Ptd During The Vietnam War

Post-traumatic stress disorder has always been an important issue to me. PTSD became an interest of mine when I saw the effects that it has on my husband and other Veterans suffering from the same issue. I wanted to pursue this research topic to further education myself, and inform others. PTSD not only effects the Veterans mentally, but it also has an effect on their family members as well, living with someone who is easily startled, has nightmares, or avoids social situations can take a toll on everybody. In this particular topic, I will focus on inquiring information about combat Veterans, families of combat Veterans, and others interested in learning or gaining more information about post-traumatic stress disorder. I will inform my audience about this topic through various reports from past century wars and convince my audience on how post- traumatic stress disorder effects combat Veterans later in life. I am conducting this project with combat Veterans, and their families in mind as my audience. Family members of a combat Veteran may not know the signs and symptoms of PTSD.

Hartman, David. "PTSD." Journal of Heart Centered Therapies 13.1 (2010): 44. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 21 Apr. 2016

According to Bender, about 470,000 of the approximately three million men who served in Vietnam are current cases of PTSD. Women who served as nurses, about 7,000 of them have also been found to suffer from this disorder (Bender 147). It is beyond imaginable the magnitude of how many men, women, children, and Vietnamese that have been affected by this one war. In recent research findings conducted by the National Center of PTSD, four out of five veterans struggle with PTSD twenty to twenty-five years later (Price).

PTSD is listed among a group called Trauma-and-stressor-Related Disorders. For a person to be diagnosed with PTSD, they must have been exposed to, witness, or experience the details of a traumatic experience (e.g., a first responder), one that involves “actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence” (APA, 2013, p. 271). (PRU, 2016, p. 66). The aforementioned definition of PTSD relates to soldiers; the manifestations and causes experienced with traditional PTSD can look somewhat different. Obvious causes of PTSD in soldiers stem from exposure to stressful circumstances within combat, exposure to the suffering and death of others, destruction, personal danger, and injury. A study on Vietnam soldiers provides insight on less obvious causes of PTSD. The study suggests

with macabre memories of war that can cause them to lash out at people and do things they would not normally do. This is a disease known by medical examiners as “Post Traumatic Stress Drama” or PTSD for short. PTSD was first researched after the Vietnam War and the first diagnosis was in 1980. (Glover, Lacie). Roughly 31% of Vietnam veterans have suffered from this disease at some point. (Glover, Lacie). As if the previously listed statistic was not sad and shocking enough, the next statistic will make your heart sink. The number of PTSD-diagnosed Vietnam veterans that are still suffering at least moderate impairments even after more than three decades of combat is a heart cramping 85%. (Glover, Lacie). While Vietnam is one of America’s most heavily studied and remembered wars, Vietnam veterans are not the only veterans suffering from PTSD.

Understanding different treatment options and their effectiveness for combat veterans suffering from PTSD is extremely important considering that combat veterans who have PTSD fifteen years post war suffered more frequent cardiovascular, dermatological, musculoskeletal, pulmonary and metabolic diseases. Britvic and colleagues (2015) compared 501 male combat veterans with PTSD to 825 men who were not exposed to combat experience. They found that when a combat veteran suffers from PTSD because of the exposure to war trauma that it increased the possibility of developing somatic diseases (Britvic et al., 2015).

Today's veterans offten return home and find themselves experiencing PTSD symptoms as a result of combat-related stress and signfigant amount of exposure to traumatic events. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among United States Veterans has risen to great numbers in recent years due United States involvement in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) thus far within the last 10 years 1,400,000 military service members have been engaged in these conflicts. Once Unitied States troops were deployed and participated in Operation New Dawn (OND) numbers began to rise over 2.5 million troops. (Rosenthal, J. Z., Grosswald, S., Ross, R., & Rosenthal, N. 2011) The veteran population will face exclusive types of stressors

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

Approximately 30% of men and 27% of women had PTSD at some point in their life following Vietnam.” In examining the mental health condition of Persian Gulf War veterans have found, “… rates of PTSD stemming from the war range anywhere from almost 9% to approximately 24%. “In Iraq Afghan War “After deployment, approximately 12.5% had PTSD, a rate greater than that found among these soldiers before deployment”.

The majority of Vietnam veterans experienced delayed or chronic PTSD which we know now, can remain dormant for years until symptoms are triggered. According to the Vietnam Veterans’ Readjustment Study, approximately 30.9% of men and 26.9% of women soldiers in Vietnam had PTSD at some point in their lives. (P8) Lifting these requirements from the DSM-III allowed many more veterans to step forward; and with this new massive population of test subjects- scientists were able to research the dynamics, variables, and patterns of PTSD, through the advancements of neuroimaging and neuroscience. (P9) “There were many more cases of PTSD among Vietnam veterans than any other war.” (P5) A number estimated to be near 500,000. (P11)

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is "an anxiety disorder, characterized by distressing memories, emotional numbness, and hyper vigilance, that develops after exposure to a traumatic event" (Doyle-Portillo, Pastorino 490). Traumatic events include physical abuse, rape, military combat, death of a close friend or family member, natural disasters, or witnessing events such as terrorist attacks, a violent crime, or a horrible accident (Doyle-Portillo, Pastorino 490). All these different events lead men and women to have nightmares, flashbacks, and tormenting memories, especially the men who fought in the Vietnam War. Around "19% of Vietnam veterans developed PTSD at some point after the war" (Doyle-Portillo, Pastorino 491) from the events they witnessed out in the Vietnamese jungles during combat that it would have been highly unlikely for them not to develop PTSD.

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

As the Vietnam War began preventative measures were being taken to decrease the psychological impact of war on soldiers. Unfortunately as the war ended soldiers were often met with hostile demonstrations by anti-war activists and society offered little acceptance of Vietnam veterans even years after the war. This is when early studies on PTSD and the effects on military families began being documented. Early research showed that PTSD can have devastating, far-reaching consequences on the patients functioning, relationships,

Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was seen as a condition where people are shocked into fear of facing situations. Over the years, it was labeled as “Soldier’s Heart” in the post Civil war era and “Shell Shock” in the World War I. In a situation of ‘fight-or-flight’ an individual is triggered to escape from danger, however in PTSD this reaction is reversed in which case the individual feels a constant threat of danger even when there is no danger present.The person diagnosed with PTSD can be anyone from a child to an adult. Many causes of this disorder include traumatic events, knowing someone who is in danger, genetic factors, and more. Symptoms include

“When I was in serious danger I was almost completely paralysed by fear, I remember sitting with a coffin (a fellow soldier) on the fire-step of a trench during an intense bombardment, when it seemed certain that we must be killed”(The Psychological Effects Of The Vietnam War). Our soldiers that we send to war to protect us against the countries trying to harm us are put into dangerous situations that affect them physically and mentally and leave them with permanent damage to their minds and bodies. The server damage that our military soldiers faced when returning from war is PTSD which stands for post traumatic stress disorder and is the most common disorder that returning soldiers are diagnosed with , but a more tragic diagnosis from war