Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
Virtually any trauma, defined as an event that is life-threatening or that severely compromises the emotional well-being of an individual or causes intense fear, may cause PTSD. Such events often include either experiencing or witnessing a severe accident or physical injury, receiving a life-threatening medical diagnosis, being the victim of kidnapping or torture, exposure to war combat or to a natural disaster, exposure to other disaster (for example, plane crash) or terrorist attack, being the victim of rape, mugging, robbery, or assault, enduring physical, sexual, emotional, or other forms of abuse, as well as involvement in civil conflict. Although the diagnosis of PTSD currently requires that the sufferer has a history of experiencing a traumatic event as defined here, people may develop PTSD in reaction to events that may not qualify as traumatic but can be devastating life events like divorce or unemployment.
What is posttraumatic stress disorder?
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an emotional illness that that is classified as an anxiety disorder and usually
develops as a result of a terribly frightening, life-threatening, or otherwise
highly unsafe experience. PTSD sufferers re-experience the traumatic event or
events in some way, tend to avoid places, people, or other things that remind
them of the event (avoidance), and are exquisitely sensitive to normal life
experiences (hyperarousal). Although this condition has likely existed since
human beings have endured trauma, PTSD has only been recognized as a formal
diagnosis since 1980. However, it was called by different names as early as the
American Civil War, when combat veterans were referred to as suffering from
"soldier's heart." In World War I, symptoms that were generally consistent with
this syndrome were referred to as "combat fatigue." Soldiers who developed such
symptoms in World War II were said to be suffering from "gross stress reaction,"
and many troops in Vietnam who had symptoms of what is now called PTSD were
assessed as having "post-Vietnam syndrome." PTSD has also been called "battle
fatigue" and "shell shock."
Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD)
usually results from prolonged exposure to a traumatic event or series thereof
and is characterized by long-lasting problems with many aspects of emotional and
social functioning.
Statistics regarding this illness indicate that
approximately 7%-8% of people in the United States will likely develop PTSD in
their lifetime, with the lifetime occurrence (prevalence) in combat veterans and
rape victims ranging from 10% to as high as 30%. Somewhat higher rates of this
disorder have been found to occur in African Americans, Hispanics, and Native
Americans compared to Caucasians in the United States. Some of that difference
is thought to be due to higher rates of dissociation soon before and after the
traumatic event (peritraumatic), a tendency for individuals from minority ethnic
groups to blame themselves, have less social support, and an increased
perception of racism for those ethnic groups, as well as differences between how
ethnic groups may express distress. In military populations, many of the
differences have been found to be the result of increased exposure to combat at
younger ages for minority groups. Other important facts about PTSD
include the estimate of 5 million people who suffer from PTSD at any one time in
the United States and the fact that women are twice as likely as men to develop
PTSD.
Almost half of individuals who use outpatient mental-health services
have been found to suffer from PTSD. As evidenced by the occurrence of stress in
many individuals in the United States in the days following the 2001 terrorist
attacks, not being physically present at a traumatic event does not guarantee
that one cannot suffer from traumatic stress that can lead to the development of
PTSD.
PTSD statistics in children and teens reveal that up to more than 40%
have endured at least one traumatic event, resulting in the development of PTSD
in up to 15% of girls and 6% of boys. On average, 3%-6% of high school students
in the United States and as many as 30%-60% of children who have survived
specific disasters have PTSD. Up to 100% of children who have seen a parent
killed or endured sexual assault or abuse tend to develop PTSD, and more than
one-third of youths who are exposed to community violence (for example, a shooting,
stabbing, or other assault) will suffer from the disorder.
Stress occurs when forces from the outside world impinge on the individual. Stress is a normal part of life. However, over-stress, can be harmful. There is now speculation, as well as some evidence, that points to the abnormal stress responses as being involved in causing various diseases or conditions.
Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. The principal types of depression are major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disease (also called manic-depressive disease).
Alcoholism is a disease that includes alcohol craving and continued drinking despite repeated alcohol-related problems, such as losing a job or getting into trouble with the law.
