Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
By: Michaela Dunn
What is PTSD?
Which body system does it affect?
How the brain works with and without PTSD
The way the nervous system works normally is that there are billions of neurons in your brain. They all transmit information to the brain and have different specialized jobs. For example: sensory neurons take information from our eyes, ears, tongue, nose and skin to the brain. If you are someone who has PTSD, your nervous system functions differently. Post-traumatic stress disorder overstimulates your nervous system, leaving you feeling on high alert all the time. Instead of those negative memories being stored away, you constantly just think of them. Even certain smells or loud noises could remind you of being in combat, making you remember it again.
Who is affected?
Adults
Teens
Children
How it arises
The way this disorder arises could be from the war-seeing so many people getting hurt or killed, an accident, being abused,or sometimes from experiencing a natural disaster. PTSD is not a genetic issue and doesn’t like run in the family because if someone in your family has it, that means that they experienced a traumatic event. In order for you or someone else in your family to get it, you would have to experience that kind of trauma too.
Being in the war
An accident
Experiencing a natural disaster
Diagnosis
To be diagnosed with Post-traumatic stress disorder, a person must have all of the following for at least one month:
At least one re-experiencing symptom
At least three avoidance symptoms
At least two hyperarousal symptoms
A doctor sees if the patient has those and if they do, then the doctor diagnoses them with the disorder.
Signs and symptoms
Re-experiencing symptoms are:
-Flashbacks
-Bad dreams
-Frightening thoughts
Avoidance Symptoms are:
-Staying away from places, events, or objects that are reminders of the experience
-Feeling strong guilt, depression, or worry
-Losing interest in activities that were enjoyable in the past
-Feeling emotionally numb
-Having trouble remembering the event.
Hyperarousal Symptoms are:
-Being easily startled
-Feeling tense or “on edge”
-Having difficulty sleeping, and/or having angry outbursts
Treatment
There are many treatments for this disorder that could help over time. There are three types of psychotherapy you could go to. One is exposure therapy, where you sit down with a therapist and it helps people face and control their fear. The therapist would expose you to the trauma you experienced in a safe way. Another type of therapy that helps is Cognitive restructuring, which helps people with PTSD look at what happened in a realistic way. The third type of therapy is Stress inoculation, which helps the patient to reduce anxiety and look at their memories in a healthy way. Other than going to therapy, your doctor could prescribe you medication such as sertraline (Zoloft) or paroxetine (Paxil). Other types of medication they could give you are antidepressants fluoxetine (Prozac) and citalopram (Celexa), which can help people with PTSD feel less tense or sad.
Therapy
Exposure therapy-helps face and control fear, in a safe way
Cognitive restructuring- helps look at what happened in a realistic way
Stress inoculation- reduces anxiety and look at the memories in a healthy way
Medications
Support groups
Prognosis
The prognosis for PTSD depends on how severe the condition is and the length of time the person has suffered from it. Most patients diagnosed with it get help by going to the recommended psychotherapy visits. If you are a person that doesn’t get help when needed, then the disorder could continue to cause more and more damage to your brain. Not getting help could increase your anxiety and depression, making suicide at risk for untreated PTSD .
Connections
Statistics
Works Cited
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"PTSD in Military Veterans." : Symptoms, Treatment, and the Road to Recovery for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.
"PTSD: National Center for PTSD." How Common Is PTSD? -. Web. 06 Jan. 2015. <http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/PTSD-overview/basics/how-common-is-ptsd.asp>.
"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Web. 06 Jan. 2015. <http://www.ptsd.ne.gov/what-is-ptsd.html>.
"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)." NIMH RSS. Web. 07 Jan. 2015. <http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml#part3>.
Picture Citations
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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children. N.d. Online. Web. <http://rpm-therapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-in-children.png>.
"PTSD." PTSD. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2015. <http://www.psychiatry.org/ptsd>.
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