A Breakthrough in Assessing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=160 BGCOLOR="#333333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="03cdedc2ddualp.png"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D"><U><B>Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><B>Contact Us</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="FAQs"><U><B>FAQs</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Dr. Silverman"><U><B>About Dr. Silverman</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id146.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Great links"><U><B>Great links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Mind Reader© archive"><U><B>The Mind Reader© archive</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="03d64643.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#666633" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D</B></FONT>    |     <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D"><U>home</U></A></FONT></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> A Breakthrough in Assessing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder</div> <bR> <bR> <div> One of the least appreciated facts about personal injury is the frequent and severe </div> <bR> <bR> <div> psychological consequences. Severe and/or chronic pain usually results in either depressing </div> <bR> <bR> <div> and/or anxiety. More often then not the psychological consequences far exceed the physical ones </div> <bR> <bR> <div> in terms of a level of functioning both at work and at home.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> If the accident or injury happened under a life threatening circumstances, then an </div> <bR> <bR> <div> individual will suffer from the syndrom of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Approximately </div> <bR> <bR> <div> 10% of our present population at one time or another has suffered from PTSD. This debilitating </div> <bR> <bR> <div> syndrom consists of three major areas of symptoms including intrusive re-experiencing of a </div> <bR> <bR> <div> traumatic event, avoidance and/or numbing with regard to cues representing the event, and hyper </div> <bR> <bR> <div> arousal including startle responses, increased heart rate, etc. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> Until recently there were no tests that were diagnostic of the syndrom. Frequently </div> <bR> <bR> <div> employed tests such as the MMPI-2 and the MCMI-3 were not norm for the purpose of </div> <bR> <bR> <div> identifying this disorder. Recently, John Briere (2001) has published a new test specifically </div> <bR> <bR> <div> designed to assess PTSD. He calls it the detailed assessment of Post Traumatic stress (DAPS). </div> <bR> <bR> <div> He notes several unique features of the DAPS. One, the DAPS was formed specifically on a </div> <bR> <div> sample four hundred individuals who were exposed to at least one trauma. Two, it has validity </div> <bR> <bR> <div> scales that point out over and under reporters. Three, it measures life long history as well as </div> <bR> <bR> <div> current history. Four, it evaluates all three major areas of symptoms. Five, it can generate a </div> <bR> <bR> <div> probable diagnosis. Six, it measures conditions closely associated with PTSD such as suicidality </div> <bR> <bR> <div> and substance abuse.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Thus, for the first time, the assessor has a full picture of the nature and the extent of </div> <bR> <bR> <div> PTSD using Briere<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP TypographicSymbols" >=</FONT>s test. He/She can also estimate wether the results are valid. This is a major </div> <bR> <bR> <div> step forward in the ability to diagnose a truly under diagnosed disorder that affects many people </div> <bR> <bR> <div> seeking justice and civil litigation. </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>