Sarah Richards Post Traumatic Stress Disorder March 9, 2015 SW 612 Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that may develop after an exposure to a terrifying event in which physical harm occurred or was threatened. Usually, the anxiety may be brought on by an “exposure to an actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violence “(American Psychiatric Association, 2013, pg. 271). Only recently have children and youth been deemed to have experienced PTSD and usually undergo therapy, medication and various treatment options to minimize the impact PTSD has on one’s life. Throughout this paper, I will be discussing the development of the disorder, how PTSD symptoms differ in children, treatment options, and a clinical case example. According to the American Psychiatric Association, exhibiting symptoms of PTSD may include avoidance of stimuli associated with traumatic event, negative alterations in cognitions and mood associated with traumatic events, disturbances that cause significant distress or impairment in social and occupational or other important areas of functioning. Disturbances have to last longer than a month in order to be classified as PTSD (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, pg. 273). “Studies show that about 15% to 43% of girls and 14% to 43% of boys go through at least one trauma. Of those children and teens who have had a trauma, 3% to 15% of girls and 1% to 6% of boys develop PTSD. Rates of PTSD are higher
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a common anxiety disorder characterized by chronic physical arousal, recurrent unwanted thoughts and images of the traumatic event, and avoidance of things that can call the traumatic event into mind (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner, & Nock, 2014). About 7 percent of Americans suffer from PTSD. Family members of victims can also develop PTSD and it can occur in people of any age. The diagnosis for PTSD requires one or more symptoms to be present and crucially interfere with living a normal life ("Post-traumatic Stress," 2014). Women usually experience PTSD more commonly than men after being exposed to trauma. Examples of PTSD could be veterans from war experiencing traumatic
PTSD is one mental health issue that can result from a great deal of distress that a person may experience after a devastating event involving any type of physical trauma or threat of physical harm (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). A child who develops PTSD either “directly experienced the traumatic event(s), witnessed, in person, the event(s) as it occurred to others, learned that the traumatic event(s) occurred to a close family member or friend or experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of the traumatic event(s)” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Traumatic events are normally unavoidable and uncontrollable. It may overwhelm a child and affect his or her sense of control and safety. Single, brief, and unanticipated events are classified as
It is normal, following a traumatic experience, for a person to feel disconnected, anxious, sad and frightened. However, if the distress does not fade and the individual feels stuck with a continuous sense of danger as well as hurting memories, then that person might in fact be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PSTD could develop after a traumatic incident which threatens one’s safety or makes one to feel helpless (Dalgleish, 2010). Coping with traumatic events could be very difficult, but confronting one’s feelings and seeking professional assistance is usually the only way to properly treat PSTD. Many kids and adolescents worldwide experience events that are traumatizing. If exposure to trauma is not treated, it could lead to various mental health problems. Researchers have reported a connection between traumatization and increases in mood and anxiety disorders, but the most frequently reported symptoms of psychological distress are post-traumatic stress symptoms (Cohen, Mannarino & Iyengar, 2011).
When living with PTSD, there are outbreaks of panic and intense thoughts that relate to the event. (Parekh) These come from flashbacks and nightmares that lead to sadness, fear, anger, and a feeling of detachment. “But at night some of us would wake up from nightmares, sweating, screaming, and punching our own heads to drive out the images that continued to torment us even when we were no longer asleep.” (Beah 148) A diagnosis comes from exposure to an event that causes the victim enough trauma to have these types of episodes. These children soldiers are exposed to a large amount of violence within common massacres and village raids, desensitizing them to the act, and not be aware of the acts. Everything these kids go through in war leaves them with many traumatic memories that lead to PTSD, causing harsh flashbacks and nightmares that lead to hurting themselves and
As Americans came home with the loss of friends or family they started to show symptoms of PTSD. PTSD is a serious matter most PTSD cases comes from a traumatic event that is terrible and can be scary to see or hear about. Some soldiers that experience PTSD wake up to a night mare, or they have a negative feeling about something, some combat soldiers with have fear when they go over a man hole. Not only did soldiers experience PTSD children can to. A lot of children from the age of birth to six years old can experience this if they are not close with a parent. As you get older it could be something else that trigger
PTSD, or Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood. Most survivors of trauma return to normal given a little time. However, some people will have stress reactions that do not go away on their own, or may even get worse over time. These individuals may develop PTSD. People who suffer from PTSD often relive the experience through nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty sleeping, and feel detached or estranged, and these symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to significantly impair the person’s daily life.
