Psychology of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Introduction

Psychology is a topic that has been of interest to people for a very long time. This scientific paper pays special attention to such a section of this science as post-traumatic stress disorder. Studying this problem can provide valuable information about the nature of the occurrence of this mental illness and the most effective ways to treat it. Consequently, for this purpose, the academic work will analyze two articles called “Internet‐delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for post‐traumatic stress disorder” and “Sex and gender differences in post-traumatic stress disorder.” These sources are intended to gain the most robust understanding of the studied deviation and the ways that can help cure it.

First of all, before proceeding to the study of the articles selected for this study, it is necessary to gain an understanding of what post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD is. Therefore, it is a disease that develops after individual experiences an event that causes severe adverse emotional shocks, such as fear, shock, or fright (Schöner et al., 2017). It is worth noting that the experience of this kind of emotion is a normal response to the psychological aspect of human functioning (Schöner et al., 2017). However, there are cases when it cannot independently reduce the stress experienced and strongly affects the functioning and perception of the individual of the world and events around. Furthermore, the diagnosis of PTSD is made by medical specialists for those people who experience symptoms of the disease long after suffering a traumatic event.

The development of PTSD can significantly affect the daily life of patients and their relationships with others. This circumstance makes it necessary to research and find the most effective methods of treatment. Moreover, timely detection of symptoms of the disease is of particular importance since, in severe cases, patients may experience suicidal tendencies. Therefore, in order to avoid unhealthy coping methods, it is essential to contact specialists and get support from relatives and friends.

Sex and Gender Differences in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The first source that was investigated within the framework examines how different sex and genders experience PTSD. The purpose of the article is to study the differences in the perception of traumatic events by men and women. This interest is due to the fact that in multiple academic studies, it is noted that the prevalence of PTSD in females is more significant than in males (Olff, 2017). However, it is worth noting that this work makes a significant contribution to studies of mental deviation since, to this day, people can find quite a small number of literary works on this topic.

The researcher based the study on both biological and psychological factors influencing the development of the disorder. The scientific article does not provide information about the participants of the experiment, as it bases its conclusions on the earlier studies. The same can be attributed to the methods that were used to obtain the necessary information. Despite this, the article is a valuable source of data, as it describes in detail what the differences between the sexes are in relation to such a disease as PTSD.

Further, the last aspect that needs to be considered in this academic work is the findings and conclusions. Therefore, it was noted that “women generally score higher than men on acute subjective responses, e.g. threat perception, peritraumatic dissociation and known predictors of PTSD” (Olff, 2017, p. 1). This is due to differences in emotional response in men and women in serious stressful situations. Moreover, at the end of the paper, the researcher emphasizes the need for further study of this section to obtain a complete picture of the entire disease.

Internet‐Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder

The second article studied is valuable since it investigates one of the most common methods of treating PTSD. Henceforth, the main goal of researchers is to study the methods of cognitive treatment that can be found on the Internet (Lewis et al., 2019). This is due to the fact that modern society is highly engaged in using the Internet in everyday life. Therefore, when individuals are found to have symptoms of the disorder under study, many prefer to turn to online sources instead of visiting a specialist.

The systematic review was chosen as the primary method of conducting an academic experiment. The study involved seven hundred and twenty participants, who were divided into ten separate studies to facilitate the work and the depth of the expected results (Lewis et al., 2019). The main findings of the work carried out were that despite some positive aspects of Internet therapy, there were a small number of these outcomes. Moreover, it was noted that guidance from a specialist is necessary at the treatment of such a severe disease as PTSD.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this work aimed to study post-traumatic stress disorder. A study of literary sources was conducted to increase knowledge about this problem. Among them were “Internet‐delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for post‐traumatic stress disorder” and “Sex and gender differences in post-traumatic stress disorder.” Both works relate to each other as both contribute to the study of the problem of post-traumatic stress disorder. The value of both articles is to provide in-depth data on how genders perceive stressful situations and acquire PTSD and how effective the treatment of these diseases is with the help of the Internet. Results show that women are more likely to suffer from this deviation and online treatment has fewer positive aspects than with a specialist.

References

Lewis, C., Roberts, N. P., Simon, N., Bethell, A., & Bisson, J. I. (2019). Internet‐delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for post‐traumatic stress disorder: Systematic review and meta‐analysis. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 140(6), 508-521. Web.

Olff, M. (2017). Sex and gender differences in post-traumatic stress disorder: An update. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 8(4), 1351204. Web.

Schöner, J., Heinz, A., Endres, M., Gertz, K., & Kronenberg, G. (2017). Post‐traumatic stress disorder and beyond: an overview of rodent stress models. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, 21(10), 2248-2256. Web.