Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: War Veterans

Post-Traumatic Stress disorder is usually associated with War veterans although war veterans are victims of this disease, it is also described in civilian settings too, involving Natural disasters, mass catastrophes, and serious accidental injuries. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental health condition that 's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event (mayoclinic.org). There are many components that involve PTDS, it includes many different types of victims, a long history, and five different abroad diagnoses. The five different types of PTSD are Normal Stress Response PTSD, Acute Stress Response

Although there was never a diagnosis for the symptoms of PTSD, many countries dating back to 1678 have called it many different things but never connected it with a diagnosis as a whole. Up until the 1980s all of the symptoms were connected with war. They were all just called sad, or distraught over the sights of war. By the 1700s, physicians began to have clearer conceptualizations of the disorder which would eventually be known as PTSD. Dominique Jean Larry, a prominent French surgeon, described the disorder as having three stages: 1) “heightened excitement and imagination,” 2) “period of fever and prominent gastrointestinal symptoms,” and 3) “frustration and depression”. By 1905, PTSD, then known as “battle shock,” was regarded as a legitimate medical condition by the Russian Army. Around 1855 in the United States Dorothea Dix started advocating for the treatment of mental illness, and prompted for the establishment of the Government for the mentally insane in Washington DC. During the civil war there was an increase in patients in insane asylums to the fact that soldiers were being committed due to the disasters of war. Although PTSD is a serious disorder soldiers who suffered from PTSD were saw as weak for succumbing to what was seen as the precursor of the disorder– homesickness. By 1905, PTSD, then known as “battle shock,” was regarded as a legitimate medical condition by the Russian

PTSD is usually associated with at least one other major psychiatric disorder such as depression, alcohol or substance abuse, panic disorder, and other anxiety disorders. The best results are achieved when both PTSD and the other disorder(s) are treated together rather than one after the other. This is especially true for PTSD and alcohol or substance abuse. The same treatments used for uncomplicated PTSD should be used for these patients, with the addition of carefully managed treatment for the other psychiatric or addiction problems. (Types of