The Gathering

PTSD and suicide are two things that are very common among veterans in the U.S.. A recent study has shown that there are a much as 8,000 veteran suicides a

This story was more of a personal narrative that tells a story about war and how not only does it affect men, but it also involves many others in the world. The story is told about a young woman whose brother died at the age of eighteen in war. She reflects through all of the memories she had with her brother, the good and the bad. The story is such an emotional narrative that the author pulls you into the story. As someone reads this the reader will feel a similar emotion as the author was feeling at the time of grief and heartache. The reason that this story is a narrative, because this story is told by the author about her experience of losing her brother. She also had many settings and a tone that grabs the attention to readers that made the story more interesting, captivating and

The stressor caused by war is one of the reasons these soldiers to choose to suicide. Some of them could not cope with what they had been through during the war. Kelly (2004) discussed about a former Army sergeant, Matt La Branche, who shared the memories when he was in Iraq War. "He constantly struggles with the image of the Iraqi woman who died in his arms after he had shot her" (Kelly, 2004). According to Buncombe & Duff (2006), "When you go to bed at night you wonder will you be sent home in a flag-draped coffin because a mortar round went off on your sleeping area." another army also shared his experience after the war. These examples showered how the soldier experienced severe anxiety, suffered from a serious depression, and become dependent on alcohol. They keep toughing themselves with negative thought and cannot stand the memories that they are murdered, seeing children killed, families wipe out and even the loss of comrades. Killing and brutality of the war have led to many soldiers feel shame, embarrassment, and guilt.

A mentally ill teenage named Jessica Roger was born to Joan and Kevin Roger. As a young girl Roger’s mother was verbally abusive to her and her sister, she even went as far as trying to kill her husband. When little Roger was about eleven years old her mother left them with their alcoholic father. Roger ended up in prison for biting her sister and other acts because of her disorder, eventually she committed suicide while serving her time in a place where she just didn't belong. Although her mother showed remorse after her death and said, “she accepts blame, maybe too much, for what happened to her Jet”. On the other hand her father was unapologetic for his drinking “I still drink. It’s legal”. Roger sent her parents countless letter of how she was feeling but they didn’t do anything until after her death. Are you wonder how a mentally ill sixteen year old girl ends up on prison?

In this story used a lot of repetition. He repeats the description this man as the guy lay dead on the ground. He also creates a life for this guy. what he thinks his life was and going to be. He was humanizing him unlike others on his platoon. This repetition shows how his mind was coping with him taking this guy’s life. This is one common symptom of PTSD; when traumatic events replay in his mind. During this moment he had a internal conflict. During this he was creating a life for this guy. He doesn't know this guy. so why did he do this? Did he do this to cope with taking his life? Wouldn't that make him feel more worse about killing him? This is one of the negative ways of coping with something. This would make it harder for him to survive during the war, but this also allowed him to keep his humanity. By humanizing him he made himself vulnerable to harm from anyone in the area. This is bad for Tim O’brien survival in the

The author is appealing to his audience’s sense of credibility by describing many anecdotes, thus showing that he’s done his research and he knows what he’s talking about. He uses anecdotes and highlights the similarities throughout these very personal accounts. Doing this goes to show that everyone is susceptible to

Tim O'Brien, a Vietnam war vet, had similar experiences as the soldier above. Even though O'Brien didn't die, the war still took away his life because a part of him will never be the same. Even in 1995, almost thirty years after the war, O'Brien wrote, "Last night suicide was on my mind. Not whether, but how. Tonight it will be on my mind again... I sit in my underwear at this unblinking fool of a computer and try to wrap words around a few horrid truths" (Vietnam 560). 1 think that O'Brien is

The statistics say that 22 veterans will take their own life every day. Most of the time, it does not sink in until it happens to someone you know. As a DVOP, Mr. Coon was working with an Army veteran that was in the VRAP program. Once this veteran session was completed, Mr. Coon needed to help the next veteran in line. The veteran stood with a lost look on his face. Mr. Coon can still remember the clothes the veteran was wearing that day as he departed. As an NCO in the US Military, Mr. Coon felt he had failed that soldier. Three days later that veteran had killed himself.

