The Invisible War

There is concern about military service members receiving stigma about getting or needing treatment in the area of mental health. Stigma occurs when individuals view others negatively because they have been labeled or identified as having a deviant behavior against societal norms; deviant behaviors such as mental illnesses or diagnoses uncommon or harmful to others. How does that impact the military? Military men and women alike are termed heroes, warriors, and survivors; this is quite the reputation to keep up. Military members go to war or deploy to hostile combat environments, which many come back with severe mental illnesses and diagnosis that need immediate care. At this point they may not feel like a hero. The terms psychological, mentally ill, PTSD, and behavioral health has gained a reputation as having or being a problem. Being labeled a problem is not what service members want. Many studies are trying to pinpoint the problem and resolve the stereotypes associated with getting treatment. Consequently, an individual’s attitude toward mental health treatment is thought to be affected by other people’s views on mental health care (Held & Owens, 2012).

In the past, military news typically evolved tragic training incidents or deaths during overseas combat. However, over the last several years many incidents involving military personnel and sexual assault have made headlines across the United States. Military women and men have brought to light the lack of justice for victims of sexual assault, and the prevalence of such attacks. Questions arise as to why victims do not report incidents or seek assistance when they are physically or sexually assaulted. Many reasons are due to how the system of reporting is established within the military, retaliation and further re-victimization within the chain of command. Modifications to the current system have begun within the Department of Defense and

Throughout the world, deviant acts and social controls are committed everyday. An incredibly significant one that is often unreported is sexual assault within the military. Sexual assault is already determined as an extremely deviant act throughout the world. All acts of rape and other abusive acts should never be dismissed or ignored, but rape within the military is often not reported or recognized. If it is brought to light, the victims are generally in fear of losing their positions, rankings, homes, relationships with their spouses and families, etc…. This is not to state that men are not also victims of sexual assault, but women are much more prone and vulnerable to being attacked and harassed. I will be focusing on the female victims of military assault in this paper.

One example of Boricevic Marsanic and their colleagues is, “Children of male veterans have a higher chance of attempting suicide” (Boricevic Marsanic et. al.).This quote explains how the disorder affects children who may never have a traumatic experience in their life. The disorder has mental effects on all the people associated, the veteran, their family, friends, everybody. Another example of how PTSD affects children and teens is “The presence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in trauma survivors has been linked with family dysfunction and symptoms in their children, including lower self-esteem, higher disorder rates, and symptoms resembling those of the traumatized parent” (Mellor et. al.). Mellor and the other authors of this article in an Australian magazine express how children tend to have more problems internally. The quote also states how the children may even have symptoms the parent with PTSD had, which means that it could cause problems for the child without them even having a traumatic moment in their

Hurricane Katrina came ashore the Gulf Coast and New Orleans and caused not only physical damage but psychological/mental anguish. This was at the end of August 2005. As a result, there was a lot of PTSD cases that were as a result of this catastrophic event. People across the United States witnessed the event unfolding on television and word of mouth but had no idea of the tremendous amount of emotional toll that the people of these communities went through and were going to continue to go through.

“The most shocking cover up in the United States Military is not what you would expect (The Invisible War),” reports of sexual assaults over all branches of the military have tremendously increase every since women have been allow to take part of the military. According to the Secretary of Defense, over 500,000 male and female soldiers have suffered of sexual abuse from senior peers and commanders. During the past years, many women reported a variety of cases of sexual abuse. Sadly, the victims were only ignored, blamed and punished for the events. Sexual assaults are considered a scandalous subject which our military has decided to avoid, but by doing so, the number of rapes has increase even faster. Rape is a repetitive criminal;

In “The Invisible War,” it is noted that “women who have been raped in the military have a PTSD rate higher than men who have been in combat” (The Invisible War, 2012). The impact that military sexual assault has on victims is tremendous. Both physical and mental trauma are common, and they play a significant role in how victims of sexual assault are able to return to their daily lives.

