Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome is a mental health problem that develops after a person is exposed to horrifying traumatic events. Such events causes a person to remember the horrifying incident of memory, which with time it affects their ability to function effectively. Response to traumatic events are promoted by an individual’s social network, their biological makeup, their mental health history, trauma, age, and gender. Diagnosis of PTSD involves determining the signs and symptoms, which fall into three categories including avoidance symptoms, hyper arousal symptoms, and re-experiencing symptoms. The various treatment options for PTSD include ‘psychological debriefing’, pharmacological interventions, movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), exposure technique, Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy, and self-help regulation. Therefore, early treatment of the symptoms of PTSD is crucial because it helps to prevent the individual from experiencing the debilitating impacts of the disorder.
Introduction
Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) is a psychological disorder that develops following exposure of an individual to a severe traumatic event leading to development of a set of symptoms. Examples of traumatic events include natural disasters, witnessing an incident that is scaring, and mugging among others. These events usually prompts an individual to recall the horrifying event of memory and thus make a person to become emotionally frozen with those they are close to. This disorder can be debilitating to an individual afflicted by it because it disrupts their ability to function and carry out most of the basic tasks (Van der Kolk, 2017 p.401). The paper will discuss the PTSD, it causes, diagnosis, and the available treatments for the disorder.
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Causes of PTSD
An individual’s response to a traumatic stressor can be facilitated by several different factors. These factors include biological makeup, gender, accessibility to mental health treatment facilities, social network, their mental health history, age, and trauma. A person who has a strong social support before and after experiencing a traumatic event, they have a high chance of having a positive adjustment after the trauma. However, an individual with poor social connection and attachment will have difficulties acquiring a positive adjustment. Evidence indicates that a small hereditary element predisposes an individual to the disorder resulting in increased likelihood of their exposure to trauma. For instance, an individual with a hereditary deficit in problem-solving capacity may lead to increased levels of exposure to possibly traumatic stressors and reduced levels of resource to enhance recovery following exposure (Van der Kolk, 2017 p.403).
Diagnosis
The first step in determining whether a person has PTSD is to look for the signs and symptoms. The three specific main symptoms of PTSD include hyper arousal symptoms, avoidance symptoms, and re-experiencing symptoms. The re-experiencing symptoms include things such as recurrences, nightmares, and scary thought. It can cause a person to start having bad dreams, have trouble controlling emotions, get upset when reminded, fear or anxiety buildup, have challenges thinking clearly, and have flashbacks of the ordeal. The noticeable physical responses of PTSD include heavy heart rate, loss of appetite, always on alert, heavy breathing, difficulty falling asleep, and becoming sweaty or shaky. Thus, the re-experiencing events can adversely affect the everyday life of an individual (Flory & Yehuda, 2015 p.141).
The avoidance symptoms include a person becoming disconnected, emotionless, demotivated, and depression. Hyper arousal symptoms makes an individual to become disinterested. Examples of hyper arousal symptoms include loss of interest in activities that a person once enjoyed, emotionless, no feelings of pain or other sensations, finding reality unreal, having difficulties remembering parts of ordeal, feeling physically numb, feeling weird constantly, an avoiding conversations (Flory & Yehuda, 2015 p.141).
Treatment
There are various treatment options for individuals suffering from PTSD. For example, ‘psychological debriefing’ can prevent PTSD. This is a typical therapeutic session involving a one-on-one discussion between a client and a counselor. This is particularly efficient after a client has just experienced a traumatic experience. Seeking therapy immediately after exposure to traumatic event, it helps the client to manage their build up emotions better and express themselves in a suitable way thus preventing future emotional numbness or impairment. For example, evidence reveals that victims of child neglect or abuse are more likely to develop PTSD. This therefore confirms the significance of seeking therapy after experiencing a traumatic incident ( Greenberg, Brooks & Dunn, 2015 p. 147).
Alternative treatment options for PTSD include pharmacological interventions, movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and exposure technique. Exposure techniques includes the process of re-exposing a person to that memory of the incident while ensuring their feeling and emotions are connected to that incident. This helps the client to forget the memories as they slowly fade away. The EMDR treatment involves having a client remember the fundamental trauma with a negative thought in mind. It allows a client to find enhancing emotions to overcome the negative emotion by letting it go. The last treatment option is pharmacological interventions that includes prescription of different types of medication to the client, the common one being antidepressant ( Greenberg, Brooks & Dunn, 2015 p.149).
Other types of treatment available include Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy. For patients with PTSD, this treatment involves exposing an individual wisely and slowly to emotional and mental conditions that repeat the trauma. This treatment method is effective because it assists in erasing the negative thinking and generate positive thoughts. Greenberg, Brooks and Dunn (2015 p.152) points out that implementation of self-help regulations by a person with PTSD, is critical because it contributes significantly towards improving personal health. For instance, it is important for a person with PTSD to educate oneself about the disorder, seek out help, avoiding alcohol consumption, and focus on converting the disadvantages with the aim of benefiting oneself.
Conclusion
PTSD is becoming an increasing health problem in the contemporary society. It is contributed to by factors such as lack of access to mental health treatment facilities after experiencing a traumatic incident, the biological makeup, and an individual with a history of mental health. There exists various treatment available for treating the disorder. However, self-help has been found to be the best treatment option because it helps a person to prevent things that contribute to the development of the disorder such as drug abuse and alcohol consumption. Therefore, having a good social support system is important in promoting the healing process of the individual.
References
Greenberg, N., Brooks, S., & Dunn, R. (2015). Latest developments in post-traumatic stress disorder: diagnosis and treatment. British Medical Bulletin , 114 (1), 147-155.
Flory, J. D., & Yehuda, R. (2015). Comorbidity between post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder: alternative explanations and treatment considerations. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience , 17 (2), 141.
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2017). Developmental Trauma Disorder: Toward a rational diagnosis for children with complex trauma histories. Psychiatric annals , 35 (5), 401-408.