O’brien mentions one character even losing his life to PTSD and the thoughts that he had missed life, and he could never return to the way he was. “In August of 1978 his mother sent me a brief note explaining what had happened. He’d been playing pickup basketball at the Y; after two hours he went off for a drink of water; he used a jump rope; his friends found him hanging from a water pipe” (O’brien 154). This isn’t the only example of suicides that are sourced from PTSD, as around 22 veterans a day commit suicide (Bare). Lately, the amount of people have dropped, however there still was 226 suicides from all branches of the military. Based off a a study, suicides spiked in 2015, but like mentioned previously, the amount of suicides currently is dropping. O’brien however does not call it by PTSD nor does he refer to it being a mental illness. This truly shows the accuracy of his writing, since the Vietnam War went on from 1955-1975 , by the time it was over PTSD still would not have been seen as such a problem, or even a medical anxiety disorder, and it would take 5 more years for psychologists to finally recognize as a true problem, rather than a short term adjustment (BBC News). No matter what it is referred to as, it is still recognize, and overall that’s the important part, as maybe it can open up the eyes of the many that are blind to its strength and

Joe watched his mom go through a tough time after the attack and seeing his mom struggle to get better Joe starts to get angry and craves for what he calls justice. Because Joe wants justice he beings to take risks to get back for what his mom went through. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or also known as PTSD is what sometimes follows after a traumatic event that involves actual life threatening or serious bodily injury to oneself that creates intense feelings or fear, helplessness, or horror. Geraldine, Joe’s mother experienced PTSD after the attack, she had a dramatic change. Geraldine was not the same, and she was not enjoying her old habits and because of that Joe and his father had to take over and do the things Geraldine would normally do.

It is a big topic that surrounded the ending of my story. Tim O’Brien’s autobiography, “The Things They Carried”, is very detailed and descriptive to the point that it feels like real life. Out of the whole book the one story that stood out was how he said it was hard to adjust back to normal life but through writing books about the war it helped ease the memories. However, one of his comrades, Norman Bowker, was a quiet guy and did not want to burden anyone with his tragic war stories so they built up inside him and he could not deal with it anymore so he hung himself in the YMCA locker room. This is a case of PTSD and what it can do to a person. The disease goes back as far as three millennials but was officially recognized as a mental disorder by medical experts in 1905 (“PTSD”). People who suffer from this mental disorder experience flashbacks, nightmares, loss of sleep, and often have startle reactions. The rise in confirmed cases after the Vietnam War led the government to establish programs to help soldiers who suffer with this chronic disorder. However, if a veteran decides to not enter the program or decides to leave the program early their symptoms could potentially worsen tremendously. And the program could not be effective at all to some because even though the Vietnam War took place 40 years ago, 11% of the veterans who fought in that

Allen wrote a story of a firefighter who had post-traumatic stress disorder, and the event that occurred. In addition, Allen goes on describing a peer support group that will help firefighters with this disorder. Having a support group especially made up of firefighters, gives each other a way to relate because all the supporters understand what they deal with each day. If firefighters work together, along with using therapy treatments from professionals the fire service can reduce the amount of PTSD and suicide

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) is an anxiety disorder that can develop after a person is exposed to one or more traumatic events, such as major stress, sexual assault, warfare, or other threats on a person’s life. There are many factors surrounding posttraumatic stress disorder suicide that we will attempt to further summarize. We will clarify the epidemiology of posttraumatic stress disorder and that the classical conditioning theory best explains posttraumatic stress disorder’s formation.

Many turn to drugs or alcohol in attempt to calm their anxiety or to get their mind off of whatever they are thinking about. For some the moments of recurring stress result in outbursts of anger or rage, this tends to result in child/spousal abuse or public violence. Because PTSD can make a person extremely difficult to be around and is often undiagnosed, individuals with the disease may end up isolated and alone. Major Depressive Disorder is always a risk with people with PTSD. Many sufferers may demonstrate suicidal thoughts or actions (“What Happens”). These people suffering from PTSD are not receiving the help they need and it is ruining their life. Blake Mays who served in Afghanistan in 2003 returned from war, got diagnosed with PTSD, and has been in and out of rehab more than 20 times. Blake was a military police officer on a tank when the United States invaded Baghdad. He watched 3 of the men on his tank with him be blown to pieces while trying to help an Afghan woman pretending to be injured. After this tragic event his tank stopped for nothing, not babies, children, women, no one. He had to witness these unimaginable horrific things first hand. When Blake returned he coped with his PTSD in the wrong way; he started with alcohol and one thing lead to another. He spent some time in jail

According to Harned, Jackson, Comtois, and Linehan (2010), individuals that have been diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are at an increased risk for suicidal thoughts and behavior and non-suicidal self-inflicted injury. The U.S. National Comorbidity Survey found that individuals with PTSD were six times more likely to attempt suicide and five times more likely to report thoughts of suicide than those without PTSD (Kessler, 2000).