Wednesday, January 29, 2020

PEACE Domestic Violence Agency Essay Example for Free

PEACE Domestic Violence Agency Essay The PEACE Domestic Violence agency’s mission is to â€Å"reduce victim trauma, empower survivors, and promote recovery through direct services† (University of Phoenix, 2012, para. 9). Also, according to University of Phoenix Appendix B (2012),PEACE also strives to reducing the occurrence of sexual assault and domestic violence by educating the abused and the community and proposing ways to fight against social norms and beliefs. It will reside in the city of Portland, a large metropolitan city, that has been experiencing a rise in reports of not only domestic, spousal, and child abuse, but also youth violence, assault, and road rage over the last five years. PEACE is looking for funding from the National Foundation’s funding program and by doing so strives promote the well-being of people whose lives have been affected by domestic violence, improve the quality of life of families with a member in prison, provide people who are (or have been) involved with the criminal justice system with a rehabilitation program where they can obtain the skills and support networks needed to lead fulfilled lives. â€Å"The Small Grants Program offers one-time grants of up to $5,000 to registered charities with an annual budget under $500,000 and the Investor Program is an innovative funding program designed to support six organizations under each of the objectives of the Supporting Families program, with up to $150,000 a year for up to 3 years† (University of Phoenix, 2012, para. 11). The program needs not only proper funding but the ability to allocate that funding in ways that will benefit the community in the fastest and most effective way possible. Because of this, PEACE will be looking into alternative funding. The Community Innovation Challenge is one of the most important ways PEACE will try and obtain nontraditional funding. The Community Innovation Challenge is a grant program that gives approved organizations money so they can enact faster and more efficient ways of serving and bettering the community. This kind of funding would benefit PEACE because a domestic violence agency like PEACE is helpful to the community on so many levels children to adults to those looking to be rehabilitated. PEACE would be a prime candidate for this grant because of this reason and the money would be used to assist workers in their education on the matters at hand as well as paying for more workers if the organization gets too large for the current staff amount. PEACE will also be looking into outsourcing and setting up charity booths at frequently visited locations like outside a grocery store or at a shopping center. Sending emails and/or letters to local businesses, companies, and even other organizations looking for financial assistance, ideas, and information is definitely helpful and it also allows smaller businesses to get their name on the map and helping out the organization if they were to become something like a sponsor. Setting up charity booths also allows people from many different walks of life to see my program’s cause and contribute something, anything, if they can. Funding from these two sources can normally be used in many ways but it is also not always a large amount. Access to smaller amounts of funding gives PEACE ways to buy low cost items when they are affordable. Things like more seating, chair cushions, water tanks, even coffee and muffins All these things can help people feel more welcome and safe which is important with organizations like PEACE. Signing up for a few free subscription/database-type sites will give access to funds as well. These websites allow a program to look for nontraditional sources of funding as well as give them updates for when new opportunities come up that apply to the program. This is especially helpful for busy programs that may not have the man power to go out and hunt for funding sources while also working with the program as much as The mission of the PEACE Domestic Violence Agency is to reduce victim trauma, empower survivors, and promote recovery through direct services. Their curriculum is based largely around the need of the community and they set out to provide the best, most varied care they can. Starting with professionally trained staff who are looked over by a small administration PEACE locates those in need of assistance and brings them to a place where those needs can be met on an individual basis as well as on a group basis. The stakeholders for PEACE start with the administration and staff of the agency who put themselves on the line taking care of their clients and looking for sources of funding to make sure things are taken care of. Staff and administration need to have their physical and mental needs taken care of and provided for so they can then provide for the community. This may mean more staff need to be trained and employed to keep everyone at the top of their game or the spaces available for clients needs to be cut so staff do not find themselves over-taxed. Domestic abuse is a very serious thing and it cannot be taken lightly by anyone. One false step – be it a forgotten case notebook, a less-than-attentive staff member, or what have you – can severely endanger the clients. It is imperative that the clients are put into the hands of fully educated, completely able staff. A majority of funding sources are open only to non-profit, 501(c)3 organizations. These organizations must also be in good standing to receive funds and therefore PEACE is eligible to apply for this type of funding. A private foundation is deemed to be any non-profit that supports the work of public charities