Military Sexual Trauma ( Mst )

This paper explores post-traumatic stress and how it is seen as a disorder. Post-traumatic stress can manifest into post-traumatic stress disorder. The evaluation and review books and articles seem to reveal a relation to these symptoms and military member, either active or non-active veterans. These symptoms do not manifest strictly into the full-extent of the disorder in all cases of military, however, things such as depression and other physical symptoms are discussed through the readings. The end result is that we discovered that through the readings PTSD will in fact lead to suicide if left untreated.

There is concern about military service members receiving stigma about getting or needing treatment in the area of mental health. Stigma occurs when individuals view others negatively because they have been labeled or identified as having a deviant behavior against societal norms; deviant behaviors such as mental illnesses or diagnoses uncommon or harmful to others. How does that impact the military? Military men and women alike are termed heroes, warriors, and survivors; this is quite the reputation to keep up. Military members go to war or deploy to hostile combat environments, which many come back with severe mental illnesses and diagnosis that need immediate care. At this point they may not feel like a hero. The terms psychological, mentally ill, PTSD, and behavioral health has gained a reputation as having or being a problem. Being labeled a problem is not what service members want. Many studies are trying to pinpoint the problem and resolve the stereotypes associated with getting treatment. Consequently, an individual’s attitude toward mental health treatment is thought to be affected by other people’s views on mental health care (Held & Owens, 2012).

(O’Brien 1519). The symptoms vary with each soldier depending on how the soldier faced and took in the war. Though the symptoms are: re-experiencing, such as reliving, hallucinations, flashbacks, or feeling/acting as though the trauma is happening again. (Finely 11) This can cause major disorientation in the soldier, which causes pain to the veteran and family who they associate with. Avoidance/Numbing is also a symptom, this symptom affects feelings, although it may be hard to explain, it is the attempt to avoid thoughts, feelings or discussions of the trauma (Finely 11); for soldiers in war it may be the war in all. The Soldiers in “The Things They Carried” (Lieutenant Cross) kept to himself about how he felt when his man was shot, he felt he was supposed to protect him and so he avoided the others and his feelings about that situation (O’Brien 1525). Hyperarousal is something simple but something that soldiers have an intensified amount of. The trouble of falling or staying asleep, may be because they don’t want dreams of what they have gone through, the exaggerated startle response is because how they trained to survive the war (Finley 11), a simple wake up may put them in fight for life mode. Soldiers face difficult times in the war, and they don’t realize the harm that happened to them from the war.

The way we interact with each other in our Army culture impacts the way we perceive behavior in relation to sexual assault and harassment. For instance, a culture that allows discriminating jokes or demeaning behavior helps to perpetuate an environment in which sexual assaults and harassment occur. Also, a Command that fails to punish or can be perceived to fail to punish perpetrators of sexual assault can further perpetuate a harmful environment and degrade unit morale and mission readiness. When you walk away from a deficiency, you have created a new standard.

In this particular article, five authors collaborated and discussed the recent innovations in the PTSD treatment field such as new technologies and family/spouse therapy, where veterans who are diagnosed go through therapy sessions with a family member or spouse instead of alone. This article is extremely credible because it has five authors that are all in the medical field.

Throughout many wars that the United States of America had endured within the 238 years, recently America have another war to handle which is Military Sexual Trauma. Only recently the social media decided to take part of acknowledging that many veterans have mental health issues. However, they are mainly focusing on one problem which is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The society needs to learn that PTSD isn 't the main source of conflict for active service members and veterans. There is a secondary leading mental illness that these soldiers are experiencing and that is call Military Sexual Trauma (MST). Although the public has not mentioned or announced the existence of MST. As a member of the community, we need to teach the world as well as one another the meaning of Military Sexual Trauma, the effects of it that cause individual to have certain symptoms when dealing with MST and lastly the different kind of treatments that are offer by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to assist many family members, friends and spouses who have MST because it is the secondary leading mental health problem for veterans right next to suicide.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity, overwhelming the individual's ability to cope. As an effect of psychological trauma, PTSD is less frequent and more enduring than the more commonly seen acute stress response. Diagnostic

In “The Invisible War,” it is noted that “women who have been raped in the military have a PTSD rate higher than men who have been in combat” (The Invisible War, 2012). The impact that military sexual assault has on victims is tremendous. Both physical and mental trauma are common, and they play a significant role in how victims of sexual assault are able to return to their daily lives.

