Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Research Paper

Problem Statement and Description

Although oblivious to some, we are shaped by our surroundings and experiences into who we are as human beings. Most of our actions are often as a response to a certain alteration to our environment and we, therefore, attempt to regain normalcy through the response we give to a certain situation. Having an inhospitable climate would, therefore, suggest that our responses are not in the best possible functional state that they can be in. In relation, acquisition of an individual's knowledge can be related directly to observing others in the context of social experiences and interactions.

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Post-traumatic stress disorder commonly abbreviated as (PTSD) refers to a mental disease that affects a person after they get exposed to traumatizing events or occurrences such as; rape (sexual assault), traffic accidents, war among other mentally disturbing happenings that significantly pose a threat to an individual's well-being or existence. Social cognitive behavior, i.e. (S.C.T) states that "when one individual observes another perform a certain task and the consequences, the observer remembers the sequence of these events and uses the information gained to undertake subsequent tasks." SCT is related to PTSD in that; both conditions are dependent on social behavior where the outcome of one event subsequently affects another. In the same way, in which an observer learns from watching another person perform a task, it is the same way in which a person living with PTSD remembers and suffers from the trauma of the disturbing events that they happened to experience.

Some of the symptoms that a person living with PTSD may display include; dreams or nightmares related to the disturbing event that they experienced, hard feelings or thoughts, physical or mental distress, increase in the flight or fight reflex among others. (Herman, 1992, 377-391.) The symptom may manifest up to a month or more after the event's occurrence. Individuals suffering from the stress disorder are more likely to commit self-harm or suicide in an attempt to escape the mental torture or physical harm that hey experienced. Young children, i.e., under the age of 10 are less likely to experience the disorder as compared to older people. However, they may show these distress symptoms through withdrawal and avoiding general interaction. It is not everybody who encounters a traumatic event that suffers from PTSD. (Weathers et al., Vol. 462). People who have been through interpersonal trauma such as rape or child abuse are more likely to suffer from the disorder as compared to those who have experienced non- assault trauma in events such as road accidents or natural catastrophes. Diagnosis of the disease gets made when the above symptoms manifest after the victim has undergone a traumatizing event.

Among some of the predisposing factors to the disorder may be related to an individuals line of work, i.e., people working in specific fields are more likely to suffer from PTSD more than others. One such career is the military. Soldiers are always at war on the battlefields and every day is a struggle for survival in the line of duty. Events taking place here could be traumatizing rang from the loud explosions, bodies of fallen casualties among others; this is because their jobs are more hazardous and they get always exposed to risks and life-threatening events. People working in such conditions are therefore more comfortable to get the disorder unlike in other professions. The problem with PTSD is that it affects not only the traumatized individual but also those living around him. (Foa, Keane, Friedman, & Cohen, 2008). This is the case for military families who have individuals that served in the military and ended up getting the disorder. In the past years, PTSD has been referred to with different names such as war neurosis, soldier's heart, shell shock, and the thousand-year stare. Most of these names are militarily related as the condition is a common occurrence to those in this profession.

Post-traumatic stress disorder can make it hard to live with somebody. Sharing a room with someone who is always freaked out, having nightmares, and is typically afraid of most things that may remind them of the traumatizing events is not easy. These are among the challenges that most military families go through once their members get the disorder. Research shows that war veterans have way more marital problems than other couples. (Palmer, 2008, 205-217.) This is because people living with PTSD have a hard time showing emotions and are often hard to relate with.

Contextual Analysis and Possible Interventions

Once PTSD has set in, and the family members of the affected understand what ails their loved one, the next step of interventions or measures that can be put in place to help ease the existing condition can be put in place. Military officers who suffer from the disorder are often as a result of war trauma that results from disturbing events that they experienced in the line of duty. This, therefore, goes to ease the process of identifying possible solutions to alleviating or treating the disorder.

For military veterans, one possible solution to helping curb PTSD is avoiding stuff like action movies that may have a violent action which may lead to the reoccurrence of the dreadful memories that are disturbing to the patient. It is not necessarily that the affected gives up their hobbies or leisure activities since alternatives are available. For instance, instead of watching action movies that may trigger the disorder, one may opt to watch other kinds of movies such as comedy or drama which may be as equally entertaining and also beneficial in keeping their minds occupied.

