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Post-traumatic stress disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder. psychlotron.org.uk. Clinical characteristics. Exposure to traumatic event Risk of death/injury to self/others Re-experiencing the event Flashbacks, dreams, intrusive memories Avoidance of trauma cues Talking, thinking, activities, amnesia

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Post-traumatic stress disorder

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  1. Post-traumatic stress disorder psychlotron.org.uk

  2. Clinical characteristics • Exposure to traumatic event • Risk of death/injury to self/others • Re-experiencing the event • Flashbacks, dreams, intrusive memories • Avoidance of trauma cues • Talking, thinking, activities, amnesia • General unresponsiveness • Detachment, alienation, numbness psychlotron.org.uk

  3. Clinical characteristics • Lifetime prevalence 1-2.6% in general population • Risk climbs with intensity & severity • Large individual differences • Social support reduces risk • Onset following trauma may be delayed psychlotron.org.uk

  4. Explaining PTSD • Need to account for: • Clinical features • Variation in susceptibility • Main perspectives: • Biological • Psychodynamic • Behaviourist • Cognitive psychlotron.org.uk

  5. Biological perspective • Damage to endocrine systems associated with stress • Exaggerated stress responses • Noradrenergic burnout • Inherited vulnerability • PTSD risk higher where family has a history of anxiety psychlotron.org.uk

  6. Psychodynamic perspective • Delayed onset & amnesia may indicate repression mechanisms • Some evidence that early trauma increases vulnerability to PTSD psychlotron.org.uk

  7. Behaviourist perspective • Conditioned response to trauma cues • ‘Re-experiencing’ type symptoms consistent with this • Avoidance symptoms possibly due to operant learning psychlotron.org.uk

  8. Cognitive perspective • Trauma disrupts normal information processing • Inability to assimilate experiences • State/context dependent memories • ‘Vulnerability’ schema psychlotron.org.uk

  9. Treatments for PTSD • Biological - drugs may help relieve anxiety symptoms • Others - agree on the need to re-expose patient to trauma • Catharsis (psychodynamic) • Deconditioning (behaviourist) • Assimilation & reality testing (cognitive) psychlotron.org.uk

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