Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): What Is It

by stresstoy on August 24, 2010

During the past ten years, as I have worked with police, victims of violence firfighters, and children of addicts, I learned that there are many causes of post-traumatic stress. He also stated my belief that PTSD is real and damaging, not only to those who have, but also those around them. It affects how we act, react, our motivation and our capacity to feel – Well, nothing. terrifying experiences that people feel out of predictability and invulnerability can profoundly alter their coping skills, relationships and how they perceive and interact with the world. The criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are: 1) exposure to a traumatic event (s) in which the person witnessed or experienced or been confronted with an event or events involving death or threat or damage or threat to physical integrity or that of others, and 2) the response of the person charged with intense fear, helplessness or horror DSM IV, p. 427-28). Gradual onset of posttraumatic stress disorder can be caused by repeated exposure to “sub-critical incidents, such as child abuse, car accidents, rapes and physical assaults. However, all individuals exposed to trauma are “traumatized.” Why? In 1998, Pynoos and Nader has proposed a theory to explain why people have different reactions to the same event. It said people are more likely to be affected by traumatic events if one of the following are present: 1) who have experienced traumatic events in the last 6 months, 2) have already been stressed or depressed at the time of the event, 3) the situation has grown closer to home or place that is considered safe, 4) victims have a similarity with a family member or friend 5) who have little social support. It was alleged that the officers, staff, emergency services, children of drug addicts and victims of abuse experience traumatic events or threats to their security in an almost daily basis. Victim of violence, not knowing when or if their parents home several times to see the dead children, people burned in cars and fires devastated the victims begin to take its toll. People as agents of idealists who joined the force to change the world and protect the innocent begin to feel as if nothing of what made the difference, can not even maintain its security zone (criteria 3). This is particularly problematic for staff members living on or near your work area and often leads to frustration and exhaustion (criterion 2). Children begin to feel that the world is uncontrollable and dangerous. It is not yet fully accepted within law enforcement officials to discuss the impact of the situations in them. Anger, humor and sarcasm are, but a brief making what many officers sleep at night. As the condition worsens, many officers retire, because they are afraid to seek help or support for fear it is a ticket to a fitness for duty assessment or go out and be an obstacle for future promotions. Several studies in recent years have shown that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders. Another thing that distinguishes people who develop PTSD from those who are temporarily overwhelmed is that people who develop PTSD become “stuck” in the trauma, back to keep alive in the thoughts, feelings or images . It is that intrusive reliving, rather than the trauma itself that many believe is responsible for what we call PTSD. For example, I worked with officers responding to calls of child abuse and had a son himself, who was the same age (criterion 4). During the daily lives of hurting children and having bad dreams. As parents, who have seen the looks of pain and terror on the faces of their children. It’s just that much easier to imagine the look of terror and anguish in the faces of the children that their parents beat them. Sometimes, this display is damaged and the sudden, they start to see their children in their recovery from mental trauma, obviously, a more powerful memory. These agents are much more likely to be “traumatized” by the incident and possibly “stuck.” Injured people begin to organize their lives around to prevent trauma. Avoidance can take many forms: avoiding reminders, because of illness at work, or ingestion of drugs or alcohol to numb the awareness of anxiety. The feeling of helplessness, hypervigilance, and other trauma-related changes can permanently change the way people cope with stress, change self-image and interferes with their vision of the world as a fundamentally safe and predictable. In the above example, are often protective of their children even more suspicious of others, and had trouble sleeping, because every time they close their eyes to see the child. A critical issue in trauma is the fact that the memories of what happened can not be integrated in your overall experience. The lack of ability of people to make this adjustment “in their expectations or their way of thinking about the world in a way that makes sense is the experience stored in the mind at the sensory level. When people encounter the smells, sounds or other sensory stimuli that remind them of the event can elicit a response similar to what was originally the person: physical sensations (such as panic attacks), visual images (such as flashbacks and nightmares), obsessive ruminations, or recreations of behavior of the elements of the trauma. In the above example, sensory triggers that sparked some memories of some officers yelled, hear or see a parent spanking their children, back in the same neighborhood for other calls, and of course television or news involving descriptions of abuse. The goal of treatment is to find a means by which people can recognize the reality of what happened and somehow integrate their understanding of the world without having to relive the trauma again. To tell their story, if desired. Symptoms of PTSD Regardless of the origin of terror, the brain reacts to the most threatening, uncontrollable and experiences with conditioned emotional responses. For example, rape victims may respond