ClinPsy (PTSD)

human suffering, anxiety

People who live through traumatic events, or events that are beyond the normal range of __________ sometimes develop a severe set of _______-related symptoms known as posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD.

emotional numbing and avoidance, repeated reliving, hypervigilance

how we can tell if someone has PTSD

estranged, nothingness

People report feeling completely numb to the world, as if they have no emotional reactions to anything. They feel ________ from others, as if they can no longer relate to even close family and friends. They also lose interest in their former activities and may just sit around for hours at a time, apparently staring into ___________.

sleep, relive, vividly, behave

People may dream every night of the trauma and become afraid to go to ____. Even while awake, they may mentally ____ the trauma so _______ that they begin to ______ as if they were there.

vigilant, recurring, restless

Trauma survivors may act as though they are always ________ for signs of the trauma ________. They might find it impossible to concentrate on anything. Even if they are not having recurrent nightmares, they have ________ nights and wake up exhausted.

humans

Studies indicate that traumas caused by ______ are, to some extent, even more likely to cause PTSD than natural disasters.

1 month, 4 weeks

Acute stress disorder occurs in response to traumas similar to those involved in PTSD but is diagnosed when symptoms arise within _______ of exposure to the stressor and last no longer than _______.

3 months, stressor, severity, extreme

Adjustment disorder consists of emotional and behavioral symptoms that arise within _________ of the experience of a _________. The stressors that lead to adjustment disorder can be of any ______, while those that lead to PTSD and acute stress disorder are ________.

death, serious injury, sexual assault

DSM-5 will more explicitly define “traumatic event” as ______, _________, or _______ (or a serious threat of experiencing these events). DSM-5 requires that an individual personally experience the event or witness it happen to others.

severity, duration, proximity, social

Explanations of PTSD Vulnerability

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL FACTORS

◼________ of, ________ of, and _____ to the trauma

◼Availability of _______ support

anxiety, depression, self-destructive, dissociation

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS

◼PTSD is more likely to develop if people are already experiencing increased symptoms of ______ or _______ before the trauma

◼Coping style

▪ ______ coping

▪ ________

triggers, repercussions, culture

GENDER AND CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

◼Women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with PTSD due to certain ________ and _______ of traumas

◼________ appears to strongly influence manifestation of anxiety

emotion, fight-or-flight, memory

BIOLOGICAL FACTORS

◼Differences in brain areas that regulate _______, the ____________ response, and ________

amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus

BIOLOGICAL FACTORS

▪ ________ responds more actively to emotional stimuli

▪ Less active _________

▪_________ considerably shrinks in size

cortisol, biological, childhood, inherited

BIOLOGICAL FACTORS

◼Low baseline (resting) levels of ______ before the trauma

◼Permanent alteration of a person’s ______ stress response due to exposure to trauma during __________

◼Vulnerability to PTSD may be __________

cbt, stress management, systemic desensitization, SSRIs, benzodiazepines

TREATMENTS TO PTSD

◼_____ and ___________: common goals include exposing clients to what they fear in order to extinguish that fear, challenging distorted cognitions that contribute to symptoms, and helping client reduce stress in their lives.

▪ ______________ is a major element in CBT

◼_________, and to a lesser extent, __________