Article on military children suicide attempts.

Those that are followers  this is something close to my heart that I wanted to share.  I have gone through only one deployment, in my lifetime as a military wife. I know others who have had family members do  several and seen the effects of these on young children and teenagers.  Do not be afraid to ask for help or even just talk to your own child about what they feel.  It is never too late to be the friend they want and not the parent.




http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-military-children-suicide-attempts-20150319-story.html

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Introduction

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a disorder which is related to anxiety and depression. An individual may develop this disorder when he is exposed to a series of traumatic events or a single event which can include a serious injury, sexual assault, or a death threat. The disorder can be clinically diagnosed when symptoms like disturbing flashbacks recur, memories of the event continue to disturb, and high levels of anxiety take place even after months of the event. It is not necessary that all people suffering from traumatic events develop this disorder. It will most likely affect the people with sensitive minds and hearts, and who experience severe traumatic events. Women are said to suffer post traumatic stress disorder more than men because they tend to experience a comparatively severe impact. Children will be less likely to experience post traumatic stress disorders especially if they are less than 10 years while war veterans are most likely to be at risk for such a disorder. The causes, symptoms, treatment, and diagnosis of the post traumatic stress disorder will be discussed and analyzed in this paper.    

Basically, we all have encountered someone who has fought in one or more of the wars, even those that have fought a personal war.  Here lately, though more and more Veterans of the past and present conflicts are being medically discharged for suffering from PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This disorder (PTSD) does not “just usually happen” to people, however, it does seem in a sense to. PTSD is like when you are walking along the sidewalk and suddenly you are shoved into a van, you have been kidnapped; this event therefore causes you to develop PTSD.  It is in fact that most traumatic responses particularly happen to women and children that happen in the context of intimate relationships (Kolk, B. & Najavits, L.M., 2013).

Defining post traumatic stress disorder:

PTSD is” a major, life-altering disorder that strikes several people who survive a traumatic experience. PTSD is a type of invisible epidemic that affects millions of people of every age, every walk of life, and many suffer alone and in silence” (Goulston, M.; 2008). Cheryl Lawhorne and Don Philpott describe PTSD as “a traumatic stress injury that fails to heal such that the symptoms and behaviours it causes remain significantly troubling or disabling beyond thirty days after their onset (Lawhorne, C. & Philpott, D. ; 2010).

It’s a natural phenomenon that people tend to feel afraid when they are in danger. The fear causes a sudden change in the body which is when the body prepares to defend or avoid the fear. This is a reaction which indicated that the person is healthy and can protect himself from harm. However, individuals with the post traumatic stress disorder tend to have a damaged reaction. These people feel stressed even when they are out of the danger. PTSD develops in the mind of the individual when he has been involved in a traumatic event of physical harm or threat of harm. The individual who develops the disorder might have been in danger himself, or experienced harm happening to a loved one, or may have witnessed harm happening to a stranger or loved one (Yehuda, 2002).

What are the triggers?

According to James Butcher, Susan Mineka, and Jill Hooley; “Most people function well in catastrophes, and many behave with heroism. Whether or not someone develops post-traumatic stress disorder depends on a number of factors. Some research suggests that personality can play a role in the reduction of vulnerability to stress when the stressors are unforgiving. “Basically, we all have our own breaking points, the difference being that during really high levels of stress, the average person can be expected to materialize some psychological hardships that can be long or short term after the traumatic event.

In all cases of post-traumatic stress, conditioned fear which is associated with the trauma appears to be a key causal factor. Therefore, it prompts psychotherapy following a traumatic experience which is considered important in the prevention of conditioned fear before it becomes something that can be changed later (Butcher, J.M. & Mineka, S. and Hooley, J.M.; 2007) .

Genes is one of the causes for PTSD as many scientists have concluded that genes play a major role in creating memories. Fearful memories have to be understood in order to help in refining them or finding new interventions to reduce the PTSD symptoms. Scientists have found out that genes make a protein, which is needed to produce fear memories, called Stathmin. The test for this protein was made on mice in which those mice that produced this protein tended to be less likely to be shocked when facing danger or a fearful experience. These mice showed lesser fear and explored open places rather willingly than other mice. GRP is a chemical which is released in the brain during emotional events. GRP controls the fear response and lack of GRP leads to lasting memories and effects of fearful experiences. Researchers have found out that there are many chemicals that are present inside the brain created by our genes which directly or indirectly affect our fear memories, emotional responses, and moods. These chemicals affect the PTSD disorders and their functioning in the brain.

Another cause of the PTSD is the functioning of the parts of brain and how they help the individual to deal with the fearful experiences and stress that follows those events. The brain structures respond differently to all actions and one of them is known for the role it has in emotions, memory, and learning. This part of the brain is attentive when the body is at risk of harm or danger and helps in learning the fear such as someone running to hit you. This area of the brain also helps in managing the fear at an early stage and learning to control fear (Wiederhold, 2005).

Another area of the brain deals with storing unforgettable memories and reliving the original response of fear repeatedly by remembering those experiences. This part of the brain makes it difficult for the individual to make decisions, solve problems, and make judgements. Such functions of the brain affect the individuals suffering from PTSD. The brain does not allow these people to forget their fears and fearful responses to specific events. When these fears live in the brain, they start affecting the personalities of the individuals. The brain stores the fearful memories and affects the ability of the brain to work wisely.    

The genes and brain parts are different in every individual and these differences may affect the performance of PTSD individually. An example of this is a head injury or a traumatic event experienced in childhood where the growth of the brain is affected. Other factors affecting the brain areas are personality and cognitive development factors that are different in every individual as psychologists say that individuals respond differently to same situations. The way individuals look at life and the world around them can be positive or negative affecting the growth of the brain and responding to social factors. This affects the way individuals face traumatic events in life and how they deal with the social support to adjust with the trauma. The research study with the combination of these factors can analyse in the future that which individuals would face PTSD after traumatic events and which would not (Fisher, 1994).        

Researchers have focused on the prevention of PTSD as an important goal in the last decade because of the great number of cases that were being reported and the rapid progress in the study of mental and brain foundations make it possible to conclude preventions. There are many ongoing researches on the prevention of this disorder by targeting the causes and enhancing the personality, cognitive, and social factors to fall in PTSD after the traumatic event. Other researchers are working towards developing an effective treatment for the PTSD patients to ensure that they are responding well to the clinical procedures. As scientists are researching for the causes of PTSD it will become easier to understand the disorder better and find more effective treatments that may vary individual to individual (Bisson, 2007).