The Correlation Between Anger and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Essay Sample)

The correlation between anger and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
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Introduction
Post-traumatic stress is a mental disorder that faces an individual living under a depression condition after experiencing and living with a dangerous condition in their lives. Dangerous events linked with this disorder include those events threatening security of an individual and as well those leading the victim to feelings of helplessness. This condition has a high link with military soldiers. Similarly, individuals facing unpredictable and uncontrollable events are also prone to the condition. In addition to individuals facing these conditions directly, witnesses to these traumatic events also experience the condition. This is inclusive of health officers, friends and as well relatives to the victim (Schiraldi, 2009). The disorder has a link with fear and anger. As a result, an individual experiencing this condition is prone to anger. Consequently, anger remains as the immediate symptom of an individual under this condition. As with any other health condition, development of this disorder differs from one individual to another. Consequently, development of symptoms depends on the victim’s ability to cope with traumatic events. This is a research paper on the interrelation between anger and post trauma disorder (Grisso, 2004).
Theoretical explanation of the condition
As with any other health condition, post trauma stress disorder has its biological explanation. The condition results from an over-reactive response of adrenaline when an individual experiences a traumatic event in life. The over-reactive response from adrenaline creates a response pattern on the brain that makes an individual a victim to the disorder. These patterns recorded in the brain may persist in an individual making him over-reactive when faced by a fearful event in life (Grisso, 2004).
Response patterns recorded in the brain leads to biochemical changes in the victim’s brain. This makes a victim of post-trauma stress disorder different from a patient suffering from another mental disorder. Apparently, due to these changes in biochemical responses of the victims, they become more prone to strong anger responses while faced by a fearing event in their lives (Letschert, 2010).
Apparently, as the condition has a strong link with the brain, victims demonstrate some abnormalities in their hypothalamus (part of the brain responsible for response and control of secretion of different hormones in the body). A hormone imbalance is a theoretical explanation of this disorder in victims. Due to alteration of brain patterns in the victims, there is an interruption of their brain hormone levels. Catecholamine and cortisol releasing factors are in high levels in the brain. Hormones regulated by these factors are responsible for response. Therefore, due to their high levels in the body, individuals appear over-reactive while faced by stressing events in life (Taylor, 2004).
On the other hand, post-trauma victims have low levels of serotonin hormone. Similarly, as with the other highlighted factors, this hormone results due to response patterns in the brain after traumatic events. This hormone makes these individuals appear aggressive, anxious and as well abnormal behaviors. Over response, characters demonstrated by these victims’ increases as they face stressful events. Nor epinephrine system has receptors responsible for stress response. Subjection of these receptor cells in the brain leads to hyperactive response behavior in individuals. Apparently, these receptor cells are responsible for maintaining memories on experiences of an individual (Phillips, 2008). Consequently, victims of the disorder appear prone to nightmares and flashbacks of the trauma events experiences. More so, low levels of these receptor cell responses have a great influence on victim’s memory capacity. Often, victims experience low levels of awareness of their current environments. As a result, these victims have a difficulty while processing an experience and relating the experience with their current environment. Flashbacks experienced by these individuals’ results from their inability of perceiving their current environment and over relying on an experience of their life (Grisso, 2004).
As highlighted earlier, the condition arises due to brain damage. According to RC PSYCH, some of the most affected parts of the brain include cortex, hippocampus and as well amygdale (Rosen, 2004). Damage of the later has a great impact in human behavior as it directly influences formation of emotions in individuals. On the other hand, according to brain study reported by National Institute of Mental Health, abnormal behaviors in these patients originate from failure of coordination of their brains. In PTSD victims, hippocampus, responsible for relating memories to their experiences, makes the individuals experience periods of flashbacks when faced by stressing situations. Due to suppression of this part of the brain, when a victim experiences a situation similar to the traumatic event, their brains develop a perception that their traumatic event is reoccurring. Therefore, these individuals experience periods of anger due to their memories (Letschert, 2010).
Cortex damage of the brain affects the coordination of hormone response to stress (Schiraldi, 2009). This results to maintenance of fear among these individuals and as well their wrong perception while dealing with stress stimuli in their lives. In addition, it influences these individuals consolidation after their traumatic event. Failure of consolidation of these memories leads to an individual developing the health disorder. Lastly, fearful response of a posttraumatic disorder has an attribute to damage of amygdale that is responsible for fear control.
Symptoms of PTSD
PTSD victims experience different levels of symptoms. These symptoms appear in different categories based on their demonstration in the victim. While understanding different classes of symptoms related with the disorder, it is important highlighting that children and teens have a difference while responding to the disorder. Among young children, they demonstrate these symptoms through bedwetting, having a clingy relationship with a parent and an adult relative, and in severe cases, they forget easily and have a difficulty while talking. The disorder’s symptoms include;
3.1. Reoccurrence symptoms; these are symptoms experienced by victims in their daily routines. They influence the victim’s ability to cope with other individuals in the society. They mostly start in the victim’s thoughts and feelings where they express them through words. Some of the common reoccurrence symptoms of the condition include; nightmares, some fearful and frightening thoughts and flashbacks of trauma event demonstrated through a raised heartbeat and ion some cases screams and profuse sweating (Grisso, 2004).
3.2. Avoidance symptoms: these are symptoms experienced by victims when relating to others in the society. Unlike reoccurrence symptoms, avoidance symptoms lead the victims to changing their normal schedule due to traumatic event they experienced. Some of the common avoidance symptoms experienced by victims include feelings of strong guilt and emotional numbness while carrying out their activities, loss of interests in activities involving other people, experiencing trouble while reflecting on the trauma event and lastly secluding themselves from places and objects related to their trauma event (Letschert, 2010).
3.3. Hyperactive response symptoms: these are symptoms having a relation to individual response to daily activities taking place in their current environments. It has a relation to events similar to victim’s trauma events and as well some stressing events in life. Normally, these responses are constant among people unless triggered by an external memory of a trauma event. Post trauma disorder victims often demonstrate overactive feelings of anger and fear when faced by stressing situations. More so, insomnia is another response experienced by these individuals. These symptoms pose challenges to victims while performing their daily routines such as sleeping and eating (Taylor, 2004).
4. Causes and risk factors accelerating the prevalence of PTSD
As highlighted earlier, the condition mostly results from traumatic experiences of individuals. Apparently, risk factors resulting from the condition facing these patients have a reliance on the nature of the traumatic event faced. In addition, the impact of the traumatic event depends on its nature and source. Example, a human-developed traumatic event such as theft, rape and torture, have a greater negative influence on victims while compared to the other natural life events such as accidents and natural calamities. On the other hand, as highlighted earlier, the extent at which the calamity affects the victim depends on its nature (ability to control the event and as well escape it).
Other than the highlighted prevalent cause of posttraumatic stress disorder, as well other significant factors contribute to occurrence of this condition among different victims. They include; drug and substance abuse among individuals that cause depression and hallucination in the victim and external factors in an individual’s environment that contribute to stress in their daily routines. Lastly, individuals who lack support while coping with trauma often experience high levels of PTSD.
Other than, the highlighted causes and risk factors linked with the disorder, there are as well other resilience factors that play significant roles in suppressing the impact of the disorder in the victims. Some of the resilience factors linked with the disorder include support services and rendered by friends, relatives, and as well coping...