Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) - 1326 Words

Abstract Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD) is a medical condition which depends on both the individual psychological and biologic characteristics of a person who has experienced a traumatizing and possibly life-threatening situation. It occurs as a response to extreme conditions in which the patient’s life was in danger, or those around them had been seriously injured or killed under particularly violent circumstances. Sometimes PTSD develops among people who simply learned of a disastrous occurrence in which their loved ones were involved. It is a condition which may be taken for other stress-induced disorders or depression within the first month, possibly resulting in a false diagnosis, especially when confused with acute stress†¦show more content†¦A patient with PTSD will most likely not consult the aid of mental health professionals. Taking this into account, a primary care physician must have the necessary knowledge of the symptoms and treatment of PTSD. Mental he alth specialists are only to be involved if the treatment remains ineffective for a prolonged period of time, in which case the continued prescription of drugs may have a negative impact on the patient’s physical health. In order to properly diagnose PTSD, the physician must carefully and considerately question the client to find out about any traumatic events they were involved in. A calm and unobtrusive approach is necessary as the subject may be unwilling to describe the circumstances that lead them to develop an anxiety disorder. When a doctor has decided the patient should be treated specifically for PTSD, they observe symptoms such as nightmares depicting the event, flashbacks, which make the patient feel as if the event was taking place again and panic when the subject is brought up in conversation. In addition, an avoidance of the experience often occurs in the form of seemingly forgetting the day of the incident, a detachment from other people, despondency, and loss of interest in all activities. The last group of symptoms for PTSD constitutes increased arousal: the client becomes more easily startled, is quicker to be irritated, and exhibits insomnia or other sleep disorders. These three