The observation of PTSD in children eludes behaviors of fear, helplessness, isolation, and aggression (Amatya & Barzman, 2012). Research studies have reported brain abnormalities when an individual experiences fear or danger (Daniels et al, 2013). When children are not getting their basic needs met by a daily secure attachment caregiver; their brains perceive they are in fear or danger (Ford et al, 2013). When the brain remains in this heighten stage and is unable to return to normality; a prolonged state of psychological mental illness is observed (Ford et al, 2013. It becomes a normative way of living everyday, and the children go undiagnosed and untreated, which later becomes observable in delinquent behavior (Amatya & Barzman,
Men and Women who served for their country should be given all respect and care when they return home. Veterans come home with injuries that can affect them from living a healthy comfortable life. Their injuries can be from physical to mental injuries like PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from combat. Veterans who come home with these injuries should be provided, by the government, health care where they can live an enjoyable life. Having veterans take an alternative rout like qualifying for medicade could help a lot of these people struggling. Many of these veterans are also homeless and need help finding jobs. Government programs could be put in place that could help find jobs for the veterans. Veterans should be able to come home and life a healthy happy life where they can contribute back to there societies. Governments should provide for the needs of the veterans to keep them healthy and supply them with jobs so they have food, clothes, and shelter.
The military serves as a major component in our nation 's security. Everyone around the country continues to rely on them each day to defend our freedom. Undeniably, the responsibilities of military members comes along with large amounts of anxiety, self-less service, and occasionally terrifying events that can have a negative influence on the individuals life. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a serious illness among the men in our military. Gates et al. (2012) defines PTSD as, "a psychiatric condition that is experienced by a subset of individuals after exposure to an event that involved life threat and elicited feelings of fear, helplessness, and/or horror in the individual" (p.361). In some environments, this is a
Imagine yourself running out of gas in your vehicle, there is a gas station a few blocks away from where your car stopped. At the gas station, there is a Samaritan offering you a ride back to your car once you finished filling the gas container. Trusting this Samaritan, you accept the ride and you notice he has willfully passed your car. Panicking, the child lock is on and there is no way to escape. With all the thoughts rushing through your head, he has reached a destination where he drags you out the car and begins to wrestle you on to the floor to rape and possibly kill you. You are being beaten and forced to cooperate in sexual activity, but there is a sharp object on the floor that saves your life. With no hesitation you puncture the rapist and flee immediately as he sobs in pain. After this traumatic event, there is a great possibility of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD can develop following a traumatic event that threatens your safety or makes you feel helpless (Smith, Lawrence, & Segal, 2015). According to Julian D Ford, PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that affects as many as one in 14 adults and adolescence at some time in their lives as many as 1 in 20 children before they begin kindergarten (Ford, Grasso, Elhai, & Courtois, 2015 ).It personally affects those who witness it as well as their family members. Those with occupations that require exposure to traumatic events such as military, emergency workers, and law enforcement officers can
Looking at how PTSD affects Americans, Jessica Hamblen, writer for the U.S. Department of Veteran affairs, states, “there are a number of psychiatric disorders that are commonly found in children and adolescents who have been traumatized” (Hamblen).
Over the recent years PTSD- post traumatic stress disorder has become a problem among veterans returning from the Afghanistan and Iraq war. Even after returning to American soils, veterans are battling with the effects of this mental illness, but who else is suffers from this illness. Family members and caregivers are also affected from PTSD. The soldier, the family member and caregivers once knew before going over sea to war is no longer the same. It can take an emotional toll on someone, whose loved one suffers from PTSD. The symptoms and side effects of PTSD can be terrifying for someone that does not have an understanding of PTSD. Family members and caregivers have different reactions when it comes to family members that suffer from PTSD, which can cause relationship problems among them. Treatment is always an option among families that are having a hard time with the effects of PTSD.
Each year, over three million children and adolescents experience some form of traumatic event in their life (Ray, 2014). Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a traumatic event (Hamblen, 2009). Some of the events that can cause children and adolescents to suffer from PTSD are natural and man-made disasters, violent crimes, rape, or murder of a parent, school shootings, motor vehicle accidents, severe burns, exposure to community violence, war, peer suicide, and sexual and physical abuse. A social worker must assess the biopsychosocial development and other theories to implement an effective plan to evaluate the needs of the individual.
PTSD is a form of dissociation and involves two distinct parts that effect the consciousness and behavior of an adolescent. “One is numb and avoidant of traumatic memories, but more or less functional in daily life, and another is enmeshed in traumatic memories” (Diseth 83). These elements of dissociation cause attachment and adaptive disorders that will perpetrate further harm to the adolescent. Trauma is related to other behaviors in adolescents, such s numbing, social withdrawal, separation anxiety and new fears.
However, Diaz and Motta focused their study on adolescent participants and on PTSD. For this study, participants were between the ages of 14 and 17 and were all female from a residential treatment facility that met the criteria for PTSD (Diaz & Motta, 2008). The researchers used the following self-report inventories to measure the level of PTSD: (a) Child PTSD Symptom Scale [CPSS] (Foa, Johnson, Feeny, & Treadwell, 2001), (b) Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children [TSCC] (Briere, 1996), (c) Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children [MASC] (March, 1997), (d) Children’s Depression Inventory [CDI] (Kovacs, 1992) (Diaz & Motta, 2008).