PTSD In Veterans

War survivors are perceived as brave and thought to be able to face anything. Taking a look at a soldier, someone might notice scars and burn marks on them. But what they can’t see is the internal damage a war might have taken on a soldier, i.e. PTSD. Anybody who’s ever lived with someone who had PTSD experiences a difficult life; avoiding certain interactions, anger/guilt, addiction, alienation, and discourage are feelings and actions that a family must go through. Life is even more difficult for the person who has PTSD; flashbacks, palpitation, nightmares, social anxiety, and hyper

Many veterans are unable to leave behind the trauma of Vietnam and psychologically return home. They struggle with a variety of extremely severe problems that neither they nor their families, friends, or communities knew how to understand

Battling war is something a Veteran knows all too well, but battling the demons in their mind after the war is something that they have to learn how to cope with. One of the most mentioned issues that Veterans face today is a disorder called combat post-traumatic stress disorder. Combat PTSD can easily be defined as a disorder that affects the mental state of the armed forces service member that has been through a difficult or shocking experience during their time served in the military. Experiencing war is not something that everyone can relate to, but it is something that can affect a

This is very difficult for people to get jobs and have a social life. PTSD can make somebody hard to be with. Living with someone who is easily startled, has nightmares, and often avoids social situations can take a toll on the most resilient family. Research shows that Vietnam Veterans have more marital problems and family violence. Their children have more behavior problems than do those of Veterans without PTSD. Veterans with the most severe symptoms had families with the worst communication. This is because people who have PTSD have a hard time feeling emotions or expressing them. They may feel detached from others. This can cause problems in personal relationships with the spouse. The numbing and avoidance that occurs with PTSD is linked

Veterans often feel distant from mainstream society when they return from war, and society doesn’t do enough to heal them. For example, Max Cleland, Vietnam veteran and former Democratic senator, writers in The New York Times, “ [...] my memories of death and wounding were suddenly as fresh and present as they had been in 1968.” Soldiers come back from war mentally unstable, flashbacks are just the beginning of all the trauma. Most come back with pstd, which hurts them and everyone around them because they are so unpredictable They could go berserk, and sadly what ends up happening is a lot of pain and suffering for those around them. Furthermore, when soldiers start integrating back into society, their problems end up getting ignored because people don’t know how to help them cope.

Some veterans experienced feelings of depression and distrust, and that the war impacted them negatively. PTSD is a severe emotional disorder that an individual can get after a traumatic life event they experienced, and for the veterans it was the Vietnam War. War includes witnessing terrible violence, the feeling of guilt of having to kill people and seeing your friends injured or dead, and the mixed emotions in the battlefield. In 1988, the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study reported that 481,000 men and 716 women currently suffer from some degree of PTSD as a result of their experience in war, and overall 40% of Vietnam veterans have suffered from PTSD at some time of their life. In addition, it has been estimated that 900,000 Vietnam spouses and partners, and approximately 1,098,000 children are affected by their respective partner's and father's combat-related PTSD. These statistics showed that the Vietnam War extremely affected the veterans', and not in a good way. PTSD could have been very common among the veterans', because of the traumatic experiences they went through in the war. The war was not to be treated like a game. The war was a reality for the soldiers, and they could have constantly had the feeling of "I am going to die any minute now". Another issue that they developed was domestic violence. About one-third of six hundred men were reported of physically violating their partners. Their violent behaviour towards their partner/family could have also linked to PTSD. Veterans who were reported to perform domestic violence were treated with therapy to help them reduce their threatening behaviour. They either had group therapy with their family, or individual therapy. Not only was PTSD terrible for the veterans', but it was also bad for their children. Due to their children being raised in a home with their father having PTSD, the disorder could have

The stigma that the military culture practice may be a barrier that will have an impact in the veteran receiving services or treatment in the future. This stigma has not only been seen in the military environment, but as cultural stigma as well among civilians. What is also a factor of not seeking treatment would include the type of ranking that was obtained in the military, the type of combat exposure experienced, the duration of their deployments, and any psychosocial environmental contexts that happened near them during their

According to the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, in their report “The Influence of Depressive Symptoms on Suicidal Ideation Among U.S. Vietnam Era and Afghanistan/Iraq Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,” “Veterans with PTSD are more likely to have social, occupational, and functional difficulties, including social isolation, frequent interpersonal altercations, and suicidal ideation” (Pukay-Martin 578). In other words, veterans may lose interest in things they once enjoyed, they may become very isolated and irritable, jittery, fearful, and have frequent nightmares that may prevent them from sleeping properly, all of which are elements of a dissatisfying lifestyle (“PTSD”). These serious hindrances to the potential of a healthy lifestyle can have even worse consequences, as they may have a devastating impact on family life. Finley maintains that “families of veterans with PTSD were hard hit with divorce, substance abuse, and violence[...where veterans and spouses had] lower relationship satisfaction[...and] many older veterans with PTSD had gone through three or four marriages over the course of their lives” (Finley). One can only imagine the pain and suffering that a normal individual would feel from the effects of divorce, let alone going through divorce several times. Veterans,

