Ptsd: a Focus on Civilians and Grief

PTSD

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Running Head: PTSD

PTSD: A Focus on Civilians and Grief
Brian A. Wong
Marshall University

Author Note
Brian A. Wong, junior psychology major, counseling minor, Department of Psychology,
Marshall University.
This research was an assignment in Abnormal Psychology (PSY 408) taught by Jason R.
Weaver, due Monday, April 23, 2012.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Brian A. Wong,
Psychology Major, Department of Psychology. Email: [e-mail]

PTSD

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When one hears that someone is grieving a loss, they may think that a loved one died.

Many do not know that in order for one to grieve, the loss does not have to involve a death. A similar idea applies to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); many associate PTSD with military combat. Although PTSD is commonly known to be diagnosed in war veterans, PTSD can also be diagnosed in civilians. Often, as in the case with bereavement and grief, little to no attention is given to young children in such situations; children tend to cope differently with traumatic events. Treatment options for PTSD include psychodynamic, behavioral, and existential therapies. Another related topic of importance related to PTSD is grief. There are some similarities in grief and PTSD, especially with coping.
According to the American Psychiatric Association (2001), the essential feature of PTSD is the direct exposure to a traumatic event where death or serious injury is threatened (or learning about such a traumatic event that is personal to the person learning about it) and causes “threat to one’s physical integrity” (p. 463) and the “traumatic event is persistently reexperienced” (p.
468). As a result, the person experiences fear, helplessness, or horror. In order for a person to be a candidate for a PTSD diagnosis, the symptoms must be experienced for a month or more. Also, clinically significant distress or impairment in functioning related to occupational

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