through the award of grants (2009). In order to receive funds a foundation is required to file a Form 1023 with the IRS. Form 1023 is a 28 page form gives the IRS the information they need to conduct audits of the foundation’s activities. The duty of staff and the administration is to make sure the program meets the requirements of the funders constantly because they would lose funding if they have anything that presents itself as a conflict of interest of it there is anything going on that the funders do not like (2009). Non-profit organizations and their boards are bound to very strict rules and therefore discrimination against an individual or treating a group better than another individual or group can result in the foundation being shut down. Records of a program must be maintained in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), including the filing of an annual Form 990 with the IRS. All members of the staff and management are responsible to the rules for non-profits. Documentation has to be well understood and applied consistently and correctly. The administrators of PEACE have to find evaluators that can ensure the evaluations show an honest picture of the group effort, effectiveness, and c ontribution to the community so granters can rely on the information provided. The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act is an example of such a funding foundation that can create such a picture. Their mission is to decrease the occurrence of domestic abuse as well as to increase well-being and progress in society as a whole. This foundation is federally funded often pulling in quite a few million dollars that are then allocated to them by the government as well as allocated to sister organizations and other funding opportunities. Being federally funded there is a close eye on the limited resources of the foundation so the funders can be sure the money is spent in the most effective manner to benefit the greatest number of people. The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act serves organizations and people all over the United. The foundation has control over where their money is used and they try to concentrate their focus on organizations that will benefit the community around them the most. They, more specifically, tend to fund essential services that sit at the core of ending domestic violence. Emergency shelters, hotlines, and advocacy as well as primary and secondary prevention are all looked at highly. Another stakeholder in the PEACE Domestic Violence Agency is the community itself. Community evaluation will be an active part of the results that affect ongoing funding by attending the program, first of all, and also by giving feedback on the effectiveness of this program and the staff of said program in their community. The input of the community needs to be taken into consideration when looking at progress evaluations and data that has been collected before making decisions to change, mend, or modify the program. Community member have the biggest input on when, where, and how group sessions are bei ng held and, more importantly, when, where, and how private sessions are being held. Children cannot be expected to want to sit through late meetings, parents may not have time during the day because of work†¦ There are so many factors that need to be looked at in order to please the wants and needs of the community. This will be important also keep constant monitoring of to allow individuals and families to have time for different kinds of activities and help, as well as to allow the help they’ve currently received (or have been receiving) to process and sink in. However, the community cannot affect or change the goals of funding institutions. Therefore, they have to work with the funder’s restrictions and requirements so that no single group is held in a higher spot on the list of things that need funding or the list of people that need assistance. Every one of the stakeholders at PEACE Domestic Violence Agency has an effect on the design and implementation of the program. The community, the clients, the staff and finally the administration all s hare a common goal and they all hold the progress and fate of the program in their hands. They all want to see an improvement in the society, they all want to see higher quality of life, and they all want someone (even themselves) to feel safe when they go to sleep at night. This means strong staff, an introduction of life skills, increased community involvement, increased collaboration with funders and the state, a reduction in high risk behaviors, and a decrease in the amount of reported domestic abuse cases. By taking these things into account PEACE Domestic Violence Agency will be a long lasting, effective program. Program planning and evaluation process can provide opportunities for program improvement because they will catch instances of the program not meeting the expectations of the funders, workers, and the community. It is vital for PEACE to carefully create a program plan because, with an organization that is helping a myriad of kinds of victims of domestic abuse, it is easy to give the wrong message to workers and the community. PEACE also provides assistance to people who are looking to be rehabilitated so it would be bad for them if their organization came off as only being there to help the hurt or, in my opinion, even worse: As being there to make sure the people know they did wrong but not actually help them. The evaluation process can keep track of the kinds of clients they get and also what places might need improvement. As the manager of a program anything that improves efficiency and the method for delivery of the service is helpful and those can