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Kayla Bossart
DAlessio
UWRT 1102-008
10 February 2016
The Health Implications of PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or commonly known as PTSD, is a disorder found
commonly among people who have gone through extreme conditions just as the name states,
frequently found in war victims and veterans. This disorder results from life-altering events such
as witnessing killings, being in a war accident, the violent duty of an American soldier, or
prolonged periods of exposure to trauma. After being diagnosed, episodes can be triggered by
numerous sensual situations such as fireworks, construction, a dog playing with a child, and
much more. Doctors, as well as I, are not as familiar with this disorder as more common
resultants of war, such as amputees. Overall, I am unversed with the major medical factors of
PTSD, such as the diagnosis and possible treatments of this disorder.
My chosen topic, the health aspects of PTSD, intrigues my attention. My interests of the
medical field play a major role in the reason why I chose to explore the health implications of
this ambiguous disorder. I am majoring in Nursing, which requires me to be caring and patient; I
could learn from my research on this disorder and apply it to my knowledge. With the increased
research and findings coming as the years progress, there will be more war victims and veterans
being diagnosed and treated with PTSD. With the new information known, it will allow for
health care facilities to better implement treatment to ensure that the patient receives the best
quality care and is properly maintaining their symptoms. Just like other mental disorders, PTSD

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is underrated in society, most people are unaware of its complexity; however, I am interested
to see how war victims and veterans are diagnosed and treated with this disorder.
There are many questions that come to mind when I start to think of the health
implications of PTSD. I want to know how PTSD is diagnosed, if it is detected by diagnostic
testing or behavioral testing. What determines if a war victim or veteran develops this disorder;
is it biological or from outside influences, such as war? I would also like to find out what
symptoms come from this disorder, and what the most common triggers are. Can PTSD be
cured, or are there just treatments to maintain the symptoms? PTSD is becoming a more popular
topic in the medical research community, causing for there to be better statistics that would be
helpful in my inquiry. These questions are going to require much investigation in order to
answer in an educated fashion. I believe I will find an abundance of information on health
government websites, such as the World Health Organization and the National Institute of
Health. For a real-life example, American Sniper, the movie, can provide feedback on how one
handles PTSD, and how it is common for a war victim or veteran to succumb to this disorder.
For questions that will not be answered through these sources, I will have to further investigate
the answers to my numerous questions.
If the results of my initial research are too broad, I will have to narrow my findings on
specific questions in order for my inquiry to be informative, while remaining concise. As of
right now, I plan to research the causes, diagnosis, symptoms, and treatments of PTSD.
However, if these subjects become too broad, my focus will have to be more narrowed, selecting
fewer subtopics, such as the diagnosis, symptoms, and treatments. But, if I turn up with too little
information stemming from my research, my subtopics of investigation will have to be
broadened. If it comes to this, I can do further research into each area that I am examining, while

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also finding if there are preventive measures to this disorder. I believe I have a good start on the
areas I plan to examine. Overall, I think this will be a fascinating subject to dig deep in and learn
more about in order to further my knowledge on this rising topic of interest in the realm of War
and Veteran Studies.