Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: a reality in today’s world
Post-traumatic stress disorder (usually called PTSD for short) is a disorder that is classified within anxiety disorders. It is originated by a exposure to a situation of extreme anxietysuch as rape, kidnappings, wars, accidents, etc.
Post-traumatic stress is not subject to any a priori defined experience; there is a wide variety of events that can change life depending on each case.
Types of PTSD
According to Azcárate Mengual (2007), there are 3 types of PTSD:
In some cases, PTSD clearly recalls traumatic experiences accompanied by high levels of anxiety (which includes fear, anguish, nervousness, etc.). All of this generates extreme emotional exhaustion in the person that is also usually accompanied by irrational ideas and thoughts.
PTSD Diagnosis
For a correct post-traumatic stress assessment First, you must have complete knowledge of the factors involved in the genesis and development of the problem. Points to consider and take into account are:
A medical record completeness of the patient, the professional follow-up and family support Appropriate treatment will be very helpful in the patient’s rehabilitation.
Treatment
Each person is a different bio-psycho-social entity, and therefore the treatment in these types of disorders will be very varied, since it is necessary to analyze the emotional and psychological impact of the subject who has experienced such an event and see how it develops afterwards. of this to propose what type of treatment is effective and can help in the emotional and psychological regulation of the person.
Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies have been and are the most used in almost all anxiety disorders, since post-traumatic stress is a subtype of them. This technique is one of the most effective and brings the best results.
However, there are specific techniques that are also effective, such as the well-known Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (either EMDRby Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). EMDR is based on the assumption that anxiety is due to the fact that the search for the traumatic event remains or has remained unprocessed, which results in blocking cognitions, behaviors and feelings about the event experienced long ago.
In cognitive psychotherapies, Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy is one of the most used techniques. REBT advocates a profound philosophical change in the patient (briefly explaining what each new technique that is presented consists of) and has also been characterized by being based on in-depth research into anxiety disorders and the effectiveness of its techniques in these. issues.
Pharmacological therapies, as always, are very useful. These must be prescribed by a psychiatrist who indicates the medication, the dose and the time the person will remain in said treatment.
Post-traumatic stress disorder in hostile territory
Although many of us do not live in a hostile environment, at any time we can experience a situation that could trigger an emotional psychological disturbance, and that will require a mental health professional. However, today in some countries around the world a large part of the population suffers from post-traumatic stress caused by the war conflicts that have been going on in the area for years.
Among them Ukraine and Syria, the latter country that has been severely hit by the war and everything that has been unleashed over time. Since peace is still far from being achieved, there are many professionals, both medical and mental health, who today continue to work to help a population in panic and with a high rate of PTSD, around 60% of the population. Syria suffers from post-traumatic stress and the numbers could rise to 85% if the conflict continued.
There is a group of mental health professionals in charge of help the most vulnerable part of the populationlike children. The known techniques used by these professionals are projective. At the same time, it is important to highlight how the drawings of Syrian children express the reality and cruelty in which they live immersed. Their fears, anxieties and fears are also reflected, and are themselves an illustration of the ways in which PTSD can crystallize through forms of creative expression. These works are complemented by some alternative techniques to psychological ones such as dance, singing, etc. These are part of a therapeutic program that could help hundreds of children improve their emotional well-being.
