Find information on thousands of medical conditions and prescription drugs.

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a term for certain psychological consequences of exposure to, or confrontation with, stressful experiences that the person experiences as highly traumatic. These experiences can involve actual or threatened death, serious physical injury, or a threat to physical and/or psychological integrity. It is occasionally called post-traumatic stress reaction to emphasize that it is a routine result of traumatic experience rather than a manifestation of a pre-existing psychological weakness on the part of the patient. more...

Home
Diseases
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Arthritis
Arthritis
Bubonic plague
Hypokalemia
Pachydermoperiostosis
Pachygyria
Pacman syndrome
Paget's disease of bone
Paget's disease of the...
Palmoplantar Keratoderma
Pancreas divisum
Pancreatic cancer
Panhypopituitarism
Panic disorder
Panniculitis
Panophobia
Panthophobia
Papilledema
Paraganglioma
Paramyotonia congenita
Paraphilia
Paraplegia
Parapsoriasis
Parasitophobia
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinsonism
Paroxysmal nocturnal...
Patau syndrome
Patent ductus arteriosus
Pathophobia
Patterson...
Pediculosis
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease
Pelvic inflammatory disease
Pelvic lipomatosis
Pemphigus
Pemphigus
Pemphigus
Pendred syndrome
Periarteritis nodosa
Perinatal infections
Periodontal disease
Peripartum cardiomyopathy
Peripheral neuropathy
Peritonitis
Periventricular leukomalacia
Pernicious anemia
Perniosis
Persistent sexual arousal...
Pertussis
Pes planus
Peutz-Jeghers syndrome
Peyronie disease
Pfeiffer syndrome
Pharmacophobia
Phenylketonuria
Pheochromocytoma
Photosensitive epilepsy
Pica (disorder)
Pickardt syndrome
Pili multigemini
Pilonidal cyst
Pinta
PIRA
Pityriasis lichenoides...
Pityriasis lichenoides et...
Pityriasis rubra pilaris
Placental abruption
Pleural effusion
Pleurisy
Pleuritis
Plummer-Vinson syndrome
Pneumoconiosis
Pneumocystis jiroveci...
Pneumocystosis
Pneumonia, eosinophilic
Pneumothorax
POEMS syndrome
Poland syndrome
Poliomyelitis
Polyarteritis nodosa
Polyarthritis
Polychondritis
Polycystic kidney disease
Polycystic ovarian syndrome
Polycythemia vera
Polydactyly
Polymyalgia rheumatica
Polymyositis
Polyostotic fibrous...
Pompe's disease
Popliteal pterygium syndrome
Porencephaly
Porphyria
Porphyria cutanea tarda
Portal hypertension
Portal vein thrombosis
Post Polio syndrome
Post-traumatic stress...
Postural hypotension
Potophobia
Poxviridae disease
Prader-Willi syndrome
Precocious puberty
Preeclampsia
Premature aging
Premenstrual dysphoric...
Presbycusis
Primary biliary cirrhosis
Primary ciliary dyskinesia
Primary hyperparathyroidism
Primary lateral sclerosis
Primary progressive aphasia
Primary pulmonary...
Primary sclerosing...
Prinzmetal's variant angina
Proconvertin deficiency,...
Proctitis
Progeria
Progressive external...
Progressive multifocal...
Progressive supranuclear...
Prostatitis
Protein S deficiency
Protein-energy malnutrition
Proteus syndrome
Prune belly syndrome
Pseudocholinesterase...
Pseudogout
Pseudohermaphroditism
Pseudohypoparathyroidism
Pseudomyxoma peritonei
Pseudotumor cerebri
Pseudovaginal...
Pseudoxanthoma elasticum
Psittacosis
Psoriasis
Psychogenic polydipsia
Psychophysiologic Disorders
Pterygium
Ptosis
Pubic lice
Puerperal fever
Pulmonary alveolar...
Pulmonary hypertension
Pulmonary sequestration
Pulmonary valve stenosis
Pulmonic stenosis
Pure red cell aplasia
Purpura
Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch
Purpura, thrombotic...
Pyelonephritis
Pyoderma gangrenosum
Pyomyositis
Pyrexiophobia
Pyrophobia
Pyropoikilocytosis
Pyrosis
Pyruvate kinase deficiency
Uveitis
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Medicines

Symptoms can include the following: Nightmares, flashbacks, emotional detachment or numbing of feelings (emotional self-mortification or dissociation), insomnia, avoidance of reminders and extreme distress when exposed to the reminders ("triggers"), irritability, hypervigilance, and and excesive startle response.

