Example Of Nursing Essay - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Introduction
Psychological Disorder or Mental Disorder is the combination of the over-all physique, mentality and actions of a person that causes an abnormal behavioral pattern. This abnormal behavioral pattern may cause discomfort to the person of the society where he/she is situated. This mental disorder could be caused by genetics, environmental stresses or side effects to abused drugs. One of those psychological disorders is PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD is categorized as an anxiety disorder.
First and foremost what is an anxiety disorder as a classification under mental disorders? Anxiety disorder basing from its root word “Anxiety”, is mainly characterized by the excessive anxiety to any past, present or future events. A person with an anxiety disorder worries about what could happen even if the situation is just normal. The symptoms are classified by shakiness and hyperventilation. But this could vary for every anxiety disorder. Some of these mental disorders are specific phobia, panic disorder and PTSD. They do have their own mental symptoms but they have one thing common, the signs of being too anxious (James, 2013).
Major causes of anxiety disorders include genetic factors and due to drug addiction or drug withdrawal. And to some extend anxiety disorders happen at the same time with other mental disorders such as personality and eating disorders. There are many factors associated with mental and physical activity; physical symptoms, dissociative anxiety, physical tension and mental apprehension. The reactions of a person with anxiety disorders vary in degrees. Some may feel simple nervousness while others are shouting out of terror. PTSD as one of the anxiety disorders is also entitled to its degree of anxiety the patient may feel (US DHHS, 2011).
This paper aims to classify the cause and therapies for PTSD as well as to know the nature of the anxiety disorder.

PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

PTSD categorize as an anxiety disorder could be developed by exposure of traumatic events to a person. These events may include warfare, near death experience, serious injury, sexual assaults and close to death threats. A psychiatrist can diagnose a person if symptoms such as avoidance of memories of the event, hyperarousal that continues for more than a month, excessive anxieties and recurring flashbacks. Additionally, the symptoms of anxiety disorder do not exist prior to the traumatic event (James, 2013).
In most common cases, a person that has PTSD avoids anything that would make him/her remember the event she had gone through. Even discussions of it and even if it is not meant to be heard by him/her. Some cases are classified with temporal amnesia. Meaning the patient chose to not remember the memory of that event. However, the happening on that traumatic event reoccurs through nightmare, sudden flashbacks and recurrent recollections. The PTSD is categorize into three types; acute, chronic and delayed on set. Acute PTSD is diagnosed when the patient only experienced the symptoms for about three months, chronic for about 6 months and delayed for 6 months and above.

Factors that could lead to PTSD are genetics, traumatic events, assaults, and near death experiences.

Situational Events that may trigger PTSD:
Trauma
Every people could experience trauma throughout their lifetime. Men and Women do have different responses to trauma. Most women are likely to experience high degree of anxieties related to the trauma they’ve gone through. Traumas may include accidents and near death experience or serious injuries (Janoff-Bulman, 2002).
Under Trauma are the common situational traumatic events that a person encounters. Military experience is one of the most common PTSD causing events. War veterans are very susceptive to discussions that may include war, bombings and death. The physical injuries these soldiers may take in war increases the chances of having PTSD. Some soldiers who have not undergone therapies has developed another mental disorder such schizophrenia and bipolar personality disorder (Koren, 2010).
Sexual assault or rape also accounts to the most cases of PTSD in women. Rape is a forced entry of a male organ to the female genitalia. After that incident, if the woman knows the suspect and is threaten not to tell authorities, PTSD is likely to be developed. However, even if the crime was reports the patient can still experience PTSD if she has not undergone therapy.

Treatment/Medication and Therapies

There are many efforts made to cure or prevent the development of PTSD to patients that has experienced trauma. Cognitive behavioral therapy is used to some cases and has reported good results. Medications such as propranolol are administered during the therapy. Another type of managing PTSD is a method by mediators or psychiatrist, the critical incident stress management. However, some reviews of the method have given negative feedback. Additionally, the drugs used in the method are degenerative for most patients. Evidently, the World Health Organization has banned the use of benzodiazepines to those that are experiencing PSTD. Anti-depressants are also banned to some extent.
Medications are highly developed by doctors to prevent PTSD right after the traumatic event happened. Cortisol has been used by psychobiological treatment to patients that are admitted to the hospital right after an accident. Cortisol has found major success in stopping the development of PTSD in most patients. The mechanism of the treatment is that it increases the level of cortisol to the patient’s bloodstream that would reduce arousals well as stop GR up regulation (Feldner et al, 2007).
Patients that are exposed to traumatic events are usually treated with psychological debriefing. Victims of natural calamities usually undergo stress debriefing to release their anxieties about the event. The treatment is directly administered right after the event given that the physique of the patient is normal. Some cases have negative result that to some extent patients experienced high degree of anxiety right after the debriefing.
There are still many methods developed nowadays to stop or prevent the development of PTSD. Evidently, physicians and psychiatrist go hand in hand in solving this problem. Varying results to patients could also lead to other treatments and methods in the near future.

References:

Feldner MT, Monson CM, Friedman MJ (2007). "A critical analysis of approaches to targeted PTSD prevention: current status and theoretically derived future directions".Behav Modif 31 (1): 80–116.doi:10.1177/0145445506295057
Koren, D., Norman, D., Cohen, A., Berman, J., & Klein, E. (2005). Increased PTSD Risk With Combat-Related Injury: A Matched Comparison Study of Injured and Uninjured Soldiers Experiencing the Same Combat Events. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162(2), 276-278.
"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)". U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Retrieved 2011-12-16.
James, R. (2007). Crisis Intervention Strategies (6th ed.). Cengage Learning, 2007.