Ways I Keep My Stress Under Control

Hey everyone! I decided to give you some quick and easy ways I like to keep my levels of stress low! Please comment if you have any other cool ideas for everyone to see!

~Kaylina Droke

Webcam video from March 14, 2014 5:34 PM

Answering the Question

The questions that I tried to answer is: How is a person diagnosed with PTSD? It seems to me that it is confused with a lot of other emotional or mental disorders. From my experience with stomach issues the diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome is one that is overdiagnosed to give a name to symptoms that the doctors should really just say..."we have no idea what is wrong with you" and in the same way I wonder if PTSD is the diagnosis (sadly) when doctors really don't know what to say or do to help a person. That said - is there a way to truly diagnosis a person and once done how is it most commonly treated?

There has been a lot of talk about PTSD getting unnoticed or misdiagnosed as some other mental health disorder. I am no expert but it seems that being treated for something else would be counterproductive in getting better or having the support that is essential. In May 2013, in the DSM-5 there was a revision for PTSD diagnostic criteria. “PTSD (as well as Acute Stress Disorder) moved from the class of anxiety disorders into a new class of “trauma and stressor-related disorders” (National Center for PTSD). The DSM-5 is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is used by clinical professionals that handle and treat mental health disorders.

From reading the information on the PTSD: National Center for PTSD website, the revision put PTSD in the category of trauma. Hopefully, this will help clear up some uncertainty of misdiagnosis. According to this information, “all of the conditions included in this classification require exposure to a traumatic or stressful event as a diagnostic criterion” (National Center for PTSD). Rather than before it was in the classification of anxiety. This puts more focus on trauma that has occurred sometime in life of a person with PTSD. The first aspect mentioned in the full diagnostic criteria of PTSD is Criteria A: stressor, under that it reads, “The person was exposed to: death, threatened death, actual or threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual violence, as follows: (one required)

1.    Direct exposure.

2.   Witnessing, in person.

3.   Indirectly, by learning that a close relative or close friend was exposed to trauma. If the event involved actual or threatened death, it must have been violent or accidental.

4.   Repeated or extreme indirect exposure to aversive details of the event(s), usually in the course of professional duties (e.g., first responders, collecting body parts; professionals repeatedly exposed to details of child abuse). This does not include indirect non-professional exposure through electronic media, television, movies, or pictures (National Center for PTSD).

         Then it follows with other criteria such as: intrusion, avoidance, negative alterations in cognitions and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity. The criterion also looks at the duration of the symptoms along with a few other aspects. Through the assessment and diagnostic criteria, there is probably a lot more that is observed by a professional. Since there has been much confusion with the diagnosis of PTSD, the revision of the DSM-5 seems to point to the right direction of more focus on trauma. Where before it might have been looked at differently to diagnose. Hopefully, the recent revision can help solve the issue of the confusion that has happened to people that suffer from PTSD.

             There is a variety of ways that PTSD can be treated. On the PTSD: National Center for PTSD website, there are certain types of counseling mentioned to help with PTSD. “Research shows that Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most effective counseling for PTSD.” There are a few types of this counseling, cognitive therapy and exposure therapy. The information on cognitive therapy reads, “Your therapist helps you understand and change how you think about your trauma and its aftermath. Your goal is to understand how certain thoughts about your trauma cause you stress and make your symptoms worse.” Exposure therapy focuses on, “to have less fear about your memories. It is based on the idea that people learn to fear thoughts, feelings, and situations that remind them of a past traumatic event (National Center for PTSD).

It was interesting to read about a few different types of treatments that are used. There are also medications that can be taken. There can be involvement of group therapy, family therapy, or a therapy called psychodynamic psychotherapy. Depending on the severity of the disorder and other factors, treatment can last from about three months to years. If you want to learn more, you can use the link below from the PTSD: National Center for PTSD website!

-Amy

PTSD: National Center for PTSD. (n.d.). DSM-5 Criteria for PTSD -. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/PTSD-overview/dsm5_criteria_ptsd.asp

This website also references:

American Psychiatric Association. (2013) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Positivity

The book that I want to recommend is called Positivity: A Book That Can Change Your Life. My dad recommended it to me, he suffers slightly from PTSD. He is in the military, and deals with a lot of stress. This book is a self-help book that has many different suggestions to maintain your different levels of stress, and ways for you to become and stay happy, and each tip that it gives is all affirmed by research.The author, Doctor Barbara Fredrickson, has several books about her positive psychology theories. In this one, she provides multiple different ideas that include:

• There are ten main positive emotional states that contribute to the broadening of our perspective and building of resources: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love
• Negative emotions help move us to action, and these actions tend to propel us toward choices that impact our immediate survival or chances of reproduction
• Positive emotions tend to move us toward choices that have a future benefit, or enhance our wellbeing over time
• Our emotions have a three-to-one ratio. For every three positive emotions, there can be one negative emotion that keeps everything balanced

This book really helped my dad, and the tips that it gives are very helpful. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a quick and simple read of tips to for happiness and stress management. Even if you are not someone that suffers from stress regularly or a mental disorder, you should check it out

" PTSD is very common, and there are a number of people that have it. It doesn’t just affect the people suffering, but also the people that they are close to. If you are suffering from PTSD and know that the relationships that are close to you are suffering because of it as well, you don’t have to worry anymore. There are ways to communicate and fix those issues. But first, you have to begin by talking about it and being open. You cannot make any problematic situation better until you acknowledge it.

Not to worry! If you have trouble communicating your feelings about your PTSD or someone you love’s PTSD, just remember that no problem can go unsolved. There are many people out there that feel the same way you do, and together on this blog we can all help each other.

According to the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, 7 or 8 out of every 100 people will experience some type of PTSD in their lives. That is a huge number, so whoever you are, you are not alone. Most people want to hide or ignore their PTSD until it gets so bad that they explode or just can’t take it anymore. This blog is a place where you can vent about your experiences and learn from other people’s experiences. "

Hi everyone! My Book review is for a book called Difficult Conversations. I feel as though this book could be a good fit as far as the overall subject of our blog because stress is a big part of a student's life. I feel as though at least a bit of that stressed could be relieved with proper communication.

There are three types of conversation that the books focuses on and all are important in making sure that both sides were heard.

The "what happened" conversation stems from the part of the conversation that involves the lack of understanding form each side. When the talk goes bad, it leaves both people wondering "what happened?"
This is best avoided by checking emotions at the door and also by being ready to listen with an open mind.

The second aspect of conversation involves the actual feeling that each is expressing during the conversation (i.e. anger,sadness, betrayal, etc). This is when it's best to accept the fact that it's alright to have these feelings. Also, try and stay civil. This can be hard, as we all know. Focus on the good of the conversation.

The third tackles the feelings that each of us have after the conversation has already passed (I'm a bad person, I don't deserve them o they don't deserve me as a friend, etc). We have to tell ourselves that these feelings are normal as well, especially when the other person involved is someone close to you. We are our own harshest critics and it shouldn't be that way. We are all imperfect to some degree.

There are always thoughts and feelings to be had but what is important is that we not let them get in the way of our successes in life regardless of where those potential successes may take place. At home, school, work, or in a social setting.Stress is a natural part of life sadly. Try and set a limit on the existence of that stress and be good to one another as often as possible.                           

                On our blog, we have talked a little bit about aspects of life that can be stressful and talked about mental health. I thought it would be a great idea to ask people of various ages about how they deal with stress in positive ways. Hope this video clip is helpful!! :) 

             -Amy