Claims of PTSD being "over-used" avoid reality

"Trauma survivors have a different outlook. There is a new sense of danger and vulnerability," he said. "But it doesn't mean you're not resilient."

Forum looks at storm victims, war veterans
Groups have much in common
By MEGHA SATYANARAYANA
megha@sunherald.com

War and a hurricane - when it comes to mental trauma, the two aren't so different.
This was one conclusion of a forum Thursday night featuring two mental-health professionals and a Sun Herald staff writer. The seminar was about post-traumatic stress syndrome, the recognized precursor of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Mental trauma after the storm fell into two categories, said Steve Barrilleaux, director of Outpatient Services at Gulf Coast Mental Health Center in Gulfport. There were those with no mental-health problems before Katrina, who afterward began feeling anxiety and depression for the first time. Then there were those with pre-existing issues, which the hurricane exacerbated.
go here for the rest
http://www.sunherald.com/201/story/172947.html

"But these symptoms alone are not enough for a PTSD diagnosis, which he said is overused." Barrilleaux went on to claim.

If anything, it is under diagnosed.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Navy Psychologist Warns of Mental Health Provider, PTSD Training Shortfalls

From USA Today:


From his distant vantage point treating Marines at a base in Iwakuni, Japan, [Navy Cmdr. Mark] Russell, 46, has been speaking out for three years that the U.S. military faces a mental health crisis in the treatment of its combat veterans.

He has fired off memos to higher command and has gone public with his views, an unusual step for many in the military. Russell discussed his concerns in phone and Internet interviews. "We cannot provide the standard of care to treat PTSD via psychotherapy when we can barely keep up with new referrals and have to manage crises while filling in for the staffing gaps and vacancies due to deployment, attrition or no billeting," Russell says. "This is why I have been so outspoken."
http://ptsdcombat.blogspot.com/2007/01/navy-psychologist-warns-of-mental.html

From NAMI
How common is PTSD?
Studies suggest that anywhere between 2 percent and 9 percent of the population has had some degree of PTSD. However, the likelihood of developing the disorder is greater when someone is exposed to multiple traumas or traumatic events early in life (or both), especially if the trauma is long term or repeated. More cases of this disorder are found among inner-city youths and people who have recently emigrated from troubled countries. And women seem to develop PTSD more often than men.

Veterans are perhaps the people most often associated with PTSD, or what was once referred to as "shell shock" or "battle fatigue." The Anxiety Disorders Association of America notes that an estimated 15 percent to 30 percent of the 3.5 million men and women who served in Vietnam have suffered from PTSD.

What are the symptoms of PTSD?Although the symptoms for individuals with PTSD can vary considerably, they generally fall into three categories:

Re-experience - Individuals with PTSD often experience recurrent and intrusive recollections of and/or nightmares about the stressful event. Some may experience flashbacks, hallucinations, or other vivid feelings of the event happening again. Others experience great psychological or physiological distress when certain things (objects, situations, etc.) remind them of the event.
Avoidance - Many with PTSD will persistently avoid things that remind them of the traumatic event. This can result in avoiding everything from thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the incident to activities, places, or people that cause them to recall the event. In others there may be a general lack of responsiveness signaled by an inability to recall aspects of the trauma, a decreased interest in formerly important activities, a feeling of detachment from others, a limited range of emotion, and/or feelings of hopelessness about the future.

Increased arousal - Symptoms in this area may include difficulty falling or staying asleep, irritability or outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, becoming very alert or watchful, and/or jumpiness or being easily startled.

It is important to note that those with PTSD often use alcohol or other drugs in an attempt to self-medicate. Individuals with this disorder may also be at an increased risk for suicide.
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http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=
By_Illness&template=/ContentManagement/
ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=10095

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and the CNN Medical Unit

It's no surprise that most people who endure a traumatic event suffer from some symptoms of PTSD, but the effects will often subside. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, about 8 percent of men and 20 percent of women go on to develop PTSD and roughly 20 percent of those people develop a chronic lifelong form of it. The condition is associated with other ailments such as increased risk of heart disease in men.

In terms of children, Stanford researchers found that severe stress can damage a child's brain. They looked at children suffering from PTSD as result of severe abuse and found that they often suffered a decrease in the size of the hippocampus - a part of the brain involved in memory processing and emotion. What's even more startling is that this effect on the brain may make it even harder for them to process normal stress for the rest of their lives. These days, more and more money and attention is being directed towards PTSD research, due in great part to the war. As troops come home from Iraq and Afghanistan, as many as 13 percent are found to have PTSD. There can be thousands more whose conditions go undiagnosed.

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/blogs/paging.dr.gupta
/2007/08/back-to-va-tech-ptsd-concerns.html

Anyone can claim whatever they want if they have a title after their name but if they have no, or little, background dealing with PTSD, they will make claims that are not educated ones. I've read what they've had to say for 25 years. The professionals who write what is lived with and through are the ones I trust. If they come out with claims that PTSD is over used, I don't trust them.

There have been too many cases of someone having PTSD and not being diagnosed with it. Over 22,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan were given "personality disorder" markers instead of PTSD. Max Cleland, triple amputee, ex-senator, ex-head of the VA, was diagnosed with depression and treated for that since Vietnam, but it turned out, he too had PTSD.