Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress in victims of assault in Convenience Stores

Introduction
In Mexico there has been a high incidence of violence and insecurity in the population, affecting convenience store clerks. Among the major problems of violence are incidents involving assaults, these situations was identified in various studies as a precursor to the emergence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
This research addresses the management and impact of emotions resulting from this violence in job performance, negatively impacting the psychological health, including PTSD. Therefore was implemented a workshop to develop emotional skills.

Methods
A prospective study was conducted including 62 employees exposed to traumatic events during the period of August 2009 to February 2010. They were chosen through the following means: Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS), Symptom Severity Scale for PTSD, excluding those who were a score of zero in the DTS. The research applied the scale of eight items, the rating scale of emotional states and Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24). Subsequently the researchers performed a theoretical-practical workshop (3 modules) once per week, with 20 to 25 participants. They were reassessed 1 month after, with the scale of eight items and the rating scale of emotional states.

Results
On the scale of eight items, final score resulted 3.1 vs. 5.8 in the initial score. 66.1% of employees decreased their stress, only a 14.5% increased their level, meanwhile, the remaining 14.5% of participants maintained their level. On the scale of emotions, negative emotions decreased from strong/very strong to weak/light in the post-evaluation.

Discussion
Research shows that the intensity of negative emotions decreased in the post assessment, which tells us improvement in coping with everyday situations. Emotional intelligence is an individual process that takes time to be complemented. However, you can find a positive relationship in improving emotional state and the symptoms referred before and at the end of this workshop.
This concluded the effectiveness of workshops and research.