Clinical Histories: Annotated Bibliography

Military Pathway (2013) concluded “Military life, especially the stress of deployments or mobilizations, can present challenges to service members and their families that are both unique and difficult”. Hence, it is not surprising that soldiers returning from a stressful war environment often suffer from a psychological condition called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This paper provides a historical perspective of PTSD affecting soldiers, and how this illness has often been ignored. In addition, the this paper examines the cause and diagnosis of the illness, the changes of functional strengths and limitations, the overall effects this disease may have on soldiers and their families, with a conclusion of

Many soldiers can relate to developing post traumatic disorder because of war. The article “For Soldiers With PTSD, A Profound Daily Struggle” discusses the story of Dexter Pitt who was deployed to Iraq in the year 2004. Pitt was diagnosed with PTSD after a bomb injured him while in Iraq, which left him with many serious injuries that affected his physical health. Pitt shares the story of when his cousin was consistently very energetic, jumping around and bothering him after returning from war and had hit his injured arm. According to page 1 of the article, Pitt says, “I just lost it. I blacked out… picked him up and punched him in his chest as hard as I could.” He was over reacting and made the situation worse than what it should be, and

Finley’s “From Soldier’s Heart to PTSD,” was about the evolution of how clinicians, physiatrists, and the military viewed what was happening to the men who went into war. At first, the symptoms that the soldiers were going through was referred to as “shell shock.” This lead to the debate whether the physical brain as opposed to the psychological mind could determine human behavior so “shell shock” became “war neurosis.” The increasing number of cases lead to the creating of the triage system which seem to help the soldiers. After many other war, physiatrists were still noticing the same symptoms even though the number of cases decreased. Advocates for the Vietnam war tried to make the government realized that these soldier where suffering due

Many soldiers who fight in wars end up with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from some of the horrible things they have to encounter such as comrades death or even a wound themselves. In world war one,

Sigmund Freud extensively studied the minds of combat soldiers during the World War I (WWI) era and was one of the first to describe symptoms associated with combat stress. Psychoanalysis had its beginnings in trauma theory and has been intimately associated with the concept of psychological trauma ever since. Psychoanalytic theory advanced military psychiatry’s understanding of post-deployment mental health problems beyond the broken brain conceptualization of “shell shock.” In turn, the successful application of psychodynamics in World War II (WWII) military psychiatry inspired a dramatic shift toward psychoanalysis and spurred the growth of departments of psychiatry across America (Kudler, 2007).

troops suffered extremely dangerous and unsettling conditions throughout the duration of the war. In fact, the war conditions were so bad, that many soldiers had later developed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD), a condition which was discovered a few years after the end of the Vietnam War. PTSD is a condition in which a person experiences a number of adverse effects in his/her psyche due to the result of a single, or a sequence of intensely traumatic event(s) that occurred in his/her lifetime. This disorder is now known to have severe long-term effects on the human mind, particularly those that distort how the brain perceives and reacts to stress. In many instances, those who have PTSD are likely to develop cognitive dissonance and various other mood disorders.

The soldiers that fought for or are fighting for our country are some of the bravest men and women that there have ever been. These men and women put their lives on the line as well as their own mental health for fighting for the people of the United States. The most common mental disorder that Americans hear about veterans having is PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Louise Erdrich’s “The Red Convertible,” and “Midnight Movie” by Mike Subritzky, the characters all show signs of PTSD. The Vietnam War is a large part of America’s history and therefore is one of the greatest examples of the effects of war, such as PTSD, on a soldier.

Many American soldiers who returned home from the Vietnam War had psychological damage, which today is commonly referred to as PTSD. In an interview one such soldier, Larry Colburn, he mentions his experience when seeking

PTSD having been on the rise following various deployments necessitated by the various wars against terror, where the soldiers encounter traumatic experiences like harsh training conditions, unfavorable living standards, enemy attacks, extreme working environment, explosions, torture by enemies, loss of colleagues as well as long term separation from family back at home (Melinda S & Jeanne S., 2012). This therefore calls for a concerted effort in handling the pandemic of PTSD since it has been constantly on the increase and as a

It is a well known fact that war is gruesome and changes those involved. We have all heard the stories of soldiers risking life and limb to protect our beliefs, but until recently we have believed that the scars of war were merely physical. While mental disorders like PTSD were debated shortly after World War II it was not diagnosed until around 1980. Even now, there is a plethora of other factors that contribute to the mental health of war veterans. These same factors are being ignored not only by the public and the medical professionals, but sometimes even the veterans themselves.

The Mind at War Men and women, alike, have been fighting for their rights and freedoms over many centuries. Due to the gruesome acts carried out and witnessed, these wars can inflict psychological damage to such combatants. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition where one has been traumatized by something in their past. This ordeal disrupts sleep and causes the continuous vivid recollection of the upsetting event on a daily basis for the victims (Jones 17). Countless times, these soldiers return to their families and friends totally changed.

The United States has been engaged in many wars going all the way back to the war of 1812 to the war on terrorism and between these war many men were killed or wounded physically and mentally. In 1915 Charles Myers was a physician who also worked as a psychologist, he noticed that men were coming back from battle involuntarily shivering, crying, fearful, and loss of memory. Myers coined their condition as being shell-shocked, which was related to their exposure during combat. Many soldiers suffering from the condition of shell shock were deemed cowards and unfit for battle. Shell shock was treated with electric shocks and isolation. During the Vietnam war psychologist were being trained to dealing with military personnel dealing with combat related stress. These combat stress issues was identified as posttraumatic stress disorder and in 1980 it was noted in the DSM-III.

There are two forms of mental illness that are primarily associated with deployment, . they are post-traumatic stress disorder and Traumatic brain Injury. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a brain disorder that occurs after a traumatic event such as a car accident. This mental illness effects the psychological functions of the brain rather than the cognitive functions but can be caused by a physically traumatic event. The effect PTSD has on the brain causes people to have psychological flashbacks of an event when mental triggers similar to the traumatic event occur. When associated with war PTSD is commonly caused by death of a close friend or battalion member and can also be traced to isolation on the battlefield. Studies have shown that rates

For centuries the world has combated various physical injuries, saving lives but until the twentieth century little was known about the emotional effect on soldiers. PTSDs longest dated back case was the writings of a Greek soldier fighting in the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, reportedly went blind after the man standing next to him was killed The blinded soldier "was wounded in no part of his body." and so had just been the first man to experience PTSD. Dating back the first name diagnosis was nostalgic or homesickness followed by shell shocked, combat exhaustion, and stress response syndrome the medical field more advanced leading to figuring out that the reaction is from our body trying to deal with what was happening. As time went on the medical field was furthered and now have what is known as PTSD the mental sickness that Plagues are

Likenesses that identify with those of this disease can be found all through the story. Men and women of prior wars moreover mirrored the shared characteristics related to PTSD. In days of old, it was named "Shell Shock" and "Battle Fatigue." Because of studies directed by medical research organizations, e.g., The National Institute of Health (NIMH) we know and comprehend that PTSD impacts many people who have been exposed to and survived terrible accidents, calamities, and war. Three