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POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
The following includes excerpts from “What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?” a document from the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (NCPTSD) website.
WHAT IS POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER?
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events like:
- Military combat
- Natural disasters
- Terrorist incidents
- Serious accidents
- Violent personal assaults like rape.
HOW ARE PEOPLE AFFECTED BY PTSD?
PTSD is marked by clear biological changes as well as psychological symptoms. People who suffer from PTSD often relive the experience through nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty sleeping, and feel detached or estranged, and these symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to significantly impair the person’s daily life.
HOW DOES PTSD DEVELOP?
Most people who are exposed to a traumatic, stressful event experience some of the symptoms of PTSD in the days and weeks following exposure. The course of chronic PTSD usually involves periods of symptom increase followed by remission or decrease, although some individuals may experience symptoms that are unremitting and severe. Some older veterans, who report a lifetime of only mild symptoms, experience significant increases in symptoms following retirement, severe medical illness in themselves or their spouses, or reminders of their military service (such as reunions or media broadcasts of the anniversaries of war events).
HOW COMMON IS PTSD?
An estimated 7.8 percent of Americans will experience PTSD at some point in their lives, with women twice as likely as men to develop PTSD. About 3.6 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 to 54 (5.2 million people) have PTSD during the course of a given year. The traumatic events most often associated with PTSD for men are rape, combat exposure, childhood neglect, and childhood physical abuse. The most traumatic events for women are rape, sexual molestation, physical attack, being threatened with a weapon, and childhood physical abuse. About 30 percent of the men and women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD. An additional 20 to 25 percent have had partial PTSD at some point in their lives.
WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO DEVELOP PTSD?
- People who experience greater stressor magnitude and intensity, unpredictability, uncontrollability, sexual (as opposed to nonsexual) victimization, real or perceived responsibility, and betrayal
- People with prior vulnerability factors such as genetics, early age of onset and longer-lasting childhood trauma, lack of functional social support, and concurrent stressful life events
- People who report greater perceived threat or danger, suffering, upset, terror, and horror or fear
- People with a social environment that produces shame, guilt, stigmatization, or self-hatred
HOW IS PTSD TREATED?
PTSD is treated by a variety of forms of psychotherapy and drug therapy. There is no definitive treatment, and no cure, but some treatments appear to be quite promising, especially cognitive-behavioral therapy, group therapy, and exposure therapy. Studies have also shown that medications help ease associated symptoms of depression and anxiety and help with sleep. Prozac® and Zoloft® are two medications commonly used to treat PTSD.
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SOURCE: "What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?" A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_what_is_ptsd.html The information on this document is presented for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for informed medical advice or training. Do not use this information to diagnose or treat a mental health problem without consulting a qualified health or mental health care provider.
PREPARED BY: 211/fj
CONTENT LAST REVIEWED: May2008
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