POSTT

RAUMATIC

STR

ESS

DISORDER: A

PSYC

HOSOCIAL L

OOK

AT P

TSD

CO

L E S

TU

ER

KE

NATURE OF THE DISORDER

• PTSD occurs most often following traumatic events in an individual’s life

• Sarafino & Smith state “Experiencing an extremely severe stressor that creates intense fear and horror leads to this psychiatric condition” (Sarafino & Smith, 2011).

• Symptoms can be physical, social, and mental

FACTORS AFFECTING PTSD

• Stress

• Reminders:

- Seeing people involved

- Verbal cues

- Seeing pictures/videos of event

TREATMENT

• “Research suggests that individuals with PTSD often experience adverse mental and physical health outcomes, highlighting the necessity of developing and empirically examining treatment approaches for PTSD” (Walter et al., 2011).

• “Studies have shown that behavior modification therapy with behavioral and cognitive methods can prevent this disorder after a trauma and help people overcome it if it develops” (Sarafino & Smith, 2011).

• Treatment Options

- Cognitive Processing Therapy

- Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy

• Social support is KEY

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

• Never been personally diagnosed, but have seen symptoms first hand

• Peer struggled on a daily basis with both emotional and social symptoms

• Symptoms can truly be life-changing, can be dangerous if not controlled

OVERVIEW

• PTSD is caused by a traumatic event experienced in an individual’s life

• Event may be life-threatening; could be natural disaster, car accident, war-related, etc.

• Symptoms can be debilitating, may be physical, social, psychological

• Treatment can be useful, includes behavioral modification, cognitive therapy, etc.