PTSD

    Hello everyone! This is my second AP for my class Disease! In this unit for the class, we’ve been going over mental illnesses, the brain, brainwaves, and how all of these can link together. We read and watched The Reason I Jump. The book is from the perspective of a 13 year old Japanese boy recounting his experiences and answering questions about what it’s like to live with autism. The movie is more of a documentary, interviewing multiple people who are austistic and their experiences. We even read the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V for short), a book that focuses on mental illnesses and how to diagnose them. We were then tasked with choosing one such illness and not only writing a report on it, but trying to make the reader experience how it is for people with that illness. This is my project, so I hope you enjoy it.

    Before we start, I want you to think of a memory. A memory so vivid you can relive it in your head. Something so vivid you can remember it. I would like this to be a positive experience you’ve had, if possible.


    Once you get that memory in your head, let’s get started.


    PTSD is, in simple terms, stress one would express after something traumatic has happened. This used to be called things like “shellshock”, as a lot of people coming back from wars were diagnosed with it. WWII was the reason the DSM-I was made in the first place! As our understanding and resources grew, however, we started to realize that this just doesn’t happen to soldiers; it can happen to anyone. And while for most people PTSD won’t become chronic, in some cases it does.




    Now, back to that activity. I want you to bring up what it felt like. Did it feel cold, harsh, uncaring? Or maybe it was more warm and happy? Was it mild? What time of year did it take place? What objects do you remember touching there, what do you remember grabbing? Once you have those in your mind, we can keep going.




    For someone to be diagnosed with PTSD, they need to experience symptoms like intrusive memories, negative reactions to internal or external cues that might remind them of the event, avoid of either memories or things like people or places that remind them of the event, feelings of detachment, inability to experience positive emotions, being more irritable, self destructive behavior, and many more. With children who are 6 years older or younger, these symptoms will appear a bit differently, but share similarities to some of the symptoms above.




    Now, I want you to bring up the memory you thought of again. How did it sound? Was there music, or silence? Were there people talking, and if so how loud? Were they yelling, or whispering? Were there any loud sounds? Keep that in mind, and let’s continue.




    Treatment for PTSD has become a lot more widespread and well known now. While there are medications that can help, things like specific types of therapy can really help those with PTSD. A broad type of therapy that’s effective with helping those with PTSD is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This type of therapy and its branches are focused on helping people process thoughts through various means. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on identifying the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and actions and changing them if they stop helping you function.




    Now, let’s focus on what you saw in that memory. Was it a house? Maybe your home? Was it outside, somewhere fun? Maybe a restaurant or arcade. Maybe it was a park? Once you have the mental image in your head, let’s go onward.




    Now, let’s go over how PTSD affects certain groups. Certain symptoms only appear with kids, such as reenacting the event that occured. Also, something to note is that, with children, positive emotions don’t entirely go away, rather they are persistently reduced. With women, it is generally higher with how many risks they may face.




    What did the memory smell like? Was it common-y, that smell of a bakery or even home? Or did it have a strong stench to it, something unpleasant that you wouldn’t mind never smelling again? Think about that smell, and keep it in mind as we go forward.




    Finally, there are a lot of misconceptions about what PTSD is and isn’t. For example, people who have PTSD do not always get it right after a traumatic event occurs. It can take months and even years for it to form and take shape. Another misconception is that everyone who goes through something traumatic will develop PTSD. The truth is that relatively few people who go through something that could be considered traumatic will develop PTSD. Plus, as stated before, you may not know until much later after the event occured.


    For the last step, I want you to think about how the memory tasted. Was it delicious? Maybe you hadn’t had anything to eat and were starving? Maybe it was sour, maybe it was sweet. Maybe it was juicy because you just bit into a piece of chicken. Whatever it was, keep it in mind.


    Throughout this process, I’ve wanted you to recall certain parts of the memory you thought of. While not all the senses were used, I wanted you to paint a picture of the memory. Something so vivid it felt real right there. If you felt as though you were experiencing that moment again, you just experienced how someone with PTSD would feel. To them, it isn’t simply something they remember; that flashback is so real they feel like they are reliving it. Not everyone who has PTSD experiences these, but I think this was the best way to deliver even a fraction of how they feel.

Creating this felt like stepping into the shoes of someone with PTSD. While I could never fully understand how they feel, I can at least get some sort of idea of how they feel and how they experience it. I hope this activity also made you think, if even a bit, about how those with PTSD feel. Go write how you felt during this activity, or maybe go talk to someone.  I just want you to reflect on how this made you feel.

Works Cited

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed., Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 2013.

---. “What Is PTSD?” Psychiatry.org, American Psychiatric Association, 2020, www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd.

National Institute of Mental Health. “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 2017, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd#:~:text=Post-traumatic%20stress%20disorder%20(PTSD.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “What Is PTSD? - PTSD: National Center for PTSD.” Va.gov, 2014, www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/what/index.asp.