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The following is a comparison of the symptoms of PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, with the symptoms of STSD, Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Primary - Symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

A. Stressor
1. Experienced, witnessed, or been confronted with an event or events that involve actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of oneself or others
2. The person’s response involved “intense fear, helplessness or horror”; an event such as
a. Serious threat to self
b. Sudden destruction of one’s environment

B. Reexperiencing Trauma Event
1. Recollections of event
2. Dreams of the event
3. Sudden reexperiencing of event
4. Distress over reminders of event

C. Avoidance/Numbing of Reminders
1. Efforts to avoid thoughts/feelings
2. Efforts to avoid activities/situations
3. Physiologic amnesia
4. Diminished interest in significant activities
5. Detachment, estrangement from others
6. Diminished interest in significant activities
7. Sense of foreshortened future

D. Persistent Arousal
1. Difficulty falling/staying asleep
2. Irritability or outbursts of anger
3. Difficulty concentrating
4. Hypervigilance for self
5. Exaggerated startle response
6. Physiologic reactivity to cues

Secondary - Symptoms of Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder

A. Stressor
1. Experienced, witnessed, or been confronted with an event or events that involve actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of oneself or others;
2. The person’s response involved “intense fear, helplessness or horror”; an event such as
a. Serious threat to traumatized person
b. Sudden destruction of traumatized person’s environment

B. Reexperiencing Trauma Event
1. Recollection of event/traumatized person
2. Dreams of event/traumatized person
3. Sudden reexperiencing of event/traumatized person
4. Reminders of traumatized person/event distressing

C. Avoidance/Numbing of Reminders
1. Efforts to avoid thoughts/feelings
2. Efforts to avoid activities/situations
3. Physiologic amnesia
4. Diminished interest in significant activities
5. Detachment, estrangement from others
6. Diminished affect
7. Sense of foreshortened future

D. Persistent Arousal
1. Difficulty falling/staying asleep
2. Irritability or outbursts of anger
3. Difficulty concentrating
4. Hypervigilance for traumatized person
5. Exaggerated startle response
6. Physiologic reactivity to cues

Personal Reflection Exercise #2
The preceding section contained symptoms of PTSD and STSD. Write two case study examples regarding applications of these symptoms.

Update
Efficacy of Neuro-Feedback Training for PTSD Symptoms:
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Hong, J., & Park, J. H. (2022). Efficacy of Neuro-Feedback Training for PTSD Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(20), 13096. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013096

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article References:
Larsen, S. E., Fleming, C. J. E., & Resick, P. A. (2019). Residual symptoms following empirically supported treatment for PTSD. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 11(2), 207–215.

McGuire, A. P., Frankfurt, S. B., Anderson, L. M., & Connolly, K. M. (2020). Pre- to posttreatment changes in trauma-cued negative emotion mediate improvement in posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and impulsivity. Traumatology, 26(4), 455–462.

Robison, M. K., Miller, A. L., & Unsworth, N. (2018). Individual differences in working memory capacity and filtering. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 44(7), 1038–1053.