Ptsd Paper Essay Example for Free

Ptsd Paper Essay Trauma, and People Kacie D. Buchanan COM/156 April 12, 2013 It has been estimated, from Michelle Rosenthal (2012), that 70% of all U. S. citizens experience some type of trauma in their life and an estimated 8% have PTSD. War veteran diagnosed PTSD have jumped up 50% in 2012, and 1 out of every five veterans that return from Irag are diagnosed with this disorder. It is sad to think of the children that go through trauma, but an estimated 15-43% of girls and 14-43% of boys will experience a traumatic event. As many as 30- 60% of these children will go through the trauma and come out with PTSD. Personal doubt has lead me to try to figure out how this disorder comes about, and if there is a way an individual can be misdiagnosed. There are many reasons an individual may have PTSD, its finding the trauma and the cause so you can then find a cure. For as long as we can remember there have been stories about the trauma that war veterans go through daily, they relive the trauma, and it can bring on PTSD. Post-traumatic stress syndrome in war veterans is very different than the trauma anyone else can go through, it is harder for them to cope with because of the level of trauma they have been through. Christine Stephens, Nigel Long, and Ross Flett (1998) had done a New Zealand study of 527 working police officers were given the PTSD test to show there results, their results were that police officers with military combat backgrounds had some of the highest test results of anyone tested. These victims of war have to relive the nightmare every time they hear a loud crash, bang, or pop they feel like they have to run for cover or hide because that fear has been put into their minds that if they do not save themselves they will die. In most cases military personnel have come home and have shown no sign of PTSD and passed all tests with a negative result for the disorder, it was six months to a year later that the individuals start to experience signs and symptoms of PTSD. These tests can include an officer sitting in front of a computer screen with random flashes of picture’s, there are children,  dogs sniffing blood, soldiers cowering in fear, and death. The doctor monitors stress levels and how many times the officer blinks and from that can see if the officer will most likely develop PTSD, because after all this is just a theory for military doctors trying to help soldier. Right now, we cant determine with certainty who will and who wont develop PTSD, said P aula Schnurr (2009), deputy executive director of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Perhaps with better measures, we can get closer. In 1980 is when the PTSD in adults came about with the war veterans, there were also numerous adults that had been diagnosed at this time but when it came to children there were no cases because it was primarily a disorder that had been focused around adults. (Kaminer, Seedat, Stein, 2005) â€Å"Studies indicate that children can develop PTSD after exposure to a range of traumatic stressors, including violent crime, sexual abuse, natural disasters, and war. Where relatively standardized assessment methods have been used, the incidence of PTSD among childsurvivors of specific disasters ranges from 30 to 60%. As yet there are no epidemiological studies of the prevalence of PTSD among children in the general population; however, community studies in the United States have consistently indicated that around 40% of high school students have experienced some form of domestic or community violence, and between 3 and 6% have PTSD. † When children develop these disorders some of the trauma can affect them ten times worse than that of an adult because children are so impressionable and delicate. With children and war veterans the symptoms are quite similar when concerning the nightmares, sleep disturbances, intrusive memories, and flashback experiences. In children however I have read that nightmares become more generalized and not specific, and also re-experiencing can take place through actual events and not only memories that can play in one’s mind. When dealing with PTSD we need to remember that children can be more delicate than an average human being, something that doesn’t traumatize you could definitely hurt a child and scar them for a life with PTSD. When I say normal human beings I mean it as a range of adults between the ages of 18 and over. The reason I give this age group is because anyone under the age of 18 are still considered a child and therefore I feel can still be influenced differently than someone who has been through the trauma, and it didn’t affect them at all. This is involved with civilians of PTSD, the different types of civilian PTSD can be defined as car accidents, death, change in home/work, or even going through a disaster such as angry Mother Nature. The problem with people nowadays isn’t PTSD as a disorder, because PTSD can be a real life disorder, it is the individuals that try to use PTSD as an excuse to be lazy and escape responsibility. One example of this is, recently in the news there was a murder case involving Jodi Arias. Jodi Arias has been accused of murdering her boyfriend, and to escape blame she has told the court that she has a disorder, PTSD to be exact. When faced with the tests from all the doctors you would think that she could get caught if she were faking it. According to her psychologist Richard Samuel whom was put on the stand to answer an array of over 100 questions and to defend his work he said â€Å"I made an arithmetic error which does not affect the utility of the test, Samuels insisted, adding that regardless of the changing scores because of his calculation errors, Arias still would have been diagnosed with PTSD. Each time that I scored it, Ms. Arias met or even exceeded the minimum criteria for the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. So when it came time to see the results we didn’t know what to believe. After all if her doctor is changing scores how to we believe that there is no disorder there. Time after time we come into contact with trauma and you have to think to yourself, Will the trauma caused affect different kinds of people differently? Well I have come to the conclusion that it does because not everyone is the same. It takes a strong individual to go through trauma and come out of the other side. Personal testimony is the best research I have done and I have been told by a close friend of mine, †You cannot let trauma stop your life, you have to learn how to get over your past and leave it there. Because after all that is where the past belongs, in the past† (Kat Brower, 2013). This individual is a very strong person, loves life and knows that there are more to worry about than past experienced, she has moved on and has let the wrong in her life make her stronger. With all of the symptoms that come with PTSD you have to be sure what you are going through, you just need to know you are not alone. Knowing whether the trauma that you have been through will cause PTSD is the biggest challenge, and also finding your cure. I have learned in doing this research that, it has helped me understand how to deal with my personal experiences in life that has made me doubt a close friend. I have decided I need to come to my own conclusions whether or not I am going to trust the disease is real or if the stories are in fact just stories. Hundreds of Americans are diagnosed with this disorder, its finding out who is using the disorder to escape the responsibility of life. References: Associated Press, (January 4, 2012), Types of Trauma: War. www. ptsd. va. gov. Retrieved on March 22, 2013. Associated Press, (November 20, 2009), Mental Health Effects of Serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. www. ptsdsupport. com. Retrieved on March 22, 2013 Kaminer, D. , Seedat, S. , Stein, D. J. , (June 2005), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children, 4(2): 121-125. www. ncbi. nim. nih. gov. Retrieved on March 24, 2013. Crimesider Staff, Tingle, T. , (March 25, 2013), Jodi Arias Trial: Expert defends murder defendant’s diagnosis of PTSD, amnesia. www. cbsnews. com. Retrieved March 25, 2013 Personal insight and quote from Brower, K. , (March 21, 2013) Rosenthal, M. , (2012) Statistics, www. healmyptsd. com, Retrieved March 30, 2013