Veteran Experiences of Trauma, Readjustment, & Recovery Flashcards
What is a Trauma?
daily hassles
major life events
serious traumatic events
Traumatic stressors
events in which someone feels that their life or the lives of others are being threatened
can be witnessed or experienced directly
These include events such as warzone exposure, physical or sexual assault, serious accidents, child sexual or physical abuse, disasters and torture.
DSM-V Criterion A of PTSD
A : “Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence in one (or more) of the following ways:
Directly experiencing the traumatic event(s)
Witnessing, in person, the event(s) as it occurred to others
Learning that the traumatic event(s) occurred to a close family member or close friend.
Experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of the traumatic event
Symptom Clusters
Intrusion
Avoidance
Negative alterations in cognitions and mood
Alterations in arousal and reactivity
Intrusion (or re-experiencing, “flashbacks”)
Recurrent distressing dreams of the event or acting/feeling as if the event is happening again
Avoidance
Avoiding memories, thoughts, feelings, people, places or activities that are reminders of the event
Negative alterations in cognitions and mood
Diminished interest in activities, feeling detached, inability to feel positive emotions, negative emotions, distorted blame of self or others
Alterations in arousal and reactivity
Irritable behavior, outbursts of anger, reckless or self destructive behavior, problems concentrating, hypervigilance, exaggerated startle, sleep disturbance
Suicide Risk
Mental health providers must conduct thorough evaluations for suicide risk in veterans, as veterans are at higher risk of suicide than the general population
Current suicidal behavior should be comprehensively assessed; in war veterans, having a history of PTSD is associated with an increased risk for suicidal behavior
How common is PTSD?
Of those who experience trauma, most do not develop PTSD
Only about 7% of all people develop PTSD in their lifetime.
So why do some people develop PTSD and others don’t? There are several factors that have an impact on whether someone develops PTSD.
personal factors, the traumatic event, and the recovery environment
Personal Factors
Personal factors such as prior trauma exposure and demographic characteristics have some effect on who develops PTSD
Several variables that are consistently found to be related to PTSD include: > female gender
> some genetic factors
> adverse childhood experiences
> previous psychiatric problems
> lower levels of education
> lower socioeconomic status
> minority race
Traumatic Event
Characteristics of the trauma exposure show a larger contribution to the development of PTSD than the personal factors
One of the most consistent findings is that the greater the severity of exposure, the greater the likelihood you’re going to develop PTSD
Greater perceived life threat, feelings of helplessness, and unpredictability or uncontrollability of the trauma are also significant risk factors.
Recovery Environment
The recovery environment risk factors are the ones that are the most interesting and important, because they are the ones we can do something about
Among those is social support following the event
Another factor that’s proving really important is subsequent life stress
Basically, the more life stress, the more likely someone is to develop PTSD
Military Sexual Trauma
“Psychological trauma, which in the judgment of a mental health professional, resulted from a physical nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment which occurred while the Veteran was serving on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training”
Often underreported
Barriers to disclosure unique to military
Associated with adverse mental health outcomes including PTSD, depression, and substance use disorders
Suicidal ideation and attempts are higher among individuals with a history of MST