Other proven solutions for people suffering from the condition include sports and other bodybuilding activities. Military families can help their loved ones take part in these activities as part of the recovery process. Studies have shown that the disorder patients who take up new activities that help to keep their minds occupied, these patients are more likely to experience a quicker recovery compared to those who opt to remain withdrawn and idle. Other solutions may include attending open forums and getting to interact with people who have been through a similar ordeal and getting to express oneself. This goes a long way in giving the affected the much-needed assurance and also helping them that they are not the only ones who have been through the horrible experience.

Families often opt to go into therapy when they realize that the situation is running out of hand. This may come as a result of constant tantrums or when the victim shows signs of inability to interact like they used to before. Depression may set in when the family gets engulfed by a feeling of loss of a loved one, the hope of thing going back to where they were before is lost. For military families that lived within the base, neglect and loneliness could set in when they have to leave the bottom as their family member can no longer serve in the military. Such factors contribute to seeking therapy help as the families hope that it will be helpful in setting thing back to normal. Pity for the affected victim may be another factor that makes these families seek therapy. With the optimism that this rehabilitation will help the victim recover from their condition, family members are usually willing to go to any length to help. Being the one responsible for the family, most people tend to suffer from anger or guilt issues when they cannot make a difference for their loved one when they see them suffering from the agony of the traumatic event they experienced. All these factors contribute to families seeking therapy help.

However, help is not always as easy to reach. Various obstacles come along such as finances, avoidance, i.e., either the victim or family may be in denial about the situation at hand thus making seeking mental illness services quite cumbersome. The primary obstacle to finding psychological health is the financial constraint. When a service officer is affected by PTSD, they may either have to leave work for a while or permanently. (Gewirtz, Erbes, Polusny, Forgatch, & DeGarmo, 2011, 56.) In the case of permanent loss of a job, the family is likely to experience problems in their finances especially if the affected member was the primary provider.

Proposed Solutions and Considerations

Medical

To maintain a functional state after a traumatic event, there are various medication options that one may consider apart from therapy. Although personal acceptance and trying to cope with the experience go a long way in helping in recovery from traumatic events, prescription drugs such as paroxetine, fluoxetine, and venlafaxine are such drugs. Some antidepressants such as Particular serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) may have some advantage for PTSD symptoms. Tricyclic antidepressants are similarly successful yet are less well tolerated. Evidence offers help for a little or unobtrusive change with sertraline, fluoxetine, paroxetine, and venlafaxine. Thus, these four drugs are thought to be first-line prescriptions for PTSD.

Benzodiazepines get not suggested for the treatment of PTSD because of an absence of proof of advantage and danger of exacerbating PTSD symptoms. Some medical officials believe that the utilization of benzodiazepines is contraindicated for great worry, as this gathering of medications advances separation and ulterior revivals. (Warner, Appenzeller, Warner, & Grieger, 2009, 2). Nevertheless, some utilization benzodiazepines with an alert for here and now uneasiness and insomnia. While benzodiazepines can ease intense nervousness, there is no predictable confirmation that they can stop the improvement of PTSD and may build the danger of creating PTSD 2 five times more. Additionally, benzodiazepines may decrease the viability of psychotherapeutic petitions, and there is some confirmation that benzodiazepines may add to the advancement and chronification of PTSD. For the individuals who as of now have PTSD, benzodiazepines may decline and drag out the course of ailment, by compounding psychotherapy results, and causing or intensifying animosity, gloom (counting suicidality), and substance use.

Drawbacks incorporate the danger of building up a benzodiazepine reliance, resistance (i.e., here and now benefits wearing off with time), and withdrawal disorder; moreover, people with PTSD (even those without a past filled with liquor or medication abuse) are at an expanded danger of manhandling benzodiazepines. Due to various different medicines with more prominent adequacy for PTSD and less dangers (e.g., delayed presentation, intellectual handling treatment, eye development desensitization and reprocessing, subjective rebuilding treatment, injury centered psychological social therapy, brief diverse psychotherapy, story treatment, stretch immunization preparing, serotonergic antidepressants, adrenergic inhibitors, antipsychotics, and even anticonvulsants), benzodiazepines ought to be considered generally contraindicated until the point that all other treatment choices are exhausted. (Monson, Taft, & Fredman, 2009 707-714.) For the individuals who contend that benzodiazepines ought to be utilized sooner in the most extreme cases, the antagonistic danger of disinhibition (related with suicidality, hostility, and violations) and clinical dangers of deferring or hindering complete viable medications, make other elective medicines ideal (e.g., inpatient, private, fractional hospitalization, severe outpatient, rationalization conduct treatment; and other quick-acting steadying drugs, for example, trazodone, mirtazapine, amitriptyline, doxepin, prazosin, propranolol, guanfacine, c...