Ptsd In The Military

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has severely affected the lives of countless military veterans throughout the years. Consequently, there likely are many more PTSD cases that exist and go unreported, or misdiagnosed due to misconceptions when reported (Samuelson, Bartel, Jordan, & Valadez, 2017). To this extent, I am going to discuss my views on two articles. The first article explains the patient’s perceptions of PTSD symptoms. The second article explains the effects of performing Yoga as an unconventional form of treatment for PTSD patients. Each study was conducted on the men and women veterans of our Armed Forces. As citizens of the United States of America, we owe the Armed Forces a debt of

Throughout many wars that the United States of America had endured within the 238 years, recently America have another war to handle which is Military Sexual Trauma. Only recently the social media decided to take part of acknowledging that many veterans have mental health issues. However, they are mainly focusing on one problem which is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The society needs to learn that PTSD isn 't the main source of conflict for active service members and veterans. There is a secondary leading mental illness that these soldiers are experiencing and that is call Military Sexual Trauma (MST). Although the public has not mentioned or announced the existence of MST. As a member of the community, we need to teach the world as well as one another the meaning of Military Sexual Trauma, the effects of it that cause individual to have certain symptoms when dealing with MST and lastly the different kind of treatments that are offer by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to assist many family members, friends and spouses who have MST because it is the secondary leading mental health problem for veterans right next to suicide.

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 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is home to the United States’ largest integrated health care system” (Mason e.t. al 2016). Because of technological and medical advancement, surviving injuries from war has lead to a greater need for post deployment and discharge care. I often hear the phrase “Freedom is not free”; the mental health of our active duty soldiers and veterans is one area that ends up costing America. Some lose time with their families, some are injured physically and mentally, and some lose their lives.

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

P.T.S.D. a commonly known disorder, that has harmed soldiers in combat over the last century. A 2015 study by Ashley Hayes, found that PTSD it is not only affecting returning veterans. Further it is veterans, that are becoming a rising concern to society. Hayes implies, people who have served In the military and or Iraq, are “returning home changed men”. The exposure to trauma leading to these symptoms is no surprise, as much severity has proven ptsd when people come face to face with life altering events.

There has been controversy about whether the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs is taking care of their veterans or are resisting in recognizing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Union of Concerned Scientist found that the Department of Defense stated that, “The U.S. Army allegedly pressured psychologists not to diagnose Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to free the Army from providing long-term, expensive care for soldiers. The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) has also been implicated in pressuring staff to misdiagnose veterans with the aim of cutting costs” (UCS). In result of not properly diagnosing the veterans, they are left unsure why treatment

imagine being enclosed in a dark and cold box; the walls are closing in on you, and you’re unable to speak, breath, or move. You feel the spine-chilling cracks of your bones, and just before you think you’ll never make it out alive – you wake up, relieved, that it was only a bad dream. Some people experience this feeling every day of their lives, “Approximately 28 percent of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq are diagnosed with clinical distress” (Lewis, 2014). They suffer from a condition called post-traumatic stress disorder, which manifests from psychological shock, and causes persistent mental disturbances that trigger a vivid recall of the experience. With the recent advancements in technology, a possible treatment has been discovered

Another interesting factor that has affected the prevalence of PTSD in returning veterans is the difference in the demographic constituency of American veterans across these wars. The first demographic factor worth noting is that of gender. Statistically speaking, there were far fewer women enlisted during the Vietnam War, than in the Gulf War and OIF. Less than one percent of the soldiers were women in the Vietnam War in comparison to the Gulf War where women made up 8.1 percent and 12.1 percent in OIF ("Vietnam War Statistics") ("Public Health").

Many veterans who have been through war and experienced the gruesome nature of it come back to civilian life as a whole different person. Once they have returned, it is extremely difficult for them to function normally and go back to the way they used to be. One adjustment issue that individuals with PTSD struggle with is having this unrestrained feeling of being on edge that occurs spontaneously. As a soldier, these people were trained to always be on guard, fully alert, and be ready to pull the trigger during combat. As a result, some of these individuals develop a violent and agitated behavior, which is very hard for them to control. Furthermore, many veterans with PTSD have flashbacks of the horrors of warfare and have constant nightmares

We most of the time do not consider after war effects on human suffering, such as war veterans, wounded fighters and civilians, famine, disease, and in some cases epidemics. Countries like USA, which is the largest economy of the world, has more than 22 million War Veterans with expenditure of about $152 billion a year.2 Still there are many veterans out of service that are receiving supports from various types of organizations. Homeless and drug addicted veterans are still found living on streets in large cities. Many of these returned soldiers are suffering from various types of mental disorders, flashbacks, panic attacks, nightmares to name a few, which are commonly known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This type of psychiatric breakdown remains as one of the most disastrous and costly aftermath of wars when expressed in human terms. Wikipedia cited a study on the Costs of War from the Brown University researchers that projected that the cost of caring for veterans of the War on Terror would peak 30–40 years after the end of combat operations. The report further predicts that medical and disability costs would ultimately be between $600 billion and $1 trillion.3

That moment where he witnessed his comrade get his face melted off, has traumatized his mind. He cannot relinquish himself from this horrid memory. Therefore, he suffers from these horrid images. Ultimately, his mind has suffered from the war and cause him to have PTSD.

PTSD. The Army is currently launching new programs designed for children to help them understand what the parent is going through and how PTSD works. Children also face stress from this situation and had nowhere to turn until now. The stress between the parent and child can greatly be reduced now due to multiple programs available for the child, spouse, or a group program.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was really seen. The disorder took a long time to even have a

Every war goes down as one of the most important moments in history, just as for the soldiers it symbolizes such a momentous event in their lives. These brave people fight for others freedom while they are incarcerating their own ego by experiencing such post traumatic events. Although the academies prepare their soldiers physically and mentally for what to expect, it is much more difficult to actually live it rather than to talk and strategize for the situations. A serviceman could develop what is referred to as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) which is a condition in which a person experiences enduring psychological symptoms after a very extreme stressful event or series of events (Hall). War can save future generations and the lives