Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Course overview

What is the face of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? Is it Doug, who sits restlessly twisting his hands together, every conversation ending with the war? What it was like, what he ate, how he slept, what he did—his mind in an endless loop beginning and ending in Vietnam—for 40 years. Is it Jason, the 11-year boy who is withdrawn, failing his classes, and explodes in anger when confronted, 2 years after his father died? Is it Teri, the 30-year old woman who lives in a house with every curtain drawn, every window and door locked, 10 years after being raped? Or, is it the 60-year old woman who can’t bear to lo after a mastectomy? The truth is, there isn’t one face of PTSD. returning from Iraq has brought PTSD into public consciousness, but PTSD is more prevalent than most healthcare providers realize, and it is frequently overlooked as a diagnosis.