Kelsey Bridges
University of Hawaii at Hilo
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as PTSD, refers to deep emotional wounds. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience (Myers, 2011). Post Traumatic Stress Disorder categorizes it self as one of the anxiety disorders. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder results from being exposed to an event, or even a series of events, that is very over whelming and stressful; like war, rape or abuse (Schiraldi, 2000). Normal people give normal responses to an abnormal situation (Schiraldi, 2000). They say that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a normal response to an abnormal situation because the condition is understandable and what happened has overwhelmed normal coping responses (Schiraldi, 2000).
There are a wide variety of events that happen in life, which can trigger Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. All of the events fall under three categories. These three categories include; Intentional Human, which is the most difficult to recover from, followed by Unintentional Human, then Acts of Nature, which is the least complex to deal with (Beckner & Arden, 2008). Some examples of Intentional Human events are: Combat War, Sexual Abuse, Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Torture, Criminal Assault, Hostage, Terrorism, Witnessing a Homicide, Kidnapping and many more (Beckner & Arden, 2008). Some Unintentional Human events are: Fires, Burns, Explosions, Vehicle Accidents, Plane Crashes, Nuclear Disasters, Surgical Damage to Body/Loss of Body Part, and lots more (Beckner & Arden, 2008). Acts of Nature events include: Hurricanes, Tornados, Floods, Typhoons, Earthquakes, Avalanches, Fires, Droughts, Attacked by an Animal (such as a Lion), Sudden Life-Threatening Illness, Volcanic Eruptions, Drought, Sudden Death (loss of
References: Myers, D. (2011). Exploring psychology. (8th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 464-465). New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Schiraldi, G. (2000). The post-traumatic stress disorder source book. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Lowell House. Beckner, V., & Arden, J. (2008). Conquering post-traumatic stress disorder. Beverly, MA: Fair Winds Press. England, D. (2009). The post-traumatic stress disorder relationship. Avon, MA: Adams Media. Flannery, R. (1997). Post-traumatic stress disorder. New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company. Lindy, J., Friedman, M., & Wilson, J. (2001). Treating psychological trauma and ptsd. New York, NY: Guilford Press.