The Traumatic Stress Disorder ( Ptsd )

PTSD has become quite common in war veterans, seeing that they have been around people being brutally killed and probably have even killed people themselves. Essentially what is happening from a neuroscientific standpoint is that the brain has become damaged, in that an incorrect synapse fires, making the body react as if it was going through or seeing something terrible. The National Institution of Mental Health describes it like so:

“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.

Battling war is something a Veteran knows all too well, but battling the demons in their mind after the war is something that they have to learn how to cope with. One of the most mentioned issues that Veterans face today is a disorder called combat post-traumatic stress disorder. Combat PTSD can easily be defined as a disorder that affects the mental state of the armed forces service member that has been through a difficult or shocking experience during their time served in the military. Experiencing war is not something that everyone can relate to, but it is something that can affect a

The symptoms of PTSD make every day civilian life difficult for many Veterans. The disorder can affect a person’s ability to work and interact with their environment and those around them.

Once a soldier finishes his or her term of war and comes home for good doesn't mean they have truly returned from war. A soldier brings back home nothing but the haunting memories of war. This is the factor that continues to make living with PTSD so overwhelming. Veterans may say, "for me, there was no safe place, even my home" (Phillips, 2014). Insecurity is not the only aspect that overwhelms the mind, many other symptoms of the disease are just as horrific. "I couldn't close my eyes without envisioning the face of my attacker. I suffered horrific flashbacks and nightmares, and four years after the attack I was unable to sleep in my house alone" (Phillips, 2014). in cases like this, the effects of PTSD later find its ways to literally dictate the lives of veterans and many other victims.

President Obama once said, “ Every veteran who has fought for America has a home in America”. Here, the President was stressing how important helping those who served is. However, every veteran in America does not have a home. In fact many are homeless. This is a very serve issue in America because, returning to normal life after serving is a very difficult task to complete alone. Additionally, many veterans return with a service related disability. Some of those are physical and others are mental or emotional. One of the most common is PTSD. PTSD stands for post traumatic stress disorder and occurs when one has witnessed a trauma that the brain cannot process. Stress is a trigger for PTSD and the dreams and vivid images only get worse with adrenaline. On top of

One of the most well known and most common mental conditions that afflict veterans is PTSD. PTSD stands for post traumatic stress disorder and is caused by having high stress levels at any given time. While anyone can get PTSD, Veterans acquire it most often due to their strict training and the horrors of war. Richard Weaver, a veteran that served as a Navy Medic for two years in Iraq shared an example of what PTSD is like. He says "I could be in a classroom here and somebody would walk past and drop a book. Well, that’s a loud “pop” sound in an echoing hallway, and I’m set off for the rest of the day. I’m looking around. I’m nervous" (“Two”). Having PTSD greatly affects everyday life for veterans. For Richard Weaver, all it took was

Many veterans are able to function well after being in the military. However, they may begin to get emotional about their war experience as they get older. This is a condition known as late-onset stress symptomatology, or LOSS. The symptoms of LOSS and PTSD are similar. However, people with LOSS have fewer symptoms and the symptoms are not as severe.

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

Post-traumatic stress disorder is when someone has gone through or witnessed a traumatic event and was effected by it. For veterans who struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder normally have had a traumatic event happen while in combat or serving our country. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder caused from being a veteran are as followed: panic attacks, nightmares, disturbing thoughts, angry outburst, depression, reexperiencing the traumatic event(s), flash-backs, insomnia, exaggerated startle response, hypervigilance, poor concentration, avoidance of stimuli associated with the traumatic event(s), avoidance of feelings or thoughts connected with the traumatic event(s), being extremely aware of surroundings, and sometimes

With the advances in technology and military medicine, improved amounts of armed veterans are surviving the injuries they endure at war. These brave men and woman are faced to enter the civilian life after enduring the things that they cannot remove form their memories. Posttraumatic stress disorder is a common psychological and physiological consequence of deployment for combat in military veterans. For an individual to be diagnosed of PTSD, the person had to have been exposed to an intense traumatic situation, which resulted in terror or helplessness and continue to re-experience the event for at least a month (World Health Organization). It can be very difficult for a military personal to return from active duty with the mindset that

There are numerous reports of veterans who cannot readjust to their previous lives away from combat and they are repeatedly diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress

For veterans, employers are wary of hiring them thinking there are residual mental health issues. Self-Care is impacted when personal hygiene becomes an issue due to falling into a depressive state. Cognition is impacted because memories and flashbacks take over causing anxieties and depression. Leisure is also impacted because PTSD causes the victim to socially isolate themselves due to anxiety, and fear of feeling unsafe in an unfamiliar environment. Relationships also suffer because victims usually want to isolate themselves and family/friends are discouraged not knowing how to

His gray eyes fell to the floor, immediately shoot up to the ceiling. He stared blankly into space as he pondered the presented topic of PTSD; he folded his leathery hands and nodded as though in his mind he had recalled the entire 2 years he was at war. He interlocked his eyes with mine and shook his head in disappointment. I could hear the anguish in my grandpa’s voice, ”On several occurrences the ones whose lives I was able to salvage told me they wish I hadn't, they knew at this point they had fewer struggles here at war than they would at home”. My Grandpa was right, returning home can be just as intimidating as facing the battlefront. Most of the blame for this skepticism of returning home can be placed on one thing in particular: Post Traumatic Stress disorder. 3 out of every 10 soldiers returned home with PTSD("PTSD: National Center for PTS."). PTSD among war veterans is being overdiagnosed and mistreated, diagnosis needs to be

Even with the great stories that intrigue or excite many people, there are some long term effects that war veterans suffer. One of the major effects is Post-Traumatic Street Disorder (PTSD). The reality of the soldiers who experience the war is to live with PTSD and find ways to overcome this disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder causes high levels of anxiety which causes the person