This chapter explores the progressive development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) before and during the establishment of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM). In addition, this chapter also tried to investigate the evolution of natural medicines or therapies of PTSD. Findings of the researches showed that significant historical events like wars were the major reasons behind getting recognition of PTSD among worldwide societies. It has a long history as well as existed in different forms and names among human beings. It takes a long time to get the identity, position, and recognition across the different editions of DSM. With the addition of PTSD under trauma and stressor related disorder in the 5th edition of DSM, a large number of PTSD cases were identified and produced as compared to the previous editions of DSM. Moreover, holistic treatment and complementary and alternative medicine approaches were more effective treatment for PTSD and help to nullify the symptoms of PTSD. Ayurveda, meditation, yoga, animals, forest bathing, and ocean therapies were used more for dealing with combat veterans suffering from PTSD.
TopIntroduction
“Nothing makes sense in biology except in the light of evolution” ‑(Dobzhansky, 1964, p. 449).
Earlier people thought that Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) happens only to veterans or soldiers. PTSD does not necessarily take place in any particular group of people, ethnicity, religion, culture and nationality. It can happen to a person of any age or gender. PTSD is ranked as a second most common disorder after the anxiety disorder in the United States (US Census Bureau, 2012). Compared to other types of mental illness, PTSD is a disabling and chronic disorder that costs more in terms of occupational impairments, social impairments, health care and a higher probability of comorbidity with other disorders. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder has been defined as “a disorder that might develop in a person who had exposed/witnessed/experienced disastrous events such as tragedy, death, serious injuries, threatening situations, mental and physical fatigue, flooding and drowning, electrocution, flammable and toxic environment, insufficient oxygen, confined spaces, fall hazards, fire, crushing and shearing hazards, terrorism, war, rape, acid attack, riots, violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse, pandemic and so on” (Maral, 2019). The probability of getting PTSD depends upon several important factors like gender (female), age, previous histories of psychiatric problems, loss of beloved one, substance abuse, disabilities, comorbidity, prior experiences of traumatic events, poverty, and lack of intervention programs for affected people, intensity of a traumatic event, duration of a traumatic event, personal history of a traumatic event, and the nature of a traumatic event (Maral, 2019). The taxonomy of mental disorders involves several processes for labelling, organizing, adding and removing in a new category. These processes were maintained and implemented by two well-known organizations i.e., Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD) (World Health Organisation 1993). The present chapter gives an introductory account about the literature done in the area of posttraumatic stress disorder and it’s evolving natural treatments. The entire chapter is divided into six sections. The first section presents an account of the overall view of historical development of PTSD, before the establishment of a DSM by APA (American Psychiatric Association). The second section discusses in detail about the conceptions of PTSD during the World War. The third section deals about the incarnation of PTSD in Indian Vedic Literature of Mahabharata & Ramayana. Fourth section discusses in detail about the progressive changes and improvement in the classification of PTSD from DSM-I to DSM-5 (when recognized in psychiatric disorder). Fifth section deals with the prominent cases of people suffering from PTSD. Sixth section discusses in detail about the holistic evolution of natural treatments (i.e., Ayurveda, yoga, meditation, nature based therapies, ocean therapies and animal-assisted therapies) for PTSD.