PTSD

I used the (Analysis) 11.R.5.1 Students can analyze factors that influence the credibility of informational sources standard.

I chose PTSD because the night before we chose our topics, I was watching Grey's Anatomy (don't make fun), and in the episode, the hospital fell victim to a shooting at the hospital. One of the surgeons was operating on a friend who was shot while having gun held to head by a man who was telling her to stop operating and let him die. After the traumatic event, she experienced PTSD so horribly that she quit being a surgeon. She turned into the opposite of what she was. She did things that she wouldn't have done before the incident, and she didn't do things she did before the incident. After that episode, PTSD really sparked my interest.

Many people will say that they have heard of PTSD, and that soldiers only get after returning from war, but not a lot of people really know what it means. PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder that occurs after a traumatic event such as combat or military experience (most common or most heard of), sexual or physical abuse or assault, serious accidents such as vehicle and environmental accidents, and natural disasters. After the event, the victims may feel scared, angry, confused, and/or lost. These feelings won’t go away, and will sometimes get worse as time goes on. These feelings may disrupt a person’s life, and make it feel like the victim can’t continue their life.

The first symptoms of PTSD may not show up for anywhere between one day and a couple weeks. There are four main types PTSD symptoms. The first one and possibly the most extreme symptom is reliving the event. A victim could possibly feel the same horror and fear in everyday situations, and it seems like everything that happens is a flashback from the event because of the horror feeling. This symptom is usually causes by some sort of a trigger. These triggers include hearing a loud bang or noise which would recall gunshots or battles from previous traumatic events. Other triggers includes seeing a car accident happen or hearing of the accident or seeing or hearing violent, physical or sexual assaults.

The second main symptom of PTSD is when a victim avoids situations. A victim of a train accident experiencing PTSD would avoid any place dealing with trains and also possibly avoid conversations about trains. A person who was attacked by a construction worker would want to avoid construction workers because they don’t want to think of that certain experience. A victim could possibly avoid their therapist because they would have to relive the situation in order to talk about how they feel. Victims with these situations will tend to avoid people, places, and thoughts that would relate back to that incident.

The third symptom of PTSD is numbness feeling. This symptom would make it hard for victims to express their feelings towards family members, therapists, friends, and whoever they talk to. They also fail to communicate normally on a daily basis. Victims will also avoid relationships and positive feelings. Victims will also fail to participate in their usual activities because of their loss of interest in them.


The fourth and final symptom when victims become alert. Victims could possibly have a hard time sleeping because they are afraid and alert about everything. They could also be paranoid about the smallest things. Because of this paranoia, victims will be unable to concentrate or pay attention. Another sign of this symptom is when the victims feel like they are in danger all the time.

After a traumatic event, it is normal for people to experience these symptoms. Some people will think that they have PTSD because they are experiencing these symptoms. However, if the symptoms go away or decrease after several days, then they are experiencing normal trauma. People who PTSD, on the hand, will experience these symptoms just people with normal trauma, but their symptoms don’t go away. It only gets worse for PTSD victims. This is because the mind is in a psychological shock. All of the feelings and memories towards the event are disconnected, and will remain disconnected until the victim faces their fears. In order to move on from the event, victims should reconnect all the memories and feelings about the event, and talk about them. Another way to face the feelings of the event is to go to the place where it happened and relive the event in the mind. Doing so will free the mind and release all the anger, frustration, and sadness. It may not work the first couple times, but it will. When experiencing PTSD, it is imperative to do whatever means necessary to get better because PTSD can and will put someone on the edge of life and death.

I believe I achieved what I wanted to learn about PTSD. I’ve found so much information of PTSD, and there is much more information out there to find. I didn’t really encounter any difficulties besides having to find the websites I used because one of them was recently blocked at school, so I had to cite that information at home. Besides that, the only difficulties I really encountered were what information I should use. I don’t know if I would want to do a project this long again; towards the end, it started to bore me. I don’t know why it did, but I am kind of bored of reading about PTSD. It might be because I haven’t found a whole lot of new information lately, and I’ve been finding all the same information I found before. I probably wouldn’t repeat this project once I finish it because it’d pretty much be the same exact blog.

Works Cited
Hall-Flavin, Daniel K., and David Mrazek. “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).” Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2 Aug. 2011. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. http://www.mayoclinic.com/‌health/‌post-traumatic-stress-disorder/‌DS00246/‌DSECTION=symptoms.

Segal, Jeanne, and Melinda Smith. “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” HelpGuide. Segal Enterprises, Oct. 2011. Web. 1 Nov. 2011. http://helpguide.org/‌mental/‌post_traumatic_stress_disorder_symptoms_treatment.htm.