Upgrade to remove ads
Only $35.99/year

PSYC 300 - Chapter 5 - Trauma & stress-related Disorders

Terms in this set (11)

Clinical Picture - Prevalence
8-9% in north america
lower in asian countries

events:
civilians: rape and physical assault, emergency personnel
combat: captivity, torture
Clinical Picture - Onset, Gender, Course
-usually right after event
-tends to be more common in young than old people (older people have seen a lot of negative things)
-women greater risk than men because women more likely to experience ptsd if they encounter traumatic event
-50% will recover within 3 months, ptsd usually tapers off after 6 months
-symptoms can last for years
Acute Stress Disorder
-duration btwn 3 days and 4 weeks (added to allow early treatment)
-50% will go onto develop ptsd
Controversies: PTSD
1) What is a traumatic event?
-something outside range of normal human experience (combat, torture)

2)Is it the event or the person?
Def of Trauma
DSM IV: broadened definition - no longer had to be torture, greater acceptance of secondhand experience (learning family member was in an accident)
critics said they broadened it too far
Definition of Trauma
-should traumatic event criterion be eliminated
-problems with reliance on self-report
-victims are aware of discontinuity in life
Events
Witnessed events - yes (workers who went to pick up body parts)

Subsyndromal - ppl often miss out on the treatment they could benefit from cuz they don't meet the diagnostic criteria
Problem: Is it event or person?
-faced with the same event, only some will develop PTSD
-93% of people are exposed to traumatic situations but only less than 10 develop PTSD

person vul factors
-negative affectivity (anxiety)
-previous trauma (eg: victims of childhood abuse)
-pre-existing emotional and behavioural problems (anxiety, mood disorder)
-lower ses, education
-lower intelligence (smaller hippocampal volume)
-women higher risk than men

Event risk factors
-trauma severity
-low social support - if no one can support them that makes it worse
-lack of control - makes it worse (eg: medical personnel not being able to control the situation, rape victims)
Conclusion: PTSD
-results from complex interaction
-some people @ greater risk than others
criterion is necessary but not sufficient
-its both the individual and the event
Biological Contributions
-hippocampus volume - cause and effect uncertain
-
Learning Model
1. Sensory encoding of trauma stimuli
Other sets by this creator