Mental Disorder- PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is another 5th common mental disorder, affecting 13 million people in the States. It affects people of all ages, regardless of their sexuality, race, occupation, and economic status. It is categorized as anxiety disorders along with other mental illnesses such as phobias, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. I focused on children suffering from PTSD after being sexually abused, and the kids of the Vietnam veterans who have been deeply affected by their parents. I will also introduce an interesting article proposing that PTSD has a lot to do with the change in brain chemistry after the exposure to the traumatic incidence.
“PERSONAL HEALTH; When Post-Traumatic Stress Grips Youth” by Jane E. Brody from The New York Times health section talks about the difficulty of diagnosing PTSD in children and giving proper treatments. As in the stage of developing a sense of identity of themselves and picture of the world surrounding them, causes for PTSD in children can be subtle, and symptoms can often be confused with other conditions. The main three symptoms are re-experiencing of the trauma, persistent avoidance of things, situation, or place that reminds the person of the trauma, and hyperarousal of the nervous system. Targeted treatment, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, is recommended. Letting the children repeatedly describe the bad things that happened to them would be the best way to lower the anxiety level of the patient.
“Vietnam’s Scars Reach a New Generation” written by Andree Brooks from the New York Times health section introduces the study that has been done with the second generation of the Vietnam war. Children who had parents with PTSD from the war showed emotional problems, older ones suffering more than the younger ones. Studies focused on the new generation of the war have caught attention very recently, and not much has been studied in detail. Some children become emotionally merged in their parent’s wounded experience that their own development has been hindered. They are likely to have problems in schools, making friends, and leading independent lives. It has not yet been proved whether the permanent changes in the nervous system from trauma can be inherited in some ways, but studies are being made to seek for possibilities. However, the main cause seems to be overprotection from their parents with PTSD, blocking them from further social relationship with other people, and the stigma attached to their parents as brutal killers, leading them to feel isolated from the society.
So, what permanent change is being made to develop PTSD?
I found the answer in the article, “A Key to Post-Traumatic Stress Lies In Brain Chemistry, Scientists Find” in The New York Times health section. Changes occur in three ways:
1. Locus ceruleus becomes hyper-active. This part of the brain regulates two catecholamines, hormones that comes actives at emergency and when locus ceruleus becomes hyper-active, the brain would be secreting these hormones too much, even in situations with little or no threat.
2. Increased level of corticotrophin-releasing factor, CRF. This also mobilizes the body in case of emergency. People with PTSD have higher level of CRF and stimulate the body for emergencies that are not there in reality.
3. The opioid system of the brain, which blunts the feeling of pain becomes hyperactive. This leads to emotional numbing that comes along with PTSD.
These changes in the brain would be helpful in providing medical treatments for PTSD patients. The article deals with various treatments that has been invented but I am not going to go through all of those information. It is in the article, so if you are interested, please go ahead and check it out.
However, Dr. Friedman pointed out an important fact which applies to all mental disorders which is the balance between the biological and psychological therapy. He emphasizes:
“But there are other problems, such as alienation, emotional numbness, guilt and moral pain that you need psychotherapy for.”I think PTSD is not an easy disorder to find a perfect cure, since it comes from complex biopsychosocial factors. However, with the advance of medical technology and psychotherapy, I do hope PTSD can one day be treated well enough so that people can live a happier and brighter life.
Posted by clearsky83
posted by PWH @ 12:55 AM
13 comments
13 Comments:
I thought this was a very interesting topic. However, you focused a lot on the disorder and its biological causes, but there is a whole other side to the debate as to whether this is even a legitimate disorder. I think you should have at least addressed this somewhere. I did like how you pointed out the changes in the brain though. I think it is important to see the psychological and biological side of every mental illness such as this one. I also liked that you focused on children. Many times ptsd is focused on in regards to adults and veterans even thought children experience very traumatic events too.
kumlina6
The article was interesting and well-written. I have heard of PTSD prior to reading your blog, but I did not know that it was most common in children. But, it makes sense because children have sensitive minds while developing and are most dependent on the support of adults. If they are abused or harmed psychologically the mental effects will be transformed into panic attacks and trauma when there is no other outlet for the abused to express or avenge him/herself.
