A popular anxiety disorder is the Post Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is where people who encounter a very traumatic experience, does not recover. An example is the ‘shell shock’ disorder where comrades experienced trauma and shock during the First World War. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV), PTSD is diagnosed if clinical characteristics continue for longer than a month and produce clinical significant distress.
Thompson 1997 explains that PTSD is an anxiety disorder occurring in response to an extreme psychological or physical trauma, which is outside the range of ‘normal’ human experience. Brewer 1998 defines PTSD as a curse for perpetual reminiscence. Sufferers avoid but cannot prevent vivid, emotionally arousing images that intrude in dreams or even in the waking mind. With PTSD, people from any age or sex can be affected by it (Weintraub and Ruskin, 1999).
The symptoms of PTSD may be persistent re-experiencing of the event through dreams and flashback episodes that may be triggered by reminders. As this happens, suffers tend to avoid anything or anywhere associated with the trauma. Concentration may be effected by the constant flashbacks and so the sufferer becomes irritable and angrier. A detachment from other people may occur, leading on to the inability to love.
There may be a loss of interest in activities and hyperaltertness, which is where reactions to startling factors are exaggerated. Due to all these increased arousal and severe anxiety, insomnia may result, depression developed and possible maladaptive coping responses of drugs or alcohol (adapted from Gelder et al 1999). Reynolds and Brewin 1997 compared matched samples of patients with PTSD and depression. PTSD sufferers were more likely to have intrusive memories that were vivid and frequent. Feelings of helplessness known as Dissociative experience may occur. For both PTSD sufferers and depress sufferers, distressing thoughts took place several times a week and they had the feeling of reliving the traumatic event.
In to the explanations of PTSD, the psychological model can provide an assumption under the Behavioural, Cognitive and Psychodynamic view. The Behaviourists believe that PTSD may have something to do with Classical Conditioning where PTSD is possibly learnt. To show more clearly how this works, Pavlov 1927, presented dogs with a fear factor. This stimulus was then associated with environmental cues, which became the conditioned stimuli. The dogs then presented fear to the conditioned stimuli. In relation to humans, the conditioned stimuli present at the time of the traumatic event, causes the fear reaction. For example, in shell shock, similar noises to that of weapons can be related to it and so that causes anxiety.
In conjunction with the Behaviourists, the Cognitives agree that what ever is experienced along side the traumatic event, will bring back the full memory of it. These include sight, smell, feeling and sound. As with the Behaviourists, Cognitives believe that sufferers may feel that they are no longer in control of their lives and think irrationally about how they were the cause of the incidents. Due to these thoughts, the symptoms of drinking, drug usage and detachment from others may result.
However, inadequate coping strategies of alcohol abuse, drugs ect. Could fail to reduce the effect of trauma and increase stress that leads to PTSD instead (Lazarus 1991). The Cognitive also do not agree on the behavioural idea that classical conditioning is the only mechanism responsible for PTSD, as not everyone that experiences traumatic events develops the disorder. Green 1994 supports this and reports that PTSD develops in approximately 25% of those that experience traumatic events. Also the range is quite large at 12% for accidents and 80% for rape.