WK10Assgn1
Welling T
T.
"TR" Robert "Shawn" Welling
May 2, 2019
Dr. Rynearson
Theories on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
The following information is a very brief explanation of what Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is and a bit of information on how to treat
it. Although as most of the articles on the subject give different levels of
flowery word descriptions regarding “we are just guessing, most of the
treatments only work short term” paraphrased of course over several dozen articles.
The first theory regarding how to treat PTSD is Emotional Processing Theory,
which has some merits regarding its turn away from behaviorism towards
cognitive and now neuropsychology. Which has a great deal of merit;
although is in its infancy of towards understanding. The other theory is dual
representation theory which most of the authors admit is mostly guess work regarding
approaching treatment from a is this trauma a visual and or audio memory. Attempting
to treat neuropathway processing damage through behaviorism techniques, that were
proved a century ago to be ineffective over a long-term basis.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD itself is a diagnosis which consists of about 50 separate semi-similar
behavior reactions to a given or a collection of given events. However, each patients actions/reactions are different minus a couple of
key symptoms.
First Symptom
Anxiety and or extreme anxiety over aspects that are associated
with the trauma. If someone fell off a ladder, they might develop anxiety and or
unrealistic behaviors associated with ladders. If an event happened in a specific
location, they might be entirely adverse to going
anywhere close to that location after the event.
Second Symptom
Memory flashes which are so vivid they take over the persons
conscious mind. The person is right back at the event. Their senses replay the
trauma, usually being unaware of anything happening in the present.
Of course, those two symptoms depending on the severity are the
most extreme examples of PTSD. Most patients do not have extreme reactions and
or flash backs that in their minds create a cognitive dissonance between the trauma
and the present. The therapist needs to look for combinations of the couple
dozen PTSD symptoms and their severities.
Theory one emotional processing
The basic definition of this theory was formed between the 1950s
and the mid-1980s. This theory began from the normal applications of
behaviorism to fix what was then called “Shell Shock” (Tatu,
2018). That turned into the clinical term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) (McCall, & Resick, 2003).
From the aftermath of WWII 1938-1945 then the immediate Korean War
Jun 25, 1950 – Jul 27, 1953, the soldiers who returned from one or both wars
were obviously suffering from traumatic stress due to the battlefield
conditions they were forced to be in (Wolnik,
K., Busse, B., Tholen, J., Yndigegn, C., Levinsen, K., Saari, K., & Puuronen, V.
(2017). However
it soon became apparent that the old behaviorism techniques that did not work in
the previous decades was not going to work then or in the future.
There was only one solution to bring into the treatment of traumatic
stress in different ways, the field of cognition seems to be the best way to
address the emotions that seem to be a key factor in the persons response to
trauma (Shubina, 2015). The
treatment is to work from a standpoint of the emotional reactions to the
events, not from a pure logical and scientific part of the mind.
Information Processing Theory (IPT) is
a theory developed around 1986 in order to provide a solid and substantial
foundation to explore the emotional side of anxiety disorders (Sekar Vusparatih, 2018). PTSD is in that area of scientific
exploration. championed by among others Dr. Foa (Brown, Zandberg, & Foa, 2019).
On the surface from a basic examination of the
evidence, IPT was developed using behaviorism as a loose base but soon took on
a huge amount of the discipline of cognition in identification and treatment (Back, …& Brady, 2019). IPT in some cases has a great deal of merit, on
the other hand, in the short run the treatments are still just metaphorically a
band aid on a gunshot.
Cognitive in general can be traced to the post
WWII applications of the computer regarding how things process thought (Erreich, A. (2018). Although in the literature, circa 1950, all these
advancements and ideas from the field of computers seemed to come out of nowhere,
however the facts are that before being called computers they were called
Turing Devices (Eldridge,
G. (2015). It appears
the same mathematical processing equations and in some cases,
algorithms used in computations, formed the new base for cognitive psychology
from what did not work in behaviorism. Be really interesting
to find out in the early stages of the recreation of cognitive how much of
Alan’s work formed the basis of the new psychology research. Of course Alan
Turing was in part inspired by the works of Rene Descartes who was educated partly
in Paris that has its own clandestine history as to exactly where he was to
learn all that he did regarding “how to think” (Ferguson, M. (2009).
The previous versions of treatment for what PTSD
has been labeled in the past were almost exclusively from behaviorism. Since
those tools are designed for population control, one of the ways to treat the
“Shell Shock” was to force the soldiers back onto the battlefield to face the
trauma first hand. The old phrase “if the horse bucks
you, get right back up on the horse and finish the ride”.
