Identifying The Individuals Who Will Be Involved

Post-traumatic stress disorder (commonly referred to as PTSD) is one of the most common, consequential and perilous illnesses a soldier returning home can face. Yet, here

174). Untreated, PTSD symptoms can last a lifetime, impairing health, damaging relationships and preventing people achieving their potential. However, prospects for recovery are good when treated correctly (Kinchin 2005, p. 199). According to Foa (2008, p.26), PTSD is seen to be a ‘multi-faceted disorder’ that poses a number of significant notional and practical challenges with regard to achieving an accurate assessment. Several strategies may be adopted by primary health care providers to assist patients with both acute and chronic forms of PTSD and various scales exist to measure severity and frequency of PTSD symptoms.

Today, hundreds of thousands of service men and women and recent military veterans have seen combat. Many have been shot at, seen their buddies killed, or witnessed death up close. These are types of events that can lead to Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder ("Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD: A Growing Epidemic. “) Anyone that has gone through a traumatic event can be diagnosed with PTSD but research shows, military men and women are more susceptible to having PTSD (PTSD: A Growing Epidemic.) And, with little help from the US, many Veterans do not get the help they need or get treated for PTSD. Military men and women begin to

The freedoms Americans enjoy come at a price; brave military men and women often foot the bill. Many men and women pay with their lives; others relive the sights, sounds, and terror of combat in the form of PTSD. Several causes and risk factors contribute to the development of PTSD. Combat-related PTSD appears slightly different than traditional PTSD. History tells of times when soldiers diagnosed with PTSD were viewed as “weak.” Resources have not always been available to struggling soldiers. The adverse symptoms of PTSD on soldiers and their families can be crippling.

Since the Vietnam War, methods of treating PTSD have developed and lowered the number of cases, but simply lowering the number of cases is not good enough. Unless service members can be prevented from experiencing these negative emotions, every one of them is engaged in a possible suicide mission. With the proper procedures introduced and carried out as proposed, not only the service members can be helped, but their families as well.

Memories of war are like poison in the minds of the broken soldiers calling for help, only to find out that their voices have become a distant echo. Their words lost in the society of the land they've slaved to protect, robbed of the aid, and crippled by their illness. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), became a documented mental disorder in 1980, when the American Psychiatric Association (APA) added PTSD to the third edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. For about 30+ years, since the Vietnam war began, veterans have experienced the pain of this ailment. Human beings experience PTSD in varying degree, but often we associate it with war. Since the recognition of PTSD as an illness, the government has failed

1 in 8 returning soldiers suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Soon after returning home, family members start noticing a change in the soldiers. Most are in denial about having PTSD. What they need to know is that the earlier that they can get help, the better off they’ll be. With so many suffering, where are all the treatments? Even though some soldiers would abuse the treatment provided for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, American Veterans need to be provided with the proper treatment for it.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a commonly recognized stress disorder found in many combat soldiers after exposure to life-threatening and traumatic experiences. Since 2001, the prevalence of PTSD has increased with over 2.4 million troops deployed to warzones in Afghanistan and Iraq (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2012). Although researchers and civilians commonly understand symptoms of PTSD, they often fail to recognize the difficulties veterans’ face- reintegration into civilian society, alienation, and identity crises (Demers, 2011). Currently there exist two major sources for best practice guidelines in the management of PTSD. They include the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Post-traumatic

To conclude, Kristen Walter neither confirmed nor denied if one treatment program was better than the other. She stated that both outpatient and residential programs can be beneficial to veterans with PTSD, but the treatment program that works best may depend on the severity of their symptoms. In the article “Cognitive Processing Therapy for Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Comparison Between Outpatient and Residential Treatment”, Kristen Walter evaluates the treatment success in outpatient and inpatient programs for veterans with

Soldiers who return home may not only have physical setbacks, but are mentally traumatized from what they have witnessed while serving our country. Veterans are more prone to be diagnosed with PTSD due to the combat they experience or witness on the field. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans has been prevalent for decades and there is still no known treatment option that has been found entirely effective. Many Vietnam veterans who never sought treatment due to the nonexistent “support for the troops” have been covering up their symptoms for approximately forty years. Countless soldiers return home without jobs and some feel like their whole world

Per the research (Sharp & Barber, 2011; Institute of Medicine, 2007), effective treatments are available. However, there are such a variety of approaches to treatment that is necessary to determine which ones are effective based upon empirical evidence. Garcia (2011) reported that there are now approximately 1.8 million veterans that have served for the United States over centuries. Frequent rates of veterans returning from the Iraq War with PTSD are high. One study found as many as 21.8% of veterans who have accessed Veterans Health Administration healthcare services between 2002 and 2008 were diagnosed with PTSD (Seal, 2009). Another study that as many as 68.2% of Iraq veterans who accessed one Department of Veterans Affairs(VA) Poly-trauma Network Site were given a PTSD diagnosis

Integrated treatment programs along with evidence supporting its effectiveness are later brought up in this article, along with The Department of Veterans Affair recently drafting policy changes in predicting future positive outcomes of PTSD/SUD

During the first session clinicians educate participants on chronic pain and PTSD. In this first session participants are asked to generate three reasonable goals they desire to achieve through therapy. Weekly goal completion is examined before each session occurs. The second session is where clinicians guide participants in making sense of the chronic pain and PTSD they have endured. The third session allows participants to discuss their thoughts and feelings towards their understanding of chronic pain and PTSD. The fourth session clinicians employ cognitive reconstructing by identifying negative thoughts and giving participants the opportunity to change these thoughts into positive ones. The fifth session involves participants learning diaphragmatic breathing and progressive muscle relaxation. The sixth session, clinicians discuss avoidance and implement interoceptive exposure. The seventh session involves participants finding pleasant activities to enjoy. The eighth session is dedicated to education on sleep hygiene. The ninth session works with veterans safety and trust issues. The tenth session is where veterans learn about their own power, control, and anger. The eleventh session works on veteran’s esteem and intimacy. The final session is reserved for relapse prevention and planning for the future. Clinicians administered a pre and post treatment assessments as follows: The Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), PTSD Checklist

The clinical problem I am most interested in addressing during the course of my program is the effective application of therapeutic treatments for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on the military population. When you look at this issue from a military perspective, it becomes clear that our understanding and treatment of the issue is still in its infancy.

According to Dr. Sandro Galea, an epidemiologist at Columbia University, “Both [the Defense and Veterans Affairs] departments lack a coordinated, consistent, well-developed, evidence-based system of treatment for PTSD.” Although they are providing the help, they are not collecting the data that shows the progress and the specific treatments soldiers have received. Because of this, it makes it hard to test the quality of the care itself, as well as determining whether or not the soldiers need to receive a higher quality of care or doesn’t need it anymore, and