Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
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Sebastian Junger’s central theme is the epidemic of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) suffered by returning American war fighters that is exponentially higher than any previous conflict in world history.
Prior Local PTSD Events in Kenosha
Thursday 2/16 6:30 pm Unity Masonic Lodge, 4320 Washington Road (Call 414-382-5364 for more information) Author/Vietnam War Veteran Mike Orban will speak about his experience with PTSD Saturday 2/18 2-6 pm Kenosha American Legion Post 21, 504 58th Street PTSD Healing Connections (Call Laura Cox 262-496-4626 or visit www.acuwellwi.com) |
Google Partners with NAMI to Increase Understanding of PTSD
NAMI is excited to partner with Google once again on a posttraumatic stress disorder screening questionnaire. This screening tool can be a crucial step toward getting a proper diagnosis and treatment for this condition.
When searching for "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder," “PTSD” or related queries on Google using your mobile phone, you will see a Knowledge Panel that gives you the option to tap “check if you may have PTSD.” This will bring you to PC-PTSD-5, a clinically validated screening questionnaire to assess your likelihood of having this condition. (Note: getting an in-person assessment is essential to a diagnosis of PTSD and this screening tool can give you important information to discuss with your doctor.)
Click here to go Google’s blog, where you can read more about this important new feature.
NAMI is excited to partner with Google once again on a posttraumatic stress disorder screening questionnaire. This screening tool can be a crucial step toward getting a proper diagnosis and treatment for this condition.
When searching for "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder," “PTSD” or related queries on Google using your mobile phone, you will see a Knowledge Panel that gives you the option to tap “check if you may have PTSD.” This will bring you to PC-PTSD-5, a clinically validated screening questionnaire to assess your likelihood of having this condition. (Note: getting an in-person assessment is essential to a diagnosis of PTSD and this screening tool can give you important information to discuss with your doctor.)
Click here to go Google’s blog, where you can read more about this important new feature.
Traumatic events, such as military combat, assault, an accident or a natural disaster, can have long-lasting negative effects. Sometimes our biological responses and instincts, which can be life-saving during a crisis, leave people with ongoing psychological symptoms because they are not integrated into consciousness.
Because the body is busy increasing the heart rate, pumping blood to muscles for movement and preparing the body to fight off infection and bleeding in case of a wound, all bodily resources and energy get focused on physically getting out of harm’s way. This resulting damage to the brain’s response system is called posttraumatic stress response or disorder, also known as PTSD.
PTSD affects 3.5% of the U.S. adult population—about 7.7 million Americans—but women are more likely to develop the condition than men. About 37% of those cases are classified as severe. While PTSD can occur at any age, the average age of onset is in a person’s early 20s.
Symptoms
The symptoms of PTSD fall into the following categories.
Diagnosis
Symptoms of PTSD usually begin within 3 months after a traumatic event, but occasionally emerge years afterward. Symptoms must last more than a month to be considered PTSD. PTSD is often accompanied by depression, substance abuse or another anxiety disorder.
People can describe symptoms in a variety of ways. How a person describes symptoms often depends on the cultural lens she is looking through. In Western cultures, people generally talk about their moods or feelings, whereas in many Eastern cultures, people more commonly refer to physical pain. African Americans and Latinos are more likely to be misdiagnosed, so they should look for a health care professional who understands their background and shares their expectations for treatment.
Because young children have emerging abstract cognitive and limited verbal expression, research indicates that diagnostic criteria needs to be more behaviorally anchored and developmentally sensitive to detect PTSD in preschool children. Read more on the preschool subtype at the National Center for PTSD.
Treatment
PTSD is treated and managed in several ways.
Related Conditions
Someone with PTSD may have additional disorders, as well as thoughts of or attempts at suicide:
Because the body is busy increasing the heart rate, pumping blood to muscles for movement and preparing the body to fight off infection and bleeding in case of a wound, all bodily resources and energy get focused on physically getting out of harm’s way. This resulting damage to the brain’s response system is called posttraumatic stress response or disorder, also known as PTSD.
PTSD affects 3.5% of the U.S. adult population—about 7.7 million Americans—but women are more likely to develop the condition than men. About 37% of those cases are classified as severe. While PTSD can occur at any age, the average age of onset is in a person’s early 20s.
Symptoms
The symptoms of PTSD fall into the following categories.
- Intrusive Memories, which can include flashbacks of reliving the moment of trauma, bad dreams and scary thoughts.
- Avoidance, which can include staying away from certain places or objects that are reminders of the traumatic event. A person may also feel numb, guilty, worried or depressed or having trouble remembering the traumatic event.
- Dissociation, which can include out-of-body experiences or feeling that the world is "not real" (derealization).
- Hypervigilance, which can include being startled very easily, feeling tense, trouble sleeping or outbursts of anger.
- Acting out scary events during playtime
- Forgetting how/being unable to talk
- Being excessively clingy with adults
- Extreme temper tantrums, as well as overly aggressive behavior
Diagnosis
Symptoms of PTSD usually begin within 3 months after a traumatic event, but occasionally emerge years afterward. Symptoms must last more than a month to be considered PTSD. PTSD is often accompanied by depression, substance abuse or another anxiety disorder.
People can describe symptoms in a variety of ways. How a person describes symptoms often depends on the cultural lens she is looking through. In Western cultures, people generally talk about their moods or feelings, whereas in many Eastern cultures, people more commonly refer to physical pain. African Americans and Latinos are more likely to be misdiagnosed, so they should look for a health care professional who understands their background and shares their expectations for treatment.
Because young children have emerging abstract cognitive and limited verbal expression, research indicates that diagnostic criteria needs to be more behaviorally anchored and developmentally sensitive to detect PTSD in preschool children. Read more on the preschool subtype at the National Center for PTSD.
Treatment
PTSD is treated and managed in several ways.
- Medications, including mood stabilizers, antipsychotic medications and antidepressants.
- Psychotherapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy or group therapy.
- Self-management strategies, such as "self-soothing". Many therapy techniques, including mindfulness, are helpful to ground a person and bring her back to reality after a dissociative episode or a flashback.
- Service animals, especially dogs, can help soothe some of the symptoms of PTSD.
- Though PTSD cannot be cured, it can be treated effectively.
Related Conditions
Someone with PTSD may have additional disorders, as well as thoughts of or attempts at suicide:
- Anxiety disorders, including Generalized Anxiety Disorder and OCD
- Borderline Personality Disorder
- Depression
- Substance abuse