In general this is a
good idea for the general non-violent traumatic events. But when an entire
situation turns from just a bad situation to violent trauma, example in the
movie “Saving Private Ryan” the Ryan character during the height of the battle
over the bridge, with most of the guys sent to get him out were KIA (Killed in
Action), he collapses on the ground pulls up into a ball and screams/cries
reacting to all the chaos around him. About 8 soldiers against about 500 with
heavy equipment it is a wonder more of them did not crawl into a ball and
scream/cry. But by then most of those directly in the battle who were not old
hands had already been killed.
The upper brass were not
interested in “shell shock”, they wanted to get their infantry back on the
lines and stop acting like cowards. So behaviorism
techniques were used to force the point.
It would be fascinating to dig into the research
of the battles to find the soldiers who had started to slip into traumatic stress,
how many of them committed battlefield suicide. They acted heroic, but in truth
were wanting to be killed by the enemy. So they
charged machine gun nests, or volunteered for missions which had a very low
survivability factor, etc. They could not be treated so they had no other
option for their pain and emotional issues, they had to be heroes and thus
suicide.
So the field has little choice but to come from a foundation of
behaviorism. Battlefield commanders want results, not what they determine are “cry
baby’s”. Said techniques have been used since the Trojan War when psychology was
still “The Classics”.
The interesting part is Wundt suffered for a long
time with his own PTSD in a war which was entirely clandestine. He was not
allowed to talk about it, even decades later. It was a war between the
Prussians and the British in Ohio. William James learned about the events and
he traveled to where Wundt had done the bulk of his research and his actions
and journey are also classified. Where he went and what he learned neither man
talked about or even really mentioned..
Statistically speaking there is a mathematical equation
which can be created regarding western culture soldiers suffering from “shell
shock” etc. changes per generation unless the current scientific name sticks around
for a few more decades. They are sent into battle and in a yet to be studied sufficiently
to prove it, how many of them go back into battle and commit “heroism suicide”.
An entire episode of MASH in the late 1970s discussed this exact topic. A half
Asian half western culture soldier put himself through unending jeopardy and
instead of being killed/suicide he survived. Had a chest full battlefield metals for his attempts.
But that is where his sub-conscious PTSD presented itself in a suicide attempt
in the hospital.
Immediately upon the Prussians gaining access to
the library they had spent the previous more than half a millennia killing any
and all who got between them and the technology they had been demanding to seize
and control; they immediately put the technology to work. Within 10 years of
the library being seized form its rightful owners, the library was used to
create the Industrial Revolution. Within either a few miles of the library for
a few of the key inventions, 100 miles for some of the secondary inventions.
The extreme jump in technology is what the
Prussians had been demanding access to since day one. The second they gained
access is the second they put the tools and weapons into play. If they had
gained access previous, in other locations the library books had been stored, they
would have done it then. That is the scientific proof regarding the location
the library was, and that the battles were entirely clandestine/secret.
Those same parameters can be used to uncover
other historiography secrets to allow both the individuals and communities to
explore and heal. The longer things remain secret, the more mental health
damage they cause.
It is interesting that a field both men did not
like which was birthed from patriarchal cultures that only care about instant
results turned the PTSD Wundt may have suffered from over to a sub-field to
come up with treatments. It is like handing one of your best tools over to
someone you cannot stand, but the commander does. So
your tool now belongs to someone you do not like because the person you do not
like uses the tool the way the commander does like.
However if emotional processing was handled the way Wundt wanted it
to be, through the nervous system, specifically starting in the synapses and
neuropathways, that would have produced a real and solid solution to the long-term
health of those suffering from PTSD. The field of emotional processing in the
21st century is starting to dive into where Wundt wanted treatment
to start in 1860.
Although in all reality as treatment moves away from behaviorism
and towards cognition, a large part of the field of cognition is moving at
various speeds towards neuropsychology. This is where Wundt wanted it to be in
the first place. Short term solutions are good for what they are good for, but long-term
treatment requires tackling the issues in the brain and thinking patterns aka
cognition.
Theory two dual representation
This theory works slightly different from emotional process
theory. Whereby emotional deals with how the trauma affects the emotions, this
theory deals with the visuals and the auditory aspects of where the trauma
might have logged into the subject’s mind, through audio and visual processing.
