ADULT FEMALES SUFFERING FROM PTSD

Adult Females Suffering from PTSD

A Grant Proposal

Adult Females Suffering from PTSD

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an emotional illness that usually develops as a result of a terribly frightening, life-threatening, or otherwise highly unsafe experience. PTSD sufferers re-experience the traumatic event or events in some way, tend to avoid places, people, or other things that remind them of the event (avoidance), and are exquisitely sensitive to normal life experiences (hyperarousal). Although this condition has likely existed since human beings have endured trauma, PTSD has only been recognized as a formal diagnosis since 1980. However, it was called by different names as early as the American Civil War, when combat veterans were referred to as suffering from "soldier's heart." In World War I, symptoms that were generally consistent with this syndrome were referred to as "combat fatigue." Soldiers who developed such symptoms in World War II were said to be suffering from "gross stress reaction," and many troops in Vietnam who had symptoms of what is now called PTSD were assessed as having "post-Vietnam syndrome." PTSD has also been called "battle fatigue" and "shell shock."

The intended population for the proposed program is Latino adolescents attending Montebello High school, in the city of Montebello, California. The project will be specifically for freshman students, male and female. Montebello High School is part of the Montebello Unified School District and is located in a geographic area that is heavily populated by the Latino community. This is clearly demonstrated in the ethnic composition of the student body, with Hispanics representing more than 90% of the students. Three program objectives will be designed to work in collaboration with the adolescent and their families, through a combination of: 1. education, 2. counseling, and 3. case management services.

Statistics regarding this illness indicate that approximately ...