Suicide is the process of intentionally ending one's own life. Approximately 1 million people worldwide commit suicide each year, and 10 million to 20 million attempt suicide annually.
Borderline personality disorder is a serious mental illness characterized by pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior. This instability often disrupts family and work life, long-term planning, and the individual's sense of self-identity. Originally thought to be at the "borderline" of psychosis, people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) suffer from a disorder of emotion regulation.
Dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder or split personality disorder) is a mental illness in which a person has at least two distinct personalities. Symptoms and signs include lapses in memory, feeling unreal, blackouts in time, hearing voices in their head that are not their own, not recognizing themselves in the mirror, and finding items in one's possession but not recalling how they were acquired. Treatment usually involves psychotherapy, medications, and sometimes hypnosis.
Drug addiction is a chronic disease that causes drug-seeking behavior and drug use despite negative consequences to the user and those around him. Though the initial decision to use drugs is voluntary, changes in the brain caused by repeated drug abuse can affect a person's self-control and ability to make the right decisions and increase the urge to take drugs. Drug abuse and addiction are preventable.
A number of vital tasks carried out during sleep help maintain good health and enable people to function at their best. Sleep needs vary from individual to individual and change throughout your life. Not getting enough sleep can hurt memory performance, health, and your mood.
Grief is the feeling one experiences after a loss (of a friendship, death of loved one, job). Complicated grief refers to grief that lasts for more than a year. Mourning describes the customs and rituals that help a bereaved individual make sense of their loss.
Insomnia is the perception or complaint of inadequate or poor-quality sleep because of difficulty falling asleep; waking up frequently during the night with difficulty returning to sleep; waking up too early in the morning; or unrefreshing sleep. Secondary insomnia is the most common type of insomnia. Treatment for insomnia include lifestyle changes, cognitive behavioral therapy, and medication.
Phobias are unrelenting fears of activities (social phobias), situations (agoraphobia), and specific items (arachnophobia). There is thought to be a hereditary component to phobias, though there may be a cultural influence or they may be triggered by life events. Symptoms and signs of phobias include having a panic attack, shaking, breathing troubles, rapid heart beat, and a strong desire to escape the situation. Treatment of phobias typically involves desensitization, cognitive behavioral therapy, and medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and beta blockers.
Sleepwalking is a condition in which an individual walks or does other activities while asleep. Factors associated with sleepwalking include genetic, environmental, and physiological. Episodes of sleepwalking may include quiet walking to agitated running. Conditions that may have similar symptoms of sleepwalking, but are not include night terrors, confusional arousals, and nocturnal seizures. Treatment of sleepwalking generally include preventative measures. Medication may be prescribed if necessary.
Nightmares are dreams that cause high anxiety or terror. Nightmares may be a part of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and they usually occur during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. There are several different treatment options for nightmares, including cognitive-behavioral therapy and medications.
Children's health is focused on the well-being of children from conception through adolescence. There are many aspects of children's health, including growth and development, illnesses, injuries, behavior, mental illness, family health and community health.
There are many forms of sexual assault, including rape, attempted rape, child molestation, sexual intercourse that you say no to, inappropriate touching, and vaginal, anal, or oral penetration. Sexual assault can also be anything that forces someone to join in unwanted sexual contact or attention, such as voyeurism, exhibitionism, incest, and sexual harassment.
Insomnia is defined as difficulty initiating or maintaining
sleep, or both,
despite adequate opportunity and time to sleep, leading to impaired daytime
functioning. Insomnia may be due to poor quality or quantity of sleep.
Insomnia is very common and occurs in 30% to 50% of the general population.
Approximately 10% of the population may suffer from chronic (long-standing)
insomnia.
Insomnia affects people of all ages including children, although it is more
common in adults and its frequency increases with age. In general, women are
affected more frequently than men.
Insomnia may be divided into three classes based on the
duration of symptoms.
Insomnia lasting one week or less may be termed transient
insomnia;
short-term insomnia lasts more than one week but resolves in less
than three weeks; and
long-term or chronic insomnia lasts more than three we...
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