The Psychology Of Eric Reynolds Essay

This paper explores post-traumatic stress and how it is seen as a disorder. Post-traumatic stress can manifest into post-traumatic stress disorder. According to Sareen (2014), Post-traumatic stress disorder is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5 as having 4 core features that are as follows. First, the person must witness or experience a stressful event. Secondly, the person or persons would re-experience symptoms of the event that include nightmares and/or flashbacks. The person or persons would also have hyper arousal symptoms, such as concentrations problems, irritability, and sleep disturbance. The final core feature dictates

“My mind is on fire as I fear that any second, another enemy round will rip into my body and finish me off” (Johnson 2). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) effects the lives of many soldiers after returning home from war. PTSD is a psychiatric condition described in the DSM-IV as, a condition that requires a specific event to have occurred as a criterion for the diagnosis. The criteria for this disorder, according to the book Combat Trauma, can include flashbacks, times where you feel as if you are reliving the traumatic event, shame or guilt, upsetting dreams about the traumatic event, trying to avoid thinking or talking about the traumatic event, feeling emotionally numb or not feeling at all, anger or irritability, poor or destructive relationships, self-destructive behavior, trouble sleeping, memory problems, hallucinations, not enjoying activities you one enjoyed and feeling as if you no longer know who is living your day-to-day life.

Antwone Fisher was an individual that endured so many things. He faced a lot of challenges that may have seemed impossible to recover from. This story was an example of the many things that some children may experience. Antwone was not raised in an upper crust home. He did not grow up in a home in which his mother and father was present. Instead of having positive role models, he had to live with individuals that were abusive to him. When observing Antwone’s personality, one may refer to two different theorists such as Bandura and Rogers.

It was not until the 1980’s that the diagnosis of PTSD as we know it today came to be. However, throughout history people have recognized that exposure to combat situations can have profound negative impact on the mind s and bodies of individuals in these situations. But there are other catastrophic events that can have such profound impact on people resulting in PTSD…

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.

“... historians and sociologists note that the high-profile involvement of civilian psychiatrists in the wake of the Vietnam War was another feature that set those returning veterans apart from society”(Satel 4). Many veterans developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which a psychological disorder that last months or years, which triggered memories of trauma accompanied by intense emotional and physical reactions. Sally Satel, Resident Scholar of American Enterprise Institute stated, “ The Vietnam era labeled problems such as anxiety, quilt over comrades who died, and chronic sleep as a disturbance of mental illness” ( Satel 6). The use of chemical warfare left a sense of terror that distressed combatants. It dramatically changed the way veterans live and the way troops would prepare for war. “History’s first systematic use of chemical warfare left a legacy of fear that haunted armies on the world’s battlefield ever since…”(Corelli 1). “ Traumatic stress disorders are caused by events that actually happen to people”(Satel 4). Veterans enduring and sustaining a mental disorder based on anxious anticipation from a traumatic experience affected them in a workplace and this explains why the quote above was used. “Not everyone confronts horrific circumstances develops PTSD”(Satel 2). “After a disaster, fewer than 10% of victims are affected”(Satel 2). However,

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

They assert that “Race can impact one’s everyday experiences and mental health through explicit or implicit definitions (e.g., self-identification or racial stereotyping), and how those definitions shape interactions and access to resources” (Onoye et al.). Essentially, they are describing a difficulty with cultural and racial differences in general, but they go on to detail the ways in which these differences can affect PTSD. “The National Vietnam Veteran Readjustment Study (NVVRS) found Hispanics and African Americans veterans had higher rates of PTSD than Whites” (Onoye et al.). The fact that race, ethnicity, and cultural background affect development of PTSD shows that there are definite factors that start affecting risk of PTSD before they come back or are even enlisted – even from

In Ashley Gilbertson’s “The Life and Lonely Death of Noah Pierce,” she talks with the family members and friends of veteran Noah Pierce to find out what led to Noah’s suicide following his service with the United States Army. It is believed that Noah’s experiences in Iraq attributed to him having post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and causing a change in his behavior during and after his service. Additionally in one of the letters to his mother detailing an engagement with enemy contacts and even though he claimed that he came unscathed with no bullet wounds or lost limbs, Noah admits to possibly having traumatic brain injury (TBI) because of that experience (Gilbertson). Exposure to the war environment in Iraq and the murders he committed had a direct impact on Specialist Noah Pierce in which it cultivated his aggressive behavior which caused numerous episodes that spiraled down to Noah committing suicide.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is "an anxiety disorder, characterized by distressing memories, emotional numbness, and hyper vigilance, that develops after exposure to a traumatic event" (Doyle-Portillo, Pastorino 490). Traumatic events include physical abuse, rape, military combat, death of a close friend or family member, natural disasters, or witnessing events such as terrorist attacks, a violent crime, or a horrible accident (Doyle-Portillo, Pastorino 490). All these different events lead men and women to have nightmares, flashbacks, and tormenting memories, especially the men who fought in the Vietnam War. Around "19% of Vietnam veterans developed PTSD at some point after the war" (Doyle-Portillo, Pastorino 491) from the events they witnessed out in the Vietnamese jungles during combat that it would have been highly unlikely for them not to develop PTSD.

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

Victor Monjaraz, a former Marine, says that he felt he could handle PTSD on his own, but his emotions did not allow him to. His wife had to convince him to visit a psychologist at the VA and see what the doctor had to say. Monjaraz already felt that he had PTSD before the visit. He was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Monjaraz experienced night terrors and road rage. He was easily irritated and could not be in crowded spaces. The disease also took a toll on his marriage and says, “The Marines taught me to turn off my emotions but didn’t teach me how to turn them back on” (Monjaraz).

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,

This disorder is known for altering soldier’s thoughts and actions when they return from war. Worth states “A new study supports what a small group of military researchers has suspected for decades: That modern warfare destroys the brain” (Worth) to show the psychological effect war can have on soldiers. Most soldiers come back more violent and is are a threat to the common public. This author goes into how a physical event caused this disorder so it’s more of a physical disorder. There have been cases where soldiers will strangle their wives in their sleep because of their time in combat.

“When I was in serious danger I was almost completely paralysed by fear, I remember sitting with a coffin (a fellow soldier) on the fire-step of a trench during an intense bombardment, when it seemed certain that we must be killed”(The Psychological Effects Of The Vietnam War). Our soldiers that we send to war to protect us against the countries trying to harm us are put into dangerous situations that affect them physically and mentally and leave them with permanent damage to their minds and bodies. The server damage that our military soldiers faced when returning from war is PTSD which stands for post traumatic stress disorder and is the most common disorder that returning soldiers are diagnosed with , but a more tragic diagnosis from war