Recovery from Traumatic Stress

It will take years to clear the minds of some of those who were witnesses, directly or not, to the terrorist attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

After experiencing a traumatic event, many people showed signs of acute stress disorder. Though it has similar symptoms to post-traumatic stress disorder, it is, however troublesome and short-lived, like the dust clouds. Acute stress disorder begins within a month of the incident, lasts for not less than two weeks, but not more than four weeks.

Many people who suffer from acute stress disorder have the nightmares and flashbacks characteristic of post-traumatic stress disorder, but they also show various psychological defence mechanisms.

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They may have transient amnesia, so that much of the detail of the horror is apparently forgotten.

Those who have suffered from acute stress disorder often say that once they can start to talk repeatedly about their experiences, they begin to improve. They benefit from the ear of understanding and kindly confident who is prepared to listen to the same story many times over, and on each occasion be as interested, empathetic and sympathetic as the first time they heard it.

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A New Yorker told me that the only difference he had noticed in his mood was that his usual autumnal early-morning depression was slightly deeper than it was usually. Several British patients who watched the television images of the planes crashing into the towers and the Pentagon over and over again reported similar changes in their mood and feelings. Other patients with a history of psychological problems have noticed a significant deterioration in their mood; depression, if present, has been deeper, and most have complained of insomnia, anxiety attacks and a general, but undefined, sense of unease and uncertainty.

Post- traumatic stress disorder affects those who have been in terrific situations where they have either suffered or been threatened by serious injury, with the possibility of death.

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After surviving the horrific incident, the image of it is constantly recalled, its memory triggered through any of the senses that would remind the person of the disaster. Not unnaturally, people with post-traumatic stress disorder arrange their lives so that these triggers are avoided. Many patients develop severe depression, which may appear in many forms. The symptoms may recur on the anniversary of the date.

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This desire accounts for the need of those who have had terrible experiences to seek the company of those who have undergone similar ones. The aim of the therapy is to gradually desensitize people to the haunting memory of the trauma and to remove any habits that they may have adopted to avoid confronting the memories that interfere with their domestic or professional life.

Meanwhile, the depressive component of the disorder is treated with antidepressants. The ones favoured are those that also have a strong anti-anxiety effect.

(From: The Times, 2001.)

21 Answer the questions:

o What is acute stress disorder? What are its symptoms? How long does it last?

o What symptoms characterize post-traumatic disorder? What kind of people does it affect?

o What is used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder?

 

22 Use any sources available (newspapers, magazines or Internet resources) to find information about organizations that provide aid and support after disasters and accidents and work for the emotional and physical relief of the people involved in troubles. Be ready to make a presentation basing on the information you’ve found.