When people undergo stressful or traumatic events, they later experience psycho-emotional and physiopathological outcomes. These outcomes are known as Post-Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which result from the experience of witnessing a traumatic or threatening event. PTSD has some serious effects that impair a person’s daily livelihood and can be life threatening. For instance, in the development of current issues such as terrorism, and violence, a number of people with PTSD are increasing PTSD has become a grave concern in the public health care today. Therefore, this essay will focus on the theory, assessment, diagnosis and treatment of the Post-Traumatic stress disorder.
Post-Traumatic stress disorder has been included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders IV ( Iribarren et.al. 2005). However, Post-Traumatic stress disorder will be encompassed in the new, chapter of DSM-5 on Trauma and Stress or associated disorders, thus moving from the DSM-IV. Post-Traumatic stress disorder is experienced after a traumatic occurrence ( Iribarren et.al. 2005) . Most traumatic incidents include military combat, terrorist events, serious accidents, natural disasters, physical or sexual assault in either childhood or adulthood. Many people that survive the traumatic occurrences typically return to normal after some time. However, some people react in ways that the stress will not leave on its own. Some people will even become worse over time ( Iribarren et.al. 2005) . Notably, these reliving experiences come the affected person least expects while some other times a reminder may trigger them. For instance, when a combat veteran hears a tire burst, an accident victim sees another accident or a rape victim sees news about rape. The memories can cause physical or emotional responses ( Iribarren et.al. 2005) . Sometimes the memories experienced feel real as if they are happening again, known as flashbacks.
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People with PTSD undergo three distinct symptoms. The first type of indications comprise remembering the trauma in such a way that they become distressed when they remember or think about the trauma ( Iribarren et.al. 2005) . The second symptoms involve avoiding the places and people that retell you of the trauma and detaching from other folks or feeling traumatized. The third symptoms include feeling on sentinel, irritable or being startled effortlessly. Apart from these symptoms, some biological changes happen due to PTSD ( Iribarren et.al. 2005) . People with PTSD may cultivate extra disorders such as depression, memory loss, and cognition problems, develop substance abuse tendencies and other physical or mental health issues. All these complications may lead to damage of a person’s aptitude to have a normal social or family life. Other people may have occupation instability, family, and marital problems.
Theory
Many psychological theories have been developed to explain why certain trauma survivors develop PTSD, while others do not. The theories, thus focus on the level of person’s personal experiences during the trauma by considering the thoughts, memory, emotions, behavior and underlying processes that a person may be unaware ( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015). According to the American Psychiatric Association, symptoms of PTSD include recurrence of involuntary and intrusive memories of the trauma (( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015) ). On such theory is the Fear conditioning theories. The fear conditioning theory states that the traumatic events are stored in such as manner that they hinder the person’s recovery from trauma and PTSD ( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015) . Therefore, the apparent recalling of the traumatic events keeps the person from having daily routines. The traumatic flashbacks come in nightmares from which a person wakes thus reducing the amount of sleep they need ( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015) .
Mowrer’s Two-Factor theory of 1960 indicates that the processes of PTSD lead to anxiety disorders ( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015) . Kane 1985 has elaborated this model further, through the classical conditioning method that is said to be crucial in the development of PTSD. The classical conditioning process suggests that formerly impartial stimuli present at the period of the distressing event become fear-burdened through their encounter with the trauma ( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015) . When a person then encounters the classically conditioned stimuli, the memory is evoked, and the person relives it again ( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015) . Hence, to relieve the people of the PTSD, the operant conditioning is done whereby the people involved in the traumatic events, avoid thinking about the occurrence or avoiding reminders that could cause tension of anxiety ( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015) . The operant conditioning involves blocking of the traumatic events altogether or try to avoid the place of the traumatic event. However, such blocking of the traumatic incidences results in a person being more anxious and tense when they think of the event if the future ( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015) . Therefore, the operant conditioning could result in further fear responses. Lang’s theory suggests that terrifying dealings are stockpiled in a wider cognitive structure and are manifested within the reminiscence as a connection between the nodes in an associative configuration ( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015). . The networks work in a manner that recognizes and copes with the meaningful situations. The theory suggests various types of information such as stimulus information about the trauma that includes sounds and sights ( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015) . The other type is the information about the emotional and psychological response to the event
Assessment
Numerous measures are taken to establish if a person has PTSD. First, to develop PTSD, one must have trauma. Almost everybody has or will experience trauma in life, yet many people do not get PTSD. PTSD is experienced through avoidance, arousal and reliving the event. Therefore, a mental health doctor often makes the diagnosis of PTSD ( Iribarren et.al. 2005) . The mental health provider assesses and evaluates from PTSD. A person who has experienced any trauma is given a screen to establish if he or she has PTSD. Some screening assessments take little time such as 15 minutes, while others may take more than an hour or many sessions ( Iribarren et.al. 2005) . Assessments involve structured questions and surveys that ask about a person’s feelings and thoughts.
