Assignment:
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Diagnosis and Treatment
For this assignment I have choose to write about the diagnosis and treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. Since I am a Veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps this is a mental condition that is near and dear to me.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder most commonly referred to as PTSD with in the VA is considered an Anxiety disorder. What is specific about PTSD is that the condition develops following exposure to an extreme traumatic stressor that the individual personally experiences or witnesses. Examples of traumatic stressors include military combat, violent personal assault, sexual assault, serious auto or plane crashes.
Symptoms of PTSD include recurrent and intrusive recollections of the event or recurrent distressing dreams during which the event is relived. The individual may also experience dissociative states when the individual is awake and relives the event. The individual experiencing the PTSD symptoms will avoid stimuli associated with the trauma such as news about the War, violent movie, or in some extreme cases a certain race all together such as Muslim or Arab if the individual was in the Iraq War. The symptoms also include markedly reduced emotions, diminished interest in hobbies or activities, and persistent anxiety or increased arousal. Some individuals will also report irritability or outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, or completing tasks. (DSM-IV-TR)
PTSD is diagnosed by using 6 categories that contain sub categories. There must be symptoms, which meet each of the 6 categories in order for a diagnosis of PTSD to be confirmed.
The first category is A, which is the most important, is to determine if the individual was exposed to a traumatic event and whether the person experienced the event which involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others and the response to the...