| ||
| ||
| Psychology Information | |
|
|
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Nightmare After The Ordeal
Sarah is a 28 y/o accountant who had a traumatic past that she kept to herself. At age 15, she was grabbed by a masked man while she was jogging in a park. The man threatened to kill her with a knife and brutally raped her. She screamed but nobody seemed to have heard her. Since that time, Sarah has developed nightmares about being raped or killed. In most days, she has suffered from flashbacks of her being attacked. Each time she watches TV shows that remind her of the incident, she gets scared, overwhelmed, and becomes agitated. At times, she develops anxiety attacks, palpitations, sweating, and restlessness. Since the attack, Sarah can hardly trust people. As a result, her relationships have profoundly suffered. More recently, she's been depressed and feeling hopeless. She hasn't been sleeping and eating well. Her inattention has negatively impacted her work. Based on the above symptoms, Sarah is most likely suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). What exactly is PTSD? PTSD is a psychiatric disorder characterized by avoidance, hypervigilance, emotional difficulties, and recall behavior such as flashbacks and nightmares after a traumatic event such as rape, war, vehicular accident, or natural disasters. Recent researches have shown that after a trauma, biochemical changes develop in the brain that can result in psychological signs as shown above. If untreated, some individuals develop emotional difficulties such as depression associated with inability to concentrate, sleep, and eat. Occasionally, they also become hopeless to the point that they want to die. What is the treatment for PTSD? The combination of individual psychotherapy and medications is known to help. Antidepressants especially SSRIs have been tried with some success. Other medications have been helpful to address the associated symptoms. Anxiety and agitation can be treated with benzodiazepines. The latter should be restricted to short-term use because of their addiction potential. Insomnia can be treated by a small dose of Trazodone. Psychotherapy or "talk therapy" is an important part of treatment and recovery. The individual should be able to express the fear, the frustration, the guilt, and the blame in a secure and safe setting. Moreover, the therapist should provide ample support and empathy. Copyright 2005. Dr. Michael G. Rayel - author (First Aid to Mental Illness-Finalist, Reader's Preference Choice Award 2002) psychiatrist, and inventor of Oikos Game: An Emotional Intelligence or EQ Game. For more information, please visit http://www.oikosgame.com and http://www.soardime.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Psychology - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Is China Testing Bio Weapons on Its Own People? Well the conspiracy theorists are out in full force I see. I had an interesting meeting the other day at a coffee shop and talked with a highly paranoid chap, who claimed to have some real insider information. The End of Psychotherapy In two articles entitled "We Are Not Our Personalities" and "Eliminating The Past" I make the point that it is now possible to "dismantle" all the life experience that is stored in the human bio-field, i.e. The Offspring of Aeolus - On the Incest Taboo Incest is not such a clear-cut matter as it has been made out to be over millennia of taboos. Many participants claim to have enjoyed the act and its physical and emotional consequences. We are in the End Days; Oh, Really Now? Some think the world is coming to an end, they cite signs in the Revelations and current world events. The world is not going to end, in all the written history and much of course which maybe somewhat a modified version of what actually happened nothing has ever been perfect and the doom and gloomers of those past periods too were out in fill force. Intro to Being an ADHD Parent In my fifteen years of private practice working with children with ADHD, one of the common concerns that I observed by parents was the fear that they had done something, or failed to do something, that caused their child's ADHD. I guess it is normal to blame yourself when your child is having problems. Ericksons Theory of Human Development I'm sure you've heard the term "Identity Crisis" before. It's thought of as a conflict of self and society and its introduction came from one of the most famous psychoanalyst of the 20th century. Accepting New Ideas Much of the time when a new idea comes to us, we handle that idea and move on, without ever becoming consciously aware of the process. During the times when we are consciously aware of the process of handling a new idea, we often reject that idea without understanding why we rejected it, or sometimes without even understanding that we did reject it. What is the Theory of Multiple Intelligences? Part 1: Biological Basis Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences is based on the premise that each individual's intelligence is composed of multiple "intelligences," each of which has its own independent operating system within the brain. These intelligences include: verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. Right Brain, Left Brain The right brain controls the left side of the body and the left brain controls the right side of the body. The right brain is the more creative or emotional hemisphere and the left brain is the analytical and judgmental hemisphere. Morality As A Mental State INTRODUCTIONMoral values, rules, principles, and judgements are often thought of as beliefs or as true beliefs. Those who hold them to be true beliefs also annex to them a warrant or a justification (from the "real world"). Randomness of Human Thought Random thought Sequence in the Human Mind. I want to comment on an article about Random Sequence in the Mathematical Association of America Newsletter in January 2002. Cult De-Programming? The following good work from a person engaged in trying to free people from cultish programming is far better than most. It demonstrates the person is aware of mind control techniques employed in influencing people. What's the Problem: Introducing Solution Focus Pt 1 Solution Focus is the brain child of Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer. This positive approach to problem resolution is rooted in the tradition of Milton Erickson's brief therapy. Creating A Winning Mindset Do you know anyone who always wins? Sure you know that person, everything just works out for them. They go into business and they are an instant success. Kleptomaniac Confessions Ever felt urged to steal a piece of bubblegum from the grocery store and given in? Then you are likely training to become either a kleptomaniac or an addictive compulsive thief. Do not despair - you're not alone. Hypnotic Myths Even though hypnosis has been around officially since the 1700s (Franz Anton Mesmer), there are still questions as to its validity and benefits. For the most part, these questions stem from fear and ignorance. Animal to Animal Telepathy There has been much study on Telepathy in the animal kingdom. Many have experienced telepathy from human to human. Robotic Bonding Thru Human First Love Memory Replication Many Science Fiction authors have discussed in many works the issues with robotic assistants and companions. Today we see DARPA awarding a contract to a group of artificial intelligence software gurus to put together a computer assistant, which can read any manual and then explain in human terms what it says. An Easy Cure For Math Phobia Why is it that one person enjoys math, while another person hates it?Why does one child happily and quickly calculate a simple sum, while another won't even attempt it because they're convinced they're simply "no good with numbers"?The problem certainly isn't caused by lack of intelligence.In fact there are many examples throughout history of seemingly "stupid" people who could do amazing things with numbers. The Mind, Information, and Attitude Information is flowing to us at a great rate. The radio, television, the internet, advertising, newspapers and magazines are giving us information all day.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
