Ptsd: A Brief Look at Its Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

PTSD: A Brief Look at its Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

Amanda Petree

Southwest Baptist University

PTSD: A Brief Look at its Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

More and more military soldiers and veterans are being diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; however, any individual who has experienced a traumatic event can suffer from PTSD. While previously classified as an anxiety disorder in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), PTSD received considerable revisions in the updated 2013 DSM-5 (“DSM-5 Criteria for PTSD,” 2015). According to the new diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5, PTSD is “triggered” by “exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violation (“DSM-5 Criteria for PTSD,” 2015). Regardless of the triggering event, PTSD causes an individual to suffer from “clinically significant distress or impairment in the individual’s social interactions, capacity to work or other important areas of functioning” (“DSM-5 Criteria for PTSD,” 2015).  PTSD not only impacts the life of the individual who has experienced the traumatic event, but it also impacts the lives of people around them such as family and friends.

Behavioral indicators of PTSD fall under four diagnostic categories:  re-experiencing, avoidance, negative cognitions and mood, and arousal (“DSM-5 Criteria for PTSD,” 2015). Re-experiencing involves the persistence of spontaneous memories, recurring dreams and/or flashbacks of the traumatic event. Avoidance refers to an individual’s avoidance of certain stimuli that is related to the trauma. This avoidance can include thoughts, feelings, people, places, or activities that trigger memories from the traumatic event. Negative cognitions and mood refers to an inability to remember certain key aspects of the traumatic event, negative feelings about oneself, detachment or estrangement from others, and/or diminished interest in significant activities (Gore 2015).  

Approximately 41% of the United States population will experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime (Holliday, Smith, North, & Surís, 2015). Of this percentage, approximately 5.6% will go on to develop PTSD. According to the Sidrian Institute, a traumatic stress education and advocacy group,  approximately 8% of all adults, 1 out of 13 people in the U.S. will develop PTSD (Sidrian Institute, 2014). According to the same research, women are nearly twice as likely as men to develop PTSD with 1 out of 10 women suffering from PTSD some time during the lifetime.

With one of the diagnostic criteria being exposure to sexual violation, it is not surprising that females make up a large number of individuals suffering from PTSD. Specific to this group are college-aged females who make up the “highest rate of rape and sexual assaults” when “compared to females in all other age groups” (Sinozich & Langton 2014).  One factor impacting the high rate of rapes among college-aged females is the prevalence of alcohol consumption among college students. Impaired judgement caused by excessive alcohol consumption places these females at a greater risk for sexual assault, thus creating a greater likelihood of experiencing a traumatic event. Tragically, PTSD can impact these young women for the rest of their lives (Zinzow et al., 2014). According to a survey in the National Comorbidity Study, approximately 50% of the women who have symptoms of PTSD were either raped or molested sometime during their lives (Zinzow et al., 2014).  

Due to the physical and psychological trauma surrounding rape and molestation, sexual assault victims commonly adapt a defensive dissociation that can be described as a numbing (Barglow 2014, p. 137). According to Barglow (2014) “Numbing and avoidance make it difficult for patients to trust a therapist” (p. 137).  In cases “of severe ‘complex trauma’ with a prolonged regressive response and persistent numbness” therapists may have to resolve to helping the client “hold together and prevent further regression” (p.138).  When working with PTSD patients/clients, mental health providers must balance the challenge of helping the individual process the events surrounding their traumatic event while also preventing further trauma during the healing process. It is imperative that mental health professionals are sympathetic and supportive to their patients/clients in order to establish trust (p. 138).

A second population at an increased risk of being diagnosed with PTSD are military soldiers and veterans. With a stronger likelihood of being exposed to actual or threatened death and/or serious injury, soldiers and veterans have a higher prevalence of PTSD. According to one study, it is estimated that approximately 17% of combat veterans will develop PTSD during their lifetime (Holliday, Smith , North, & Surís, 2015, p. 60). To assist in treating these patients/clients, mental health professionals can use the PTSD Checklist (PCL), a brief self report form that measures the severity levels of posttraumatic symptoms (Holliday, Smith , North, & Surís, 2015, p. 60). The PCL rating system was expanded with the development of the PCL-I/F, which allows each symptom to be rated separately for frequency and for intensity (p. 61). The ability to accurately and quickly diagnose individuals with PTSD is paramount to their healing and recovery process.