Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

The DSM identifies many specific psychological disorders. While research has found that in general, no one type of therapy is substantially better than others, different treatments may be more appropriate for specific disorders. In this project, you are asked to choose a psychological disorder that is of interest to you. You will describe the disorder in detail, indicate what is known about its causes and progression, and identify a treatment or treatments that would be most appropriate.


  • Describe key features of the disorder, including its symptoms
  • Address the biopsychosocial explanations that could account for the development of that disorder
  •  Discuss and explain the specific methods of that therapy that would be utilized in the treatment of your chosen disorder.
  • Provide a rationale for the effectiveness of your type of treatment (i.e. present evidence that supports the effectiveness of that therapy for your chosen disorder.


From the information presented in the Psychology  from your research in the library or onthe Web (i.e. make sure to incorporate what psychological research and studies have shown that would support your points raised in the paper), present your position and support it with credible sources of information using APA style citations and references. You are required to use at least three (3) references, to include the course webtext; the other references should come from psychological journal articles or from relevant psychologyspecific websites.

You are expected to present a minimum 1000 word response. The paper should be submitted in a WORD document in 12 point; Times New Roman font. Given this guideline, your paper should be 3 – 4 pages in length; excluding the title page, abstract, and reference page. Refer to the APA Style guidelines document for information on the title page, abstract, and reference page.












Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

I. Introduction

A. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition that develops in some persons when they go through a dangerous, shacking or scary event (Bisson et al., 2015).

B. Symptoms for this disorder may include uncontrolled thoughts, severe anxiety, nightmares and flashbacks.

C. PTSD symptoms may appear few days after an event or even start some years later.

D. Symptoms are generally categorized into four groups namely changes in emotional and physical reaction, negative mood and thinking, avoidance and intrusive memories (Bisson et al., 2015).

E. While PTSD may cause adverse effects on the patients affected, it can be treated through cognitive behavioral therapy and drug therapy.

II. Body

A. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

1. CBT focuses on the relationship between behaviors, thoughts and feelings while targeting symptoms and current problems.

2. CBT aims at changing patterns of feelings, behaviors and thoughts that cause functional difficulties.

3. Patients are encouraged to re-evaluate their assumptions and patterns of thinking for the purposes of identifying unhelpful patterns in thoughts like negative thing and generalizing bad outcomes and replacing them with positive and more balanced thinking patterns.

4. CBT also helps patients to have a better understanding of themselves as well as their abilities to cope.

5. Reminders of the emotions linked to the traumatic event as well as exposing patients of the narrative of the trauma are use to help those affected reduce avoidance (Cusack et al., 2016).

B. Drug Therapies

1. There are various medications that are used to help patients cope with PSTD including antidepressants, prazosin and anti-anxiety medications (Sessa, 2017).

2. Antidepressants help to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as improving concentration and sleeping problems.

3. Prazosin suppresses or reduces nightmares significantly in patients experiencing PSTD. People who intend to use this type of medication are advised to consult a doctor to determine if their situation merits this drug.

4. Anti-anxiety medications reduce severe anxiety as well as other associated issues. These drugs are however used for a short period of time to reduce abuse (Sessa, 2017).

III. Conclusion

A. PTSD can be treated through cognitive behavioral therapy and drug therapy.

B. Cognitive behavioral therapy is basically focused on changing patterns of feelings, behaviors and thoughts that cause functional difficulties.

C. CBT helps patients to have a better understanding of their situation which helps them to cope.

D. Drug therapy involves various medications including antidepressants, prazosin and anti-anxiety medications.

E. A combination of these treatments can help patients get better by providing them with skills to deal with the condition.
















Cusack, K., Jonas, D. E., Forneris, C. A., Wines, C., Sonis, J., Middleton, J. C., … & Weil, A. (2016). Psychological treatments for adults with posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical psychology review43, 128-141.

Sessa, B. (2017). MDMA and PTSD treatment:“PTSD: from novel pathophysiology to innovative therapeutics”. Neuroscience letters649, 176-180.

Bisson, J. I., Cosgrove, S., Lewis, C., & Roberts, N. P. (2015). Post-traumatic stress disorder. Bmj351, h6161.