Being exposed to trauma is very common and can very well lead to post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD for short. It is one of the most common mental health conditions in the United States because of the amount of people exposed to trauma. A traumatic event such as being in a war can cause post-traumatic stress disorder. War veterans have seen all sorts of horrors, such as friends and co-soldiers being slaughtered, guns, bombs, loud noises, and violence; as well as any injuries the veteran may have gone through. One example of this is the veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan war. According to what I have read in “Nearly a Fifth of War Veterans Report Mental Disorders”, the Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans seem pretty stubborn. Although one in five soldiers report symptoms of PTSD, only fifty-three percent of those members actually sought treatment; and of those fifty-three percent only about half got “minimally adequate treatment.” The members that report symptoms make up nineteen percent of the soldiers deployed pre 2008 (Alverez). However, in 2007, “Army soldiers who had been home for several months found that seventeen percent of active-duty troops and twenty-five percent of reservists had screened positive for symptoms of stress disorder” (Alverez). Although the likelihood of PTSD, many solders said they might have experienced brain injury, causing there PTSD like symptoms. “Yet a majority of those troops had never been evaluated for such an injury” (Alverez).
PTSD is defined as an "anxiety disorder that can occur after you have been through a traumatic event. A traumatic event is something horrible and scary that you see or happens to you” (United States). In these types of events one can feel that they are not in control of what is going on around them and may feel helpless or in great danger. The Department of Veterans Affairs has listed various life threatening events that can evolve into PTSD. These events include but are not limited to "Combat or Military exposure, child sexual or physical abuse, terrorist attacks, sexual or physical assault, serious accidents, such as a car wreck, natural disasters, such as a fire, tornado, hurricane, flood, or earthquake” (United States).
There are roughly 2.7 million Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans that suffer from combat related PTSD without combining those who have suffered a traumatic brain injury, which would increase the number of veterans suffering from the disorder. While PTSD was unheard of during previous wars, there are several studies that show many Vietnam veterans suffered from the disorder and were left untreated, and since so many years have passed it has proven difficult to gain statistics on the number of Vietnam veterans who suffered from
What is interesting about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among soldiers is that many of the soldiers tend to not let people know they suffer from it. This is bad because then they can not get treatment to help take care of the disorder. They go about their life as everything is okay. However you can still tell that they suffer from PTSD. Some signs that were recorded are that they tend to shy away from talking about their time spent in the services (Legarreta, 3). Another sign that was recorded was the fact that the veterans tend to be "cold hearted" and have very little emotion.
Over twenty veterans commit suicide every single day in the United States (Freking). Twenty lives taken off the face of this earth due to mental or physical hardships these veterans face each and every day. One of the largest contributors to this huge amount of unnecessary deaths is the silent killer that is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a mental disorder that develops when someone experiences traumatic events or other moments in which their life is in jeopardy. The effects of PTSD can leave one feeling alone, anxious, hopeless, and turn them into a lesser version of themselves. Roughly fifteen percent of veterans return from deployments in which they experienced combat with PTSD, thus amassing to over 400,000 soldiers from the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq alone (How Common Is PTSD?). Even though PTSD effects so many veterans there is not a lot of public knowledge or support for the fight to combat it. Due to the devastating effects that post-traumatic stress disorder has on our veteran population both the government and the public should provide the funding, support, and recognition that is needed to combat the disease.
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.
It is suggested that the number of Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers that have PTSD is much higher estimated. “According to RAND, at least 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers have PTSD and/or Depression.” (Veterans PTSD Statistics) It is also said that fifty percent of those soldiers do not seek to get treated for PTSD. Nineteen percent of the Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers have traumatic
Intro: There are almost two and a half million Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF ), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation New Dawn (OND) veterans in the United States (DoD, 2014). Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are signature wounds of these military operations, and are commonly referred to as “invisible wounds of war” (Tanielian et al 2008, from bello have another?-). OEF, OIF, and OND consisted of the longest and most frequent deployments in U.S. History with forty-eight percent of veterans having served at least two deployments (DoD, 2013). Children’s and non-deployed parent’s ability to cope and adapt to the deployment decreases as the length and frequency of deployments increase (Chandra, Martin, Hawkins, & Richardson, 2010; Lester et al., 2010). Children 's and partner 's stress, anxiety, and symptoms of depression increase as the length of their loved one 's deployment increases (Gorman, Blow, Ames, & Reed, 2011; Mansfield, Kaufman, Engel, & Gaynes, 2011; Lester et al, 2010). Support from within the military branches, Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, extended family, health care providers, schools, and other social infrastructues/institutions within the community is critical for healthy family functioning and the future of military-connected children (MC).
