Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder that can occur after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Some examples of a traumatic events are: military combat, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, car accidents, physical and sexual assault. It can also affect rescue workers that respond to the traumatic incident. During World War I, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was called "Shell Shock". It was then changed to "Battle Fatigue" during World War II and then its name was changed again to "Operational Exhaustion" during the Korean War. PTSD got its current name during the Vietnam War.
People exposed to a traumatic incident will most likely develop some of the symptoms of PTSD. These symptoms can be very long lasting and severe. Why PTSD develops is currently being studied. Biological, psychological and social factors affect the development of PTSD. PTSD is not diagnosed unless the symptoms last for 1 month or longer.
There are four symptoms of PTSD:
- A person re-experiences the trauma in some way, such as flashbacks and nightmares.
- Emotional numbing such as feeling detached and a lack of emotions
- Avoiding things that remind them of the trauma
- Always being on guard