Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

This article will focus on the diagnosis, variations of treatment, doctor's assessment, and the side effects of treatment to each individual. Important issues are the history of the problem and how often the episodes occur. An effective tool to use during the analysis of an individuals problem is taking care of one problem at a time. Also available treatment for PTSD suffers are cognitive, and behavioral therapy. The way a clinical psychologists take care of their patients is vital to the success or the failure of the proposed treatment.

PTSD is a prolonged maladaptive reaction to a traumatic event that is characterized by the intense fear, avoidance of stimuli associated with the event, and reliving of the event. Exposure to event of attacks, witness of a homicide, heart attack patient, and an explosion of a major building could lead to this type of reaction. PTSD may not start after the event occurs, but it could last for a long period of time after the event has taken place. The feelings of an increased heart rate and a feeling of not receiving help are often associated with the feeling of PTSD. PTSD often affects war veterans, disasters victims (tsunami in Asia), and victims of child molestation or rape. Also people in New York on September 11, 2001 may also suffer from PTSD. Studies today show that over a half of a million of New Yorkers developed PTSD months after the events of September 11th. The events may be relived in dreams, nightmares or flashbacks. But suffers of PTSD try not keep their mind off the event that would cause them to go back in time. The traumatic events will cause mental and emotional changes before it will be labeled as a high priority. Because the way a potential suffer is evaluated different people has a greater need for treatment then others. Some victims are more protected and others more vulnerable to developing clinical symptoms because of uncomfortable situations. The events mentioned earlier are considered traumatic events by every competent human being on this earth.

The diagnosis of PTSD includes the amount of exposure to traumatic events and the unwelcome and unwanted memories. Characteristics of the unwanted memory symptom are the most recognizable on of all. For the suffers, the events will remain for a long period of time, some times for decades, causing heartache, panic, fear, dread and grief as in a daytime story. Furthermore trauma stimulates the mind and has the power to mental images, emotional responses, and reactions associated with trauma. Also suffers may show the sign of avoiding something that will cause the remembrance of a specific event. In certain cases avoidant behavior may resemble agoraphobia because the PTSD sufferer maybe scared to leave their residence for fear of the reminders that caused the traumatic event. Avoidance affects the person relationships