Traumatic Stress

Agnė Bružaitė

Psbd8-01

Content

• Causes;• Traumatic events;• Reactions to traumatic events;• Acute stress disorder (ASD);• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD);• Trauma in childhood;• How to cope;• Treatment.

Traumatic events

• Traumatic events are shocking and emotionally overwhelming situations.

• These events might involve actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual or other physical assault.

Traumatic events

One-time occurrences:• Natural disasters;• House fire;• Violent crime;• Airplane accident;

• Enduring physical, sexual, emotional, or other forms of abuse.

Ongoing, repeated:• Combat or war;• Child abuse;• Neglect;• Domestic violence;

Reactions to traumatic events

• Anxiety;• Shock;• Personal or social

disconnection;• Confusion, fear,

hopelessness;• Helplessness,

sleeplessness, physical pain.

Reactions to traumatic events

• Grief, anger;• Aggressiveness;• Mistrustfulness;• Guilt, shame;• Shaken religious faith;• Loss of confidence in

self or others.

Reactions to traumatic events

• Loss of memory;

• Physical and psychological flashbacks;

• Sometimes a smaller hippocampus;

• Physical disorders;

Reactions to traumatic events

• Nightmares;

• Sleep disturbance;

• Depression;

Acute stress disorder (ASD)

ASD describes experiences of:

• Dissociation (e.g., feelings of unreality or disconnection);

• Intrusive thoughts and images;

Acute stress disorder (ASD)

• Efforts to avoid reminders of the traumatic experiences;

• Symptoms persist from two days to four weeks.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

• When experiences that were mentioned before last more than a month;

• Post-traumatic stress disorder was first recognised as 'shell shock' in veterans of the First World War;

• Statistics: 7%-8% of people in the United

States will likely develop PTSD in their lifetime;

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

• Women are twice as likely as men to develop PTSD;

• Pregnant women who have PTSD may influence their children.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

• A person can recovery within 6 months or the symptoms can last much longer and become a chronic condition;

• The symptoms may be worse if the trauma was initiated by another person such as a kidnapping, rape or torture.

Signs of PTSD

• People tend to avoid places, people, or other things that remind them of the event (may develop to phobia);

• Recurring nightmares;

Signs of PTSD

• Chronic physical hyper arousal;

• Lack of interest in activities that used to be enjoyed;

Trauma in childhood

Person who was traumatized in childhood may suffer:

• Revictimization (being harmed again);

• Aggression;

• Identity disturbance;

Trauma in childhood

• Bodily problems without detectable physical cause;

• Relationship problems.

Helping yourself

• Stay connected to natural support systems;

• Taking care of basic needs;

• Keeping to routines and activities;

• Finding ways to assist someone else.

Psychological First Aid

• Psychological first aid creates and sustains an environment of:

1. Safety;

2. Calming;

3. Connectedness to others;

4. Self-efficacy or empowerment;

5. Hopefulness.

What you should DO:

• Do help people meet basic needs for food and shelter, and obtain emergency medical attention (safety);

What you should DO:

• Do listen to people who wish to share their stories and emotions and remember there is no wrong or right way to feel (calming);

What you should DO:

• Do be friendly and compassionate even if people are being difficult (calming).

What you should DO:

• Do help people contact friends or loved ones (connectedness).

• Do give practical suggestions that steer people towards helping themselves (self-efficacy).

Do not :

• Don’t force people to share their stories with you;

• Don’t give simple reassurances like “everything will be ok” or “at least you survived”;

DO not:• Don’t tell people

what you think they should be feeling, thinking or doing now or how they should have acted earlier;

• Don’t make promises that may not be kept.

Treatment

• Interpersonal, relational, and psychodynamic psychotherapies;

• Anxiety management, cognitive therapy and exposure therapy;

• A combination of psychotherapy and medication;

References• http://www.istss.org/resources/what_is_traumatic_stress.cfm (2009 11 03)• http://www.centerforthestudyoftraumaticstress.org/resources/categorylisting.

php (2009 11 03);

• PICTURES:• http://www.faqs.org/health/images/uchr_05_img0496.jpg• http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4597346/81417-

main_Full.jpg• www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/brain/images• http://www.onlinecounselingblog.com/2009/06/post-traumatic-stress-

disorder/• http://www.scientificamerican.com/media/inline/post-traumatic-stress-

trap_1.jpg• http://www.iandodds.co.uk/images/

20090301202656_foreign_service_journal_1.jpg• http://www.iandodds.co.uk/images/

20090301202656_foreign_service_journal_1.jpg• http://helpingpsychology.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/

iStock_000003781332Small.jpg• (All watched at 2009 11 05)