Operation Iraqi Freedom: A Psychological Analysis

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

Being in war is definitely one of the most life changing events a person will ever have whether it be for the better or for the worst. Soldiers will witness events that are impossible to forget or see back at home in the states. Some soldiers may have even seen one of their best friends that they’ve known for forever get blown up into pieces right next to them, or they might even get one of their own limbs blown off of their own bodies, becoming handicapped for life. As a result of seeing something so intense like that, most soldiers are usually traumatized. In matter of fact, a great amount of soldiers are traumatized from the very beginning of being in war. It’s without a doubt difficult to deal with this but there are some ways where

President Obama once said, “ Every veteran who has fought for America has a home in America”. Here, the President was stressing how important helping those who served is. However, every veteran in America does not have a home. In fact many are homeless. This is a very serve issue in America because, returning to normal life after serving is a very difficult task to complete alone. Additionally, many veterans return with a service related disability. Some of those are physical and others are mental or emotional. One of the most common is PTSD. PTSD stands for post traumatic stress disorder and occurs when one has witnessed a trauma that the brain cannot process. Stress is a trigger for PTSD and the dreams and vivid images only get worse with adrenaline. On top of

One of the most common things veterans encounter during the war is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that may develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which severe physical harm occurred or was threatened. The most common symptoms of PTSD is difficulty concentrating, lack of interest/apathy, feelings of detachment, loss of appetite, hypervigilance, exaggerated startle response and sleep disturbances. The statistics show that at least 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have PTSD. But 50% of those with PTSD do not seek treatment out of the half that seek treatment, only half of them get “minimally adequate treatment.” This issue is very serious because of how much stress it puts on these veterans. With a rehabilitation center these veterans could get the help that they need until they are healthy enough to go out on their own.

On August 2nd, 1990 Iraqi military forces invaded and occupied the small Arab state of Kuwait. The order was given by Iraqi dictatorial president Saddam Hussein. His aim was apparently to take control Kuwait's oil reserves (despite its small size Kuwait is a huge oil producer; it has about 10 per cent of the world's oil reserves ). Iraq accused Kuwait, and also the United Arab Emirates, of breaking agreements that limit oil production in the Middle East. According to Saddam Hussein, this brought down world oil prices severely and caused financial loss of billions of dollars in Iraq's annual revenue.

In today’s society many American decide to go into the military force to protect ones country and put their life in risk and not knowing if they will see their loved ones again or if they will die while being in service. Sometimes without knowing, they will come into contact with traumatic experiences that can leave them a scare that is not able to heal and are unable to function. If these veterans are able to come back home safe and get reunited with their family. They seemed to be like a different person, that their loved ones wonder why or what happened at them at the time of service. Some Veterans today have post-traumatic stress syndrome disorder also known as PTSD which is a mental condition that is triggered by a traumatic event.

One thing we know is that [today's] veteran, more than any other, has a much higher likelihood of actually being in combat. This war is everywhere, in the streets; there is no safe place. Vietnam, there were there at least some safe places, relatively safe places that you could be. In Iraq, there is no safe place. Thus, veterans who are coming home will have been on peak alert for 365 days or more, this will have caused all of their senses tuned to the slightest disturbance, the slightest sound of trouble. There is a greater prevalence of people who have had bad things happen, who have seen combat, who have been in combat, who have lost people close to them, who have had the guy standing next to them blown up, the person in the Humvee

While the total numbers of soldiers deployed to OEF/OIF/OND continues to mount, an estimated 2.5 million have served as of May 2014. Coined the “Invisible Wounds of War,” 300,000 troops suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Depression, and Suicide.2 These are only documented cases, of the recorded injuries, 50% do not seek treatment and consequently lead to criminal acts and prison.

According to Dr. Croft, who is a Medical Director and Principal Investigator for the San Antonio Psychiatric Research Center, the deployed soldiers have had a bigger chance to experience many mental health problems, after they had returned home, including combat PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). This is a part of PTSDs which affects people who had been in hostility and had witnessed to direful events in the battle. Dr. Croft subsequently explains that the returning soldiers might persistently feel that they still in a combat zone, although they aren’t, and re-experience of the traumatic event. This could be happened in many ways such as keep reminiscing the combat events, and feeling disturbance in dreams and in hallucinations. In conjunction

Although many of us may have vivid recollections of 9/11, we may not necessarily feel traumatized by it - unless, of course, it directly affected our life in some way. Veterans, however, are often completely traumatized by war because it is such an unnatural (though increasingly common) experience. The majority of men thrust into combat are in their 20s and at this time are still developing as a person. Consequently, when they are then plucked from their homes and placed in an extremely foreign

The inability of a person to properly reintegrate themselves in times of post-deployment is a common symptom of PTSD. Many soldiers return from war unscathed, which is fortunate because the ones that are effected by war, struggle daily with lifelong repercussions (Committee 47). Studies from the Vietnam war display that approximately one fifth of troops return home with symptoms of PTSD or depression (Committee 48). These studies came out approximately five years after the Vietnam war because PTSD was not recognized as a legitimate mental health condition until 1980 (Committee 49). Lack of knowledge about PTSD left veterans and their families isolated in terms of treatment options. Veterans did not recover from PTSD in the 1980’s, instead their symptoms were ignored. They remained at home unemployed deemed unable to work because of this shortcoming in information about PTSD (Dyer 2). Unemployment rates were at an all-time high of 29.1% for veterans while the national average unemployment rate was only 8.2% (Dyer 4). Veterans with PTSD find it difficult to acclimate

As the world is ever changing so are the attitudes and viewpoints of people when it comes to conflict and terrorists. As war torn countries battle to regain control and nations are ripped apart by bombings, brutal attacks, and radical groups people are starting to become numb to the effects. During this time of turmoil in world peace many soldiers struggle with the aftermath of fighting in combat zones. They are left shattered and badly broken mentally, physically, and emotionally. Most return home merely a shell of their former self. Family and friends are left to pick up the pieces when a nation has forgotten them. A nation where the healthcare system fails to provide proper mental health treatment, social service agencies allow them to fall through the cracks, and communities tolerate their homelessness.

Both of these theories or models are based on the same set of questionable assumptions, and neither are much use in explaining, accounting for or predicting international affairs, past, present or future.

Any American would be hard-pressed to turn on the news and not find something, anything, said about Operation Iraqi Freedom. The war in Iraq is one of the most publicized (and controversial) topics so far of the 21st century. Unfortunately, a common headline reads something like this: “5 Marines killed in Baghdad Today,” “15 American troops injured in a suicide bomb attack in Tikrit this morning.” What about the casualties that aren’t reported on the news? The troops that suffer - not from physical wounds that can heal, be stitched up, or adapted to live with – but from non-visible scars. Mental injuries are becoming increasingly common among today’s decorated war heroes. Many are too embarrassed, scared or

One of the most debilitating mental illnesses caused from combat is called Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and can produce a range of unwanted emotional responses to the all past memories and experiences. It can emerge weeks, months or years later. If left untreated, it can severely affect the lives not only of veterans, but their families as well. Though you may not feel depressed, or feel anxious, these emotions can come screaming back at the most unexpected times. Many can come and go, or are re-experienced later through memories, nightmares, hallucinations or flashbacks, and can be triggered by anything that symbolizes or resembles the trauma. A 36 year old marine and