There are two common measures used in the assessment of PTSD.one is the structured interviews and self-report questionnaire. The structured interviews consist of questions that an interviewer asks the affected person. The structured interviews include clinician-administered PTSD scales (CAPS) and the structure clinical interview doe DSM (SCID) ( Iribarren et.al. 2005) . Other interviews may include anxiety disorders interview schedule-Revised (ADIS), PTSD interview. Structured interviews PTSD (SI-PTSD) and PTSD Symptom Scale Interview (PSS-I) ( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015) .
The self-report questionnaires are set of questions that are printed out so that the person answers them. This assessment takes fewer times and is less costly that and interview. Other self-report assessments include the impact of events scale-revised (IES-R), Keane PTSD scale of the MMPi-2, Mississippi Scale for Combat-related PTSD and the Mississippi Scale for civilians ( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015) . Los Angeles Symptom Checklist (LASC), Penn Inventory for Posttraumatic Stress and Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) ( Nijdam & Wittmann, 2015) .
Diagnosis
Clinicians employ the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as a guidance to understanding the symptoms of PTSD. This manual has been revised and updated over the years, and the recent one is the fifth edition ( Iribarren et.al. 2005) . In this edition, PTSD is considered as an anxiety disorder. To diagnose for PTSD, the doctor performs the physical exam, does a psychological evaluation and uses the DSM-5. A diagnosis of PTSD necessitates an exposure to a traumatic event ( Iribarren et.al. 2005) . The person directly experiences or witnesses a traumatic event happening to others. The person may also have learned that someone close experienced the traumatic incident and maybe the person has repeatedly been exposed to the graphic details of the traumatic events.
Treatment
Roughly 60% and 50% of men and women respectively undergo shocking events in their lifespan. Notably, most individuals who experience traumatic incidences develop symptoms weeks or days after they experience the event ( Hamblen, 2012) . Today. Good treatments are available for PTSD. Many people would rather keep signs of PTSD to themselves, but talking to therapy is the best option. Therapy can be given through psychotherapy, which is regarded as the talk therapy ( Hamblen, 2012) . Medicines such as antidepressants can also be administered. Cognitive behavioral therapy is an adequate remedy for PTSD ( Hamblen, 2012) . Cognitive therapy involves seeking a therapist’s help. The therapist will understand how the person thinks about the trauma and the aftermath ( Hamblen, 2012) . This process will help the traumatized person identify the thoughts and learn to substitute such beliefs with more precise and less shocking feelings. Another therapeutic process is the exposure therapy, where the goal is to have less terror about the traumatizing events ( Hamblen, 2012) . The exposure therapy focuses on the notion that people can learn to dread the feelings that retell them of the traumatizing incidences by talking about them repeatedly. Early treatment is crucial, but many people do not understand the importance of getting help and most do not seek help ( Hamblen, 2012) .
As discussed, PTSD develops as a reaction to a traumatic event. For some people, the events are short while others are severe and long lasting. Although the PTSD indications can begin immediately after the shocking events, PTSD is not identified unless the signs stay for a minimum of a month or cause anguish that interferes with the livelihood of a person. For a person to be diagnosed with PTSD, they must experience three different kinds of symptoms, stimulation, evasion and shocking symptoms. Many people re-experience indicators that manifest in reliving the incident. There are different means in which people re-experience the traumatic incidents. Notably, reliving the traumatic incidences can cause fear, horror or feel helpless as they felt at the time of the real event.
References
Hamblen, J. (2012). Treatment of PTSD. Washington, DC: National Center for PTSD .
Iribarren, J., Prolo, P., Neagos, N., & Chiappelli, F. (2005). Post-traumatic stress disorder: evidence-based research for the third millennium. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine , 2 (4), 503-512.
Nijdam, M. J., & Wittmann, L. (2015). Psychological and social theories of PTSD. In Evidence Based Treatments for Trauma-Related Psychological Disorders (pp. 41-61). Springer International Publishing.
