Deanna Strope

ISM Period 7

National Institute of Mental Health. “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” National Institute of

Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml.

• It’s a disorder that can occur after a traumatic, shocking, or dangerous event
• PTSD can affect anyone, at any age
• “According to the National Center for PTSD, about seven or eight of every 100 people
will experience PTSD at some point in their lives.”
• Men are less likely to develop PTSD than women
• PTSD usually starts occurring at least three months after a traumatic event, such as
physical or sexual assault, abuse, car accidents, terrorist attacks, and being in war zones
(veterans)
• The symptoms are different for adults and younger children
• Adults can experience flashbacks, always be on edge, tend to avoid something or some
place that an event occurred, loss of interest in enjoyable things, and can even have
trouble remember some of the events that occurred.
• Children under the age of six that are affected by PTSD usually experience bed wetting
even when potty trained, not being able to talk/forgetting how to talk, reenacting the
event during a play time, and being clingy to a certain adult or guardian
• Teenagers and children older than six tend to react the same way adults would react; they
can even go as far as developing destructive behaviors and can also want a feeling of
revenge if there was a perpetrator involved.
• Some treatments used for PTSD can include psychotherapy and different types of
medicine
• Psychotherapy, also referred to as “Talk Therapy”
• It can be done as a group or even as one-on-one
• Two different types of psychotherapy can include exposure therapy and cognitive
restructuring
• Exposure therapy can include gradually exposing the patient to the trauma they
experienced in a way that is considered safe.
• Usually anti-depressants are prescribed to patients with PTSD
• Sometimes, both psychotherapy and anti-depressants are prescribed to patients suffering
from PTSD

I thought this article was super informative and gave really great information about what PTSD
is, how it affects people differently, and treatments that can be used.
 Deanna Strope
ISM Period 7

National Center. “National Center for PTSD.” PTSD, 15 Aug. 2013 www.ptsd.va.gov/index.asp.

• The different sub-categories of trauma-focused therapy or psychotherapy include

prolonged exposure, cognitive processing therapy, eye movement desensitization and
reprocessing, brief eclectic psychotherapy, narrative exposure therapy, written narrative
exposure, and specific cognitive behavioral therapies for PTSD
• Some psychotherapies do not revolve around dealing with the traumatic event, but rather
coping mechanisms to deal with those events such as stress inoculation training, present-
centered therapy, and interpersonal psychotherapy
• Prolonged Exposure involves with dealing with all your negatives feelings and being able
to gain control of those while being exposed to things you have avoided doing or talking
about since the trauma
• Cognitive processing therapy includes reframing the negative thoughts about the trauma
which can include doing short writing assignments and talking to a doctor
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing includes taking focus to a light or sound
while calling focus to the trauma or event
• Brief eclectic psychotherapy helps you recall the memories, write letters about the
trauma, and even hold a ritual to get rid of those bad memories that the trauma holds
• One of the most popular ones for veterans is narrative exposure therapy where soldiers or
anyone involved in conflict or war will talk through all the stressful moments in their life
from birth to now and put them into a story to help cope
• There are also four main anti-depressants that doctors will prescribe for PTSD. Those
include Sertraline (Zoloft), Paroxetine (Paxil), Fluoxetine (Prozac), and Venlafaxine
(Effexor).
• Each of those medicines either are called SSRI’s (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)
and SNRI’s (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors)
• Other medicines that can be taken but proven to not be as strong as SSRI’s or SNRI’s
include Nefazodone (Serzone), Imipramine (Tofranil), and Phenelzine (Naradil).
• Nefazodone or Serzone is an SRI, serotonin reuptake inhibitor which means that this
medicine naturally changes the naturally occurring chemical in our brains
• Imipramine or Tofranil is an TCA which means it is a tricyclic antidepressant can help
the chemicals in our brain communicate with each other and lift our mood

I thought this article was super informative about the different types of treatment available
for PTSD.
 Deanna Strope

ISM Period 7

Riggs, David S. “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” Mental Health America, 10 May 2018,

www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder.

• PTSD affects over 14 million American adults

• Anyone can be affected by PTSD such as people who have suffered through abuse from a
family member or a relationship, survivors of kidnapping, rape, verbal attacks, car
accidents, combat veterans, emergency responders, and even children are neglected and
abused.
• There are many symptoms of PTSD and they can vary from person to person. Some of
the common symptoms includes constantly being on alert, panic attacks, feelings of
mistrust, physical symptoms such as chronic pain, headaches, muscles cramps, and lower
back pain.
• PTSD could be triggered by certain sounds, sights, smells, or even feelings.
• Signs of triggers can be sweating, raised heart rate, muscle tension, and intense emotional
and physical reactions.
• More symptoms include problems in your daily life such as with your job, relationship
problems, substance abuse, depression, and suicidal thoughts or tendencies
• Another type of PTSD is called Complex PTSD or C-PTSD
• C-PTSD relates to the diagnoses to describe the long-term emotional scaring of an event
that lasted a long time such as surviving a concentration camp, having lived and survived
in a prostitution brothel, and long-term survivors of domestic abuse
• The differences that show between C-PTSD and PTSD is that people with C-PTSD tend
to have problems with emotional regard, interpersonal relationships, and a negative self-
image
• Self-care is another way you can help treat your PTSD
• Different techniques include connecting with friends and family, keeping a journal,
getting enough rest, staying away from drugs and alcohol, relax, exercise, limit caffeine,
limit watching TV and trying to help around the community
• PTSD can also affect family members and significant others
• It can change or affect your feelings getting fearful when your loved one is angry,
depression, angry or resentful towards your loved one, gain emotional distance, be
reluctant to talk about an event that might trigger your loved one's PTSD
• If you just had a recent trauma, you can have symptoms of PTSD, but you will not be
classified with PTSD. If symptoms continue for more than a month, that’s when doctors
should get involved.

This article is very similar to my first article, but still had some other good information that could
be useful for my power point.