This idea in part was describe or at least based from a similar thinking patterns
that Plato wrote about regarding how we see images (Shuwiekh, Kira, &
Ashby, 2018). This theory has so many problems several of the articles observed
have almost endless words which equal one conclusion “we are guessing”, as to
how this all works ( Otabe, 2012). But the researchers
are trying again anyway because why not, it is only the patient’s life at stake,
as long as we do not harm them further they should be
ok as rats in a maze.
Trying to explore the neuropathways through the schema of behaviorism
is close to the absolute definition of harmful.
Hording and associated making unrealistic collections of things is
also tied to PTSD, the hoarder in some cases attempts to reestablish control
over their lives by collecting things to make themselves feel better and or occupy
their time with “I will use that at some point in the future”. Or for people
who have an artistic bent their nature “I can make x out of that thing I
collected”. But they have enough art supplies to last them several lifetimes;
they could not possibly finish all the art projects they have collected
materials for. These are also symptoms of PTSD.
Treating PTSD
No matter what theory is used, it can and will produce a medical
issue. In medicine the first thing a doctor will do is take the patients
history. In psychology this is no different at all.
However the history of the function and structure of psychology
specifically the base ideas involved with how to treat traumatic stress have
gone from behaviorism to cognitive, and now they are venturing into
neuropathway research. Neuropsychology is what the field should never have left
in the middle of the 1800s. But that was then this is now.
While researching this subject, it became almost instantly obvious
that the work of Rene Descartes and of course Alan Turing combined to create algorithms
that aided in the reintroduction of the analytical portions in the treatment of
emotional issues circa 1950 (Schuster, J.
A. (2019). The emerging field of computer science contributed to the
function and structure of treating PTSD, by identifying the brain functions are
actually different from the behavior of the body. Refocusing
the schema away from behaviorism back towards at first cognition, which took
about 25 years from circa 1950-1980. PTSD is an emotional reaction of any given
event. Some people react fine to an event, others react badly, while still
others will be affected by their emotional reactions to the same event for
various long periods of time after the event is long over.
Alan Turing began to publish some of his equations he developed in
the late 1930s to crack the Enigma code (Robinson,
D. N. (1998). Those mathematical equations became incorporated into the
treatment of PTSD in the early 1950s. As Turing devices name changed into computers,
and the computer industry took off, so did the “do computers think” type thinking,
and associated equations began to circulate into the scientific fields,
including psychology. However it appears that said
work of Turing and where he researched his machines and equations that became
the machines operating system, was all but totally removed by the time the
information and equations entered the field of psychology. A huge amount of Alan’s
work is based on Rene Descartes’s work on thinking itself. Rene’s history is a
fascinating subject all on its own (Philippe,
C., Isabelle, H.-C., Philippe, F., Russell, S., Nadia, B., Alain, F., …
Antoine, B. (2017).
Much to the extreme detriment of both. Working together both
fields would have been able to make advances much faster. Since both fields were
trying to “invent the wheel” privately, when they are working on the same basic
invention.
In the present the different fields of science are still just
guessing how to deal with PTSD, the most recent “stab in the dark” has come in
the form of a mild hallucinogenic aka THC (Egashira, N., Koushi, E., Myose,
T., Tanoue, A., Mishima, K., Tsuchihashi,
R., … Iwasaki, K. (2017). Which admittedly does strongly work on the emotions,
it is not called “dope” for no reason. However this
has huge limitations and of course continues to ignore the base neuropathway
issues which caused the patient to have such a negative reaction to the
traumatic event in the first place. Just causes the patient to not care about those
emotions.
Conclusion
As the evidence presented as shown, treatments of PTSD have greatly
improved over the last century. It has been a phenomenal growth from entirely inappropriate
treatment options that bordered on torture to moving in the correct direction. This
is explored through two theories as to how to identify and treat PTSD; the
first Emotional Processing Theory the second is dual representation theory. However,
they both have elements from the computer science area which used to be called
Turing Devices. Alan Turing turned his ideas and Operating System format he
used to crack the Enigma machine into papers on its mathematics. Psychology
picked up those ideas and applied them, just refused to give credit (plagiarism)
to Alan and where he assembled his ideas which in part came from Rene Descartes.
Rene’s life and his where he thought through his ideas and theories though has
its own long chain of information. None of which is part of modern Psychology training, but is an absolute requirement to include in the
entire field. Most of the current treatments for PTSD are shorter term methods
at best, and harmful at worse. The field needs to desperately reorganize its
schema in order to stop harming patients.
Reference
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