Major Symptoms of PTSD

PTSD is a major mental disorder prevalent or common to military personnel. As a result, there is need to study the impact of this disorders and how to control or treat it. It is the mental anxiety people develop after they are exposed to traumatic events. A YouTube video: Level Black-PTSD and the War at Home, vividly depicts the experiences of Billy Cavinness who was an American Army since 1996. In the video, Billy explains his team was attacked which led to permanent mental and physical disability and loss of friends.

As a result, Billy started suffering from PTSD immediately after arriving back which led to extreme naivety and fear. However, the video shows that through seek medical assistance, Billy has had a significant improvement in his mental and psychological state. The YouTube video vividly portrays the effects of PTSD through directs interviews with Billy and taking sessions through his treatment process this make it's resourceful and informative regarding PTSD.

Kinney (2018) states that 90% of American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq survive combat due to combat medicine and body armor development as well as increased evacuation promptness. On the other, wounded military endure extreme injuries which call for refined, frequent and all-inclusive lifetime care. Half of total American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq tend to suffer from brain damages mainly caused by the trauma which has a lifetime impact on the mood, behavior and memory as well as the ability to work and think exactly as Billy conditions.

Military personnel's who fought in the Iraq and the Afghanistan war are differ from those who fought the Vietnam War. Kinney (2018) shows Afghanistan and Iraq veterans are rarely diagnosed with disorders related to substance abuse compared to the Vietnam marines, soldiers, veterans and sailors (P. 2). Additionally, Kinney reports that Afghanistan and Iraq veterans filed fewer compensation rates compared to Vietnam Veterans. Kinney's article facilitates understanding the video's plot as well as Billy's situation since he was in Afghanistan. The article enables one understand the major factors that led to Billy's PTSD.

DeAngelis (2008) article shows that there is increasing evidence of increase in PTSD treatments effectiveness (Pg. 40). Nonetheless, one should not that there lacks enough evidence to assert that this treatment is effective. Except from the exposure therapies. Additionally, the frequency of the evidence based interventions has enabled psychologists make use of interventions they are comfortable with respect to their training or background as well as to the specific conditions of a patient (DeAngelis, 2008). The video also showed that when Billy mentioned that he is getting better with the treatment course.

Some of the major interventions of PTSD used by therapists include: Prolonged Exposure Therapy. This therapy was developed by Keane and therapist offer guidance to a client on how to remember traumatic memories via a controlled way to enable the client regain the mastery of his feelings and thoughts around the occurrence (DeAngelis, 2008). This intervention should be conducted in a slow, repeated and controlled way until the individual manages to evaluate the circumstances in a realistic way as well as fathom they can return to the current lives activities.

Cognitive processing therapy is also another PTSD intervention. It assumes a cognitive behavior therapy which was mainly developed to treat victims of rape and is now applied in PTSD. It entails being exposed to component but emphasizes utilization of cognitive strategies to aid individuals change or refrain from erroneous thoughts emerging due to an event. Another intervention is training on stress inoculation in which clients are taught the strategies to reduce and manage anxiety like positive self-talk, muscle relaxation and breathing.

Eye movements, reprocessing and desensitization is also another intervention in which practitioners guide clients in making eye movements as they recall traumatic events. Notably, it is unclear on how EMDR works despite being supported by various studies. The other intervention method is the use of medication.

DeAngelia (2008) showed that therapist and the health departments is aiming reaching war veterans who have PTSD (Pg. 40). Researchers and scholars who undertake various studies on PTSD have tend to mobilize or influence psychologists on which interventions to use. Additionally, the government is also training psychologist on how to use various interventions with respect to the severity level of the disorder (DeAngelis, 2008). Additionally, there are various studies that aim at improving the efficiency of this interventions. Therefore, the government is using militaries personnel from Afghan and Iraq war to learn how to improve the efficiency of this method in treating PTSD.

Zalta (2016) reviews various studies to show how outpatient intensive treatment reduces the symptoms of PTSD. Zalta asserts that psychotherapy can aid PTSD individuals despite the factor that factor that most veterans tend to give up ion the treatment process before they exhibit any improvement. Studies have exhibited that home treatment programs may improve retentions if conducted for about 6-12 weeks. Additionally, Zalta reports that studies show 3 weeks programs also turn effective for PTSD reveling in military personnel.         According to Zalta's study, 176 out 191 veterans who participated in the program treated had a 91% decline in depressive symptoms during the program. Within the end of the first week of the treatment the PTSD symptoms declined as well as reduced rapidly as the therapy continued. Participants shows significant reduction in depression and PTSD symptoms towards the end of program. Interestingly, researchers observed that military personnel had a faster response rate to the treatment compared to patients who has experienced trauma from different events (Zalta, 2016). Additionally, individuals who had experienced the toughest changes in trauma associated beliefs and thoughts during the interventions were the major beneficiaries.

Notably, these three articles are of great significance when studying PTSD and also align with the video. Kinney articles show the background problem that makes PTSD prevalent in military personnel. This enables the audience of the video understand the factor that led to Billy developing PTSD after his traumatic experience at war. Zalta's and DeAngelis article shows highlights on the different intervention or treatments that can be used in treating he disorders. Notably, DeAngelis focuses on cognitive development interventions while Zalta addresses outpatient interventions and their significance in the treatment of PTSD.

In conclusion, it is evident that traumatic experiences lead to brain damage causing PTSD. The major symptoms of PTSD are destruction from present activities by the initial activities, anxiety and fear while recalling initial experiences. As a result, the major effects of PTSD include: poor family relations and dependency on care. However, it is vivid that there are various interventions that have proved to be effective in treating or reducing the effects of PTSD. Generally, cognitive development therapies, medication and outpatient treatment programs have proved effective in treating PTSD among military personnel.

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