Previous studies have focused on older adults and individuals with medical problems. The researchers took a more comprehensive approach in the current one and included many factors related to PTSD. Questionnaires, personal narratives, and self-report surveys were used as the main tools in the study.
‘PTSD could hamper emotional regulation among the patients. Focusing on the most commonly occurring symptoms of this condition helps during the treatment of patients.’
“The positive side to these statistics, though, is how remarkably resilient people can be following traumatic events, especially during this pandemic,” said Polizzi, Binghamton University doctoral candidate in psychology Craig.
Impact of PTSD on the quality of life
The research team took up the broad definition of quality of life by the World Health Organization (WHO). It defines the quality of life as healthy functioning across mental processing, life activities, physical mobility, participating in society, self-care, and social skills.
The responses from the participants suggested that decreased emotion regulation is related to a lower quality of life. The lack of psychological resources to deal with stress, pain, or physical health issues could also limit a person’s ability to regulate emotions.
“These variables could exist in a vicious cycle, in which lack of emotion regulation contributes to lowering the quality of life, which in turn reduces emotion regulation skills,” said Polizzi.
The symptom trios
The research provided additional insights that could help in refining the current practices to treat PTSD. The team focused mainly on a trio of symptoms, namely dissociation, impulsivity, and blaming others due to mistrust.
Dissociation might make it more difficult for people with PTSD to be emotionally engaged, cope with stress, set goals, and have a healthy sense of self. Impulsive behavior and mistrust could lead to physical injury, substance abuse, and erosion of social bonds.
The team suggests that focusing on these three factors would be very helpful during the later phases of treatment.
“People experiencing increased psychological stress during this pandemic may look to improve their quality of life by focusing on ways to enhance their emotion regulation skills via reducing dissociation, impulsivity and blaming others, such as increasing emotional engagement, planning goal-directed behaviors, and fostering compassion toward others, respectively,” Polizzi said.
The full research article titled “Quality of Life, Emotion Regulation Dissociation: Evaluating Unique Relations in an Undergraduate Sample and Probable PTSD Subsample” was published in the journal Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.
Source: Medindia
