Running head: PTSD CASE STUDY FINAL 1

PTSD Case Study Final

Shawn Hall

BIO201 – Public Health and the Environment

Colorado State University – Global Campus

Dr. Harriet Austin

November 30, 2018

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PTSD Case Study Final

PTSD is known as a silent killer due to nature of the occurrence in the individual. While

everyone will experience one or more traumatic events in their lifetime, not everyone will

experience PTSD. Studies have shown that trauma because of violent acts, such as rape, murder,

vehicle accidents, and the like have a higher likelihood of producing PTSD (National Institute of

Mental Health, 2018). Military members have a high rate of PTSD occurrences due to combat-

related trauma and experiences (Targeted News Service, 2013). Unfortunately, once separated

from the military, veterans often find treatment options limited, unavailable or unaffordable. As a

result, veterans are left untreated and forced to deal with the illness alone.

Symptoms

In a study conducted by The World Health Organization (WHO) (2017), it was revealed

that 70 percent of the adult population in the United States have admittedly experienced a

traumatic event of some sort in their lifetime (PTSD United, 2013). Approximately 20 percent of

them have had or currently have PTSD. To further define the impact of this illness, consider that

and estimated 25 million, or 8 percent of all Americans suffer from PTSD at any given moment

in time. While it is important to understand anyone regardless of age or gender can suffer from

PTSD, women were more prone to PTSD than men (National Institute of Mental Health, 2018).

Among veterans, PTSD is the third most likely psychiatric condition diagnosed.

Assessing the distribution, there are an estimated 8.2 million Vietnam veterans and an estimated

2.7 million veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts (Veterans and PTSD, 2015). Of this

group, about 20 percent have a confirmed diagnosis of PTSD, with only 50 percent seeking

treatment (Veterans and PTSD, 2015). Considering these facts, it is important to recognize the

symptoms of PTSD.
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One of the most important symptoms to understand about PTSD is the delay in the

manifestation of the illness. An individual can experience a traumatic experience and not realize

the symptoms of PTSD until several months to a year later (National Institute of Mental Health,

2018). According to the National Institute of Mental Health (2018) to be diagnosed with PTSD,

and individual would present a recognizable pattern of symptoms. These symptoms are At least

one reoccurrence of bad dreams, frightening thoughts or flashbacks, at least one occurrence of

reclusiveness or the avoidance of certain people or places, a recurrence of insomnia, tenseness or

easily startled and a recurrence of feelings of guilt or blame, bad thoughts about oneself,

forgetfulness and lost interest in activities or subjects that once were satisfying (National

Institute of Mental Health, 2018).

Diagnosis

Cure

The city and county of San Diego, CA has a large population of veterans that are

suffering with PTSD. Some of these cases are combat related, while others are related to other

traumatic events connected to time in service. Providing treatment and care for these individuals

is a daunting task that requires partnerships among referral services and care providers which

provide affordable care. In order to increase the options of care for veterans throughout the city

and county of San Diego, a referral network of non-profit, private and government organizations

will be created.

The referral network will provide more than provide information pointing individuals to

places of care, the organizations have agreed to partner together and provide recurring

counseling and quarterly community outreach events in order to have a prominent presence in
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the community and bring the services to those that are homeless or otherwise cannot find

transportation to one of the partner facilities. the following is a listing of potential partners

throughout the city that will comprise the network of available care for veterans regardless of

their ability to pay or housing status; The Military Sexual Trauma and Interpersonal Trauma

organization, The La Jolla PTSD Clinical Team , The South County Post-Traumatic Stress

Disorder Program, The Wounded Warrior Project, Veterans Village of San Diego, The Physician

Advocates for Veterans, The American Combat Veterans of War, The United States Department

of Veterans Affairs Clinic, Mission Valley, The Alvarado Parkway Institute and Access San

Diego.

