Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the name for the psychiatric disorder that has been around since the beginning of the human species, but has not been widely researched until recently. PTSD occurs after someone has experienced a traumatic event such as life threat, serious injury, or death. This is not the case for every person that has experienced a traumatic event, though. According to the National Center for PTSD (2015), the APA introduced PTSD into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) III back in 1980. After this, people, including clinicians, began to see PTSD more from the trauma aspect rather than the weakness of the victim. Although it was controversial at
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The answer is a combination of biopsychosocial factors: genetics, the mind, and contextual situations all play a part in whether or not someone will go on to develop PTSD after a traumatic event. A factor that can be a determinant whether or not a trauma will result in PTSD of an individual can be whether or not the person has had past traumas or chronic stress. Davidson and colleagues (1990) found that someone who has had past traumas (before the trauma of prime focus) is at greater risk than someone who has not had any in the past. If the trauma was experienced as a child, the risk is increased (Bremner et al., 1993). Also, their results showed that being chronically stressed is another significant risk factor. *May add in stress diathesis model to describe development of …show more content…
For example, social support is an important contributor. If a veteran has family members that they can continually turn to when they are feeling down, it tends to be associated with lower degrees of PTSD symptoms (Solomon et al., 1988). Veterans’ families can make them feel cared for emotionally, and can help with information about resources they can use to receive help if needed. When veterans from the Vietnam War arrived back home to the United States from combat, they were not welcomed and felt as though they should not be proud of their service. In a study conducted with 1,139 male Vietnam veterans, Fontana and Rosenheck (1994) found that there were two main factors that contributed to the development of PTSD: being exposed to a war-zone, and feeling as if they have no family or friends to rely on once coming home from war. Veterans who are able to tell stories of their experiences in combat to their family and friends, and feeling as if they are being supported are an important contributor to not developing PTSD after their
The answer is a combination of biopsychosocial factors: genetics, the mind, and contextual situations all play a part in whether or not someone will go on to develop PTSD after a traumatic event. A factor that can be a determinant whether or not a trauma will result in PTSD of an individual can be whether or not the person has had past traumas or chronic stress. Davidson and colleagues (1990) found that someone who has had past traumas (before the trauma of prime focus) is at greater risk than someone who has not had any in the past. If the trauma was experienced as a child, the risk is increased (Bremner et al., 1993). Also, their results showed that being chronically stressed is another significant risk factor. *May add in stress diathesis model to describe development of …show more content…
For example, social support is an important contributor. If a veteran has family members that they can continually turn to when they are feeling down, it tends to be associated with lower degrees of PTSD symptoms (Solomon et al., 1988). Veterans’ families can make them feel cared for emotionally, and can help with information about resources they can use to receive help if needed. When veterans from the Vietnam War arrived back home to the United States from combat, they were not welcomed and felt as though they should not be proud of their service. In a study conducted with 1,139 male Vietnam veterans, Fontana and Rosenheck (1994) found that there were two main factors that contributed to the development of PTSD: being exposed to a war-zone, and feeling as if they have no family or friends to rely on once coming home from war. Veterans who are able to tell stories of their experiences in combat to their family and friends, and feeling as if they are being supported are an important contributor to not developing PTSD after their