be found through the evaluation process. As a funder, you would have every right to speak up if you thought your money was not being well spent. This comes into play first in the program planning because if you are looking for a specific kind of program you can gladly put forth an effort to make that happen whether it be with time, money, or both. It also comes into play with the evaluation process. As a funder it would be part of your responsibility to check where funds are going and when and to check if there are more efficient and helpful ways of delivering the funds and how they are spent. Outcome Measure: Reduce the amount of domestic violence report, to assist people and families in dealing with life after abuse, and to help with rehabilitation and reintroduction. * Baseline Data: Portland has experienced increasing reports of domestic and youth violence, spousal and child abuse, assault, and incidents of road rage over the last 5 years. * Evaluation Design: Trained observers, staff * Source of Information/Instrument(s): Police reports, reports from other domestic abuse locations * Who Will Collect the Data: Collection of data will be done by a small team of staff specifically brought together to gather and process data. * Timing of Data Collection: Overall data collection every three months (to look for progress) with an update to data made every forty-five days. * Population or Sample: Population (Applicable men, women and children of Portland) * How Will the Data be Described/Analyzed: Total new/repeat counts of domestic abuse in the form of percentages (increase or decrease) Process Measure: Number of staff trained to handle the abused * Source of Information/Instrument(s): Training sign-in sheets * Who Will Collect the Data: Administration assistant will help participants sign-in * Timing of Data Collection: Before the training session * Population or Sample: Population (all participants) * How Will the Data be Described/Analyzed: Total number of staff properly trained. Process Measure: Number of sessions delivered per group * Source of Information/Instrument(s): Staff session logs * Who Will Collect the Data: Staff * Timing of Data Collection: During and after each session * Population or Sample: Population (all staff will fill out session logs) * How Will the Data be Described/Analyzed: Frequency of sessions per group per staff, as well as an average frequency of sessions across the board. Process Measure: Measures of program fidelity * Source of Information/Instrument(s): Trained observers, staff checklists, client surveys * Who Will Collect the Data: Trained observers, staff, and clients * Timing of Data Collection: Trained observers will attend one session per group each month and staff and clients will fill out biweekly checklists and surveys * Population or Sample: Population (All staff and willing clients as well as observers) * How Will the Data be Described/Analyzed: Qualitative data from observations and data collected from checklists and surveys will be compiled, summarized, and given to administration to show who is being passionate and faithful to the cause as well as what improvements need to be made and where. This evaluation plan will include process evaluation, outcome evaluations, formative evaluations, and summative evaluations. Process evaluations will evaluate all procedures and tasks involved with implementing these programs. Process evaluations will also monitor the program and ensure feedback throughout the length of the program. This is exceptionally beneficial when running a program that is solely need-based and those needs only discovered through dealing with the clients the program is trying to help. Without feedback process cannot be made and goals, no matter how small, cannot be achieved. By performing process evaluations on the effectiveness of the groups as well as the staff themselves and comparing that to data collected by clients the best possible steps can be made towards the goal reducing the effect of domestic violence on Portland. Outcome evaluations will collect quantitative and qualitative data from ongoing programs to document any short-term results that have been achieved as well as open doors to any new short-term goals and changes that have to be made to current ones. Task-focused results such as the number of staff who put their name on the sign-up sheet to be trained, how many clients return, and how many young adults seek help with rehabilitation on their own describe the output of the activity and short-term results, like the percentage of clients that are willing to fill out an end-of-session survey, describe the immediate effects of the program on the community. Information such as an increase in knowledge, changed in attitude, and behavioral shifts are part of a long list of data that can be discovered after an outcome evaluation. Outcome evaluations will come in handy the most when trying to figure out if the community is being reached properly and clients are being treated as best as they can be. It will also be helpful determining what activities are out-of-date or just plain not helpful anymore and what activities can take their place. Formative evaluations, which include pre-testing and competency exams, allow an organization to assess the strengths and weaknesses in their approach to their goals, staff, target audience for their services, and even their advertising campaign! Formative evaluations also help an organization discover if any changes need to be made, if they can be made, or if the program is not going to succeed. By testing messages, products, and services on small groups also helps an organization work out kinks before implementing it on a larger scale. By taking the