Working Through the

PastThis a project for a high school AP Psychology course. This is a fictionalized account of having a psychological ailment.

For questions about this blog project or its content please email the teacher, Laura Astorian:

laura.astorian@cobbk12.org

What is PTSD? An anxiety disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety and insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience

Who could get PTSD?Anyone could but the following people commonly do have PTSD

Combat veterans

accident and disaster survivors

sexual assault victims

prostitutes

Characteristics Haunting memories

Social Withdrawal

Jumpy Anxiety

Insomnia

More CharacteristicsExcessive Sweating

Helplessness

Trust issues

Nightmares

ExplanationBrain stem or reptilian part of brain (controls survival and instincts) takes over

Amygdala overstimulated

Hippocampus less active

Sympathetic Nervous system stays highly activated

TreatmentsCognitive Therapy

Exposure Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

MedicationsSelective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

Antidepressant- less sad/ worried

Raise serotonin levels

Celexa, Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft

Facts15% of all Vietnam veterans reported PTSD symptoms

1 in 6 in Iraq war reported symptoms of PTSD

PTSD rates vary from 4% in natural disaster and 50% of those kidnapped, held captive, or raped

Psychologists say it is overdiagnosed

Famous People with PTSDWhoopi Goldberg

Monica Seles

Mick Jagger

Darrell Hammond

Barbra Streisand

PTSD in Children 5.5 million children report PTSD

Girls are more likely to have PTSD- 15%of girls and 6% of boys

Children 5-12= incorporate trauma into daily lives yet unlikely to remember flashbacks

Children 12- 18= normally aggressive and impulsive behavioural symptoms

Play Therapy common for Children

How I FeelA normal day can turn into a day full of anxiety.

I begin to sweat uncontrollably while thoughts flow through my head without ceasing.

For me, I feel like the past will never just be my past and not my present, and I want to move on.

I feel like I should have let my feeling out sooner and not held them in to take control of me.

I feel as though no one understands what I am going through.

I can trust no one with my

feelings because I could get more hurt.

I do not want to be around anyone, I would rather remain in solitude.

I want everything to end and for my life to go back to normal before my past. But…. I know what I have to do.

Quotes by those with PTSD“When we feel weak, we drop our heads on the shoulders of others. Don't get mad when someone does that. Be honored. For that person trusted you enough to, even if subtly, ask you for help.”

“The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma.”

“In situations of captivity the perpetrator becomes the most powerful person in the life of the victim, and the psychology of the victim is shaped by the actions and beliefs of the perpetrator.”