Post Traumatic Disorder (APA)

In 1980, the APA which is the American Psychiatric Association added Post Traumatic Disorder to DSM-III. PTSD is very unique disorder because of the great important placed on the traumatic stressor, an etiological agent. PTSD was a psychological condition of Veterans who were unable to face their experiences on the battlefield. PTSD is an anxiety disorder where some people develop after living or seeing event that caused or threatened serious death of a person or serious harm. PTSD is related to changes in brain structure/function in which these changes provide clues to the origin of PTSD, treatment and prevention of PTSD.
Symptoms
To start, there are four types of PTSD symptoms which are reliving the event aka re-experiencing symptoms,
PTSD can occur at any age but the average onset of this disorder is around the age of early 20s. According to NIMH, about 7.7 million people in US ages 18 or older have PTSD. The symptoms will eventually appear within 3 months of trauma (Acute PTSD). However, in rare cases symptoms can take years to appear, which is the chronic state of PTSD. Different types of trauma lead to different age of onset of PTSD. Current research states that not everyone will develop PTSD and also states that genetic, psychological and social factors may make some people more predisposed than others. PTSD is more common in adults than in children. Children can have PTSD too. Symptoms can be similar or different depending on the age of the child. Symptoms that differ in children are acting out scary events during playtime, unable to talk, aggressive behavior, and being clingy with adults. As child gets older, the symptoms are more like those of adults. The most common event to cause PTSD in childhood are major accident, natural disasters, kidnapping, brutal physical abuse, sexual abuse and war and
PTSD is caused by many factors such as pre-trauma factors, biological factors, genetic and environmental factors, and posttraumatic factors. The possible causes are survival mechanism, adrenaline levels, and changes in the brain. At first, symptoms of PTSD are result of instinctive mechanism intended to help you survive further traumatic experiences. For example, the “flashbacks may people with PTSD experience may force you to think about the event in detail so you're better prepared if it happens again. The “feeling of being "on edge" (hyperarousal) may develop to help you react quickly in another crisis” (PTSD-causes, 2015). Next, many studies have shown that patients with PTSD have abnormal levels of stress hormones. When in danger, the body produces adrenaline, which is a stress hormone that triggers a reaction in the body (flight or fight response) to calm the pain. Studies have shown that people with PTSD produces abnormal amount of stress hormone when not in danger or stress and “ it's thought this may be responsible for the numbed emotions and hyperarousal experienced by some people with PTSD” (PTSD-causes, 2015). Lastly, changes in brain causes PTSD. In people with PTSD, parts of brain is involved in emotional processing. One part of the brain that is involved in emotional processing is the hippocampus. The hippocampus is smaller in size and the “ malfunctioning