Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Essay Example for Free

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Essay Posttraumatic Stress Disorder side effects may take years to show up, they are debilitating to the victims everyday life. A soldier with PTSD may experience emotional outburst, find it hard to communicate with others. Panic attacks, sleeping disorder, and flashbacks are a few of the major side effects. The soldier often will feel guilty which makes it difficult for them to adjust back into civilian life. Not knowing how to reunite with friends and family often lead to sever depression and suicide. An incident that may remind the soldier or their trauma can send them into a sever panic attack which may take days or weeks to recover from. It is said a soldier with PTSD is never truly home, there are always demons around every corner. The military teaches our soldiers how to fight, how to kill and how to survive. But who teaches them how to live with themselves? Soldiers are returning in large volumes with PTSD but are not being treated for their disorder. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a traumatic event. A traumatic event is a life-threatening event such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood. The fight or flight response is what we know happens when one is afraid. Your body is releasing adrenaline, raising you heart rate and releasing glucose to muscles allowing you to respond quickly. Once you are out of the fearful situation you release a hormone known as cortical allowing your body to calm down. In a sever trauma you may not release enough cortical so your body stays under a great deal of stress. Then the victim may produce a high level of catecholamine which is a stimulating hormone. When reminded of the trauma this hormone kicks in. Mason JW, Giller EL, Kosten TR) One out of ten Americans involved in a sever trauma event causes a cascade of psychological and biological changes known as post-traumatic stress disorder. Soldiers returning from wars throughout the years were not able to adapt back in to civilian life. Doctors now understand the severity of this disorder and our addressing to the best of their abilities. To receive the diagnosis the victim must have been in a situation in which they were afraid for their safety, feel horror, or feel helpless. The more terrifying the trauma is, increases the chances of the victim developing PTSD. Victims diagnosed with PTSD can prevent them from working; affect their relationships, and causes great difficulty being a good parent. (Allen IR PTSD) Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. It helps one deal with a tense situation in the office, study harder for an exam, and keep focused on an important speech. In general, it helps one cope. But when anxiety becomes an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, it can become a disabling disorder. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is not a black and white diagnosis, some the symptoms may be present right away however in others it can manifest years later. For some, the symptoms can be managed with therapy and others the symptoms are disabling. Many traumatic life experiences cause many emotions, such as guilt, anger, and fear. However it normally starts to improve in a short period of time, when these feelings or symptoms do not improve or get worse you may have Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Reliving the trauma can cause flashbacks and nightmares. Flashbacks are the Soldier or Victim actually mentally transporting back in time to the actual event. They can see, hear, smell, taste, and feel every sensation they experienced during the actual trauma. In their mind they are reliving the event in every shape and form. Nightmares is when the victim is sleeping as their brain slows down and enters into a dream state the trauma comes back to them in a nightmare. Just as in the flashbacks in their mind they are right back in that horrific trauma. Many times they will wake up yelling, swinging their arms, threatening or injuring anyone nearby. PTSD victims also may experience hyper arousal which is a state where a minor act will bring them back to the trauma. It can be as little as a child crying, thunderstorm, or a smell, this can cause a massive reaction from the victim. Men have been known to hi the ground, roll under cars, or even become very violent with a near by person. Another symptom of PTSD is always being on guard, getting startled easily, irritable, and anxious. Victims find it hard to concentrate on their current life they are always ready for that bomb to go off. This will cause lack of sleep which in return causes physical pain, muscle tension, and even heart problems. Many will never talk about their issues; it is too painful to speak out loud what is causing them so much pain on the inside. This causes many family problems and the issues just keep spiraling out of control. For some it may even lead into the thoughts or act of suicide. Many may think that since the increased amount of PTSD victims are returning from war the VA administration would step in and support them. Knowing all of this the support is not there. The VA’s track record nearly to void benefits for the victims, they are not or willing to deal with the large influx of affected Iraq veterans, who are left to deal with their illnesses alone. Judging by its recent actions, VA does not seem interested in changing to fit the needs of the new veterans. The benefits have increased in the recent years from one point seven billion to four point three billion, however the victims that are mostly benefiting from the increase is Vietnam veterans, not Iraqi veterans. (Uhl). Iraq veterans remain widely overlooked, and are coming back in record numbers with severe mental illness. This is a serious problem, since it’s expected that the number of PTSD sufferers from Iraq will exceed the number from Vietnam. Treatment and support are critical to your recovery. Although your memories won’t go away, you can learn how to manage your response to these memories and the feelings they bring up. You can also reduce the frequency and intensity of your reactions. Although it may seem painful to face the trauma you went through, doing so with the help of a mental health professional can help you get better. There are different types of therapy which are necessary to get back on the right track. There is cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps you change the thought patterns that keep you from overcoming your anxiety. Exposure therapy, where one work with a professional, to help confront memories and situations that cause the distress. Cognitive Processing Therapy, which is where you process your emotions about the traumatic event and learn how to challenge your thinking patterns. Another type of therapy is psychodynamic psychotherapy, where you focus on identifying current life situations that set off traumatic memories and worsen PTSD symptoms. (National Center for PTSD).