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Complete 6 pages APA formatted article: The Link Between PTSD and Traumatic Events

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Complete 6 pages APA formatted article: The Link Between PTSD and Traumatic Events. This paper shall seek to create the link between these disturbing events and the resulting stress. The paper in doing so will strive to create the background to PTSD, as well as study the current diagnostic criteria for this disturbing condition. Discussion The initial cases of PTSD were most common in soldiers who had just been from war. The most interesting thing about PTSD is that the soldiers who were affected started to feel its toll once they were out of the battlefield. For as long as they were in the battlefield, they were okay. This brings in the environmental angle in as far as PTSD is concerned. The suggestion therefore is that PTSD sets in once someone moves out of the area in which the traumatic event occurred. For the soldiers this is the battlefield. Once they return home from war, the real fight begins. It can be said therefore that, with PTSD, the body might leave the scene of the original event but the mind somehow remains stuck there (Thompson, 1985). Some of the common symptoms include. nightmares, hallucinations, flashbacks, anger, vigilance, difficulty in falling asleep, among many others. These reactions clearly have to be directly related to the events that happened. The simple reason to prove this is because. the person with this condition has special aversive reactions towards things that might produce the same reaction as the stimuli that caused the stress in the first place. These events also have to cause the victim extreme helplessness, fear, horror, or even pain. In the case of a battlefield, the death of a soldier one is fighting alongside can easily cause PTSD or even being wounded by enemy fire. Such a person is likely to be averse to loud screaming and even the sound of gunfire (Parkinson, 1993). PTSD has caused significant concern because the effects it leaves in the victim in many cases are life-long. A case in point was the Second World War. Many Americans fought amongst the Europeans. They witnessed acts of brutality (Orner, 1992). The main one is the Holocaust. This event continued to affect many people, and for those who are still alive, the effects are still there. The darker side of PTSD. however, is that it leads to suicidal tendencies in the victims. The effects of having to struggle with this condition are too severe for many to bear (Wardi, 1992). It is with this in mind that several governments in the world have set aside centers specifically dedicated to the treatment of PTSD for their soldiers who are returning from war. In several cases, the mental effects of PTSD are more severe than actual physical injuries. These symptoms among many others have made the early detection and diagnosis of PTSD much easier. However, the full diagnosis of PTSD is a more complex affair. It is well known that someone may encounter a traumatic event that disturbs them for a short while, and then it gradually fades out. This is not PTSD. although, it means the minimum criteria through which PTSD is caused. Such symptoms might just be normal body responses to stress (Kring, Johnson, Davison & Neale, 2013). The most common criterion of diagnosing PTSD is referred to as Criteria A-F.