Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Free Essays

Any disastrous event in life can have serious impact on the mental condition of the victim. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can result due to some tragedy in life of the patient such as â€Å". . We will write a custom essay sample on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder or any similar topic only for you Order Now . combat, childhood physical and sexual abuse, motor vehicle accidents (MVAs), rape, and natural disasters†. People suffering from PSTD are extremely sensitive and may have to face many troubles. They may experience frequent recall of the painful events and become exceedingly defensive even in normal situations. The capability of the brain to identify an event being dangerous or not is hampered. There are various organs involved in the process of identifying a frightful situation and actively responding to it. In patients suffering from PSTD this capability is not up to the mark and they behave excessively strained and cynical even in normal situations. Patients evoke their suffering memories recurrently. â€Å"Insomnia, poor concentration, hypervigilance, and exaggerated startle response† are some of the conditions associated with the behavior of PSTD patients. They become over sensitive and susceptible in ordinary situations. Another problem that people suffering from PSTD may have to face is poor memory that can be associated with smaller hippocampal values. Several studies have shown the relation between hippocampus and PSTD memory loss but a direct relation between the two hasn’t been supported totally (Francati et al. , 2007). For determining the state of PSTD anxiety disorder, various functional neuroimaging techniques like SPECT, PET, and fMRI are used based on different parameters like cerebral blood flow, blood oxygen levels, and energy consumption. SPECT is Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography. This technique uses rCBF and neuroreceptor concentrations to indicate state of different brain parts. SPECT is based on the use of â€Å"? emitters to measure rCBF changes in the brain†. This imaging technique is simple and economical. The equipment and ? emitters used are easily available. On the other hand, SPECT has serious inaccuracy issues. Precision of results decreases when most inner sections of the brain are examined. Because only a single photon is used no positional information is obtainable. Use of nonspecific radionuclides and the injection of radioactive substance in the body make this technique fairly troublesome. PET is Positron Emission Tomography and this technique makes use of two photons instead of a single one as used by SPECT. Therefore there is no lack of positional information and no need of a collimator. PET is easier to use. Signal changes are more traceable with it. However this technique is expensive and needs highly sophisticated equipment and operating staff. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging i. e. fMRI uses hemoglobin and strong magnetic field to produce images and does not involve a radioactive substance as used in other techniques. fMRI does not involve the use of any radiation thus making it a safe choice over others. It provides high anatomical and spatial resolution. This technique is cheap and readily available. However, fMRI has low temporal resolution. The patient has to remove any metallic objects from the body before the scan and the equipment used for the scan is noisy. To measure PSTD the patient is subjected to traumatic stimuli and hence the reactions of various parts of the brain to the stimuli are measured by various techniques as listed above (Francati et al. , 2007). Lanius et al. (2005) conducted a study to assess interregional brain activity covariations during traumatic script-driven imagery in subjects with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For the analysis three groups of people were chosen: one group consisted of people that showed a dissociative response to the traumatic script-driven imagery, the other had a flashback response and the last one was group of trauma exposed control subjects without PTSD people. A 4-T whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system was used to acquire the images and â€Å"The script-driven imagery procedure was adapted to functional MRI (fMRI) .. . † As a result of the study, the first group with dissociative response gave the same disassociated reaction in the test. The other group of people that experienced flashback showed the same result in the test while for the last group the experience was like a normal memory recall. Functional connectivity patterns were different for the group that was disassociated and the control subjects with main concentration on the thalamus because of its direct association with the disassociation. The non-PTSD control subjects showed left-hemispheric frontal activation while dissociated PTSD group showed right-hemispheric frontal and insula activation. The effects of remembering the traumatic event affect the patterns of activation in dissociated PTSD subjects. Insula affects the ability to interpret the signals for state of body and emotions such as pain, body temperature and all. The study showed the inability of the dissociative PTSD subjects to feel the emotions. For the functional connectivity analysis between the dissociative PTSD subjects and the others with flashback an area in the right anterior cingulate gyrus was investigated. This