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Aug 03, 2006
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
by SirGan
 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is one very specific psychiatric disorder that usually occur following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events. These events are usually some of the followings:
Most of the people who experienced these things can return to the normal life within some given time, but great amount of people develop one serious stress reaction disorder that, not only will not go away on its own, but may even get worse over time. What are the main characteristics of this disorder? Well, PTSD is marked by clear biological changes as well as psychological symptoms. Not only that, several researches done in the past have came to the conclusion that PTSD frequently occurs with related disorders such as depression, substance abuse, problems of memory and cognition, and other problems of physical and mental health.
Incidence of the conditionSeveral researches have came to data that it is estimated 7.8 percent of Americans will experience PTSD at some point in their lives. There is also an age difference: it proven that women (10.4%) twice as likely as men (5%) are developing PTSD.
Some researches have also came to the fact that about 3.6 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 to 54 have PTSD during the course of a given year.
About 30 percent of the men and women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD. An additional 20 to 25 percent have had partial PTSD at some point in their lives. Important thing to know is that that some 88% of men and 79% of women with PTSD also have another psychiatric disorder. Nearly half suffer from major depression, 16% from anxiety disorders, and 28% from social phobia.
Symptoms of PTSDSymptoms of this disorder could be divided into two groups: the primary symptoms and additional symptoms that may but not necessarily accompany this syndrome!
The primary symptoms of PTSD are:
Intrusion
Avoidance
This is very common mechanism in which, the individual attempts to avoid situations which are associated with the trauma
Hyperarousal – This happens when the individual has problems with feelings of increased arousal or vigilance that were not present before the trauma:
Flashbacks
Person is imagining the most terrifying moments that caused this disorder in first place.
Other symptoms that could occur months or even years after the original trauma and may include the following:
Cause of PTSDIt is proven that, when person is afraid, body activates the stress response. In reaction, body releases adrenaline, which is responsible for increasing blood pressure and heart rate and increasing glucose to muscles. Most people don’t know that, once the danger is gone, the body begins a process of shutting down the stress response, and this process involves the release of another hormone known as cortisol. If body does not generate enough cortisol to shut down the flight or stress reaction, person may continue to feel the stress effects of the adrenaline. That is considered the primary mechanism of PTSD because after a month in this heightened state, with stress hormones elevated, person may develop further physical changes, such as heightened hearing.
Risk factors for developing PTSDFor many years experts couldn’t figure out why some people who experienced some of these traumatic events don’t develop PTSD and why some do develop this disorder! That’s when some of the risk factors are found! Under greater risk for developing PTSD are:
Consequences associated with PTSD?Although not too many people know about this, the fact is that PTSD is associated with a number of distinctive neurobiological and physiological changes.
Psycho-physiological alterations associated with PTSD include:
It is also proven that PTSD is associated with the increased likelihood of co-occurring psychiatric disorders.
The co-occurring disorders most prevalent for men with PTSD were:
The disorders most frequently comorbid with PTSD among women were:
Headaches, gastrointestinal complaints, immune system problems, dizziness, chest pain, and discomfort in other parts of the body are common in people with PTSD.
PTSD and cancerLike it was already mentioned- this disorder is normally associated with trauma such as violent crimes, rape, and war experience. However, not too many people know that there have been a growing number of reports of PTSD among cancer survivors and their relatives. Although the mechanism is still unknown- most studies deal with survivors of breast cancer, and cancer in children and their parents and show prevalence figures of between five and 20. There is yet disagreement on whether there is any connection between these traumas and cancer diagnosis.
Treatment of PTSDUnfortunately- there is no definitive treatment, but some treatments appear to be quite promising, especially cognitive-behavioral therapy, group therapy, and exposure therapy. PTSD is treated by a variety of forms of psychotherapy and drug therapy.
Most people know that exposure therapy involves having the patient repeatedly relive the frightening experience under controlled conditions to help him or her work through the trauma.
The most widely used drug treatments for PTSD are the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, such as Prozac and Zoloft. Problem is that it works for some and for some it doesn’t! Drug therapy appears to be highly effective for some individuals and is helpful for many more. Most recent researches on the biological changes associated with PTSD have spurred new research into drugs that target these biological changes, which may lead to better efficacy.
This kind of is often helpful for trauma survivors. This type of therapy helps a patient to adopt new thoughts and behaviors in place of destructive or negative ones, while safely revisiting aspects of the trauma. It is very effective!
Psychotherapy involves talking with a trained mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, or counselor, to discover what caused an anxiety disorder and how to deal with its symptoms.
Hypnosis is a very normal and natural altered state of consciousness or awareness. Although many people think about hypnosis as some “zombie-like” method, the fact is that, after a hypnosis session, most of the people ask if they have really been hypnotized. This is because it feels like such a normal state, although they were expecting something very strange.
Hypnotherapy has long been used to treat war-related post-traumatic conditions. These last couple of years it has been used also in cases of sexual assault, car accidents and other traumatic events.
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