data gained from a finished formative evaluation an organization can get a better idea of their company, its workers, and its clients and will help them decide if it is better to sink, or hopefully more often, swim. Summative evaluations include any combination of measurements and judgments that allow conclusions about the impact, outcome, and benefits of a program or method. Allowing an organization to stick to such an out of the box, abstract, non-linear form of evaluating it can pick and chose what will get them the most information the fastest. This can be, by far, the most efficient way to help an organization make progress. With an organization that has a lot of different sections, like this one, it can produce the best progress reports because there is not a single mainline format that has to be followed; Just whatever works. I believe I would find pre-post surveys with questions that have people rate things one through five, attendance sheets, and tally sheets to keep record of happenings the most useful. In an organization that has sections that help polar opposite cases (e.g. young adults straight from walking the line of a criminal who wish to find assistance in becoming rehabilitated and young mothers who have been abused and who have children who were abused that are looking for help with learning how to get through their fears and move on with life) there cannot be one set way to document things. Surveys will always be near the top of the data collecting tools list because people can put whatever they want however they want and can truly express themselves if they so chose. An organization cannot necessarily ask two groups, like the two mentioned above, â€Å"How did you feel when the counselor asked you to talk about your personal experiences with being abused,† because the young adult who is looking to be rehabilitated may not have been abused. Attendance sheets are a very important part of an organization as well because it will allow the organization to know how many people they are reaching and if they need to step their game up or not. References Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (2013). http://www.mass.gov/anf/budget-taxes-and- procurement/working-for-you/community-innovation-challenge-grant/. Retrieved from http://www.mass.gov/anf/budget-taxes-and-procurement/working-for-you/community-innovation- challenge-grant/ National Network to End Domestic Violence. (2012). Family Violence Prevention Services Act. Retrieved from http://www.nnedv.org/policy/issues/fvpsa.html United States Interagency Council on Homelessnes. (2011). Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. Retrieved from http://www.usich.gov/funding_programs/programs/family_violence_prevention_and_services_act/ University of Phoenix. (2012). Appendix B. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, HSM270 Program Planning and Grant Proposal Writing in Human Services website. Weill Cornell Medical College. (2013). http://weill.cornell.edu/research/grants_and_contracts/research_development/se

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Oppression and Depression: The Effects of White Masculinity Essay

Oppression and Depression: The Effects of White Masculinity In Peter N. Stearns’ book Be a Man! he cites Nichols, Pleck and Sawyer as he makes the assertion that â€Å"Macho man, artificially and oppressively virile, asserts himself over hapless women and in fields of aggression ranging from big business to war, from raising of sons to the domestic cloistering of wives† (Nichols, Pleck and Sawyer). White men in America throughout history have guided themselves according to a particular set of social norms which defines their masculinity. Society embraces these defining characteristics and therefore sets standards for the men to live by and be judged by. John Steinbeck comments on the irony of these standards as he said â€Å"Men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.† In this statement Steinbeck recognizes the double standard of society’s expectations, being that men should be honest and true to their morals, while at the same time rewarding them for the undesirable qualities. Although on the surface society emphasizes these positive traits, it defines men by the exact opposite, the cunning and unemotional ones. White masculinity is a set of expectations that have been instilled in every child as they mature, and therefore they come to expect this model to be achieved by every man. When these expectations become unreal, not only do the victims of white masculinity themselves suffer, but so do their spouses and wives as they are unable to restore... ...sister. Those statements are made for him by his surroundings and the other non-white male characters in the novel. White masculinity is the ideal that has young boys dreaming of becoming firefighters, teenagers idolizing Bruce Willis, and middle aged men dyeing their hair and getting gym memberships. Whether it is through the appreciation of the ideals of white masculinity, or the desire for the fulfillment of these ideals, society as a whole has embraced it and continues to encourage its existence. In recent years, indications have appeared of a regression in the application of white masculinity through the popularity of movie stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio playing sensitive roles (Malin 239). However, extreme cases of white masculinity have also appeared, in such acts as hate crimes, against races as well as gays, and exposure of sexual harassment cases.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Effects of Music on the Unborn Child