area is responsible for emotion regulation. The study revealed greater covariation with the seed voxel in the right anterior cingulated for the flashback group, as compared to the dissociative group. Although the study conducted has revealed some interesting facts it has certain limitations as well. Functional connectivity analysis was not observed for all the three groups based on same region. The size of the groups was very small for the study. People used in the study had some â€Å". . . comorbid disorders, including dysthymia, lifetime history of polysubstance dependence, and major depression†. For future studies it is suggested to have large sample size and studies should try to attend to covariations between clinical symptoms and brain activation patterns. Hopper et al. (2007) conducted a study to investigate the responses to script-driven trauma imagery in PTSD by employing the Responses to Script-Driven Imagery Scale (RSDI) and the corresponding neural activation. For the study 27 individuals with PTSD were examined. A 4-Tesla whole-body MRI system was used to acquire the images. Responses can be of subtypes: reexperiencing, avoidance and dissociation. The study revealed that the state reexperiencing severity correlated positively with activity in the right anterior insula while it correlated negatively with activity in left rACC. These regions are associated with emotional regulations. However reexperiencing, avoidance and dissociation correlated negatively with activity in right IFC (region associated with movement inhibition). All these findings support extreme emotional underengagement. The response states signify the emotion dysregulation in PTSD. The study has some limitations as well. The subjects were mainly women and the trauma was due to motor vehicle accidents, thus the results may not be applicable to a general class of PTSD subjects. The revealed correlations between the state dissociation and corresponding neural activation may not apply to high levels of disassociation. The examination is also not able to establish any direct relationships among the findings and every revealed result is connected. In order to gain further insight into this matter further studies are recommended that may use the strong foundation of RSDI evident in this study but future improvements can be made by elevating the limitations. The article by Kolassa et al. (2007) aims at studying the slow waves generated in various parts of the brain of the people suffering from PSTD due to events like torture. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used in the study of waves. 194 subjects were investigated that involved 97 healthy controls and 97 patients. Patients recorded enhanced abnormal slow wave activity in voxels in left temporal areas in the region of the insula and lesser slow wave activity in voxels in parieto-occipital areas as compared to healthier subjects. These findings imply abnormal performance in the left insula of PSTD. The right prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the left insula region are most subjected to stress. The insula plays a major role in attention, pain perception and emotion. It handles verbal, motor and musical information and performs visceral sensory and vestibular functions. Irregularities in the functioning of insula may lead to troubles in verbal articulation and management of emotional states PSTD patients. PSTD may lead to emotions such as fear, anger and dysphoria in people. The results reveal PFC dysfunction that may lead to weakened disappearance of fear and sensitivity even in normal fearless situations. The study suggests that future research should concentrate on explaining and highlighting the role of the insula in PTSD and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Also differences in parieto-occipital delta dipole densities in PTSD subjects need focus in future. However the present study is limited in its approach in clearing up the role of insula in PSTD disorder and PFC dysfunction. Both these are serious considerations and need detailed examination in future. Conclusion Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder resulting from any disastrous and shocking event in life. Hypersensitivity, fear, anxiety, anger, stress and loss of memory are the common symptoms associated with PTSD. Various functional neuroimaging techniques like SPECT, PET, and fMRI are used to monitor the state of brain. Techniques like SPECT and PET rely on the use radiation while fMRI uses hemoglobin for the purpose of imaging. Various studies have been conducted to illustrate various parameters and situations associated with PTSD. A study by Lanius et al. revealed functional connectivity analysis during traumatic script-driven imagery in subjects with PTSD. The study showed the failure of the dissociated PTSD subjects to feel the emotions. Another study carried out by Hopper et al. considered the responses to script-driven trauma imagery in PTSD. The results associated with different response states signify the emotion dysregulation involved with PTSD. Kolassa et al. focused on abnormal slow wave activity that may result in difficulty in verbal articulation and management of emotional states in PSTD patients. All the studies conducted had a common limitation of smaller sample size. The results of the investigations cannot be generalized for every traumatic situation and are limited in their approach. Further research is needed to highlight the role of individual regions