Preventing Ptsd And Depression And Reducing Health Care

Over the last decade, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have drastically increased the need for effective mental health services and treatment for U.S. veterans and service members, especially those suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Nearly 1.5 million American service members have been deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) since the attack on the Twin Towers in September 2001 (Price, Gros, Strachan, Ruggiero, & Acierno, 2013). Approximately 25% of soldiers and wounded warriors returning home from OEF/OIF present with mental illness due to combat-related violence and other trauma exposure (Steinberg & Eisner, 2015). According to Price and colleagues (2013), OEF/OIF soldiers and veterans are at greater risk for developing mental illness compared to others who served in past military operations.

The main problem discovered is military members are experiencing psychological problems from stressors due to deployments and not seeking help for their discomforts. Many of the military members returning

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been studied extensively. The majority of the population has experienced an event that was traumatic enough to potentially cause Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder with it also being common for most people to experience more than one event with the potential to induce Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Kilpatrick, Resnick, Milanak, Miller, Keyes, Friedman, 2013). Studies have shown that veterans diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder show an escalation in the anxiety levels that is much greater than soldiers that have not been diagnosed with PTSD as well as higher than the general fit population (Olatunji, Armstrong, Fan, & Zhao, 2014).

The freedoms Americans enjoy come at a price; brave military men and women often foot the bill. Many men and women pay with their lives; others relive the sights, sounds, and terror of combat in the form of PTSD. Several causes and risk factors contribute to the development of PTSD. Combat-related PTSD appears slightly different than traditional PTSD. History tells of times when soldiers diagnosed with PTSD were viewed as “weak.” Resources have not always been available to struggling soldiers. The adverse symptoms of PTSD on soldiers and their families can be crippling.

The main point of this article is about service members deployed specifically to Iraq and Afghanistan with back to back deployments and the stress factors that it produces on the families and the service members themselves.

There are numerous reports of veterans who cannot readjust to their previous lives away from combat and they are repeatedly diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress

The battles that go on between countries of the world are not just left on the grounds in which they were fought. The trauma of everyday exposure to the elements of war has created a lasting and often debilitating disorder for many veterans. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD has been a recurrent result of war leaving many survivors with prolonged physical, mental and emotional distress. Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have experienced daily stressful situations including bombings, combat fire, and injuries. For those that make it home, PTSD is a common development of these stresses. Those who develop this disorder may experience relentless sleep disturbances, triggers, and recurring “flashback” or vivid memory recollections

Military Pathway (2013) concluded “Military life, especially the stress of deployments or mobilizations, can present challenges to service members and their families that are both unique and difficult”. Hence, it is not surprising that soldiers returning from a stressful war environment often suffer from a psychological condition called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This paper provides a historical perspective of PTSD affecting soldiers, and how this illness has often been ignored. In addition, the this paper examines the cause and diagnosis of the illness, the changes of functional strengths and limitations, the overall effects this disease may have on soldiers and their families, with a conclusion of

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

In many cases the soldiers with multiple deployments have higher suicide rates the multiple deployments trigger mental health issues and many feelings of guilt. Of all the soldiers deployed to Iraq since the war began in March 2003, about thirty eight percent of soldiers have been deployed more than once and ten percent have been deployed three times or more. This plays a big factor in why we are seeing a big jump in cases of post-traumatic stress disorder in the last twenty years. Many soldiers that serve more than one tour are often called back within two to three months of the last tour and this is another factor of post-traumatic stress disorder. The proper grieving time for a traumatic experience is at least five months giving a solider enough time to deal with their feelings is an important way to reduce post-traumatic stress

Also, this study was to explore whether or not resiliency parallel with an individual knowledge of symptoms and signs of PTSD and if having advantage to useful resources resulted in a greater resilience score (Zwanziger, et al., 2017). The type of method which was used to measure resilience was a cross-sectional exploratory design. The Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) was used to determine if the knowledge of PTSD and the advantage to useful resources are connected to an individual elevation of resilience. This measurement tool was also used to compose fundamental knowledge of PTSD symptoms and sign of military spouses. The results reveal as the awareness of PTSD symptoms and advantage to useful resources increased, the ability to be resilient is enlarged by over 1.5 times (Zwanziger, et al.,

Another study conducted by Britt, Adler, Bleise, and Moore (2013), examined active-duty soldier’s morale and whether it moderates the existing relationship between combat exposure and PTSD symptoms. The individuals participating in the study were active-duty U.S. soldiers on an Army base located in Germany who recently returned from a fifteen-month deployment to Iraq.

Soldiers are impacted by their experiences in war however; surviving the challenges of war can be rewarding, maturing, and growth-promoting (e.g. higher self-efficacy, enhanced identity and sense of purposefulness, pride, camaraderie, etc.) on the other hand, demands, stressors, and conflicts of participation in war, could also be also be traumatizing for veterans, highly destructive, and cause change in potentially damaging ways; with significant impact to quality of life, well-being, and mental health (Department of Veterans Affairs). Indirect effects of combat veterans PTSD may also occur with family members (Berger, 2015). Writer will discuss combat veterans exposure to stressful events, mode of coping and impact on mental health.

Through history further and further studies are ongoing into the unseen horror. Some say it is caused directly in relation to combat; others may say that it is from the images seen. In the book Redeployment by Phil Klay, he develops several stories from fictitious Marine Corps veterans that represent veterans one may encounter in the real world. Phil Klay’s book contains stories of relationships at home falling apart all the way to the high stress of patrols as Marines. With these stories it better shows the unseen horrors of war. Many veterans return home with a serious disorder. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the by-product of war, and people need to know more about it to help our returning hero’s.

Dating back to early history, military personnel have been experiencing combat conditions that are breeding grounds for mental health issues. Many men and women witness/encounter harsh events during deployment and those events impact the mental well-being of military veterans. Research has made positive correlations between the development of mental health problems and exposure to traumatic events while serving the country. Some disorders are more prevalent with this population then others, resulting in veterans being more susceptible to many forms of mental health diagnosis. Of all the possible mental health diagnosis that impact military personnel, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is very common and suggested as the most popular disorder