Description
After experiencing a stressful event, specific individuals may acquire PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder. Before and after a horrific incident, fear is a common emotion. Anxiety is one of the elements of a response that suggests striking or fleeing the possibility of harm, which helps individuals avoid or deal with an impending danger.
Typical Presentation
At a certain point in their lives, approximately six out of 100 individuals will have PTSD (Compean & Hamner, 2019). The diagnosis is more common in women compared to men. Specific individuals may be more susceptible to acquiring PTSD as a result of particular elements of the stressful event and particular biochemical factors (Compean & Hamner, 2019).
Signs and Symptoms
The subjective signs of PTSD include having disturbing ideas, flashbacks, nightmares, dissociation, loss of self or reality, sadness, and guilt. The objective symptoms include increased heart rate, sweating, nausea, pain, and trembling (Compean & Hamner, 2019).
Diagnostics
- Examine the client’s health to look for any conditions that could be the source of the symptoms.
- Perform a psychological assessment that examines the symptoms.
- Use the DSM-5 criteria to diagnose mental disorders (Schrader & Ross, 2021).
- Lab testing is not used.
Medications
- Fluoxetine (Prozac) – antidepressant, 20 mg to 60 mg daily.
- Paroxetine (Paxil) – antidepressant, 20 to 60 mg daily.
- Sertraline (Zoloft) – antidepressant, 50 mg to 200 mg daily.
- Venlafaxine (Effexor) – antidepressant, 75 mg to 300 mg daily.
- Xanax – anxiety treatment, 4 mg daily (Schrader & Ross, 2021).
Medication-induced symptom alleviation helps many individuals to participate more effectively in psychotherapy, treat PTSD-related nightmares and insomnia, and reduce fear and physical pain. Side effects include problems with libido, headaches, muscle pain, and low alertness (Schrader & Ross, 2021).
Treatment Plan
Psychotherapy, drugs, or a mix of drugs and therapy are the primary forms of treatment. Therapy in these situations is typically most successful when it tackles both the traumatic occurrence and the post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (Thakur et al., 2022). Moral support from relatives and close companions can also be crucial in healing. Cognitive processing therapy is an evidence-based treatment for PTSD and related symptoms. It focuses on altering distressing adverse reactions and trauma-related attitudes (Thakur et al., 2022).
Expected Outcomes
The expected outcome is to raise the standard of living for those with PTSD, possibly decreasing the signs of PTSD and making life more bearable. The individual can continue daily activities using efficient coping mechanisms (Compean & Hamner, 2019).
Potential Complications
Potential complications include various issues with one’s mental health, like fears, anxiety, or sadness. People with PTSD can also develop self-destructive or self-harming behavior, including dependency on drugs or alcohol (Compean & Hamner, 2019). There is the chance of creating additional physiological symptoms and signs, including migraines, lightheadedness, heartburn, and indigestion (Compean & Hamner, 2019).
Client Education
First, it is vital to instruct clients that PTSD can strike anybody at any point in life. It involves veterans and survivors of traumatic events (Compean & Hamner, 2019). The second issue is to inform patients that not every person with PTSD has experienced a life-threatening situation. The third point is that patients should understand the signs of PTSD. The fourth aspect of education is using medications appropriately to treat PTSD. These measures can assist in early diagnosis of the mental problem and allow individuals to see the necessity of professional help for themselves and the people they care about.
References
Compean, E., & Hamner, M. (2019). Posttraumatic stress disorder with secondary psychotic features (PTSD-SP): Diagnostic and treatment challenges. Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry, 88, 265–275. Web.
Schrader, C., & Ross, A. (2021). A review of PTSD and current treatment strategies. Missouri Medicine, 118(6), 546–551. Web.
Thakur, A., Choudhary, D., Kumar, B., & Chaudhary, A. (2022). A review on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Symptoms, therapies and recent case studies. Current Molecular Pharmacology, 15(3), 502–516. Web.
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