Abnormal Psych

The “Are Hispanic Americans Prone to Stress Disorders?” article discusses the reasons why Hispanic Americans are more susceptible to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder than any other ethnic group. After reading this article I agree with several of the theories put forth in this article and disagree with others.

Hurricane Andrew fiercely hit Florida and its outcome devastated many people. The hurricane produced life changing events for some people. In the article “Are Hispanic Americans Prone to Stress Disorders?” it says a “look at past data on Hurricane Andrew victims reveals that Hispanic victims had a significantly higher rate of PTSD than victims of all other ethnic groups.” (Comer, 2005) I believe it is inaccurate because there could be several reasons which weren’t taken into the account. First, traumatic events can cause previous conditions to result in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Second, the hurricane had ruined everything the people owned and either made them homeless, poor, or in need of help. If those people did not have someone to whom they could turn to for support or comfort then they could have developed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Lastly Florida’s location is near many Hispanic countries; as a result, more Hispanic people may be living in Florida than Whites. Furthermore, making the percentage of Hispanics with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder higher.

Several of these explanations seem not based on psychological theories but on the findings on their research. I disagree with “Recent research has indicated that an early dissociative reaction…..is one of the strongest predictors that an individual will go on to develop posttraumatic stress disorder,” because it does not give a concise explanation based on psychological models. (Comer 2005) This reason for explaining why Hispanic Americans develop Posttraumatic Stress Disorder more than others is ambiguous. How can it be explained through the notion that “dissociative symptoms are very...