--timoteo
I find this article very interesting because many psychological disorders are real conundrums. Trauma from PTSD seems to follow this pattern by having real biological symptoms from a psychological response. It is very interesting how certain chemical responses have been noticed when dealing with PTSD, which can lead to a medical treatment of this psychological disorder. Overall, this article highlights where to get information on PTSD very well, and sheds some light on an often misinterpreted disorder.
johnser6
Considering how many people suffer from one sort of mental disorder or another, I feel very fortunate with my life. This blog underscores the fact that so many factors, both psychological and biological, can affect each individual, that cures are not easy to come by. Each victim of a mental disorder has his own unique circumstances contributing to his condition, and whether the cause is chemical or circumstantial plays a role in how the person needs to be treated. There is no panacea for mental disorders but I find it encouraging that we are not giving up.
Posted by J543
A definition of a 5th common mental disorder would be helpful. I’m not quite sure what that is. It was very interesting to read about the children of Vietnam vets being affected by their parent’s trauma or injury. That’s an issue that doesn’t seem to get a lot of press. There are a lot of grammar mistakes in the article that make it a little difficult to read such as “…hormones that comes actives at emergency….”, but overall the article was interesting.
--garbaci6
I tend to disagree with the fact that PTSD could possibly be inherited. I think that the children of the Vietnam vets could have developed symptoms due to their parents installing ideas of fears in their heads with their over protectiveness and other actions. I think that a lot of factors that contribute to possibly finding a cure deal more with the personality and emotional levels of the patient, not so much the brain. The brain makes these changes only after the patient is exposed to the event.
Your topic is very interesting. PTSD is a very serious thing and it’s important that people know about it. It is very true that children can be so greatly affected by something such as sexual abuse. This is a hard thing to have to deal with and I know this from experience. Though the person of whom I speak does not suffer from PTSD he/she has had to deal with emotional problems for years. Overall the article is well written. There are some things I might change toward the end though. The end could be organized a bit better. Also, the pronouns “I” and “you” should possibly be taken out or changed.
I like how this blog points out both biological and psychological factors with PTSD. There were some grammar porblems when the author wrote about the locus ceruleus becoming hyperactive, such as "comes actives at emergency" This blog does a good job bringing together multiple approaches to dealing with and understanding PTSD.
I think it is amazing how simple, yet at the same time, how entirely complex our emotions and habits are. To just think that some disorders are caused by chemical imbalances and synapse elasticity is mind-boggling. When I read this blog, it reminded me of how much we have yet to learn about the human mind, and how our environment has such a tremendous effect. I think the idea of genetic determination of characteristics is a difficult concept for humans to believe because we are idealists and believe ourselves to be limitless. Yet, when we look at the effects of our surroundings on us, it appeals to our desires that our lives are not pre-determined at conception.
-grolman6
Your section on PTSD and children reminded me of the Chowchilla bus kidnapping of 1976 (see link Below). Children following the kidnapping engaged in "posttraumatic play", in which they reenacted the experience using toys and such. This seems consistent with your explanation of traumatized individuals reliving their experiences. I wonder if the children of Holocaust survivors (and other genocides/ wars), exhibit the same PTSD related symptoms as children of Vietman veterens. This would be interesting to know.
http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic3026.htm
Posted by AKE
This is a very intersting topic. These days I have heard the term(PTSD) from news many times. PTSD is a mental disorder that is triggered by a disturbing outside event, and Today's world became rich, but people get more sensitive for various factors. So Today's people tend to have more mental problems. Especially, children are getting into the stage of development, and even trivial things can have a bad influence. They are more sensitive than adults.
The perfect treatment for PTSD is not still found, but help of a family, friends, and surrounding people can lead to the solution.
This blog was written in detail, and it was helpful for me.
What do you mean 5th common mental dissorder? I did find it interesting that PTSD occurs in children. I can see how that could happen but I never really thought about it before. I don't think it can be inherited though. The children in Vietnam could of just developed emotional problems because of how their parents act around them. Very interestinga article.
This article is very interesting because I've seen people who have PTSD. Although, it is indeed difficult to treat this symptom, but I think the best way is to talk and communicate with them. And notice people with PTSD are having a hard time to speak and express their inner feeling to others, so communicating would really helps.
cheangk6
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