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Women have been sexually harassed and assaulted in the work force for years, and for many years, the US Army has been dealing with this enormous and overwhelming issue, through the help of their agency known as the Equal Opportunity Program (EOP). In the US Army regulation 600-20, Army Chief of Staff, General Raymond T Odierno, States the purpose, “This regulation prescribes the policies and responsibilities of command, which include the Well-being of the force, military discipline, and conduct, the Army Equal Opportunity (EO) Program, and the Army Sexual Assault Victim Program.“ For a long time, the Army’s EOP Equal Opportunity

In the past, veterans who disclosed suffering from signs of PTSD encountered a great deal of ignorance and bias. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (n.d.), veterans who had the illness were often considered weak, were rejected by comrades, and even faced discharge from military service. In fact, even physicians and mental health specialists often questioned the existence of the disease, which of course led to society’s misconception of PTSD in general. Sadly because of this existing prejudice it appears even today soldiers are still worried to admit having PTSD symptoms, and therefore they do not receive the proper support they need. While individuals are assured that their careers will not be affected, and seeking help is encouraged, most soldiers see it as a failure to admit having a mental health illness (Zoroya, 2013). Educating military personal of this illness, and making sure no blame is put on the veterans who encounter this disease is therefore vital.

Wars aren’t fought in a vacuum, and those who study the Civil War should know this. While the Confederacy lost the war on the battlefield, a failure to exam the social and political climate before the first shot fired on Fort Sumter and the furling of the CSS Shenandoah’s Confederate Navy Ensign— the war’s final surrender— does not capture the war’s impact on the nation. Certainly, one can’t discuss a war and never mention a battle. The field’s foundation is in traditional military history, but I feel more comfortable discussing social history topics. When I began the semester, I felt I was staunchly in the social history camp. I wanted nothing to do with regiments, charges, and invasion routes. When I wrote the first paper on this same

It is evident from Thomas’s case that he presents “textbook” symptomology of PTSD. It is reported that Thomas currently seeks medical care at a VA clinic and complains of both back and neck pain which frustrates him because he seems to feel that he is being misdiagnosed due to the fact that no physical anomalies are present. The VA clinicians are taking themselves off the hook by transferring blame onto Thomas claiming, “that it’s all in (his) head.” Thomas’s case file reveals that he possesses some cognitive deficits and claims to have been suicidal in the past.

More than a decade after rape or physical assault during military service, women reported severely decreased health-related quality of life, with limitations of physical and emotional health, educational and financial attainment, and severe, recurrent problems with work and social activities.” (Para 4.) The article talks about the frequency of women getting raped or sexually assaulted, and the injuries that these women face physically and emotionally, even years after the incident occurs. In this particular study, a “Cohort of women veterans who served in the Vietnam, post-Vietnam, or Persian Gulf War era was selected.” (Para 9.) Around six hundred women participated in this study, and “Almost half the participants (48%) reported some type of physical or sexual victimization during their military service. Physical assault was reported by 35%, and most (58%) had been assaulted at least twice. Rape was reported by 30%, in 11% it was attempted and in 19% completed.” The seriousness of these situations recurring should not go

War has always been so merciless, so bloody, and so disastrous. In war there always dead, injuries, and overall is how much the soldier has satisfied. There are war that people can clearly see with bare eyes, that they see soldiers lost a part or more of the whole physical body, but there are war that the soldier fighting with their mental and that is the “invisible war” that nobody can see, but them, soldiers. The “Invisible war” by Kirby Dick 's “brutally shocking documentary argues that rape in the US military” is not an aberration, but a shameful secret epidemic. Victims are expected to suffer in silence and the issue is regarded as an occupational hazard. The US army is known as one of the best army in the world with all the “great” weapons and “strictly” rules that is the place for no mistake and the soldiers are always receive all the best for their satisfy for this country. However, the fact is so many of them were threatening for sex assault, many of them suffer their lives after their join army and in many cases, there are no actions from the government in general. The “ Invisible War” is a fantastic documentary showed the viewer of the other side, the dark invisible war, that the soldiers have to fought for when they are on duty and even after they services are due.

War occurs almost everywhere in the world and can be seen as a means of symbolism and patriotism. The Revolutionary War was fought in order to gain independence. That was the meaning behind that war. However, why do societies go to war, other than to fight for independence? Ever since the beginning of time war has been used as a means to invade another country and rid them of their resources. Whether it’s a war or just invasion, it is still a means of bombarding a country or society without any rights. Regardless of the invasion and the reason being, the people of the country being invaded are affected and so are the veterans invading the country. Most people tend to ignore the internal struggles veterans face post war. The civilians of a war zoned country are also majorly affected in ways many people fail to see because of the lack of media coverage. Most veterans returning from a war struggle from post traumatic stress disorder, individuals in societies are blind to the fact that these people are mentally unstable because of the experience they go through. Most people will salute a veteran because in America it is proper to respect those who served the country. These people aren’t aware that some of these individuals might not want to be reminded of their actions and some of them might not be entirely proud of what they did at war. The civilians are also very much ignored because no one cares about the amount of innocent lives taken every day. The negative impact war