Post-traumatic stress disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a term for the psychological consequences of exposure to or confrontation with stressful experiences, which involve actual or threatened death, serious physical injury or a threat to physical integrity and which the person found highly traumatic. It is occasionally called post-traumatic stress reaction, to emphasize that it is a fairly normal result of a traumatic experience, rather than a manifestation of a pre-existing psychological weakness on the part of the patient.

Prevalence

PTSD may be experienced following any traumatic experience or series of experiences which satisfy the criteria and that do not allow the victim to readily recuperate from the detrimental effects of stress. It is believed that of those exposed to traumatic conditions between 5% (life threatening disease such as cancer) and 80% (rape) will develop PTSD depending on the severity of the trauma and personal vulnerability.

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In peacetime, 30% of those that suffer will go on to develop a chronic condition; in wartime, the levels of disorder are believed to be higher.

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In recent history the Indian Ocean Tsunami Disaster, which took place December 26, 2004 and took hundreds of thousands of lives and the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon may have caused PTSD in many survivors and rescue workers. Today relief workers from organizations such as The Red Cross and the Salvation Army provide counselling after major disasters as part of their standard procedures to curb severe cases of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Related Topics:
Indian Ocean Tsunami Disaster - December 26 - 2004 - September 11, 2001 attacks - World Trade Center - The Pentagon - The Red Cross - Salvation Army

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Other agencies such as the http://www.nationalmeditation.org National Meditation Center for World Peace have created special programs. The NMC trains agencies such as crisis centers NGOs and works with international agenices to prevent trauma to children.

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