Post traumatic stress disorder

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Introduction: As the wheel oftime keeps on revolving on its own axis, it fabricates new events in our life. Some of the moments may be pleasant and are engraved in our long term memory so that we can recall them and cherish them. These memories spread smiles all over the place. But sometimes our life hits an event that shakes the very core of our existence. Something that is so horrifying that you wish you could never recall but it sticks to your soul and keeps it dragging on the bed of thorns. We may experience this sort of situation in our life but for some people it could be fatal. The pain, the horror associated with such incidences can severely affect the quality of life. So it is very important to understand this situation and learn how to cope with it. To recognize this entity as a medical condition is not only vital for the person directly affected by it but it is crucial for the people that surround such victim so that a proper care can be provided to alleviate the pain. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a known medical condition that results due to a traumatic experience or stressful events. It is categorized among other anxiety disorders. Trauma could be a single event such as an accident or a repeated exposure to same stressful stimuli such as rape or physical abuse. A dilemma attached to this condition is that many consider it to be an abnormal psychological disease. But in reality it is a normal response to an abnormal situation. I can say this with such assurance because I had suffered a similar tragic incidence that changed my life. Such reaction is quiet predictable because the incidence is mostly so sudden that it is way beyond the appropriate reaction capability of any person. As I studied more about post traumatic stress disorder the more I got involved in it as it was like my own story. There is a long list of traumatic stressors that can induce PTSD. According to the DSM there are certain criteria that should be fulfilled to classify any condition as post traumatic stress disorder. First criteria states that an individual should be exposed to a stressor. This amplifies the fact that the victim must see, in case of an accident, or feel, in case of physical abuse, the stressor or source of trauma. Subsequent criteria include the phase where individual re-experience the traumatic event. It could be in the form of dreams or abstract thoughts of that incidence. Subject when introduced to similar conditions of the event can also express distress and may recall the whole scenario. This stage is followed by avoidance. It is characterized by avoiding thoughts or conversations that may remind the original event. Feeling of doom and anhedonia is also frequently associated with this stage. The last criterion is known as arousal which is the persistence of those symptoms that were not present before the event such as inability to sleep, anger or irritability etc. How it impacts me? When I read most this information in my psychology class it took me into a flash back of events that were deep rooted somewhere in my soul. I was able to perfectly fit myself in all the above mentioned criteria of post traumatic stress disorder. It was night and I was in a car with my husband driving at an acceptable speed when that horrifying incidence took place. I could still recall that impact. A head collision with another car driven by a drunken person. That split second changed my many subsequent years. I was in a state of shock and suffered from nightmares that devastated my life. I wanted to through away that vision from my brain but it was stuck there more prominent than ever. I was afraid of talking to people and experienced severe depression. So all the criteria of PTSD were highlighted in my life. If only time can be reversed I want to reverse few milliseconds. But the bitter truth is that we cannot. That is the reason I am in a college to distract my mind or now I realize to avoid the recalling that event. After learning about this condition I get this courage to face it. It made me realize that it’s not abnormal to react in this manner. It enabled me to predict and prepare myself to the triggers of PTSD. My life is slowly but surely coming back to its original track. Therefore, this topic not only sparks interest in me but it defines me. Bibliography Wood, S. E., Wood, E. R. G., & Boyd, D. R. (2005). The world of psychology. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.