Treatment for PTSD
Military personnel during their deployment are at a higher risk to experience or witness a traumatic event while serving their country. A traumatic event can be a result from many different situations, such as combat exposure, or sexual/physical assault. Upon returning home from deployment the traumatic event may impact the military personnel’s life. This depends on their initial reaction to the event. The traumatic stressor can develop into Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) if they had a strong reaction to the event: although, not everyone who witnesses or experiences a traumatic event will be diagnosed with PTSD. According to the DSM-V and the American Psychiatric Association, PTSD is a “psychological disorder that develops …show more content…
Combat trauma goes as far back as 1812, when Swiss soldiers’ reactions to combat stress where documented Napoleon’s field surgeons. Although the source did not state what name they gave it. Since then combat trauma has been documented as DaCosta’s syndrome, nostalgia, soldier’s irritable heart, Shell Shock, combat exhaustion, and operational fatigue. Finally by 1980 it was established in the DSM-3 as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Yaris, 2013). It took over 100 hundred years for it to be officially recognized and it only been about 30 years since then. One reason for the acceptance of PTSD is the change in societal and institutional views. Military physicians and other used to tell veterans to “go home and get over it”. …show more content…
Both therapies come from psychotherapies; the focus for these therapies is on the “extinction of the conditioned memory.” This is done by teaching the veterans that the initial thoughts to the trauma are longer negative. This can reduce anxiety. The methods of VRET and CPT both are based on “inducing extinction learning” but they are different (Stehberg, Albright, &Weiss, 2014, p.103-104). CPT is used by “clinician” to treat PTSD “symptomology.” CPT consist of 12 weekly session. The first five session consist of a discussion of the traumatic memories. The remaining focus on identifying and challenging maladaptive belief.( Stehberg, Albright, &Weiss, 2014, p.105). According the Lawhorn-Scott and Philpott the main goal of CPT is to help the individual modify beliefs about safety, trust, power/control, esteem and intimacy. VRT puts the person into the situation that cause his or her PTSD. This done by a” multisensory computer simulation” (). The simulation resemble where the event took place(). VRET occurs in real that allows veterans to return to prior memories in a safe environment. The amount of stimulation can be controlled by veterans, allowing for emotional engagement to increase and reducing avoidance
Military personnel during their deployment are at a higher risk to experience or witness a traumatic event while serving their country. A traumatic event can be a result from many different situations, such as combat exposure, or sexual/physical assault. Upon returning home from deployment the traumatic event may impact the military personnel’s life. This depends on their initial reaction to the event. The traumatic stressor can develop into Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) if they had a strong reaction to the event: although, not everyone who witnesses or experiences a traumatic event will be diagnosed with PTSD. According to the DSM-V and the American Psychiatric Association, PTSD is a “psychological disorder that develops …show more content…
Combat trauma goes as far back as 1812, when Swiss soldiers’ reactions to combat stress where documented Napoleon’s field surgeons. Although the source did not state what name they gave it. Since then combat trauma has been documented as DaCosta’s syndrome, nostalgia, soldier’s irritable heart, Shell Shock, combat exhaustion, and operational fatigue. Finally by 1980 it was established in the DSM-3 as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Yaris, 2013). It took over 100 hundred years for it to be officially recognized and it only been about 30 years since then. One reason for the acceptance of PTSD is the change in societal and institutional views. Military physicians and other used to tell veterans to “go home and get over it”. …show more content…
Both therapies come from psychotherapies; the focus for these therapies is on the “extinction of the conditioned memory.” This is done by teaching the veterans that the initial thoughts to the trauma are longer negative. This can reduce anxiety. The methods of VRET and CPT both are based on “inducing extinction learning” but they are different (Stehberg, Albright, &Weiss, 2014, p.103-104). CPT is used by “clinician” to treat PTSD “symptomology.” CPT consist of 12 weekly session. The first five session consist of a discussion of the traumatic memories. The remaining focus on identifying and challenging maladaptive belief.( Stehberg, Albright, &Weiss, 2014, p.105). According the Lawhorn-Scott and Philpott the main goal of CPT is to help the individual modify beliefs about safety, trust, power/control, esteem and intimacy. VRT puts the person into the situation that cause his or her PTSD. This done by a” multisensory computer simulation” (). The simulation resemble where the event took place(). VRET occurs in real that allows veterans to return to prior memories in a safe environment. The amount of stimulation can be controlled by veterans, allowing for emotional engagement to increase and reducing avoidance