of the brain in different PSTD severity levels. How to cite Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Papers Posttraumatic stress disorder Free Essays In your opinion, is the government doing enough regarding the diagnosis/treatment of mental illness and PTDS for our returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. (2-3 pages) No, I don’t believe that the U. S. We will write a custom essay sample on Posttraumatic stress disorder or any similar topic only for you Order Now Government is serving the populace in the most diligently way possible. Today which is different from the service people of even my father’s era? In his day back in 1946 WWII had just ended. Though women were on the front lines as nurses they weren’t there as a moving part of the military, flying planes, driving tanks, on board of ships to bearing a weapon. Times are a changing! Poor grammar yes but that was the way that phrase goes. Now today also gays and Lesbians are allowed to be â€Å"Out and proud†! We were always there just now we have a voice and a Right to openly serve. We have always been in the military defending our neighbors. Now like the melting pot that holds all the different variations that can cause mental anguish that allows PTSD to rear its ugly head it seems the variations are un-limited. Now some emotions might be stirred by hatred within the units in the field wielded toward their fellow fighting commandants’. I’d not sure but I would imagine that during Korea and Vietnam women made up maybe only a slight population of the MASH (Mobile Ambulance Surgery Hospital)Bombs bursting around them as well as our poor wounded soldiers can be added to other outward disturbances that can cause PTSD in the Medical Corps. Women who were nurses, in the Civil War, â€Å"Clara Barton†, one of the well known historic nurses that changed for the better care of our battled heroes. Stress is a killer also a side effect of PTSD, suicide. There is a story of two sisters (twins) that both were aboard the sister ship of the Titanic called the Lusitania. The Lusitania was used as a hospital ship in WWI. It carried the wounded, the near death and in some cases the dead. Screams and the smell of the infections haunted one of the sisters to take her life by leaping to her watery death. Her sister’s courage weighed heavy upon the sister who lived till the end of the second trip home from France where the injured boarded. Upon arriving home she resigned and went about her life; unfortunately the sounds of the ship and the pain of her missing sister was I guess you might say the death of her. Her health fell into ruins and her days were marked, she never wed and died before she was 50. According to The US Department of Veterans Affairs (Affairs, 2009), PTSD is defined as â€Å"an anxiety disorder that can occur after you have been through a traumatic event. [ (Affairs, 2009) ]A traumatic event is something horrible or scary that you see or that happens to you. During this event, you think that your life or others’ lives are in danger. [ (Affairs, 2009) ]You may feel afraid or feel you have no control over what is happening. [ (Affairs, 2009) ]PTSD from combat is not always acknowledged by the individual suffering from it because of embarrassment, fear of being medically discharged, lack of understanding about what is happening to them, and a variety of other reasons. [ (Affairs, 2009) ]As a person suffers through this disorder without having a proper medical diagnosis or understanding, their life may become very difficult to cope with. [ (Affairs, 2009) ] The exact rate of PTSD in women veterans is unknown. (Iowa, 2007)Studies conducted after the Gulf War concluded that female service members were more likely than their male counterparts to develop PTSD. Iowa, 2007)This is consistent with the 2 to 1 ratio of female to male PTSD sufferers in the general population. (Iowa, 2007) Women are seeking help due to both war trauma and victimization by their peers. (Iowa, 2007) Military sexual trauma is the term used by the VA to refer to a variety of sexual offenses ranging from verbal sexual harassment to assault and rape. (Iowa, 2007) The Veterans Health Care Act of 1992 authorized new and expanded services for women veterans including outreach and counseling services for sexual trauma incurred while serving on active duty. Iowa, 2007) Treatment of PTSD in women who have served in combat is in its infancy. (Iowa, 2007)A treatment intervention known as â€Å"Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE)† is being used by the VA along with a cognitive approach. (Iowa, 2007)PE therapy gradually exposes the client to images of the threatening experience and has the client repeatedly recount his or her traumatic (Iowa, 2007)memories. Presently, 600 therapists are being trained in these approaches for treatment of female veterans with combat trauma. Iowa, 2007) Women’s Veterans Program Managers are now being placed at VA medical centers across the country. (Iowa, 2007)There are also programs for women who are homeless and those who are at risk of becoming homeless. (Iowa, 2007) I think that time will either be for our advantage as a country and a lesson learned allowing us to implement devices that will help our heroes as they make their journey inwardly and outwardly homeward bound. So they can sleep at night without worries of the war and the things that dominated days and nights while defending America. How to cite Posttraumatic stress disorder, Essay examples