The article by Smith (2020) entitled Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is valuable because it offers important information on the causes and symptoms of PTSD and ways of recognizing and treating the condition. The most important thing is that it is useful in helping an individual to recognize whether they are suffering from the condition or not. It informs one that they can identify the condition early when they experience feelings of sadness, anxiety, guilt, shame, and anger. It also shows that many people are unable to know what they are feeling at any moment, which might consequently lead to problems such as:
- Inability to be in control and manage one’s emotions
- Development of unhealthy coping skills such as self-medication and avoidance
- Increased anxiety levels
The article can help someone to know that such problems are direct symptoms associated with PTSD and need to be addressed before they get out of hand. Therefore, it helps them to recognize early whether they have PTSD or not. It also provides valuable information to help individuals find the right way to make them feel better. Moreover, it presents useful and effective treatment methods to mitigate the condition. It provides different treatment alternatives which can be used to address the condition because no single method can be regarded as effective. Individuals will be able to identify how they are feeling by knowing the different shapes and forms in which their emotions are taking.
The article informs the reader that emotion consists of three parts which include behavior, thoughts, and sensations. Behavior is described as the action one feels when feeling an emotion. Secondly, thoughts are the images or ideas that come to one’s mind when they are emotional (Smith, 2020). Finally, it describes sensations as the physical changes that occur in the body when one is emotional. These bodily changes may include nausea and increased heart rate. Knowing that such emotions exist helps an individual to know how they feel and how to effectively cope with the situation.
I would refer a patient to this resource when, for instance, they start experiencing strong feelings such as uncomfortable thoughts, which makes them hesitant to get in touch with others. When experiencing this they might try to suppress or push away the uncomfortable thought, which will prevent them from recognizing that they are sick and hinder them from selecting an appropriate coping strategy. The emotions to be identified include fear, sadness, and anger.
Fear creates the situation in which the individual has an urge of escaping from a situation and can also be accompanied by crying, shortness of breath, increased heart rate, and fearful thoughts. Secondly, the person might experience sadness and exhibit behaviors such as crying, isolating themselves, having low energy levels, nausea, and shortness of breath. Finally, they might also exhibit unreasonable anger most of the time. The anger might manifest itself through slamming doors, yelling, and picking fights. They may also exhibit signs such as clenching of the jaw, muscle tensions, and increased heart rate. Moreover, they might have angry thoughts like “everyone does not like me”.
When such symptoms are observed in an individual, it becomes important to refer them to the resource. It will help them to identify the three parts of emotions to assist in recognizing that they are suffering from PTSD and need to take corrective measures. The resource is to be used as a source of information that will help an individual to know the cause, the symptoms, and the treatment options available to treat PTSD.
Reference
Smith, M. (2020). Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).WebMD. Web.