Music can be used to influence people’s mood and has been used to attempt to affect the brain of a child in its mother’s womb. Some people think that having an unborn child listen to different types of music will have different effects on how the child will grow. Some people believe that music has no influence while others believe that if they introduce their unborn child to classical music the baby will grow up to be smarter than the kid who either listened to other types of music or no music while in the womb. Studies have been done on how music can affect an unborn, and many different results have come from these studies. Not only can the unborn child actually hear the music, but the child will remember the song even after they are born. ?Music affects attitudes as well as thoughts. According to the book titled What to Listen for in Music by Aaron Copland, there are four elements of music: rhythm, melody, harmony, and tone color. Each of these elements are not heard by themselves but are heard together as one sound. Each part of music has a special and unique way wherewith we interpret and react to it. Rhythm comes first in the musical elements because many historians say that music started with a beating of a rhythm. Whether it was the cavemen with branches or another group rhythm was the first element of music found (Copland, 33). The second element, melody, is second because rhythm is more of a physical motion and so melody is experienced as a mental emotion. The melody is the most crucial part of the music. It is the only subjective portion of music that the audience rejects or accepts by itself (Copland, 49). Harmony, the third element, is the most sophisticated. The harmony was the most recently discovered and has been greatly appreciated (Copland, 61). The last element, tone color, is the quality of sound produced by a particular musical instrument (Copland, 78). Aaron Copland later goes on to explain the difference of how we listen to music now compared to how we listened when we were in the womb. We have little to no say in what we listen to when we were in the womb; we can only enjoy it or kick relentlessly hoping that it will change. ?Some studies have been done by David Tame in his book The Secret Power of Music. In it he says â€Å"music has been found to affect the body in two distinct ways, directly on the cells and organs and indirectly by affecting the emotions, which, in turn, influence numerous bodily processes. Sounds projected into liquid media have coagulated proteins. So teenagers have brought soft eggs to rock concerts, hich became hard-boiled — wonder what happens in our own bodies† (Tame, 173) After reading this, it does make one wonder why we listen to something that can have such a negative effect and be so bad. Most people chose music their parents raised them on or something completely different. Tame later says in his book that people who listen to rock music have led lives that were much more destructive to themselves and to others than people who had listened to classical music. David Tame also did studies on plants and animals and how they respond to the different music. In a study performed classical music had appeared to bring more produce and better looking flowers than rock music (Tame, 196). ?According to BBC, Dr. Lamont did a study where the same song was played for the last three months of the pregnancy and then was played again after the child was born, even after they were a year old they recognized the song (BBC, Womb Music: How Will Music Affect oner Unborn Child? ). Another study done by Dr. Lamont concluded that â€Å"that there was no evidence that playing classical music to babies helps to make their brains develop. Dr. Lamont has done many studies for this topic and could be considered an expert. She has discovered much information for example: babies can hear just twenty weeks after conception and can remember a song for at least twelve months, and that babies cannot only remember the songs but they prefer these songs (BBC, Babies Remember womb music). ?Another study was done at the Education Oasis on how music affects babies in the womb, and they said that music does not make a baby smarter but it does prepare it for particular ways of thinking. The effect the music has does not last long but can be used to do tasks more quickly (Bales). They figured out, through many experiments, that although music did not make the babies smarter it did make their brains ready to learn and grow. The babies who listened to classical music were more ready to learn than the babies, who had listened to country, rock, folk, dance, or nothing at all (Bales). ?Although there is still controversy on whether or not music can make the brain smarter or not, more research has been done to observe the effects of music on newborns. Researchers from Brigham Oneng University studied the effects of music on thirty-three premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo. Cassette players piped voices of men and women singing lullabies into each baby’s ears for forty minutes a day for four days. When doctors examined the babies on the fourth day, they found that babies who had been exposed to music gained more weight, and had lower blood pressure and a stronger heartbeat than the other (Robledo). Their research shows that music can help strengthen premature babies; however, these researchers still have yet to figure out if music can improve a child’s intellect. It is hard to study the intelligence level of babies when they cannot talk or write. When studying three and four year olds these researchers have found out that if the child plays an instrument that the child is better at math and special thinking (Robledo). â€Å"Oner goal should be to cultivate a love for music in oner child, not to create the next Mozart. It should