The timeline for formation of the network and the first community outreach will be six

months. The organizations have been contacted and have agreed to participate in the network and

all memorandums of understanding will be signed within the first 30 days. Marketing material

and distribution via Facebook, Instagram and radio and television venues will be completed

within the first 45 days. Mid-March 2019, the first community outreach event will occur in

downtown San Diego. The outreach event will consist of providing free counseling, medical and

dental care services provided by the VA, Sharp Healthcare, Scripps Health and other private

physicians. Additionally, other vendors from the community will provide barber and personal

care services, as well as, therapy animal services. Additional outreach events will occur on a

quarterly basis, with locations being identified no later than 45 days ahead of the event.

Prevention

PTSD is a response to traumatic events and as such, there is no possibility of preventing

its occurrence. Dr. Jay Pomerantz (2006) states that absent any known prevention strategies, the

focus becomes treating individuals as soon after a traumatic event with the expectation that early
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treatment will result in a reduction in cases of long term PTSD. The community action plan

begins small by building a small network of care providers in the San Diego area and bringing

services to the community through outreach. However, this limited approach is not enough, and

the plan will be expanded over the course of the next decade and beyond.

A key to the fight against PTSD lies within the research efforts. A major point of focus

for the research community is understanding the mental and biological elements of the condition

and why individuals react to these triggers differently. Researchers are continuing to study the

mental and biological elements of PTSD and what causes the variations in response to traumatic

events.

In 2013, the Department of Defense and the VA awarded a five-year 45-million-dollar contract

to the research community to further study how to treat veterans with PTSD to the point of

remission (Targeted News Service, 2013). The contract was awarded because it was observed

that individuals of the civilian community were being treated to the point of remission or

recovery, while members of the military and the veteran were seemingly left suffering for the

remainder of their lives (Targeted news Service, 2013). This begs the question if PTSD as a

result of combat distinctively different than PTSD experienced due to other causes of trauma?.

Researchers will continue to study the brain and genetic codes in an effort to prevent PTSD from

occurring or to determine better treatment for those that are suffering (NIH, 2018).

Although PTSD cannot be cured, there are treatment options. First and foremost, individuals

which exhibit symptoms of PTSD need to be seen by a medical professional where a thorough

examination can be completed to ensure the correct diagnosis is made. Once diagnosed, an

individual may be prescribed mediation, put on a recurring mental health counseling program, go
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through hypnotherapy or other psychotherapy options which will force the individual to face the

fears which haunt them (National Institute of Mental Health, 2018).

Conclusion

PTSD is an incurable condition which is the result of trauma. PTSD can cause

depression, suicidal thoughts, feelings of guilt and reclusiveness. After suffering a traumatic

event, an individual would go through an extensive medical examination in which a diagnosis

would be made. Although there is no cure for PTSD, treatments are possible, which may lead to

a suppression of PTSD to the point of remission. Active duty military and veterans seem to have

a higher rate of PTSD than their civilian counterparts, which could be directly attributable to

combat. San Diego, CA is home to a large component of military veterans, many of whom have

been diagnosed with PTSD.

Of this population, a small number of them are being treated, much of which is due to the

lack of access to care. A community action plan is in place which will for a network of local

organizations which will provide counseling and medical services at no or low cost to qualifying

veterans. Additionally, the network is committed to conducting quarterly outreach events in the

local community in an effort to bring the services to those in the community who have no other

means of attaining care at the facility.

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References

DoD, VA Approve $45 Million in the Quest for a PTSD Cure. (2013). Targeted News Service, p.

Targeted News Service, Aug 12, 2013.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). (2017). Posttraumatic stress disorder. Retrieved

from https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/Posttraumatic-Stress-

Disorder

National Institute of Mental Health. (2018). Post-traumatic stress disorder. Retrieved from

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-

ptsd/index.shtml

Pomerantz, J. (2006). Can posttraumatic stress disorder be prevented. Psychiatric Times, 23(4).

PTSD United. (2013). PTSD Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.ptsdunited.org/ptsd-statistics-

2/

Schnurr, P. (2013). The changed face of PTSD diagnosis. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26(5),

535-536.

Veterans and PTSD. (2015). Veterans statistics: PTSD, depression, TBI, suicide. Retrieved from

http://www.veteransandptsd.com/PTSD-statistics.html

World Health Organization. (2017). Trauma and PTSD in the WHO world mental health
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surveys. Retrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5632781/?report=printable