Pstd (PDF)

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For more information on Pstd Symptoms please check this out;
http:/ar/ptsd-symptoms.php

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PTSD symptoms - psychological reactions resulting from acute emotional stress - are prescribed
in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-
TR), a manual published by the American Psychiatric Association. It's comprehensive... and
incomplete.

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure
to any event which results in psychological trauma. Not everyone exposed to a particular event or
series of events will be affected by PTSD, but in general terms, one in four can be expected to
succumb.

Worldwide, that's a significant number. Yet health professionals, particularly in western countries,
consistently under-diagnose it. Resulting in unnecessary waste of years of life for those forced to
live with undiagnosed PTSD.

And there's a second school of thought - usually medical researchers - who believe it is over-
diagnosed to the detriment of a cluster of about 15 other related anxiety disorders.

PTSD signs and symptoms tend to cluster into four discrete groups:

- re-experiencing the trauma

- avoidance of any places or situations that might trigger memories of the trauma,

- hyperarousal or hypervigilance, and

- emotional numbing and withdrawal.

But here's the thing. There's a large variance within those symptoms, and although those affected
are often aware that 'something's not right', they tend to insist that 'there's nothing wrong with me!'.

PTSD symptoms include outbursts of unreasonable anger at minor triggers, waking drenched in
sweat from nights of nightmarish reliving of traumas in graphic detail, and reacting spectacularly to
minor disturbances such as someone passing too close to their face. These symptoms grab the
limelight, yet many other ptsd symptoms are buried.

Emotional numbing, for instance. It's in DSM IV, but medicos rarely check for it, and people living
with undiagnosed post tramatic stress rarely even notice it in their own behavior. It's not
spectacular, so it's easy to ignore or camouflage under generalisations such as 'that's just me'.
Often, the problem is that they simply can't trust themselves enough to allow intimacy, let alone
trust others at a core level.

And excesses? Alcoholism, drug addiction and occasionally sex addiction could be caused by any
number of factors, as could the often unrecognised ism - workaholism. So even though the
symptoms may be present, they often go unconnected to post traumatic stress.

The rate of PTSD symptoms reported varies significantly in different parts of the world. The US
generally reports some of the highest figures - over 30% for combat stress, for instance - yet few
studies have been done in nations where genocide appears endemic. The incidence of PTSD
could be expected to be extremely high in such places, and recognition of PTSD symptoms low.




Glen Novita is keen to promote recognition of ptsd symptoms in the hope that others can avoid
wasting their lives as a result of combat stress, traumatic stress syndrome and other psychological
trauma. PickingUpThePeaces.org.au is a community website with extensive information about
ptsd treatment, traumatic stress syndrome, complex ptsd, trauma therapy, and post tramatic stress
disorder news.




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For more information on Pstd Symptoms please check this out;
http:/ar/ptsd-symptoms.php

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