A Correlational Study of PTSD and Different Coping Strategies among Residents of Kashmir

Though disastrous events may last for seconds to few days, effects on commumties and individuals can continue from months to years during the extended process of recovery, reconstruction and restoration. Long term recovery varies significantly due to the complex interaction of psychological, cultural, social, political and economic factors. PTSD is a severe emotional reaction that develops after exposure to one or more traumatic events that threaten or cause grave physical or psychological harm. The present study aims to examine (1) the correlation between PTSD and different coping strategies, and (2) the correlation between PTSD and different demographic variables. A sample of 100 subjects was taken from Bone and Joints Hospital, Srinagar and Khundrooa residential area of Anantnag district. In order to meet the aims of the present study, 'Impact of eventscalerevised(IES-R)'developed by Weiss and Marmar in l997 and'Ways of copingrevised' developed by Folkman and Lazarus in l985 were used. Data was analyzed by using mean, S.D, correlation, and t-test. It was found that among different coping strategies like confrontive coping, self controlling, seeking social support, accepting responsibility, planful problem solving, and positive re-appraisal PTSD patients make more use of Accepting responsibility'and'Seeking social support coping strategies. Results also suggested that PTSD differed significantly with respect to gender, educational qualification, age and residential area.