be about having fun and exposing oner child to new sounds and rhythms† (Robledo). My mother listened to two genres of music when I was in her womb: eighties rock and R&B. I would kick and dance for her when she played the rock music and she used R&B to put me to sleep. It worked as a oneng child too; my mother has videos of me kicking and screaming for joy when she played AC/DC, Bon Jovi, the Beastie Boys, Duran Duran, Journey, Whitesnake, and U2. Whenever either of my parents wanted to put me to sleep, they would play Prince, Stevie Wonder, Al B. Sure, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Soul II Soul, or Earth, Wind, and Fire. These genres have had an impact on my upbringing. Like most children I stuck to what I knew when it came for me to buy my first compact disk. The quote â€Å"The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree† applies very much so to me as it does to most children when they pick what they like and what they do not; I chose a nineties rock and alternative. I liked bands that were like the bands that I listened to in my mother’s womb, but I also liked having my own music to like. The music I chose sounds similar to the music my mother would have me listen to, but it was something my dad would not sing every word to, so I liked it. My dad is not the best singer, so if I can only get a hum then my music is more enjoyable. ?A year or two later, my mother was pregnant again. This time she was told by the doctors that her baby was to be born with many brain defects. She looked for many ways to keep her unborn baby from being born with the brain deficiencies. She had watched on the local news that babies were being born with an unbelievable intelligence from their mothers playing classical music while the unborn baby was still in the womb. There was another mother whom had said that the doctors had told her that her baby was supposed to be born with brain efects but her baby was born with no defects at all and she thanked her lucky stars on classical music. My mother thought it was worth a try since music was not thought of to hurt a baby’s brain. While she had classical music on headphone around her womb, she had rock music on a second pair for her and me to enjoy. My brother was born with some brain deficiencies; he is a slow school learner but is extremely fast at learning musical instruments. If one gives him an instrument in five minutes he will learn how to compose sound, in fifteen he knows notes, and in thirty he can play a song from memory. In everything else my brother is slow at learning and is slightly dyslexic. My mother thought the classical music had helped, so when she was pregnant again she had the new unborn baby listen to classical music as well. This one was born with terrible eye sight, deaf in one ear, dyslexic, and on the verge of being mentally handicapped. Classical music through a personal study has shown to have no intellectual effect on the unborn child. Every now and again a â€Å"musical genius† is born. These children are extremely gifted in music and can play, compose and understand music with an unimaginable capacity. Although, some may imagine that we cannot measure musical greatness or potential in children before they discover it themselves. There is a way. In the book titled Musical Ability in Children by Arnold Bentley, he describes ways that we can test the musical ability and potential in children. After all, he says â€Å"musical ability is primarily a mental ability. † He goes on to tell how to test children, but he says that this can be a difficult task especially if the children are not old enough to handle the challenge of the tests (Bentley). According to these studies, there are too many variables to consider when having a child and exposing them to the different array of music that we have today. For example, the child may be born already a genius and the classical music could impair his way of thinking, there are also some disabilities a child can be born with that music just will not be the fix, the baby may reject the music altogether because the baby still remembers what has happened before in the premortal life and knows that he should be listening to a different type or knows a better type for him to listen to. Music is a stimulant. We listen to it in hard times either to make us feel better or to truly understand what the artists are saying because now we understand what they mean. We try to understand everything that we listen to, but it is sometime hard to pick up the message the artists wanted to get out in the way they present it. Music is a powerful thing that should not be taken lightly it can create emotions and pictures in our mind. Music is not something that goes away either. Once one hears a song it can be stuck in one’s mind for a very long time. Even after many years of not hearing the song it can still come back to the front of one’s mind, much faster than a memory. Music is power, and to play it to unborn children increases the parent’s power over the child by what the parents choose which music to produce for the child.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Understanding PTSD and Methods of Treatment Essay