In the past, veterans who disclosed suffering from signs of PTSD encountered a great deal of ignorance and bias. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (n.d.), veterans who had the illness were often considered weak, were rejected by comrades, and even faced discharge from military service. In fact, even physicians and mental health specialists often questioned the existence of the disease, which of course led to society’s misconception of PTSD in general. Sadly because of this existing prejudice it appears even today soldiers are still worried to admit having PTSD symptoms, and therefore they do not receive the proper support they need. While individuals are assured that their careers will not be affected, and seeking help is encouraged, most soldiers see it as a failure to admit having a mental health illness (Zoroya, 2013). Educating military personal of this illness, and making sure no blame is put on the veterans who encounter this disease is therefore vital.

A reporter named Bob Unruh for the WorldNetDaily had wrote about Elaine Donnelly report of the Sexual Assault in the Military. Elaine Donnelly had noted that sexual misbehaviors in the military are rising, large number of rape towards men mostly and other sexual assaults. President Clinton started the DADT (Dont Ask, Dont Tell) in December 2010. In Donnelly’s view the Military is falling, she wants to get rid of the gender-integrated basic training because she in her conclusion she drawn a increase disciplinary issue. She had a organization that is meant to help solve the problem. Endangering Military Strength, there is at least three sexual assaults everyday, having basic training also need to be separated for genders. On the homosecuality

Victor Monjaraz, a former Marine, says that he felt he could handle PTSD on his own, but his emotions did not allow him to. His wife had to convince him to visit a psychologist at the VA and see what the doctor had to say. Monjaraz already felt that he had PTSD before the visit. He was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Monjaraz experienced night terrors and road rage. He was easily irritated and could not be in crowded spaces. The disease also took a toll on his marriage and says, “The Marines taught me to turn off my emotions but didn’t teach me how to turn them back on” (Monjaraz).

Whether or whether not women speak up, doesn’t change the fact that it is happening in the military. Women in general deal with the effects of sexual trauma, but military women may have to re-live it on a day to day basis. As quoted in the article, perpetrators are typically other military personnel, and victims often must continue to live and work with their assailants daily (para. 5). Because of the seriousness of MST, each VA hospital now has a designated coordinator to oversee MST screening and treatment (para. 5). The authors purpose is ultimately to study the VHA’S MST program. It provides the opportunity to investigate the screenings for sexual violence (para. 2). It is very important that women with MST are able to get some type of help, and medication for the after effects of the traumatic experiences they endured while in the

The first step in assessing a service member for MST is to evaluate if the service member has experienced any unwanted sexual attention, uninvited sexual advances, or forced sex while in the military and whether the experience continues to affect their daily life. Some other assessment questions should assess for prior history of trauma, the types of responses they received at the time of the MST and whether the MST happened once or was repeated over time. Due to MST being associated with PTSD, depression, anxiety, or substance use, it is important that an assessment also looks at past experiences with psychiatric conditions as well as current mental health diagnoses. Similar to assessing for PTSD, a provider should assess for, work functioning, interpersonal functioning, recreation and self-care, physical functioning, psychological symptoms, coping mechanisms, and past traumatic events or deployment experiences.

Combat trauma is something that has haunted my family since my brother and two of my uncles first of many tours in Iraq and Afghanistan wars. My uncles only served once due to sustaining back injuries due to roadside bombings in the Iraq war. My brother served in both wars and it seemed as if he was deploying every other year up until 2014. It was most understandable because he is Army Special Forces but he was leaving behind his wife, children, sisters and mother. My first experience with the effects of combat trauma was in December 2003, after my brother married his wife once he returned on his first break in between deployments. They got married the day after Christmas so my family basically celebrated from that day up until New Year’s Day

They say this results in males suffering more severe symptomatology, being more likely to feel shame about their victimization, and less likely to seek professional help (Street & Stafford, 2004). For both genders, many veterans are left undiagnosed and there untreated, suffering in silence in order to avoid the stigma of mental health problems. While MST is not a formal diagnosis, recognition of the significance of trauma and its psychological effects appear in the DSM-5 new category of Trauma and Stress-Related Disorders (TSRDs). MST symptomatology closely aligns with that of PTSD in the DMS-5 and supports the basis of associating the experience with the diagnosis.