PTSD FINAL PAPER

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Sharamane Jackson
Georgia Military College
May 8, 2016
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Introduction
A psychiatric problem or disorder that results after one going through traumatic experience is termed as Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The traumatic experience is being involved or witnessing a life threatening event, such as rape, accident, fear, feeling helpless, emotions, guilt, anger, shame among many other such feelings. Feeling afraid or emotional after a traumatic experience is normal. The traumatic situation triggers body changes in response to it. This is termed as flight response and is meant for self-protection against danger or a threatening situation. The flight response combined with the traumatic situation create symptoms in our body. The truth is that most people recover symptoms immediately or shortly after the trauma naturally. However if the symptoms persist the individual may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder). Individuals with PTSD feel afraid, frightened or stressed even in the absence of danger.
As per the U.S. Dept. of V.A. Natl. Center for PTSD, 2010, roughly 30% of individuals develop a chronic form of PTSD (Meichenbaum, 2014). The fact that there are no race requirements, no age requirements, and no gender requirements, demonstrates it as a serious disorder in society. The study targets on understanding the historical underpinnings of PTSD, establishing the causes, symptoms, impacts and treatment of PTSD. It further attempts to demonstrate the need and measures to curb the PTSD cases for a healthy nation. All these plus a brief history are meant to help people understand the PTSD disorder.
History
In the course of the early 1800's military medics began diagnosing soldiers with fatigue following the stress of encounter. Mental shutdown marked the exhaustion due to a group or individual trauma. Like in the present, armed forces of the 1800's were not supposed to be afraid or show any panic in the heat of battle. The only therapy for this condition was to bring the afflicted militaries to the rear for a while then send them to the fight. Through extreme and recurring stress, the soldiers became exhausted as part of their body's natural shock reaction. During the same time, in England, there was a disorder known as railway spine or railway hysteria that had a remarkable resemblance to what is termed PTSD today, exhibited by individuals who had been in the tragic railway accidents of the period (Military, 2001). DR. Mendez DaCosta published a paper in 1876 examining Civil War combat veterans with Soldiers Heart: The symptoms comprised heart arrhythmias, startle reactions and hyper-vigilance.
During World War One overwhelming mental fatigue was diagnosed as the effort syndrome or soldier's heart. Many British soldiers were retired from the army since they were unable to function in combat. A condition termed as shell shock occurred during WWI followed in WWII by the combat fatigue. These expressions were used to describe those soldiers who exhibited anxiety and stress as the result of combat trauma. The official term of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) did not arise about until 1980 when the Third edition of the Diagnostic and St...