Listing the factors that may entail PTSD in individuals, one should mention that the range of key contributors to PTSD development is quite high, with the probability of trauma and the resulting PTSD occurring mostly being dependent on an individual and their unique characteristics. For instance, among the key causes of PTSD, assaults, whether physical or sexual, and abuse, especially in childhood, are known to be the most common factors.
The phenomenon of PTSD is also extraordinarily high in veterans due to the exposure to traumatic events such as death, as well as the factors that may lead to reliving the described experiences years later. Known as triggers, the specified factors are particularly dangerous since they may cause an individual with PTSD irreparable harm. Implying multiple health consequences that may, from an increased heart rate to a panic attack, triggers are particularly dangerous to the specified population.
However, as another study confirms, identifying triggers and isolating patients from them successfully is nearly impossible since the specified factor has been underresearched and, presumably, hinges on a range of personal characteristics apparat from the presence of specific trauma-related objective characteristics. Namely, McDonald et al. state that “there exists no data-driven, continuous monitoring tool to predict the onset of PTSD triggers.” Therefore, isolating the exact triggers of PTSD is quite problematic.
Although removing the presence of PTSD from a patient’s experience completely is currently impossible, a range of strategies that allow for reducing the effects of PTSD on veterans exist. Among the main tools, one should list those grounded in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which allows for shaping an individual’s behavior and attitude toward the lived experience which caused the trauma and the resulting PTSD. Specifically, the CBT-based approach coupled with counseling allows veterans to perform controlled exposure to the factors that serve as traumatic triggers, thus removing their effect completely. The specified approach implies gradual desensitization to the factors that would otherwise be perceived as triggering.
Additionally, the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) technique is widely used as the desensitization mechanism and the auxiliary mechanism in the CBT framework developed for managing PTSD in veterans. The EMDR approach helps patients to transition from the traumatic experience on which they have been fixated to a more measured approach toward managing stress factors. Although innovative tools have been introduced into the management of PTSD in veterans quite frequently over the past decade, the general focus on meditation and the use of CBT remain consistent.
