Post Traumatic Stress Analysis

Hundreds of thousands of United States veterans are not able to leave the horrors of war on the battlefield (“Forever at War: Veterans Everyday Battles with PTSD” 1). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the reason why these courageous military service members cannot live a normal life when they are discharged. One out of every five military service members on combat tours—about 300,000 so far—return home with symptoms of PTSD or major depression. According to the Rand Study, almost half of these cases go untreated because of the disgrace that the military and civil society attach to mental disorders (McGirk 1). The general population of the world has to admit that they have had a nightmare before. Imagine not being able to sleep one

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

Rates of trauma and mental illness are reported to be disproportionately higher among American veterans, especially those of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The barriers to care after civilian reentry further disadvantage this already vulnerable population. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been the longest sustained US military operations since the Vietnam era, sending more than 2.2 million troops into battle and resulting in more than 6,600 deaths and 48,000 injuries. Veterans are at risk mental health challenges, as well as family instability, elevated rates of homelessness, and joblessness. Veterans have disproportionate rates of mental illness, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse disorders, depression, anxiety, and military sexual trauma.

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

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

One the problems facing veterans is the misconception to a large extent of mental health issues. The studies of post-traumatic stress disorder affects over 15 percent of veterans returning from the Middle East and another 16 percent are diagnosed with something called TBI (traumatic brain injury). Traumatic brain injury is usually cause by an IED (improvised explosive devices) during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom against foreign enemies. PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is normally caused by traumatic events like war in veterans who can’t handle the stress of seeing someone shot, blown to pieces, and friends in their arms dying. Reports of veterans still experiencing some symptoms of PTSD from the Vietnam War and this issues is long term.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is presently known as post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSS), is a disorder diagnosed by feelings of anxiety, depression, suicidal attempt or thoughts, repeated nightmares, and unexpected surges of violence. Many veterans are suffering from PTSD. “It has been estimated that between 500,000 and 700,000 Vietnam veterans, about one-fourth of all who served, suffer from PTSD.” (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder). Veterans with PTSD have an unbelievably strong link to both suicide attempts and thinking about suicide. Military veterans are exceedingly susceptible to suicide in contrast to citizens. This is caused by the guilt they acquired from action in combat. There is a prevalent cause-and-effect relationship between military service and an unusual risk of suicide. There are studies showing that Vietnam veterans have a higher risk than veterans from our more recent wars. ''I think it demonstrates the experience of being drafted during the Vietnam era had profound, long- term psychological effects on people.” (Likelihood of suicide found unusually high for Vietnam veterans). Vietnam veterans are approximately twice as probable to die by suicide as men in the same age group who evaded the war. There were many men drafted who had to experience things that they were not prepared for, nor did they sign up for. This set them up to be easily affected by the war. Even veterans who signed up for the military are also strongly affected by the outcomes of war. Society doesn’t understand the suffering veterans go through when they have PTSD. It was not always taken so seriously and it wasn’t understood until recently. “In World War I, PTSD was called shell-shock, in World War II, combat fatigue.” (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder). Our society needs to realize the effect of the war on our veterans. Society can no longer be so blind to these

(1) “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder than can develop after a person witnesses a traumatic event. A traumatic event can take many forms; a natural disaster, sexual abuse or a terrorist attack such as 9/11, but for veterans, PTSD is most often related to combat or military exposure. In wars prior to Vietnam, the disorder was referred to as “shell shock” or “battle fatigue” and was not very well understood beyond the fact that it limited the soldier’s performance on the battlefield. Today, the disorder is more widely studied. We know that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can lead to other mental health problems such as depression, social withdrawal, and substance abuse.” This disorder is such a heavy price to pay for our soldiers. Many come home and can not function in normal society and never really get the help they need to cope with their problems. Many more soldiers suffer in silence and never even tell anyone that they may have these issues because so many of them feel they are ‘macho’ and can handle it alone, but the truth is that they simply can

government provides veterans with health care services and benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs (abbreviated VA). These vary person to person depending on need, injuries, rank, and familial situation, among other factors. In doing this, the goal is to help veterans deal with trauma and altogether manage their lives (Wallechinsky). Politically, this has been discussed and altered depending on parties in office, and hence has gone through many iterations in terms of budget, range, and public support. At the point it has reached today, the government aims to give veterans support in terms of health, education, and finances, although the policies are not always enforced consistently. Factors such as poor hospital regulations and misdiagnosis plague VA facilities, leading to thousands of dollars being denied to the retired due to unreported ailments (Wallechinsky). These health issues can be caused by traumatic events such as 9/11, which are a large cause for mental health trouble, and combat injuries. In a study of 1.853 veterans, emotional and physical trauma were the two leading factors of difficulty readjusting to civilian life (Morin). Because of the realities of war and its results, these two aspects are unavoidable, leaving the U.S. to take care of veterans to the furthest extent

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.

The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS) findings indicate that of the 1.7 million veterans who ever experienced significant symptoms of PTSD after the Vietnam war, approximately 830,000 still experience clinically significant distress and disability from symptoms of PTSD. (Weiss, et al. par.1) Soldiers deployed into war zones are exposed to a broad spectrum of traumatic events that they are forced to cope with on the

How does war affect the mind of a soldier? It would seem to some that a soldier thrives on war, that true heroism lies within those who show no weakness in its midst. No mental block can stop a soldier from his duty. Yet, some 20% of veterans are returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). So what of these brave servicemen and women who snap upon realizing the harsh tragedy of war? How can the concept of unbreakable soldier be taken on? In the article, “Military’s mental-health system faces shortage of providers, lack of good diagnostic tools” Ellen Nakashima and Sandhya Somashekhar take on these questions by examining the resources provided to veterans for mental health issues. The authors of this article take specific note of the rising rates of mental health related problems among veterans over the past decade. What is befuddling about this piece is how the information is presented as surprising or shocking. How could the authors, let alone the military, be caught off guard by the fact that a decade long war could

The vast majority of those receiving CBT treatment are unable to alleviate their mental state, and as high as 58% of those after receiving treatment still demonstrate the characteristics, or symptoms, associated with the diagnosis of PTSD (Cloitre, 2009). In addition, studies have shown that “only 32-66% reach a good level” of being able to gain a stronger mindset and emotional state in the hope to be better able to function within society (Foa, 2009; Schnyder, 2005). Although there have been more emphasis placed on PTSD in regards to research on psychotherapeutic treatments, the impact of this type of treatment remains stagnant while those whom to continue to suffer from the disorder remains constantly rising. The severities of the symptoms onto people’s lives reflect that of a chronic disorder, continuously impeding their life both psychological and health-wise (McFarlane,

This evaluation based off an article and sums up that efficiency as well as ways in which treatment for military personal with PTSD is associated with counseling and medication and now they are testing with pet rescue dogs. With counseling, this helps you to understand your thoughts and discover different ways to cope with your feelings, which has shown to be effective for treating PTSD. There are several different medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which help military personnel feel less worried, stress, or sad. These types of therapy have shown to be effective as well as this new rescue dog program, although, this program is just taking off;

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was recognized as the most prevalent disorder among anxiety disorders (Narrow, et al 2002).In Australia, 7.2 % of Australians had experienced PTSD (McEvoy, et al 2011), therefore, PTSD is a serious problem. This essay will provide details about the diagnostic criteria and the four symptoms of PTSD, which mainly derived from the DSM-5 (America Psychiatric Association 2013), and also analyze three factors that trigger this disorder, which are occupational factor, interpretation of threat and social support.