Abnormal Psychology

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- 3.) Why is stress so prevalent in our medical and mental health profile? How might we manage this?

Stress is very widespread in today’s civilization because of several circumstances. Numerous individuals suffer from stress after traumatic experiences; this is known as post-traumatic stress disorder also called “PTSD.” The alteration in occurrence of PTSD in men and women are because studies show that men are most probable to be exposed to traumatic events (NAMI). Others have said that sex variances replicate the evidence that women are more probable to be unprotected from certain types of traumatic involvements, for example rape, that may be essentially traumatic. Women still validate greater rates of PTSD and have a tendency to have greater life threatening symptoms. In a normal year many individuals are exposed to various types of traumatic events that cause PTSD (NAMI). An additional factor that is significantly vital with respect to the growth of PTSD is the degree of experience with the traumatic occurrence. In a combat circumstance with the persistent danger of injury or death and repetitive narrow escapes, an individual’s regular coping procedures are comparatively impractical. The capability and safety the individual has identified in the rather safe and reliable civilian world are totally challenged. There are mental health concerns of deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan because through these deployments they are open to countless traumatic situations and have to function during circumstances of continuous threat. The great occurrence of post deployment mental disorders in military recruits is a key source of apprehension. Among the stressful and stubbornly disturbing wartime circumstances is being a prisoner of war. While various individuals have been capable to handle the stress, the toll on many prisoners is large. Several survivors of Nazi concentration camps continued residual organic and psychological harm, alongside with a smaller tolerance to stress of any type. Indications were credited to the psychological stressors and to biological stressors. For example, head injuries, prolonged malnutrition, and serious infectious diseases. Amongst the most extremely stressful circumstances individuals have described are those insensitive acts committed upon them by other individuals in the form of methodical torment. They contain physical indications such as pain, nervousness, insomnia, tremors, weakness, fainting, sweating, and diarrhea. The psychological symptoms include alienation, aggressiveness, depression, impulsivity, irritability, nightmares, social extraction, suicidal attempts, and suspiciousness (NAMI).

There are several ways to prevent PTSD which one should be to decrease the occurrence of traumatic experiences. Though natural disasters are unavoidable, efforts could be made to decrease the access that minors have to weapons. It is also worth seeing if it is likely to avoid maladaptive response to stress by helping individuals prior to exposure potentially traumatic experiences by giving them materials/ information and coping skills. Sufficient preparation and training for life-threatening stressors may assist soldiers, firefighters, and others for who is exposure to traumatic circumstances is likely (NIMH RSS). The usages of cognitive-behavioral procedures to assist individuals manage possibly stressful circumstances or a difficult event has been widely discovered. This preventive approach sometimes is referred to as stress-inoculation preparation, which prepares individuals to withstand an expected danger by altering the things they say to them before or during a stressful occurrence. Several individuals who are exposed to a traumatic stressor will have symptoms and slowly begin to improve without any professional assistance. Nationwide and local telephone hotlines offer assistance for individuals dealing with severe stress and for individuals who are feeling hopeless and suicidal. In addition, there are specific hotlines for victims of rape and sexual attack or for runaways who need assistance (NIMH RSS). Several of these hotlines are operated by skilled helpers otherwise known as volunteers. Crisis intervention has arisen in answer to stressful circumstances, such as tragedies or family conditions that have become unbearable. Though medical issues might also need emergency treatment, therapists are apprehensive with issues of a sensitive nature. In some crisis circumstances, a therapist is typically really dynamic, assisting to simplify the issue, signifying strategies of achievement, giving assurance, and then providing necessary information and care. Psychological debriefing methods are intended to assist the quickness of the therapeutic procedure in individuals who have personally gone through tragedies or been exposed to various traumatized individuals (NIMH RSS). The individuals are provided with open care and encouraged to speak about their pervious occurrences through a crisis. Individuals undergoing traumatic circumstances typically report strong emotional states of anxiety, depression, intrusive thoughts, numbing, and sleep disturbance. Numerous medicines can be used to offer relief for strong PTSD indications. The final treatment approach that is currently being used for PTSD which is continued exposure. It functions on precisely the identical principle. The patient is requested to vibrantly check the traumatic occurrence repeatedly until there is a decline in their emotional reactions. This process also includes repetitive or prolonged contact, either in the imagination, to dreaded stimuli that the individual is escaping because of trauma connected to terror (NIMH RSS).

Works Cited

"103lec2." 103lec2. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2013.

Friedman,, Helen D. "Abnormal Psychology New Research." Abnormal Psychology New Research 1st ser. 1.1 (2010): 1-3. Print.

Gupta, Nira. "Abnormal Psychology." Abnormal Psychology 1st ser. 1.1 (n.d.): 1-2. 26 Jan. 2013. Web.

"NAMI - The National Alliance on Mental Illness." NAMI. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2013.

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)." NIMH RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2013.