PTSD

What is PTSD?

PTSD stands for Post-Traumatic Stress disorder. It’s the mental health condition that happened when a person experience or witness the traumatic event. For example, experienced into terrible car accident, experienced abusive in children hood or unexpected loss the love one (Mayo, 2019).

The symptoms that happen from the traumatic events that patients went through in their life effect their diary routine. The symptoms following:

• Re-experience symptoms such as flashback or nightmare.
• Avoidance symptoms. The patients avoid talking, going to places, or meeting people that remind them of the traumatic event.
• Arousal and reactivity symptoms including difficulty sleeping and anger issue. Some patient might be very easy to startle or feel tense.
• Cognition and mood symptoms. Patients might lose their memories about the important part of the traumatic events. Furthermore, having negative though about themselves and people around them as well.

The lack of sleeping cause person to lose their ability to work moreover, avoidance and cognition and mood symptoms may cause the patients to lose the connection between themselves and family or friends. Likewise, some patients cannot live their life happily and they solve it by drinking which later a person become alcoholic. Furthermore, many patients’ life can be forever change because of Post-Traumatic Stress disorder.

This diagnose could happens to anyone especially, people that work or live in the environment that have a lot of risk to experience the traumatic events such as war veterans. At the war, veterans have to risk their life almost every day therefore, they experience and witness seeing their friends hurt or even death body. In other words, their environment causes PTSD. The studied show that male and people in age around 35-64 are tends to experience PTSD more than others (Sripada, 2017). Some of veterans who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan experiences Post-Traumatic Stress disorder then became homeless because they did not receive enough support after the events (DeAngelis, 2003). For example, Herold Noel had served in the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division at Baghdad. Herold was struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. His mental health was an issue for him to started new job and support his family. Herold Noel slowly became homeless “He started living out of the back of his jeep when most of his clothes and all of his military medals were stolen at a homeless shelter” (Cosgrove-Mather, 2005).

It is heartbreaking to realize the individuals who risk their life and being separate from family to serve for our country in the danger zone experienced PTSD that changed their life forever. However, many of them did not receive the treatment that they should be receive from sacrificed for our nation “When the war in Vietnam washed up the first wave of veterans in need of shelter — the Department of Veteran Affairs had no homeless programs at all.” (Cosgrove-Mather, 2005). Even though, nowadays may have better program to help homeless veterans but the amount of these program still cannot cover all of veterans that needed help. (Cosgrove-Mather, 2005).

Post-Trauma Stress disorder is unlike other mental health issues that the patients would like to share about their trauma events at the group therapy while one of the PTSD symptoms is avoidance which is some patients avoid talking or explaining about the trauma. Therefore, professional psychologist is the best solution for the patients, but the cost is also expensive. The average price is around 2,100 dollars for the first year and the price could go up to 4,100 dollars for the average price if the patients need the special treatments which some patient might cannot afford it. Since, veterans already have PTSD program such as Nation Center for PTSD. However, it is not every PTSD patient are in the military. Thus, focusing on insurance could be one of the solutions. Underwriting of the insurance should not increase the price whether if the patients have the high risk of their mental health issue or not and it should be more affordable for these patients. Besides that, patient could start the self-treatment with their every routine. For example, take time to relax such as yoga. It “can activate the body’s relaxation response and ease symptoms of PTSD” (Smith, Robinson, &Segal, 2019). Avoid alcohol and drug because these could add more problems which bring you more stress (Smith, Robinson, &Segal, 2019). Eat healthy diet, “processed food, fried food, refined starches, and sugars, which can exacerbate mood swings and cause fluctuations in your energy” (Smith, Robinson, &Segal, 2019). Lastly, get enough sleep, even though the symptom may cause some patient to have difficult time to sleep but trying to listen to calming music, watch a funny show, or read something light and make your bedroom as quiet, and dark could possible make the patients fall asleep easier. (Smith, Robinson, &Segal, 2019). Most importantly, the better family members understand the condition the less risk of patients will get worse. Therefore, having the program for patient’s family to learn about the condition with any type of mental issues will be help the patients gets better with their condition. I believe that the first treatment that people with mental health issues that is not only PTSD patients want to receive is a family first aid treatment.