The Role Of PTSD In Young Adults

Well, you are telling me that I can legally kill someone at the age of eighteen, while I sign up with the military and go to war but I can’t have a sip of alcohol. Due to this none senseless situation, age should be equaled. In other words, if voting and military sign up is eighteen, then drinking should also be eighteen. Besides at the age of eighteen you are legally an adult. Why can’t we drink then? Drinking age in Australia is eighteen, and in UK is as low as sixteen in restaurants. Studies have showed that those teens/adults are perfectly fine. In fact, Dr. Ruth Engs; professor of Applied Health Sciences at Indiana University in Bloomington, uses this examples to propose the following: “……the drinking age be lowered to about 18 or 19 and permit those of legal age to consume in socially controlled environment such as restaurants and official school and university functions” (direct quote from Dr. Engs).

In the U.S., eighteen is the age at which person becomes a legal adult. He or she may then vote, buy cigarettes, join the military, or be arrested. So, why is it that drinking alcohol holds a much different standard? A United States soldier can go to war at eighteen years old. He may then fight for his country and freedom; however, while being away from home for over a year, he is denied the right to enjoy a beer with his buddies. Some nonbelievers try to contradict this argument with the fact that alcohol is damaging to a young brain. It’s true--excessive alcohol can damage a young and developing brain. However, what about smoking? Young adults are permitted to buy cigarettes at the age of eighteen. Cigarettes, a habit that is just as much, if not more, damaging than alcohol, may be purchased by a legal adult. If a person eighteen years of age or older can smoke, despite the fact that smoking is harmful, why can he not drink? Where is the consistency? If twenty-one is to remain the legal drinking age of adults, then all age laws should be raised to twenty-one. It is just that simple.

When you are 18 you get privileges like being able to vote for a president. (Mitch Adams lowering the drinking age Page 1) When you turn 18 can go to war and take the risk of dying for your country. (Mitch Adams lowering the drinking age Page 1)Even after a long day of fighting you still can not just relax and have a cold beer. When you are 18 and go to court you are considered an adult (Valerie Richardson Coors Urges lower drinking age Page 2) and shouldn't an adult be

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or seeing a terrifying event. PTSD and depression are the two most common mental health problems faced by returning troops. “In about 11 to 20% of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.. Have been diagnosed with PTSD,” (War Casualties). War obviously takes a toll on veterans in numerous ways. Varying from physically to mentally. Not all of them develop problems but a noticeable amount have been diagnosed. There are veterans or active duty soldiers that return home who don’t seek treatment due to the fact they feel alone. PTSD can be life threatening if it is not treated. Returning home and trying to adjust to

Many veterans who have been through war and experienced the gruesome nature of it come back to civilian life as a whole different person. Once they have returned, it is extremely difficult for them to function normally and go back to the way they used to be. One adjustment issue that individuals with PTSD struggle with is having this unrestrained feeling of being on edge that occurs spontaneously. As a soldier, these people were trained to always be on guard, fully alert, and be ready to pull the trigger during combat. As a result, some of these individuals develop a violent and agitated behavior, which is very hard for them to control. Furthermore, many veterans with PTSD have flashbacks of the horrors of warfare and have constant nightmares

Even soldiers of war has spoken out about their symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and how the media id the truth from them about the effects of war. They describe how if they knew what they know about a soldier's life that they would've thought twice about joining the armed forces. They also described how hard it is to live with PTSD after a war. The everyday things that use to be so simple are now difficult. How memories can pop into their heads at any given minute and bring them back to that time. That time that many soldiers try their hardest to forget. Statistics show that out of a hundred soldiers, forty of them suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Legarreta, 1).

In regards to the Civil War veterans he saw, Rev. J.L. Burrows once said, "It is not in human nature to be contented under physical restraints." This quote perfectly describes the feelings of soldiers taken prisoner during the Civil War. Many of these captives harbored feelings of resentment towards their captors, despite relatively mild prison camp conditions. However, these feelings of resentment soon turned to animosity as conditions went from mildly inconvenient to hellish nightmares. This will become apparent when given the history of the prison camps and examples of two of the worst offenders - Confederate led Andersonville in the South and Union run Elmira to the North. These fiendish prisons and their practices would leave a wound

A widely debated topic that has gone on for many years is whether the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen years old, as opposed to where it is now, at twenty one. Some argue that at age eighteen, a person is legally an adult and able to go to war, vote, and partake in other adult activities. If they are an adult at this age, why are they unable to legally drink alcohol? There are numerous reasons why drinking is unsafe for those under twenty one. The drinking age is set at age twenty one for a reason, and should stay that way. Some states have experimented with the drinking age in the past, but unsuccessfully. Between the years of 1970 and 1976, some states lowered the drinking age and the results were disastrous and promptly rose back to the age of twenty one (Main). Most eighteen year olds simply are not responsible nor mature enough at this age to handle alcohol safely. Drinking at a younger age has a potential to cause health problems, issues with younger teens, in addition to complications with college drinking and in worse case scenarios can end in death.