to conditioned stimuli, such as the approach by a stranger, as if about to be raped again, and panic. The memory and the intrusion of a trauma is expressed in different levels, from memories, feelings, physical sensations, nightmares, and interpersonal reconstructions. interpersonal reconstructions can be especially problematic for the official who led an overreaction to situations that remind the agent of previous experiments in which he or she felt helpless. For example, in the above example, child abuse, agents can be much more physically and verbally aggressive to the authors and their relationships tend to be much more negative and subjective. Hyperstimulation. Although people with PTSD tend to deal with their environment by reducing the range of emotions, numbness, their bodies continue to react to certain physical and emotional stimuli as if there was a constant threat. This excitation is supposed to alert the person to a potential hazard, but seems to have lost this function in the trauma. It’s like when recruiting agents and initiate a call for heat is tonic, usually have an adrenaline rush. After two or three years, the tones have little impact on them. Since people are still traumatized “excited” often does not pay attention to that feeling that is supposed to warn of impending danger. Numbing of responsiveness. Aware of the difficulties in controlling their emotions, traumatized people seem to spend their energy to avoid anxiety. Also, lose the taste for things they gave a sense of satisfaction. They may feel “dead to the world.” This emotional numbing may be expressed as depression and lack of motivation, or physical reactions. After having been traumatized, many people fail to feel the pleasure of participating in activities and just feel “course” of everyday life. emotional numbness is also in the way of resolving the trauma of therapy. Intense emotional reactions and sleep problems. Injured people go immediately to the incident to the reaction without being able to understand what makes them so annoying. They tend to experience intense fear, anxiety, anger and panic in response to stimuli, although of lesser importance. This makes them overreact and intimidate any of the other, or close and freeze. Adults and children with hyperarousal and have trouble sleeping because they are unable to settle to sleep, and because they are afraid of having nightmares. Many report that people traumatized interruption insomnia sleep: wake up when they begin to have a dream, for fear that this dream becomes a nightmare of post-traumatic stress. They are also prone to hypervigilance, exaggerated startle response and agitation. Learning difficulties. Being a “key-up interferes with the ability to concentrate and learn from experience. Trauma often have difficulty remembering ordinary events. It is always useful to write things for them. Often the” key-ups and difficulty paying attention, may have symptoms of attention deficit disorder. After trauma, often return to previous modes of coping. In adults, expressed in an excessive dependency and loss of the ability to make thoughtful decisions and independent. As officers, which is often noticed because suddenly start making a lot of bad decisions, their reports lose quality and detail and are unable to concentrate. In children, they may start wetting the bed, afraid of monsters or have tantrums. The aggression against it and the other adults and children who have been traumatized may turn their aggression against others or themselves. Due to persistent anxiety, people are often traumatized, “he said,” so it does not take much to provoke. This aggression can take many forms, ranging from the struggle for excessive exercise or an obsession with something — nothing to stop thinking about the trauma. psychosomatic reactions. Chronic anxiety and emotional numbness also in the way of learning to identify and discuss the internal states and desires. May traumatized people experience a high incidence of headaches, back and neck pain, gastrointestinal problems, etcetera. Because stress is kept inside, the body begins to become problems. Summary After trauma, people realize the limited scope of their security, power and control in the world and life can never be exactly the same. The traumatic experience becomes part of the life of a person. Order exactly what happened and sharing your reactions with others can make a big difference in the recovery of a person. Place the reactions and thoughts related to the trauma of words is essential in resolving post traumatic reactions. However, it should be done with a professional who specializes in PTSD are due to the wide range of reactions from people when they begin to confront and integrate the traumatic memories. The lack of focus on trauma-related material is likely to worsen things slowly. Often, talking about the trauma is not enough trauma survivors need to take action that symbolizes triumph over helplessness and despair. The Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem and the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, are good examples of symbols for survivors to mourn the dead and establish the historical and cultural significance of the traumatic event. Several events for victims of trauma which staff can participate in. These events remind the survivors that others have shared similar experiences. Other symbolic actions can take the form of writing a book, or take political action to help other victims. PTSD is real and can be solved with time, patience and compassion.

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Tagged as: Car Accidents, Closer To Home, Coping Skills, Critical Incidents, Daily Basis, Disorder, Dsm Iv, Helplessness, Intense Fear, Invulnerability, Physical Assaults, Physical Integrity, Post, Post Traumatic Stress, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, Stress, Traumatic, Traumatic Event, Traumatic Events, Traumatic Stress Disorder, Victims Of Abuse, Victims Of Violence

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