Post-traumatic stress disorder

CBC news reported in a Dec. 17, 2008 on-line article that 'more Canadian soldiers than ever are coming forward to make claims for psychiatric disabilities, such as post-traumatic stress disorder' and that of 31 recommendations made by the Military Ombudsman's Office in Ottawa, 18 had not been fully implemented.

The military are said to have made some progress in improving screening before and after conflict, providing national family support groups and aiming to hire 200 mental health workers by March of this year.

But the condition doesn't just affect soldiers. Paramedics, front-line nurses and victims of abuse, violent crimes or accidents have been known to develop symptoms. One in 10 people have post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association. Often with time and support, people can get past a traumatic event.

PTSD can result from stressors such as seeing someone else threatened with death or serious injury, or killed, or from violent personal assaults, such as rape or mugging, from car or plane accidents, industrial accidents, natural disasters, such as hurricanes or tornadoes, as well as from military combat.

In life-threatening circumstances, the body goes into a "fight or flight" response. But when a person continually relives the traumatic event, this response is reactivated and it becomes a problem.

Symptoms usually start to appear three months after the traumatic event. But they can also appear many years later.

They fall into three categories:

Reliving the traumatic event: Some people experience such severe psychological stress that it affects them long after. They have flashbacks and nightmares or tune out for periods of time, making it hard to live a normal life.

Emotional numbing and avoidance: The person may withdraw from friends and family. They avoid situations that remind them of their trauma. They don't enjoy life as usual, and have a hard time feeling emotions or maintaining intimacy. They often feel extreme guilt. In rare cases, they can go through disassociative states where they believe they are reliving the episode, and act as if it is happening again. These can last anywhere from five minutes to several days.

Changes in sleeping patterns and alertness: Insomnia is common, and people with PTSD may have a hard time concentrating and finishing tasks. This can also lead to more aggression.

PTSD can also lead to other illnesses, such as depression or dependence on drugs or alcohol. Some physical symptoms, such as dizziness, chest pain, gastrointestinal and immune-system problems can also be linked to the disorder.

How is it treated?
The depression and anxiety can be treated with medication. Therapy with mental health professionals can help, such as:

Group therapy.
Exposure therapy, in which the person works through the trauma by reliving the experience under controlled conditions.
Cognitive-behavioural therapy, which focuses on the way a person interprets and reacts to experience.
Some people fully recover within six months, but it can take much longer. Cognitive-behavioural therapy appears to be the most effective treatment, according to research.
But PTSD research continues to determine which treatments work best.

How many people does it affect? Who does it affect?
About one in 10 people have PTSD, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association. It can affect anyone who has a traumatic experience. Children and adults alike can suffer PTSD, which is among the most common mental health problems.

But, some people can experience symptoms without developing PTSD. About five to 10 per cent of people may have some symptoms without developing the full-blown disorder, according to the B.C. Ministry of Health Guide. Women are twice as likely as men to develop the full-blown disorder.

In 2002, the Canadian Forces was surveyed by Statistics Canada to determine the prevalence of PTSD and other conditions. The survey found that in the year before the study, 2.8 per cent of the regular force and 1.2 per cent of the reservists had symptoms of PTSD. The more missions soldiers had embarked on, the more likely they were to develop the disorder or PTSD-like symptoms.

But, the rate might be much higher, says Dr. Greg Passey, a Vancouver psychiatrist who specializes in trauma and works with Canadian Forces patients. In the mid-1990s, Passey studied two battalions who had served in the former Yugoslavia and found a 12- to 13- per-cent rate of PTSD.

Because our military is so small, he told CBC News, the front-end combat people have to go on more than one tour. And, he added, the more traumatic situations a person is exposed to, the greater risk of developing an operational stress injury such as PTSD.

The Canadian Forces now screens soldiers three to six months after they return from a mission. The "enhanced post-deployment screening process" involves a set of standard health questionnaires and an in-depth interview with a mental health professional.

If you have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, what can you do to cope? Veterans Canada recommends a few common sense tips.

Live a healthy lifestyle, eating healthy meals, exercising regularly and getting enough rest.

Set aside time to reflect on the trauma, rather than allow a constant stream of worrying thoughts throughout the day.

Join or develop support groups.

Educate yourself and your family about reactions to trauma. Understanding the condition is helpful in coming to terms with the trauma and dealing with its associated problems.

for the full article, see...
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/12/17/f-ptsd.html

for related article: 'Special help for stress disorders' see...
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2008/12/31/7886731-sun.html

Canada's National Scandal

People are a bit like buildings. Sometimes they look sad and forlorn, sometimes comical and fresh. Looking from the outside doesn't say much about the inside. What strengths, surprises, costs and depravities remain hidden? Agents and friends can help to find self-identity; enemies, misdirected friends and environmental pests attack both foundation and structure.

In 2007, Canada finally established a Mental Health Commission to attempt to address the lack of attention given to those Canadians who suffer cracks in their foundations, that 10% of us who are likely to experience severe, debilitating distress at some point in our lives. The hope is that money will, at long last, be dedicated to research for treatment and cure for those things that afflict our minds and spirits. Canadians need to discuss realities which have been swept under the proverbial rug.

The most scandalous part of this story is that damaged people are shuffled from one government department to another as they attempt to find assistance. Specifically they are forced to travel back and forth between agencies providing 'social services' (really mainly money) and those providing health care, housing or shelter, food, clothing and sense of community.

The Ministry of Health is not set up to work together with Provincial or Municipal Social Services Ministries. There is no coordination between these agencies for people who do not fit neatly into the medical model for physical illness.
Would you accuse a person with diabetes or cancer of being responsible for his or her illness?
Would we send blind people to six different branches of the CNIB?
Why is it acceptable to tell a mentally incapacitated person to 'just get a job'?

Why are our churches and other religious institutions largely silent on this issue? Thank God for the good work that is being done. Much, much more is needed.

Speak out! We, who have suffered schizophrenia, psychosis or depression need places to tell our stories. Well this is one such place.

Please do so, here and elsewhere, before more of us, or our loved ones, suffer needlessly due to neglect, ignorance, or lack of awareness of the few scattered but helpful resources that do exist.