Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for West Virginia Nurses
Mental Health Conditions Common to Veterans

CONTACT HOURS: 2

Copyright © 2020 Wild Iris Medical Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

BY: 

Judith Swan, MSN, BSN, ADN; Persis Mary Hamilton, EdD, MSN, BSN, PHN, PMHN

LEARNING OUTCOME AND OBJECTIVES:  Upon completion of this course, you will have increased your understanding of posttraumatic stress disorder and your ability to intervene appropriately in the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the disorder, especially with patients who are military veterans. Specific learning objectives include:

  • Define posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
  • Summarize the epidemiology and etiology of PTSD.
  • Identify risk factors for developing PTSD.
  • Identify the symptoms and diagnostic criteria.
  • Discuss the impact that caring for a person with PTSD has on family and caregivers.
  • Discuss appropriate assessment and diagnosis of patients with suspected PTSD.
  • Describe current interventions and outcome goals for patients.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Introduction
  • Epidemiology
  • Etiology
  • Symptoms, Onset, and Course
  • Impacts of PTSD on Family
  • Assessing and Diagnosing Patients with Known or Suspected PTSD
  • Interventions
  • Conclusion
  • Resources
  • References

INTRODUCTION


The Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders (EMD, 2020) defines posttraumatic stress disorder as “a complex disorder in which the affected person’s memory, emotional responses, intellectual processes, and nervous system have been disrupted by one or more traumatic experiences. It is sometimes summarized as a normal reaction to abnormal events.”

PTSD is classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as a “trauma and stressor-related disorder” and is the only psychiatric diagnosis (along with acute stress disorder) that depends on a factor outside the person—namely, a traumatic stressor that is outside the range of usual experience involving actual or threatened death or serious injury or assault to self or others. In addition, it is now recognized that repeated traumas or such traumas of long duration (e.g., child abuse, domestic violence, stalking, cult membership, hostage situations) may produce the symptoms of PTSD in survivors (APA, 2013; EMD, 2020).

In 1989, because of a recognized need, the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder was established within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Its mission is “to advance the clinical care and social welfare of America’s veterans through research, education, and training in the science, diagnosis, and treatment of PTSD and stress-related disorders” (VA, 2020).

TYPES OF EVENTS LEADING TO PTSD

Posttraumatic stress disorder occurs following exposure to a terrifying, stressful, or frightening event or after prolonged traumatic experience. Types of events that can lead to the development of PTSD include:

  • Interpersonal violence: childhood physical abuse, witnessing interpersonal violence, physical assault, or being threatened by violence
  • Sexual relationship violence: rape, childhood sexual abuse, intimate partner violence
  • Interpersonal-network traumatic experiences: unexpected death of a loved one, life-threatening illness of a child, other traumatic event of a loved one
  • Exposure to organized violence: being a refuge, kidnapping victim, or civilian in a war zone
  • Participation in organized violence: military combat exposure or exposure to gang violence, witnessing death or serious injury, discovering dead bodies, accidentally or purposefully causing death or serious injury to others
  • Other life-threatening traumatic events: life-threatening motor vehicle accidents, gas explosions, fires, infectious disease epidemics, radiation, mass casualties, or natural disasters
    (Sareen, 2020)