Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is brought on by a traumatic experience and causes symptoms that significantly affects the victims mental and physical health, social ties, and soul. Predisposed risk factors can increase a person's likelihood of developing PTSD but it can be developed by anyone after a traumatic enough experience. This paper will briefly examine the history of Post-traumatic stress disorder, the defining characteristics and symptoms, and treatment methods to bring healing to effected victims. Particular attention will be paid to the way in which spirituality functions as a coping mechanisms to defend against mental illness and how to make spiritual treatment applicable to all recovering from PTSD.
When confronted by a traumatic experience a persons fight or flight action kicks in and dictates how they respond to the situation around them. For most, the end of a traumatic experience brings relief but for many it is the beginning of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (hereafter referred to as PTSD). Approximately 14-25% of people develop PTSD after a traumatic experience (Oquendo, Friend, Halberstam, Batsheva, & Brodsky, 2003). PTSD is a severe stress disorder that can wreak havoc on the body, mind and spirit, and treatment should aim to restore these areas including coping skills and a spiritual element. PTSD can violate a person's essential beliefs about God and leave them feeling abandoned by God. Incorporating a spiritual element can do much to aid the client on their road to recovery from PTSD and restore their faith in God. With this in mind, counselors need to understand PTSD and its underlying factors in order to encourage spiritual restoration. This paper will focus on PTSD, how it affects spirituality, and the need for a spiritual component to aid the victim on the road to recovery. Although it is treatable, PTSD can go undiagnosed for months or years after the incident, delaying treatment.