It seems like a double standard, young adults can start smoking at the age of eighteen, but cannot drink till the age of twenty-one. If one is able to use a substance like tobacco, he or she should be able to drink alcohol. Therefore, the drinking age should be lowered. Not only can one start using tobacco product at eighteen, one registers for the draft, and he or she may enlist in the armed forces. An eighteen year old may not be looked at as responsible enough to drink alcohol, but without any hesitation he or she can volunteer to risk his or her life for this country (Hirby). Each duty listed above takes a considerable amount of maturity. Some people may think that eighteen year olds are not responsible enough to drink alcohol, but they clearly have to be. At the age of eighteen, one is given the responsibility of taking care of him or herself. Eighteen is officially and legally the age of adulthood; therefore, eighteen year olds should be given their right to drink alcohol.

PTSD is a disease/disorder that many of our own soldiers have to live with for the rest of their lives. PTSD is a slept on thing that many people do not believe in. About 11-20 out of every 100 soldiers have to live with it. Many soldiers live with PTSD because of how life threatening and stressful war is.

The legal drinking age is twenty-one. The government has concluded that the mind is mature at age twenty-one. If the mind at twenty-one to drink but not at seventeen shouldn't the legal age to enroll in the military be twenty-one as well. My impression on this is that the immaturity of a seventeen-year-old who is easily persuaded does not have the capacity to make

There are multiple policies that should be taken into high consideration for the United States government. However, one specific topic that needs to be addressed is the legal drinking age. As of now, the legal drinking age in America is 21. To some residents, this law is considerably reasonable. To others, having the drinking age of 21 seems unnecessary for multiple reasons. Most people would agree that having the current drinking age allows for more responsible teens and young adults. Yet in most cases, this is extremely false. Although those younger than 21 are not legally allowed to purchase alcohol, they still find ways around getting caught. In addition, 18 year olds in America are not legally allowed to drink alcohol. However, they are in fact allowed to vote, operate a motor vehicle, pay taxes, get married, become a legal guardian, own a gun, fight and die in a foreign country, and are considered an adult in society. If an 18 year old is LEGALLY allowed to do all of these things, why is it they aren’t allowed a drink? (Engs)

Political writer and author, Alan Greenblatt, in his thoughtful article “What is the Age of Responsibility?” argues that “...the point of laws regulating the behavior of young people should not be to restrict them. It's to begin educating them in the ways of responsible adulthood.”. The age of responsibility, when one is legally allowed to do things like live alone, obtain a paying job and a driving license, consume alcohol, get a tattoo, etc., as of today varies and contradicts itself in our country. The current system that determines the legal age of responsibility in our country is outdated and made up of arbitrary numbers. The age of responsibility should be taken into deeper consideration. Although the legal age of adulthood in this country is a controversial issue, the current system in place for determining the age of responsibility for minors somewhat makes sense with

Young adults are able to make these decisions that can impact the world and even their future. When a young couple decides to get married they should be able to celebrate a good time and even be able to enjoy some booze when someone offers up a toast to the couple. Also, if someone joins the military at the age of eighteen they are able to put their life on the line for their country and hold a riffle but, are not able to have a beer because they are too young. I believe that is not fair to someone because you are given all these responsibilities yet you cannot make your own decision to drink

A large complaint with young individuals is the legal drinking age. Many of them feel that the age should be dropped down to 18 years old. The argument behind this is if they are old enough and mature enough at this age to go die for their country in the military, they should be old enough to make the decision by themselves whether or not to drink. The other side of this argument is that the brain is not fully developed at this age in responsible decision making. When given this argument, a lot of the adolescence go back to the argument that if they can vote for the leaders of their country, they should be able to drink. In a survey conducted at NC State University, the largest complaint about being looked down upon with their age was the legal drinking age.