Essay On Shell Shock

PTSD (Shell Shock)
PTSD was founded back during the Civil War. The first documented case of PTSD was in 1865, during the Civil War. PTSD stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is a disorder by failure to recover after experiencing or witnessing a horrible event. Most cases of PTSD come from military members, who were in combat situations. During WW1 after November 11th (Armistice Day) was the first time they put solders in a group, and said they had shell shock. At that time, it was called shell shock because it was a reaction to the explosion of artillery shells from a lot of solders during the time. Symptoms would include panic, sleep problems, and several other types of symptoms. Shell shock was first known to be caused by hidden damage to the
brain caused by the impact of the recoil from bigger types of guns. That theory would be changed when more soldiers who were not near explosions had similar symptoms as those that were. Most of the solders felt nostalgic and homesick. During WW1 a lot of the solders with the condition got a few days to relax and sleep. After that they would send the solders back out to the front line. For those with severe or chronic symptoms, treatments would focus on daily activity to increase there functions, in hopes of sending them back to live more productive civilian lives. In European hospitals, hydrotherapy or electrotherapy were used along with hypnosis as treatment for PTSD.
In the middle of WWII, shell shock was replaced with Combat Stress Reaction. With long days and nights became common in WWII, soldiers became battle weary and exhausted. Some American military leaders, such as Lieutenant Gen. George S. Patton, did not believe that battle fatigue was real. Up to half of World War I discharges in the military were caused from the result of combat exhaustion. Combat Stress Reaction was treated using the "PIE" (Proximity, Immediacy, and Expectancy) technique. PIE required treating casualties as fast as possible and making sure people suffering expected complete recovery so they could return to combat after a few days of rest. The benefits of relationships and support became a focus point of both preventing stress and promoting recovery.
In 1952, the American Psychiatric Association produced the first diagnostic and Manual of Mental Disorders, which included PTSD. This diagnosis was made for people who were basically normal, but had symptoms from traumatic events such as disaster or combat. The problem with this diagnosis, was that its reactions to trauma would resolve relatively quickly. If symptoms were still present after six months, another diagnosis had to be made. Even though that evidence to exposure of trauma was associated with psychological problems, this diagnosis was eliminated in the second edition of the Manual of Mental Disorders. The second manual included adjustment reaction to adult life, which was not enough evidence to capture a PTSD-like condition. This diagnosis was limited to these three examples of trauma: unwanted pregnancy, fear linked to someone with military combat, and Ganser syndrome in most prisoners who were going to face the death sentence. In 1980, they added the third edition to the manual of mental disorders. It came from research involving returning Vietnam War Veterans, Holocaust survivors, sexual trauma victims, and a few others. The third edition to the Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for PTSD was remade in 1987, 1994, 2000, and 2013 to show the new research doctors, and psychologist found. PTSD is common amongst a lot of people in the world. Recent research shows that 4 out of every 100 American men and 10 out every 100 American women will be diagnosed with PTSD.
Most veterans go to the VA for help with PTSD, and classes to help them live with it. VA's National Center for PTSD was made by Congress in 1989. It continues to be at the front of progress in the understanding and treatment of PTSD. In addition to improving upon existing treatments, they research effective new treatments for veterans. They are also developing new educational products to help our veterans. Today the VA controls more than 200 specialized programs for treating people with PTSD. In 2013, more than a half a million Veterans diagnosed with PTSD received treatment from VA medical centers and clinics.
The VA provides the most effective, care for PTSD for solders. It has created programs to make sure the VA workers have had training in some of the top places in the world to treat people with PTSD.
One of the top therapies for people with PTSD is Cognitive Processing Therapy.
Cognitive Processing Therapy is one type of cognitive behavioral therapy. It is a 12-session psychotherapy for PTSD. CPT teaches you how to self-evaluate and change the upsetting thoughts you have had since your trauma. By changing your thoughts, you can change how you feel each day to motivate yourself to move forward in life.
Another therapy for people with PTSD is Prolonged Exposure (PE). PE is also supported by the Institute of Medicine Committee on Treatment of PTSD. It is proven to be one of the most effective treatments for PTSD. PE is a psychotherapy, and, is one of the twelve types of cognitive behavioral therapy. PE will teach you to slowly approach trauma-related memories, feelings, and places that you may have been avoiding since your traumatic experience. By confronting these challenges, you can actually start to get rid of some of your PTSD symptoms. A lot of people joke about PTSD, but as an infantry men in US Army have several friends, and leaders that have to live and deal with this every day. More people should be educated about PTSD because you don’t have to be in the military to be effected, or diagnosed with
PTSD.