The Symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can be found in the soldiers as far back as the 1800.
There is a new trauma experienced by women called MST. Military Sexual Trauma.
The Symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can be found in the soldiers as far back as the 1800.
1.During the Civil War it was called "Soldiers Heart."
2. During WWI men with mental fatigue were diagnosed as having "Soldiers Heart" and “The Effort Syndrome”
3. During WWI and WWII it was called “Shell Shock” and “Combat Fatigue”
4. In 1952 The American Psychiatric Association called it “Stress Response Syndrome”
5. In 1968 trauma related disorders were lumped together in an area called, “Situational Disorders.” After Vietnam, if the disorder lasted more then six months, it was considered a preexisting disorder which some say this resulted in many walking wounded that made up the high suicide rate.
6. In 1980 “Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome” changed to a “Disorder” and was placed under anxiety disorders.
A Syndrome is a group of signs and symptoms that characterize a disease or abnormal condition.
A Disorder is an illness.
Not until Vietnam were there any serious studies on soldiers who had experienced a traumatic event which was caused by a catastrophic stressor outside of the range of usual human experience such as war, torture, rape or natural disaster.
The Symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
1. A Person witnessed, experienced, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death, serious injury, or threat to the physical integrity of the self.
2. The person’s response involved fear, helplessness, or horror.
3. Experiencing the traumatic event in images, thoughts, and dreams.
4. Reliving the event in illusions, hallucinations, disassociate flashbacks
Including when waking or when intoxicated.
5. Reacting to exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspects of the traumatic event.
6. Avoidance of stimuli associated with the traumatic event. Trying not to think of war.
a. Avoiding feelings of love because you lost someone you cared for.
b. Trying to never feel guilt.
7. Avoiding activities, places, and people that arouse recollections.
8. An inability to recall important aspects of the trauma.
9. Markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities that you used to do. A general numbness to responsiveness.
10. Feelings of detachment or estrangement of others.
Not being able to commit to others.
11. A Restricted range of feelings. Unable to have feelings of love or to cry.
12. A sense of a foreshortened future. You do not expect to have a marriage, children, or a long life span.
13. Taking risk like drunk or stoned driving or jumping out of air planes etc.
(Sky Diving)
If these symptoms did not exist before the trauma.
14 Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.
15. Irritability or outburst of anger.
16. Difficulty concentrating, following conversations, and part of you is focused on scanning for danger.
17. Hyper vigilance. Always looking for danger, worrying about people getting hurt, and always putting your back to a wall. Still looking for trip wires.
18 Exaggerated startle response.
19. If the duration of the disturbance for more then a month.
20. Disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
These symptoms may be acute three months or less.
These symptoms may be chronic three months or more.
There may a delayed onset.
Treatment includes counseling, a long list of drugs, and transitional opportunities.
The most effective for African American Veterans is long term group therapy.
1. My personal example of PTSD
2. How many people have had a family member or friend who has suffered from PTSD?
My partner Derrick is going to talk about the more severe aspects of PTSD