A study in 2008 showed that about 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffer from PTSD or major depression, and about 320,000 may have experienced at least a mild concussion or brain injury in combat (Zoroya). American society is witnessing a hasty rise in the need for treatment of PTSD for returning soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq. The medical definition of PTSD is that the person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both the following were present: The person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others, The person’s response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror†¦show more content†¦Soldiers wounded during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan often develop post-traumatic stress disorder and depression months after getting out of a hospital, instead of soon after suffering their injuries, a new study found. T he earlier the syndrome is identified and treated, the better (Bernstein). Premature treatment is better because symptoms of PTSD may get worse. Dealing with them earlier aids in stopping the symptoms from worsening in the future. If the disorder progresses, an individual may fail to benefit from formal treatment or drop out of treatment early. Many soldiers tend to find it much simpler to self medicate with drugs or alcohol rather than using appropriate treatment. Unfortunately, use of alcohol and drugs can actually intensify symptoms of PTSD or depression over time. Increased substance use is also a potential risk factor for suicide. (Finnegan) There are many treatments for this developing disease. The first step to being treated is admittance. When a soldier can move forward without being in denial, it is so much easier to receive treatment effectively. Denial is refusal to acknowledge the truth about something. Denial is a defense mechanism used to protect against anxiety or em otional pain. Often, soldiers may try to convince themselves that everything is all right and they do not need help. (Lanham) Fortunately, there are many ways, traditional andShow MoreRelatedPost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) Essay1162 Words   |  5 PagesSocial Identity, Groups, and PTSD In 1980, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD,) was officially categorized as a mental disorder even though after three decades it is still seen as controversial. The controversy is mainly founded around the relationship between post-traumatic stress (PTS) and politics. The author believes that a group level analysis will assist in understanding the contradictory positions in the debate of whether or not PTSD is a true disorder. 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InRead MoreArticle Analysis : Healing Touch With Guided Imagery For PTSD1046 Words   |  5 PagesHealing Touch with Guided Imagery for PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common and persistent problem in military populations with an estimated 21.8% of veterans diagnosed after Iraq and Afghanistan. Along with PTSD, there is an increase in substance abuse, depression, and interpersonal conflicts in this population. The more a solider is exposed to combat, the higher the risk is for developing PTSD. There is a strong negative stigma against mental health care for active or recentlyRead MorePtsd Essay1401 Words   |  6 Pagescancer, anxiety disorders, PTSD, chronic pain and multiple sclerosis. Despite it having restrictions, many states have approved the use of cannabis for the treatment of medical and psychological illnesses. In some states, PTDS is among the recommended conditions for medical marijuana (Steenkemp, Blessing, Galatazer-Levy, Hollahan Anderson, 2017). The extended therapeutic effects and support of the biological plausibility of the contents of the drug underscore the need for PTSD military peo ple to useRead MoreThe Health Group Will Take The Pcl M1448 Words   |  6 Pagesmeasured by the variation between the two groups change score. The scores measured will be from the PCL-M taken at the beginning and end sessions of the CBT treatment. The PCL-M is a 17 item self-report measure that is based on the DSM-IV symptoms. It is frequently used for screening, aiding in diagnostic assessment, and monitoring change in PTSD symptoms. It focuses on experiences served while active in the military. Sample items include â€Å"Repeated, disturbing memories, thoughts, or images of aRead MorePosttraumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd )1514 Words   |  7 PagesDescription Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is defined as â€Å"a condition that generates waves of anxiety, anger, aggression, depression and suspicion; threatens a person’s sense of self; and interferes with daily life functioning† (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle Cheever, 2010, p. 99). As human beings, we are built with different type of emotions and feelings that can endanger us or benefit us. When faced with a traumatic life event, an individual will either overcome the event and become strongerRead MorePost Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd ) Essay1260 Words   |  6 PagesPost-Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects thousands, from abused children to men and women in the military. PTSD can be caused by physical and or emotional trauma, it is not exclusive to one race, gender or age group. PTSD can effect anyone who is exposed to severe trauma and is diagnosed at alarming rates. What neurological damage is caused, where in the brain is this damage caused and how is it studied ? With modern science we are able to view how Post –Traumatic stress disorder effects theRead MoreTreatment For Veterans With Ptsd1439 Words   |  6 PagesTreatment for Veterans with PTSD Although American service members have felt the lasting effects of combat throughout the history of the nation, it was not until 1980 that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was formally added to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Once referred to as â€Å"irritable heart† or â€Å"shell-shock,† PTSD made its way into the national spotlight in the years following the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan due to U.S. military