To understand each individual soldier’s PTSD diagnosis, we must examine the war theater they were in. For the Vietnam veteran the public support they encountered was that of violent negativism. The combat frontline consisted of little sleep, ragging gun fights that went on for hours or days, and facing the challenge of the racial war between the ranks. They did not have the modern convinces of calling home, e-mailing, or skyping home on a daily basis. Their mindset was shut off from the world of home they left behind, and focused on the war they found themselves in. Also, many lives were lost during Vietnam, and some soldiers did not go out of their way to say hello to a new soldier that was replacing one that died since they to would probably be gone in a day or so (West, 2014). When those that survived the combat battles of war finally came home the only PTSD help they received was that through family, friends, and other soldiers. This could be since the American Psychiatric Association (APA) released a second edition of their manual Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Disorders (DSM-II) that eliminated PTSD as a diagnosis. However, in the first released edition it was considered a diagnosis, however it would be cured in 6 months’ time, or a different diagnosis would be needed (Friedman, 2015).
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is described as “a psychiatric disorder that results from the experience or witnessing of traumatic or life-threatening events (“Evidence Based PTSD,” 2005). PTSD has come to light a great deal as of late because of the troops returning home from the two war fronts that United States are currently fighting on. Today’s soldiers return home with not just physical scars, but return home with severe emotional scars as well. It’s important while conducting research into such an issue like PTSD that it’s done in a fashion that does not upset or overly excite the patient in the study. Patients or people with PTSD can be very anxious, angry, on edge, and sometimes closed and not too personal. In order to understand how to run a study on such an illness, it is important that you understand what would be considered unethical and ultimately who can be harmed from the study.
The main symptom of PTSD is reliving the traumatic experience through flashbacks and nightmares. Other symptoms include soldiers avoiding situations, people or conversations that would remind them of the trauma. They tend to avoid memories by becoming numb, distant, or stop showing love towards others. Which is extremely tough on the families and friends. Hobbies, such as sports, that may have been a favorite activity before, may not be compelling anymore. The person may also show signs
We have all heard of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and have heard that it affects
PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, it is a mental health condition triggered after a traumatic event such as war, assault, or disaster. Most anyone who hears the acronym PTSD thinks about veterans or soldiers coming back home. Not only is PTSD common within soldiers but within children who have gone through traumatic events. PTSD was first recognized in 1980 and was added to the American Psychiatric association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, they are not provided the treatment and therapy to recover and heal. People don’t consider the psychological impact traumatic events may leave.
Post traumatic stressed disorder is a mental illness caused by an enormous amount of anxiety felt after a traumatic or life-threatening accident or event. This event causes intense feelings of fear and helplessness. Studies have shown that about 5 to 6 million people suffer from PTSD. (Thomas ) About 30% of those people are war veterans. Most war veterans who have served for our country who have PTSD from the war are homeless. About 1/3 of our nations homeless are war veterans. (PTSD Statistics) Events that can trigger this mental illness are war, terrorism, rape, abuse, a severe accident, or natural disasters like hurricanes and tornados.
troops suffered extremely dangerous and unsettling conditions throughout the duration of the war. In fact, the war conditions were so bad, that many soldiers had later developed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD), a condition which was discovered a few years after the end of the Vietnam War. PTSD is a condition in which a person experiences a number of adverse effects in his/her psyche due to the result of a single, or a sequence of intensely traumatic event(s) that occurred in his/her lifetime. This disorder is now known to have severe long-term effects on the human mind, particularly those that distort how the brain perceives and reacts to stress. In many instances, those who have PTSD are likely to develop cognitive dissonance and various other mood disorders.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental trauma disorder that occurs when someone experiences a traumatic event such as war, abuse, terrorism, violent crimes, or similar events. The main side effects can be reliving the event in the REM stage of sleep where you dream and your brain is most active. Another symptom might be avoiding situations, similar to the event, which might trigger memories of the event. You may think more negatively of your life which might lead to forms of depression. You also might be jittery and always alert for danger due to a spike in adrenaline which stimulates your body . Not only adults can have