“People who are suffering from PTSD may have been through or witnessed terrifying or gruesome situations” (Should I talk to my Doctor About PTSD?).” Reaction to the extremes of combat causes physical changes in the brain” (Dr. John Fortunato). Being held as “Hostages, including combat veterans who are in a sense hostages to the war, experience shame, guilt, and helplessness” (Carolyn Simpson Consequences of PTSD for the self). “Combat soldiers face death every moment of their tour of duty. They may become dehumanized by all of the killing. The adrenaline rush a soldier experiences during war is hard to turn off, even when he safely returns home” (Carolyn Simpson Wars and Captivity). It would be unimaginable for many to possibly have killed another human being one day and then return to civilian life the next. How could anyone be expected to be completely normal again? Soldiers sometimes face terrorist incidents that would cause great fear, possibly resulting in

MacArthur Fellow Shay, a man with 20 years of experience in treating veterans with mental issues, believes that, “Wounds most often occur when leaders betray soldiers in high stakes situations, whether or not that occurs in combat.” PTSD is a very under lying problem in society and that causes a lot of damage. This disorder has a deadly effect on people and overall can disable a person. PTSD have many symptoms and can be sometimes very subtle, but very harmful to the Veteran’s inner self. Some of the most common symptoms of these victims are depression, thoughts of suicide, traumatic flashbacks, irritability, and easy to startle. Guilt and Self Indictment is a reappearing symptom seen in Veterans with this mental illness. “Regret, doesn’t begin to capture what the soldiers I talked with feel. It doesn’t capture the despair or depth of the feeling - the awful weight of self indictment and the need to make moral repair in order to be allowed back into the community in which he feels he has somehow jeopardized his standing,” says Nancy Sherman while interviewing for her book. When dealing with this mental illness, most victims

The study of psychology refers to collective trauma as the effect experienced by many people in the aftermath of a tragedy or event. The pain of collective traumatic disorders is common among soldiers who experienced military combat, but has the potential to affect an entire community. Although, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can alter relationships with the family and the community, future generations will not have to endure combat directly to experience collective trauma. Many Veterans suffering from PTSD might shy away from others due to stigmas associated with the diagnosis. Some might have difficulty concentrating, or have guilty feelings, cannot find work, feel helpless, fearful, or have a loss of interest in usual activities. All

According to (Fischner, et al., 2016), military beliefs of self-reliance, stoicism, and manliness were reasons why veterans did not seek treatment. With the above-mentioned beliefs, the military norms played a role that prevented a least one individual from this study to seek mental health treatment. The gentlemen, who came from an infantry background, stated that mental health was a taboo subject and that seeking treatment was a sign of failure. Another veteran stated that he was embarrassed to seek mental health treatment and this veteran was afraid others would find that he was indeed seeking mental health treatment but if privacy was promised and maintained he was fine with seeking treatment (Fischner, et al., 2016). This is an indication that providers need to ensure that veterans understand HIPPA and confidentiality laws when they do seek treatment so that these fears are eased. Another belief that this study identified showed is that military beliefs emphasized the need to not show any weakness and to facilitate independence (Fischner, et al., 2016). According to (McCaslin, Leach, Herbst, & Armstrong, 2013), military beliefs have origins in service, respect, honor, and order as well as comradeship amongst military members. The loss of a veteran’s social network in a combination of having to locate housing, healthcare, and source of income can cause an insurmountable hardship for the returning veteran (McCaslin, Leach, Herbst, & Armstrong,

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).

The social issues surrounding mental health; the causes; and the treatments of disorders; have always intrigued me, especially regarding our veteran service members. Being a veteran myself, I identify with the struggles and hardships that our veterans face every day. Our servicemen and women are exposed to a variety of traumas (e.g. combat, family separation, and being in a constant state of arousal) that contribute to mental illness. However, not all servicemen and women suffer from mental illness. Therefore, I am interested in identifying why these men and women who share similar exposures of combat related traumas, do not suffer from or show signs of any mental illness. Additionally,

War is a life altering experience; not only for the soldiers who served, but for their families as well. Family members want to help their struggling loved one, but fail because they do not know what the war is like. They do not understand what it is like to watch a friend or family member die get shot and killed. These events are traumatizing. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a result of these events.