PTSD: A Problem In Our Society
Imagine just entering a school that you have aspired to attend ever since you were a young child. You are waiting to enter, unleash your full potential, and explore the endless possibilities that lie there. However, you suddenly get extremely sick. Your temperature is 103℉, you begin breathing rapidly, and your heart rate escalates. Your parents immediately take you to the emergency room where the doctors diagnose you with a disease you have never heard before: sepsis. You cower at the sound of this condition because you don’t know what it holds for you. However, after long and arduous days of constant treatment, the doctors congratulate you for defeating this fatal condition. You realize that you reached the hospital at the right time, or you would not have survived. Everyone in the hospital congratulates you for being so headstrong, yet you are feeling scared, frightened, and anxious inside. Though you are physiologically stable, you experience emotional setbacks. You get back unwanted memories of this situation, have heightened reactions, and try calling for help. You are depressed and afraid each time you get the seasonal cold and hear someone say hospital. You cringe in fear that you will suffer from the same condition again. These are all symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, commonly referred to as PTSD. Almost 11.5 million people across the United States suffer from this disorder─a condition that occurs because of experiencing a traumatic event and may last from months to even years. People with PTSD experience various forms of emotional setbacks but hope that their emotional and physical reactions to their horrifying experiences will soon disappear, even though it may be challenging.
What is PTSD?
PTSD stands for post-traumatic stress disorder and is a psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, such as assault, accident, or the diagnosis of a life-threatening disease. PTSD was prominent after World War I and World War II, and was commonly known as “shell shock” and “combat fatigue.” However, it affects all ethnicities, nationalities, and age groups. In the United States, it affects 3.5% of adults. PTSD patients will experience deep and perturbing thoughts and feelings relating to their traumatic experience(s). They also react very sensitively to things that will trigger their memory of the experience and try to avoid thinking about it. PTSD can trigger the development of other mental health disorders such as acute stress disorder, adjustment disorder, and disinhibited social engagement disorder.
What causes PTSD?
As the name suggests, PTSD develops after a painful and frightening traumatic experience. Such events may include accidents, physical or sexual abuse, severe health conditions, childbirth experiences, conflict, and torture. About 33% of people who experience severe trauma will experience PTSD in their lifetime, making it a prominent health issue. A person is at higher risk for developing the condition if they suffered from depression or anxiety in the past. Additionally, family history can also play a part in developing some form of PTSD.
There are different theories as to why PTSD may develop. First and foremost, patients may experience PTSD symptoms to survive further traumatic experiences. If someone repeatedly remembers a traumatic experience, they may find ways to prevent or lessen the chances of it occurring again. High adrenaline levels are another factor because those with PTSD have abnormal levels of stress hormones, such as epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormones dull the pain that patients experience. Finally, there may be changes in the brain, such as damage to the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for storing memory and emotions. A malfunctional hippocampus may prevent flashbacks and nightmares from being processed, so anxiety does not lessen. Though these theories are yet to be proven factual, they may explain the occurrences of PTSD in some patients.
Diagnosis of PTSD:
The diagnosis of PTSD is relatively simple because it does not require the use of various imaging tests like many physiological diseases. To diagnose the condition, the primary care physician will perform a physical exam to check for medical problems that may cause symptoms. These symptoms can include inspection, auscultation, palpation, and percussion. Then, the physician will do a psychological evaluation where the patient will discuss their symptoms and events that may have caused this. Finally, the doctor may use the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders that are published by the American Psychiatric Association. If they suspect that a patient may have PTSD, they will refer them to a psychiatrist for further evaluation.
Symptoms of PTSD:
The symptoms of PTSD may appear within one month of the traumatic event or years after. Either way, they have the potential to cause problems in social, work situations, and even in relationships. Moreover, it may impede an individual’s ability to perform activities of daily living, making ordinary tasks more difficult. These symptoms are grouped into four different types: intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, and changes in physical and emotional reactions.
- Intrusive memories
- Unwanted distressing memories and flashbacks of the traumatic experience
- Upsetting dreams or nightmares
- Emotional distress or physical reactions to something that reminds you of the event
2. Avoidance
- Avoid thinking or discussing about the event
- Avoiding places, activities, and people that remind you of the event
3. Adverse changes in thinking and mood
- Negative thoughts about yourself and others and hopelessness
- Poor memory
- Feeling detached from loved ones
- Lack of interest in hobbies
4. Changes in physical and emotional reactions
- Being easily frightened
- Self-destructive behavior
- Trouble sleeping and concentrating
- Irritability, angry outbursts, and aggressive behavior
Treatment of PTSD:
Treatment for PTSD can help an individual relieve many of their symptoms and allow them to continue living a healthy life. Treatment is usually administered by combining psychotherapy and medications, which can help teach a patient skills to address their symptoms, think better about themselves, and learn to cope if they experience such events again. Psychotherapy is known as talk therapy and can be used to treat PTSD through cognitive and exposure therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. In cognitive therapy, the doctor will help the patient recognize cognitive patterns that are obstructed. In exposure therapy, the patient safely faces situations and memories that relate to the traumatic experience and ways to cope with them. Finally, in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), guided eye movements help the patient process traumatic memories and change their reactions to them. Medications such as antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, and prazosin, a medication to reduce and suppress nightmares, may be administered.
Even though post-traumatic stress disorder can be distressing as it results in emotional setbacks, receiving the appropriate treatment and support will relieve symptoms and help those diagnosed with PTSD live a normal, healthy, and happy life.
Works Cited:
I Had PTSD After a Critical Illness. Apparently That’s Fairly Com. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/ptsd-after-icu-post-intensive-care-syndrome.
American Psychiatric Association, Parekh, M.D., M.P.H., R., & Torres, M.D., DFAPA, MBA, F.
(2020, January). What Is PTSD? Retrieved from https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd.
NHS. (2018, September 27). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — Causes. Retrieved from
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/causes/.
Mayo Clinic. (n.d.). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — Symptoms and causes. Retrieved
Help Guide. (n.d.). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Retrieved from
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/ptsd-trauma/ptsd-symptoms-self-help-treatment.htm.
