Introduction
PTSD is a mental illness that can occur as a result of extreme trauma, such as physical, psychological, or sexual experiences. Traumatized people are more likely to acquire (PTSD), a condition in which the victim’s consciousness is dominated by the recollection of the traumatic incident, affecting their lives, mental health, and well-being. The Biopsychosocial Considerations, Diagnostic/Evaluative Considerations, and Therapeutic Considerations are all covered in this presentation.
Biopsychosocial Considerations
Biological
The neuroendocrinology of PTSD, specifically hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis alterations, is a method of investigating biological heterogeneity after trauma. The amygdala’s functional role in mediating both stress responses and emotional learning implicates it in the pathophysiology of PTSD’s potential clinical implications. The hippocampus is involved in stress response control, declarative memory, and contextual aspects of fear conditioning.
Psychological
The cognitive and mood symptoms include difficulty remembering key details of the traumatic event, negative perceptions of oneself or the world, feelings that have been distorted, such as guilt or blame, or loss of enthusiasm for pleasurable activities. Cognition and mood symptoms can develop or worsen after a traumatic event, but they are not caused by injury or substance abuse. These symptoms can cause a person to develop feelings of alienation or detachment.
Social
Individuals suffering from PTSD have difficulty feeling and expressing emotions. They may feel disconnected from others, and this can negatively impact their personal relationships and lead to behavioral issues among their children. The numbing and avoidance associated with PTSD have been linked to lower parental satisfaction. PTSD can have an impact on how couples interact with one another. It can also have a direct impact on the mental health of partners.
Cultural Variation
People live in cultures with maladaptive norms about power and control, and those norms closely resemble the assumptions, values, and behaviors seen in people with PTSD. In today’s world, what appears to be outside the realm of normal experience in one culture may be considered normal in another. It is debatable, for example, whether conflict-related violence can be considered a traumatic event in an environment where conflict is the norm.
Treatment
The application and categorization of a PTSD diagnosis and treatment are based on commonly held beliefs about how a person should react to traumatic events. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on the relationships between ideas, feelings, and behaviors, as well as existing issues and symptoms, and modifying patterns of behavior, thoughts, and feelings that contribute to functional difficulties.
Promoting mental health awareness, supporting recovery programs, and social inclusion are all important steps in the rehabilitation process for persons suffering from PTSD. Support from family and friends, as well as attendance at support groups alongside the individual, is critical in dealing with PTSD recovery. Taking the time to research the illness and gain a deeper understanding of the disorder is also critical.
Diagnostic/Evaluative Considerations
Clinical Assessments
Clinical assessments designed to treat patients with PTSD have proven to be quite beneficial to such patients and their psychiatrists because they tend to provide insights that aid in building treatment plans that have a higher likelihood of achieving better outcomes. Clinical exams detract from psychiatrists’ comprehensive approach by focusing just on their abilities. The clinical assessment of individuals with PTSD is limited, according to empirical research, because the characterization of the disorder is limited to the signs and symptoms projected by the adult.
Reliability and Validity
The issues of reliability and validity in the assessment of PTSD are addressed at the same time as they are in other types of research approaches. The validity of a substance examination study, on the other hand, is based on the correlation of the classes to the goals and the generalizability of the findings to a hypothesis.
Diagnosis by Exclusion
Diagnosis is a rule by which experimental perception can rule out alternative causes of an event. Francis Bacon is credited for proposing an inductive technique in which the person observing records both positive and bad occurrences of the event and then attempts to gather a common characteristic that is present in the positive examples but absent in the negative cases.
Assessments
An emotional well-being evaluation provides your primary care physician with a picture of how you think, feel, reason, and retain information. Assessments contribute to diagnosis by exclusion by exhausting all the required knowledge, patience, and time it takes to exhaust all resources to test the disorder in order to diagnose the correct one (Weathers et al., 2018). Mental health evaluations are used to help diagnose illnesses like PTSD. If a person is having problems at work, school, or in social situations, an emotional well-being assessment may be required.
Publication Process
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is a guidebook used by medical professionals in the United States and other parts of the world as the official manual for diagnosing and treating mental illnesses. The DSM offers illustrations, manifestations, and diagnostic criteria for mental illnesses. It serves as a guide for assessing and resolving mental health difficulties. As a result, determining an exact diagnosis is the first step toward being able to effectively treat mental illnesses.
Therapeutic Considerations
Therapeutic Approaches
Many of the treatment approaches established to treat PTSD either focus on reliving the traumatic event or have a trauma-focused component. Focusing on painful memories can be harmful to those with PTSD, while it can also be incredibly helpful when certain conditions are met. The emphasis on reliving traumatic events and attitudes on the necessity to relive such dysphoric memories vary among trauma-focused therapy.
Non-Pharmacological Approaches
The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for the treatment of mental health issues, including PTSD, is common. The evidence supporting the effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as a PTSD treatment is limited; however, the research suggests that some CAM techniques have modestly favorable benefits as a PTSD treatment. Most VA mental health programs use complementary and alternative medicine, and the VA is funding research into the benefits of CAM for PTSD.
Duty to Treat
It is critical to stay focused on addressing the fundamental symptoms of PTSD for the best results. Treatment is less likely to be helpful and may cause harm when pharmaceutical use moves from treating PTSD to quickly alleviating anxiety, anger, sleep disturbances, and nightmares. When treating patients with PTSD, sleeplessness, and chronic pain, clinicians must deal with a perplexing overlap of symptoms, and thus, they are increasingly faced with difficult decisions about how to handle drugs, especially in patients with present or former substance use problems. Before switching to any drug, it’s crucial to factor in all of the potential ramifications.
Conclusion
PTSD is a disorder that affects some people who have been through a traumatic, frightening, or hazardous incident. It’s normal to be scared during and after a terrible event. Fear causes a slew of split-second changes in the body to assist defend against or avoid harm. Someone with PTSD may have nightmares and flashbacks about the horrific event, as well as feelings of loneliness, irritation, and guilt. Most people who experience traumatic events have temporary difficulties adjusting and coping, but they normally get better with time and adequate self-care.
References
Norrholm, S. D., & Jovanovic, T. (2018). Fear processing, psychophysiology, and PTSD. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 26(3), 129-141.
Vasterling, J. J., Jacob, S. N., & Rasmusson, A. (2018). Traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder: Conceptual, diagnostic, and therapeutic considerations in the context of co-occurrence. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 30(2), 91-100.