Stress Disorders In Aging Military Veterans

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can produce emotional responses caused by the trauma endured during combat operations. It does not have to emerge immediately, but can actually happen weeks, months, or even years after the traumatic event. PTSD was often referred to as “combat fatigue” or “shell shock” until 1980 when it was given the name post-traumatic stress disorder. According to

To the millions of veterans that have served this country by leaving behind their world as they once knew it, thank you. Entering the world of a soldier comes with a culture of warriors who are taught and trained to be ready to kill, but also ready to save, heal, and comfort (Hansen). Sergeant Hansen served in the United States Marine Corps for nine years and was deployed three times, once to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan. He was honorably discharged in April of 2014, however like many other veterans, his military experience has impacted his new civilian life due to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. It is paramount that a proper system concerning military veterans of the United States is established for the process of re-acclimating soldiers back to a civilian lifestyle. Within the current system and process that is being used, veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are discharged without the support and guidance they need to efficiently return to the civilian world.

Of recent Veterans entering the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system, over 30% are diagnosed with a mental disorder. One of the most common diagnoses is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), given to 52% of those receiving mental health diagnoses [1, 2]. Moreover, an estimated 41% of Veterans enrolled in VA care reside in rural settings, including a disproportionate number of younger Veterans and female Veterans returning from the wars in the Iraq/Afghanistan regions (Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom [OEF/OIF] ). To meet the needs of the changing Veteran population, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is tasked with increasing access to and utilization of mental health services for geographically and culturally diverse Veterans. The exponential advancement in society’s use of technology, and the resultant field of e-mental health, provides a great opportunity to surmount current barriers many Veterans face when accessing mental health care. A number of resources have been developed to meet the needs of Veterans diagnosed with PTSD, yet few studies have examined willingness to use technology-based mental health treatment approaches within a sample of ethno-racially and geographically diverse veterans who served after September 11, 2001.

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

Veterans transitioning from the rigorous and demanding lifestyle of active duty to a blue collar nine to five face unique obstacles that if go unchecked can have substantial on their mental health and over all well-being. It’s no secret that PTSD has been a hot button issue in recent years. It’s a term that has become synonymous with those serving tours in combat zones such as Iraq an Afghanistan. This mental condition brings with it a plethora of symptoms including depression, anxiety and insomnia. Not to mention high levels of stress that can have varying effects from person to person. PTSD can also come as a result of occupations outside of the military such as police, fire fighters and health care workers. This essay will be exploring how

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").

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans has been prevalent in the United States ever since the diagnosis of shell shock after World War I. PTSD continues to be prevalent in veterans from the Vietnam War, to the Gulf War, to Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The estimated lifetime prevalence of PTSD among veterans during the Vietnam era was 30.9% for men and 26.9% for women (U.S. Department of Government Affairs, 2015). Based on a population study the prevalence of PTSD among previously deployed Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom was 13.8% (U.S. Department of Government Affairs, 2015). PTSD in combat veterans can be very difficult to understand. This is widely due to the lack of research

Iraq or Afghanistan and 50% of these veterans are diagnosed with PTSD (Brozak, 2013). People are diagnosed with PTSD after going through a severely traumatic experience and it can have a long-lasting negative effects.

For those who served in Vietnam, the war left a major legacy. Due to the fact of Vietnam War being unpopular, and unacknowledged, the veterans had to adjust to different consequences. Vietnam veterans experienced physical, and psychological problems. Exposure to Agent Orange was a huge issue, because of all the issues it caused. It had long-term consequences, like the increase of the risk of various types of cancer, and birth defects among the veterans' children. A negative legacy the war left on Vietnam veterans has been the health effects of Agent Orange and other herbicides used in Vietnam. The exposure to the different kinds of chemicals caused them, and their family to develop illnesses, and birth defects for their children. Of the veterans'

In studying the effects of Post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans, I learned that the actions of war cause many service men and women to change. The change comes because the US military trains people to kill but they don’t want to help them fit back into society. This causes veterans to have symptoms such aggression, irritability, and hostility. Which is why I feel that people who have killed in the military came in with the mentality that they were going to help people, but instead they go overseas to kill and ruin innocent people’s lives. That causes them to have feelings of guilt because people are told to look at our service men and women as heroes but inside they see themselves as monsters. There are cases of this happening in every

One of the most well known and most common mental conditions that afflict veterans is PTSD. PTSD stands for post traumatic stress disorder and is caused by having high stress levels at any given time. While anyone can get PTSD, Veterans acquire it most often due to their strict training and the horrors of war. Richard Weaver, a veteran that served as a Navy Medic for two years in Iraq shared an example of what PTSD is like. He says "I could be in a classroom here and somebody would walk past and drop a book. Well, that’s a loud “pop” sound in an echoing hallway, and I’m set off for the rest of the day. I’m looking around. I’m nervous" (“Two”). Having PTSD greatly affects everyday life for veterans. For Richard Weaver, all it took was

A growing body of evidence suggests meditation-based interventions have the potential to reduce symptoms and improve well-being (Marchand, 2013 for review; Mitchell et al., 2014). The Stanford University study entitled Breathing-Based Meditation Decreased Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in U.S. Military Veterans: A Randomized Controlled Longitudinal Study explores the effects of Sudarshan Kriya yoga, a meditation-based therapy, on U.S. military veterans with PTSD symptoms having served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There are now many programs available to facilitate veterans who have been injured or are suffering from post traumatic stress. In the past, men would return home from wars as shells of their former selves. Loud sounds could trigger painful memories of combat and send the sufferer into a spiral of panic. Some were extremely sensitive to such things as loud noises, bright lights, certain phrases, or some daily activities. Others still were just empty husks, only living in a numb depression due to the things they have witnessed or done. There was nothing to be done with these people except force them to continue living as they had been or putting them in asylums. Now, though many men and women are still returning home injured, either mentally

New York City is home to over between 200,000 veterans whom fought wars since Vietnam. The numbers have been increasing since the drawback of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Programs that service our veterans have been granted by the Department of Veterans Affairs to assist veterans. Since the Wars began, issues arose in the veteran community like unemployment, mental health such as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disease), and veteran without a home. Throughout the five boroughs of New York City the issues can be seen and the problems found here are not because of the instability of the economy. It is because of the high cost of living and politics the City of New York.

It is well-established that modern life in America is filled with innumerable stressors that are potential acute, episodic and even chronic in nature. And soldiers in our Army are subject to many of these same stressors on a daily reoccurring basis as well as those associate with long overseas deployments and even the rigors close combat engagements with a pervasive and ardent series of enemies. Despite the recent finding by C.A Leardmann, Et al, in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) which failed to find a direct corollary between deployments and higher suicide rates among service members, this can cause additional strain; even burnout; which can result in diminishing job performance and reduce unit effectiveness. And the cumulative detrimental psychological and physiological effects on a soldier’s health and welfare when left unrecognized, identified and properly addressed can be truly debilitating over time to the point of suicidal thoughts or tendencies, in fact the New York Times recently reported of ... a military suicide rate that has nearly doubled since 2005... 18.86 deaths...per 100,000. The national average is about 13 deaths per 100,000. (Philipps, 2015). This often times has a lasting negative effect on the family members of these soldiers as well and the Army’s official position on the matter is that... The loss of any American Soldier's life