Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Following Critical Illness

Author(s):  
Christina Jones ◽  
Richard D Griffiths

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been shown to be a significant problem for both patients and relatives after critical illness. For patients the recall of delusional memories from the period in ICU can be a powerful trigger for the development of PTSD. Such memories are described by patients as very vivid and difficult to separate from reality. Early recognition and treatment of PTSD, where needed, can reduce the long term effects. Chronic PTSD, where symptoms have been present for three months after the traumatic event, is associated with a number of long term health problems such as chronic pain. It can also have profound effects on relationships, financial status and overall wellbeing. The provision of an ICU diary has been shown to reduce the incidence of PTSD in patients and reduce the level of PTSD-related symptoms in family members. For the majority of patients this relatively simple intervention helps them to fill in memory gaps and combat any delusional memories they may recall.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yajing Sun ◽  
Yuanyuan Qu ◽  
Jianwei Zhu

Background: Stress disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are attracting much attention. However, the relationship between traumatic stress and inflammation is rarely discussed.Subjects and Methods: As studies have linked PTSD to altered susceptibility to various diseases, such a psychiatric condition may lead to long-term systematic changes in physiological functions. We searched PubMed with the keywords “traumatic stress,” “stress disorders,” “post-traumatic stress disorder,” and “inflammation.”Results: Based on 65 previously published studies, we reviewed the long-term effects of PTSD, as well as traumatic events, on inflammatory function from both epidemiological and biological perspectives. Post-traumatic stress disorder is related to the immune response, including an increase in inflammatory factors and a reduction in anti-inflammatory factors. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that traumatic stress disorder and immune disease share a common genetic basis at the gene expression level.Conclusions: Understanding this relationship is of great significance for optimizing treatment plans for patients with PTSD.


Author(s):  
Roman Popeliushko ◽  

The article emphasizes that Ukrainian society is suffering from the effects of the war in the east of the country. These consequences are manifested both in the direct participants in the hostilities and in their family members, who have been in a state of stress for a long time, waiting for the disappointing news from the east about their relatives and friends. It is noted that while participating in hostilities, many combatants receive combat mental injuries. These injuries further lead to post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychosomatic disorders that cause his psychoso-cial self-isolation, disruption of relationships with family and self-destructive behav-ior that leads to premature death. An urgent and urgent problem of today's Ukrainian state is the organization of effective social and psychological rehabilitation of combatants and their families. But at the moment, Ukraine has not created a single comprehensive program of social and psychological rehabilitation of combatants and their families. Therefore, the aim of the article is to analyze the initial diagnostic indicators of psychological trauma of combatants who took part in our proposed program of psy-chological support of combatants and their families, at the initial, first stage of this program. The methodological bases of the work were such general scientific and special methods as: method of analysis and generalization of psychodiagnostic indicators, formal-logical method, psychological and clinical methods and tests. This paper briefly considers the purpose, main tasks and structural components of the proposed program of psychological support of combatants and their families. The main focus of the work is focused on the first (diagnostic) phase of the program. The purpose of this stage was to carry out a psychological diagnosis of the long-term effects of stressors in combatants. The implementation of the diagnostic stage was carried out during 2018, on the basis of military units, recreational facilities, social, volunteer and rehabilitation centers, etc. The total number of combatants covered by the study was 356 people. It is emphasized that for the experimental study of long-term effects of stress-ors in combatants, a proven set of clinical-psychopathological and psychodiagnostic techniques was proposed to study 5 factors that have become key in building a sys-tem of psychological rehabilitation of combatants. These factors included: the pres-ence of signs of post-traumatic stress disorder; the presence of signs of stress; the presence of signs of anxiety; the presence of signs of depression; and combat experi-ence of the combatant. Analysis of the results of the first stage of the program of psychological sup-port combatants noted the presence of a large number of subjects, such phenomena as post-traumatic stress disorder (more than 60% of combatants), stress (more than 45% of combatants), anxiety (more than 35% of combatants), depression (more than 30% of combatants). Also drawn attention to the fact that the findings confirm the results of previ-ous studies of domestic and foreign researchers and practitioners that some of the combatants who participated in the fighting eventually begin to suffer from long-term effects of stress effects. Therefore, further implementation of the program of psychological support of combatants, with long-term effects of stress, and their families, on the basis of genetic-psychological-axiological approach, namely the second stage, which provides psychological and social assistance or support to combatants and their families, is a promising and effective means of their psychological rehabilitation.


Author(s):  
E Wesley Ely

Chapter 18 provides an outline to cognitive and behavioural disorders following critical illness, and introduces topics that include a spectrum of acquired or exacerbated ‘neck-up’ disorders, such as ‘dementia-like’ long-term cognitive impairment, major depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).


2020 ◽  
Vol 274 ◽  
pp. 298-304
Author(s):  
Emily M. LaFrance ◽  
Nicholas C. Glodosky ◽  
Marcel Bonn-Miller ◽  
Carrie Cuttler

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-99
Author(s):  
Lloyd Vogelman ◽  
Sharon Lewis ◽  
Lauren Segal

Historically, South Africa has had one of the highest rates of judicial executions in the world. In February 1990, President F.W. de Klerk announced a moratorium on all executions, and three months later, the Death Penalty Act was passed. At present, there is a de facto moratorium on executions, although the death sentence continues to be passed. Philip Takedi is a former death row prisoner, whose sentence was overturned. His experience of having lived on death row has had profound effects which have prevailed long after his release. This article explores the long-term effects of being sentenced to death, incarcerated on death row, and then released. Takedi's particular experience and response are illustrative of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and they also highlight the effects of the conditions and experiences of death row.


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