Experiences likely to induce the condition include:

  • childhood physical/emotional or sexual abuse
  • adult experiences of rape, war and combat exposure
  • violent attacks
  • natural catastrophes
  • life-threatening childbirth complications

For most people, the emotional effects of traumatic events will tend to subside after several months. If they last longer, then diagnosing a psychiatric disorder is generally advised. Most people who experience traumatic events will not develop PTSD. PTSD is thought to be primarily an anxiety disorder, and should not be confused with normal grief and adjustment after traumatic events. There is also the possibility of simultaneous suffering of other psychiatric disorders (i.e. comorbidity). These disorders often include major depression or general anxiety disorder


PTSD may have a "delayed onset" of years, or even decades, and may even be triggered by a specific body movement if the trauma was stored in the procedural memory, by another stressful event, such as the death of a family member or someone else close, or by the diagnosis of a life-threatening medical condition.

Also, doctors have conducted clinical studies indicating traumatized children with PTSD are more likely to later engage in criminal activities than those who do not have PTSD.

Background

Psychological distress after trauma was reported in 1900 BC by an Egyptian physician who described hysterical reactions to trauma (Veith 1965). Hysteria was also related to "traumatic reminiscences" a century ago (Janet 1901). At that time, Sigmund Freud's pupil, Kardiner, was the first to describe what later became post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (Lamprecht & Sack 2002).

Hippocrates utilized a homeostasis theory to explain illness, and stress is often defined as the reaction to a situation that threatens the balance or homeostasis of a system (Antonovsky 1981). The situation causing the stress reaction is defined as the "stressor", but the stress reaction, and not the stressor is what jeopardizes the homeostasis (Aardal-Eriksson 2002). Post-traumatic stress can thus be seen as a chemical imbalance of neurotransmitters, according to stress theory.

However, PTSD per se is a relatively recent diagnosis in psychiatric nosology, first appearing in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1980. It is said development of the PTSD concept partly has socio-economic and political implications (Mezey & Robbins 2001). War veterans were to a great deal incapacitated by psychiatric illness, including post-traumatic stress in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. However, they had difficulties receiving economic compensation since there was no psychiatric diagnosis available by which veterans could claim indemnity. This situation has changed, and PTSD is now one of several psychiatric diagnoses for which a veteran can receive compensation, such as a war veteran indemnity pension, in the US (Mezey & Robbins 2001). While PTSD-like symptoms were recognized in combat veterans following many historical conflicts, the modern understanding of the condition dates to the 1980s.

Read more at Wikipedia.org


[List your site here Free!]


The PTSD Workbook: Simple, Effective Techniques for Overcoming Traumatic Stress Symptoms $11.68 Waking the Tiger : Healing Trauma : The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences $10.78
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook $9.25 The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment $24.50
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Second Edition: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures $53.24 Rebuilding Shattered Lives : The Responsible Treatment of Complex Post-Traumatic and Dissociative Disorders $63.00
Attachment, Trauma, and Healing: Understanding and Treating Attachment Disorder in Children and Families $23.06 Traumatic Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body, and Society $52.00
ACHILLES IN VIETNAM : Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character $4.99 Got Parts? An Insider's Guide to Managing Life Successfully with Dissociative Identity Disorder (New Horizons in Therapy) $13.27

Diagnosis and management of post-traumatic stress disorder
Although post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating anxiety disorder that may cause significant distress and increased use of health resources, ...
Post-traumatic stress disorder; the management of PTSD in adults and children in primary and secondary care
190467125X Post-traumatic stress disorder; the management of PTSD in adults and children in primary and secondary care. (CD-ROM included) Gaskell ...
Screening patients for post-traumatic stress disorder
Significant trauma is increasingly common in the general population, and an estimated one in four of those exposed to life-threatening situations develops ...
Post traumatic stress disorder
Even in the age of the cruise missile and the M1A2 Abrams tank, no matter how destructive military equipment might become, little can be achieved without ...
Noah Wyle and real-life trauma; popularly known for his role as a doctor on television's top-rated drama, "ER," Noah Wyle has put his bedside manner to
Noah Wyle is not a doctor. Nor is he a psychologist. And he's not suffering from a mental illness. But he has seen, firsthand, the face of one poignant ...
Therapy options for post-traumatic stress disorder
The type of psychologic help that should be provided after a major traumatic event (e.g., physical assault, severe accident, natural disaster) remains ...
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition that affects people who have been exposed to a major traumatic event. PTSD is characterized ...
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition that affects people who have been exposed to a major traumatic event. PTSD is characterized ...

Home Contact Resources Exchange Links ebay