Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Self-Care Tips for Survivors of a Traumatic Event: What to Expect in Your Personal, Family, Work, and Financial Life

Traumatic events which will effect the rest of our lives are all around us. Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, and the most current, a bridge collapse. Even beyond these national news calamities are traumatic events which occur in our own lives. Car crashes, fires, accidents, etc. can all take their toll on our psyche for a long time after the event actually occurs.

"I was raped when I was 25 years old. For a long time, I spoke about the rape as though it was something that happened to someone else. I was very aware that it had happened to me, but there was just no feeling."

According to an article in the New York Times, June 21, 2006, New Orleans is experiencing what appears to be a near epidemic of depression and post-traumatic stress disorders, one that mental health experts say is of an intensity rarely seen in this country.

What are the mental health impacts of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq?

A study that examined the mental health impact of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (Hoge et al., 2004) found that "... the estimated risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from service in the Iraq War was 18%, and the estimated risk for PTSD from the Afghanistan mission was 11%."

"... psychotropic drugs are a bow to a little-discussed truth fraught with implications: Mentally ill service members are being returned to combat." And they are returning to Iraq with anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medications.

According to an article in The Healthy Place.com's Depression Community, " ... officials at Veterans Affairs centers across the nation are reporting a spike in veterans with underlying symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including flashbacks, nightmares, panic attacks, anger, emotional withdrawal and depression."