Trauma-Induced Stress

SHOCK( TO POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD)

The concept that exposure to war, one of the most stressful events experienced by human beings, can lead to the development in some persons of a form of mental illness is not new (Mareth and Brooker 186). While one manifestation of this phenomenon, (shell shock,( was recognized prior to the twentieth century, however, those individuals suffering from the phenomenon typically were not perceived as victims of some form of mental illness. Rather, as in the Civil War in the United States, such individuals more often were regarded as cowards and were punished; at times executed as deserters (Talbott 41).

Recognition of severe reactions to war-related trauma-induced stress as a specific, defined mental disorder developed as a consequence of studies of veterans of the Vietnam War, many of who, through flashbacks, relived their past war experiences as if those experiences were occurring in the present (Mareth and Brooker 188). The symptoms of the disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), include recurring memories of and nightmares about combat, sleep difficulties, over reactions to sudden noises or other startling events, and a numbing of emotions (Bower 229). Comorbid psychiatric disorders such as depression, other anxiety disorders, and alcohol and other substance abuse and dependence also frequently characterize individuals suffering fr

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M-III-R in 1987 and the DSM-IV in 1994 (Kizer 1149). Diagnostic criteria for PTSD include a history of exposure to a traumatic event and symptoms from each of three symptom clusters: intrusive recollections, avoidant/numbing symptoms and hyperarousal symptoms. A fifth criterion concerns duration of symptoms. The stressor criterion specifies that a person has been exposed to a catastrophic event involving actual or threatened death or injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of herself or himself or others (American Psychiatric Association 424-428). During this traumatic exposure, the survivor(s subjective response is marked by intense fear, helplessness or horror. The intrusive recollection criterion includes symptoms that are the most distinctive and readily identifiable symptoms of PTSD (American Psychiatric Association 424-428). For individuals with PTSD, the traumatic event remains, sometimes for decades or a lifetime, a dominating psychological experience that retains its power to evoke panic, terror, dread, grief, or despair as manifested in daytime fantasies, traumatic nightmares, and psychotic reenactments known as PTSD flashbacks. Further, traumatic stimuli that trigger recollections of the original event
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Approximate Word count = 5452
Approximate Pages = 22 (250 words per page)

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