A Study on the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Case of a 90 Year Old Woman

Introduction:

John Hopkins Medicine preformed a case study on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD for short. They preformed their case study on a 90-year-old woman who lives alone with no home care. This woman's husband passed away in 2000 and in 2003 her home was broken into and she was raped. She was taken to a local hospital that specializes in rape victims and is now in emotional distress, extremely distraught, and thought to have PTSD.

The Study:

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This study starts in a community rape nursing home about 3 weeks after she has been released from the hospital, After 9 months of being in the community home she starts calling the office at all hours of the night telling them people are in her bed and saying things to her. The office admits her to the psychiatric unit in the hospital and after about 14 days of treatment (without antipsychotic medication) she seems to be doing fine. One week after being released her symptoms came back and she was put on 1mg per day of Haloperidol (A drug that treats mental illness). After a few weeks the office staff reported a considerable improvement in her behavior.

During this study the researchers measured patients with PTSD on SSRIs (antidepressants) compared to patients With PTSD on a placebo. This study found that the Q- LES-Q (Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire) scores in patients taking the SSRIs had higher scores than the patients taking the placebo by over 50%. Another study shows that patients who suffer with PTSD benefit over 3 times greater when attending cognitive counseling from a psychologist than patients who declined this counseling. (Burton, J)

Additional Information:

I have some experience with this study, my father, a former Vietnam Veteran, had PTSD from some of his experiences overseas. When he first came back to the states he was unable to sleep in a bed or even inside a house; he pitched a tent in his back yard and slept there for 3 months. He overcame many of the effects of PTSD on his own, however he would still (45 years later) wake up in the middle of the night thinking he was overseas. He would also on random occasions have bursts of anger toward people so we told him to go to the VA Hospital and get it looked at. After going to the hospital they told him he definitely had the symptoms of PTSD and put him on a SSRI in addition to cognitive counseling from one of the VA psychiatrists. These treatments help him cope with this problem, however when he is on this medication he becomes very lax which is very unlike him. You are easily able to tell days that he has forgotten to take his pill compared to the days he does.

Conclusion:

This study covered 4 main conclusions of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that I agree with: PTSD is common in the elderly, PTSD can be very disabling, Recognition is key, and Treatment of PTSD is very effective. If more people who struggle with this disorder wanted to get help they would be able to receive psychiatric treatment, a drug, or both which is proven to help end their symptoms.

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