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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a biopsychosocial condition that can develop following confronting or witnessing a traumatic event such as military combat, natural disaster, terrorist incidents, serious motor vehicle accidents, or violent assaults. An estimated 7.8 percent of the population struggles with PTSD during their lifetime and approximately 30 percent of veterans develop PTSD.
Trauma survivors often experience feelings of intense fear, horror, and helplessness. However, children may react in a disorganized or agitated manner. Typically, individuals will re-experience their trauma by having upsetting memories including recurrent images, thoughts, dreams, flashbacks, and distress when exposed to reminders of the event. In order to reduce uncomfortable feelings, trauma survivors avoid conversations, people, places, and activities that are associated with the trauma. They might complain of concentration difficulty, detachment from others and their own emotions, problems remembering specific aspects of the traumatic event, sleep difficulty, irritability, and difficulty sitting still due to heightened awareness of their surroundings.
If you recognize these symptoms in you or a loved one who has experienced a trauma, a referral for a comprehensive PTSD evaluation with a mental health professional is recommended. Since PTSD occurs with other conditions including depression, bipolar disorder, chronic pain, and substance abuse, a multidisciplinary approach to care involving a primary care physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, and/or clinical social worker is advantageous. There is hope for patients with PTSD since medication and therapy have been shown to effectively treat this condition.
Author: Gary Proctor, MD
Websites of Interest
| Military Mental Health Web site |
Mental health self-assessment program for depression, bipolar disorder, alcohol use, anxiety and PTSD for service members and their families. |
| U.S. Army News Web Site |
The Army's Chain Training on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury |
| Walter Reed Army Insitute of Research Web Site |
The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research's BattleMind Training |
| Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress Web Site |
Provides knowledge, leadership and applications for preparing for, responding to and recovering from the consequences of disaster and trauma. |
| National Center for PTSD Web site |
US Dept of Veterans Affairs (Nationall Center for PTSD) |
| Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) |
A bimonthly newsletter from the Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) focused on optimizing psychological health and traumatic brain injury (TBI) treatment for the Department of Defense (DoD). The DCoE establishes quality standards for: clinical care; education and training; prevention; patient, family and community outreach; and program excellence. |
| After Deployment |
A mental wellness resource for Service Members, Veterans and Military Families. The mission of afterdeployment.org is to assist you and the people close to you to manage your after-deployment concerns. |
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