Trauma Related Mental Disorders
What is a trauma related disorder?
Trauma related disorders are a group of mental illnesses which are caused by the presence of a physical or psychological stressor.
What are the types of trauma related disorders?
Acute Stress Disorder -is a transient mental illness that develops in an individual as an immediate response to an exceptional physical or psychological stressor such as, motor vehicle accident, earthquake, serious assault, rape, bereavement etc.
Adjustment Disorder – is a more prolonged state of subjective distress and emotional disturbance which may interfere with social and individual functioning and usually caused by stressors which are less severe than in the case of Acute Stress Disorder or PTSD and may not be out of the ordinary (e.g., a change of job or move to a new country)
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)- is a prolonged and persistent severe psychological disturbance occurring within six months after a traumatic event in which the individual or another person’ life is threatened. It usually develops after an Acute Stress Disorder.
What are the signs and symptoms of trauma related disorders?
Acute Stress Disorder: Feeling dazed and disoriented, depressed, anxious, angry or despair accompanied with social withdrawal, poor concentration, difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, aggression, hopelessness, overactivity, or excessive grief. Symptoms starts within four weeks of an exceptional physical or psychological stressor and typically resolve in a few days or may last only up to four weeks. If symptoms last more than four weeks, diagnosis changes to PTSD
Adjustment Disorder: depressed mood, anxiety and feeling of being unable to cope, function personally or socially or perform daily routine. If symptoms last more than 6 months, then PTSD or other mental disorder is more likely.
PTSD: Recurrent re-experiencing of the traumatic event through repeated intrusive recollections, repeated distressing dreams, repeated flash backs, severe distress on exposure to objects or conversations that reminds the individual of the trauma. Individuals persistently avoid of objects, activities, places, or conversations associated with the trauma. In addition, individuals become easily aroused, and experience hypervigilance, exaggerated startle response, poor sleep, anger, and irritability. The symptoms usually impair the personal, occupational, and social functioning of the individual.
How common are trauma related disorders?
About one in five individuals who are exposed to an exceptional stressor would develop an Acute Stress Disorder
Over a lifetime, about four out of every hundred men and ten women out of every hundred women would suffer from PTSD.
What causes trauma related disorders?
All trauma related disorders are caused by a stressor that can be identified. Genetic, psychological, and environmental factors may play a role but no symptoms of any of the disorders would arise without a stressor.
How are trauma related disorders treated?
Acute Stress Disorder:
Symptoms usually resolve within 2 days to 4 weeks with no treatment. Supportive counselling, education, practical advice, relaxation and sometimes medication like Benzodiazepines may be helpful.
Other self-help treatments include eating healthy balanced meals and physical exercise
Adjustment Disorder:
Supportive counselling, verbalization or ventilation of feelings, practical advice and support which enhances capacity to cope with the stressor (e.g. financial aid for someone who lost his job) and relaxation are the main treatments.
If symptoms persist despite psychological and social interventions, then medication like benzodiazepines and antidepressants may be helpful.
Other self-help treatments include eating healthy balanced meals and physical exercise
PTSD:
If you feel you are having any of the signs and symptoms of PTSD listed above the first thing to do is to visit your Family Doctor or talk to a healthcare professional.
Your doctor will confirm you have PTSD and refer you to a psychologist or mental health therapist who will help treat you with some of several psychological treatment modalities including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and Psychodynamic therapy.
CBT for PTSD involve progressively increasing intensity of exposure to an anxiety provoking object, place, or conversation in a supportive environment along with anger management and training on alternate ways of thinking about the trauma.
EMDR uses voluntary eye movements to reduce anxiety associated with disturbing thoughts.
Psychodynamic therapy helps individuals with PTSD understand the meaning of the traumatic event to themselves and support them to address the unconscious conflict and anxiety it provokes.
Your doctor may prescribe medication such as antidepressants and benzodiazepines to help treat Anxiety and Depressive symptoms associated with PTSD.
Other self-help treatments include eating healthy balanced meals and physical exercise
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