEVASTATING LIFE EVENTS LIKE DIVORCE OR UNEMPLOYMENT.

PEOPLE SUFFERING