Causes of PTSD For Military Members - Free Essay

Introduction

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health problem that occurs in individuals who have witnessed or experienced a terrifying event. Approximately 20% of veterans and military personnel in the United States have this psychiatric disorder because they are exposed to life-threatening events in service (Hanrahan et al., 2017). Here, war-induced psychological trauma remains the primary cause of PTSD for military members. Some of the risk factors are prolonged exposure to combat, torture in service, witnessing death, and severe injuries. These causes manifest themselves in two ways. The first aspect is when troops directly experience life-threatening events that shock their body or mind. The second one is when the officers develop PDSD due to difficulty readjusting to life outside of the service.

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Symptoms of PTSD

This psychiatric problem has four main clusters of symptoms: hyperarousal, avoidance, negative alterations in mood and cognition, and re-experiencing symptoms (Hanrahan et al., 2017). The re-experiencing set consists of symptoms like having nightmares, flashbacks, and memories of the traumatic event. Adverse alterations in cognition and mood symptoms include low self-esteem, poor recall of the traumatic event, and blaming oneself for the disorder. Avoidance symptoms consist of aspects like feeling detached from close friends and a lack of interest in pleasurable activities or places. The patient may also avoid talking about the life-threatening memories of the traumatic event. Hyperarousal symptoms include problems staying or falling asleep, difficulty concentrating, and getting irritable with little or no provocation.

Interventions For Patients With PTSD

There are two recommended nurse-patient interventions for people with PTSD. The first strategy is building a partnership with the patient. However, this partnership should be grounded on the patient's experiences (Hanrahan et al., 2017). In this relationship, the nurse needs to consider patients as experts in their current symptoms and their traumatic past. The second intervention is allowing patients to express their thoughts concerning the traumatic event without imposing personal opinions. This strategy is helpful because commitment to change is sustainable and robust when it originates from the patient.

Motivating Patients to Seek Treatment

Nurses can apply motivational interviewing techniques and principles to encourage patients to seek treatment. Here, motivational interviewing aims to empower individuals with PTSD to take responsibility for the recommended change actions. Nurses ought to express empathy to motivate the patient to seek help. In this regard, the strategy involves sharing patients’ experiences and seeing the situation from their perspective. This strategy encourages patients to share their experiences and positively seek treatment. The second intervention is supporting the patient's self-efficacy. This technique involves making people with PTSD understand that they play a role in the recovery process. Propagating a belief that change is possible helps instill hope that the health problem can be reversed by seeking treatment.

Resources Available For Patients With PTSD

Community referral resources that specialize in evidence-based care for patients with PTSD are helpful. Department of Veterans Affairs offers several programs that can change the mental health of service members (Hanrahan et al., 2017). This organization provides a full range of treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder, including diagnosing, preventing, and screening the disorder. Other resources available for this patient population are private clinicians, the National Center for PTSD, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and the American Psychological Association (Fogger et al., 2016).

How I Could Use Information From the Article

The research article is insightful and informative. I could apply information from this source to assess the symptoms of the psychiatric disorder. PTSD diagnosis criteria will help me assess my patients. During the assessment, I will determine whether individual patients were exposed to a traumatic stressor. This strategy is important because the article states that the disorder only occurs due to exposure to a terrifying event (Hanrahan et al., 2017). Besides, I will apply information about cluster symptoms of PTSD to assess the severity of the psychiatric disorder and design an effective treatment plan for the patient. Information about caring for patients with PTSD will also be helpful. In this regard, I will instill hope on the patients and build partnerships that value patient experiences. Importantly, I will refer my patients to resources that help people with PTSD within their communities.

References

Fogger, S. A., Moore, R., & Pickett, L. (2016). Posttraumatic stress disorder and veterans: Finding hope and supporting healing. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 12(9), 598-604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2016.07.014

Hanrahan, N. P., Judge, K., Olamijulo, G., Seng, L., Lee, M., Wall, P. H., Leake, S. C., Czekanski, E., Thorne-Odem, S., DeMartinis, E. E., Kelly, U. A., Blair, L., & Longmire, W. (2017). The PTSD toolkit for nurses. The Nurse Practitioner, 42(3), 46-55. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.npr.0000488717.90314.62