The Psychological Effects Of PTSD In 'The Red Convertible'

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can certainly have a negative effect on a returning service member’s life. Approximately 30% of people who have been in war zones develop PTSD. The rates of PTSD for veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are conservatively estimated to be 11% and 18% respectively, with a higher rate for veterans of the war in Iraq because of greater combat exposure (Collie, 2006, p.1). Because of the debilitating affect of the disorder many veterans are trapped in this endless seeming cycle agony and helplessness. Individuals with PTSD describe years of declining invitations to social and family events to avoid anxiety and anger. In extreme cases, individuals endorse fear and discomfort about leaving the house at all, which they characterize as shameful and demoralizing. Thus, many individuals with PTSD perceive themselves as trapped in a cycle that reinforces avoidance of situations, which may trigger anxiety and depression (Smyth, 2007, p.1).

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

Brian Albrecht, in his article "Families share the pain of veterans' PTSD" (2013), informs the reader of the effects of ptsd war veterans on their family, children and spouses that may cause higher levels in stress and anxiety. Brian supports his assertion by providing the reader with factual evidence of PTSD war veterans from credible resources, such as "This ‘secondary PTSD’ can include distress, depression and anxiety, said the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Center for PTSD" ( Albrecht). The purpose of this article is to inform the reader of the negative effects that ptsd war veterans may inflict in their family and children, in order to treat and prevent higher levels of stress and anxiety throughout the family. The authors creates

Henry Fosdick once said, “The tragedy of war is that it uses man’s best to do man’s worst.” In “The Red Convertible” by Louis Erdrich, there is a conflict amongst two brothers, Henry and Lyman as ones awareness towards reality is shifted upon the return of the Vietnam War. Henry’s experience fighting in the Vietnam War is the responsibility for the unexpected aftermath that affects their brotherhood. The event of Henry fighting in the war through fears, emotions and horrors that he encounters is the source of his “Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome [PTSD].” It has shaped his own perception of reality and his relationship with his brother Lyman and the strong bond that they had shared.

Over the last decade, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have drastically increased the need for effective mental health services and treatment for U.S. veterans and service members, especially those suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Nearly 1.5 million American service members have been deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) since the attack on the Twin Towers in September 2001 (Price, Gros, Strachan, Ruggiero, & Acierno, 2013). Approximately 25% of soldiers and wounded warriors returning home from OEF/OIF present with mental illness due to combat-related violence and other trauma exposure (Steinberg & Eisner, 2015). According to Price and colleagues (2013), OEF/OIF soldiers and veterans are at greater risk for developing mental illness compared to others who served in past military operations.

Imagine as an immigrant one enters into a new life unfamiliar to the culture and the expectations of a new society. Faced with so many challenges and uncertainties, how does one fit into a new environment or align oneself with existing resources for a successful cultural transition? Veterans transitioning into civilian life may experience similar challenges and may require a multidisciplinary approach consisting of improved communication, understanding and the perception of the underlying issues which contribute to the challenges veterans face with assimilating to the civilian life. Although, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most talked about issue with returning veterans, there are many more issues that ensue. For example,

Many veterans are unable to leave behind the trauma of Vietnam and psychologically return home. They struggle with a variety of extremely severe problems that neither they nor their families, friends, or communities knew how to understand

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

Over 20 percent of military service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan reported symptoms of PTSD or depression but only a bit more than 50% of them have sought treatment. One reason for this is due to the fact that many of these veterans reside in rural areas

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,

Post-traumatic stress disorder abbreviated PTSD is a response to traumatic events in someone’s life. Traumatic events are events that provoke fear, helplessness or horror in response to a threat or extreme stressor (Yehuda, 2002). Soldiers and other military members are at a much higher risk to Post traumatic stress disorder due to combat and other stressful situations they are put into. People effected by Post-traumatic stress disorder will have symptoms including flashbacks, avoidance of things, people or places that remind them of the traumatic event. Also, hyper arousal which includes insomnia, irritability, impaired concentration and higher startle reactions. In this paper I will discuss post-traumatic stress disorder, its signs, symptom and effects on culture as portrayed in the movie, American Sniper.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (commonly known as PTSD) is an important issue associated with military soldiers. The primary focus of this paper will be on the causes of PTSD and the effects it has on returning soldiers from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will attempt to elaborate on the soldiers' experiences through my own experiences in combat both in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will explain what PTSD is, look at the history of PTSD, how people get it, and differences of PTSD between men and women, and treatment options.

Hundreds of thousands of United States veterans are not able to leave the horrors of war on the battlefield (“Forever at War: Veterans Everyday Battles with PTSD” 1). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the reason why these courageous military service members cannot live a normal life when they are discharged. One out of every five military service members on combat tours—about 300,000 so far—return home with symptoms of PTSD or major depression. According to the Rand Study, almost half of these cases go untreated because of the disgrace that the military and civil society attach to mental disorders (McGirk 1). The general population of the world has to admit that they have had a nightmare before. Imagine not being able to sleep one

If veterans do struggle with PTSD after they return from combat the Department of Veterans Affairs, a governmental agency that helps struggling veterans recover, offers two treatments. Studies have been done to see if one of the therapies is more effective than the other. There is not yet evidence that one therapy is better than the other. Cognitive processing therapy, CPT, helps by giving the vet a new way to deal with the maladaptive thoughts that come with PTSD. It also comforts them in gaining a new understanding of the traumatic events that happened to them. One of the other benefits of CPT is that it assists the person in learning how these disturbing events change the way they look at everything in life and helps them cope with that (“PTSD: National”). The second newer option of the two is prolonged exposure therapy, which is repeated exposure to these thoughts, feelings, and situations (“Most PTSD”). This type of therapy is now a central piece in the VA’s war on PTSD. “The problem with prolonged exposure is that it also has made a number of veterans violent, suicidal, and depressed, and it has a dropout rate that some researchers put at more than 50 percent, the highest dropout rate of any PTSD therapy that has been widely studied so far,”(“Trauma Post”). Both of the therapies are proven to reduce the symptoms but both have extremely high drop out rates and low follow through. It

T. Stecker, J. Fortney, F. Hamilton, and I. Ajzen, 2007, address that mental health symptoms have the likelihood to increase within post deployment for military veterans, especially for the ones who have seen combat. An estimated quarter of recent war veterans who are currently receiving care in the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Health Care System have reported mental health problems. Soldiers who have served in Iraq come home suffering from depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Statistics of Iraq soldiers meeting the criteria for depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is greater than the soldiers who served in Afghanistan. The mental health symptom rates for soldiers who served in Iraq were as high as 20% for PTSD, 18% for anxiety, and 15% for depression.