Traumatic Experiences And Depression Among Vietnamese Americans

‘The Happiest Refugee’ discusses various concepts including the effects of war, the trauma that refugees experience, their desire to contribute to society and our negative attitudes towards them. After the war, South Vietnamese soldiers and their families were captured by the North Vietnamese Communists and held in labour camps. Some of these prisoners were eventually released (after 1976), however, they had no right to education, employment or government supplied food rations. If Ahn had not left this oppressive environment, he would have grown up in extreme poverty and would be a very different person due to the trauma that

The Vietnam War was a unforgettable war that has had lasting effects on the United States and was a poor decision on the part of the United States government to get involved in. The United States had drafted many young boys into a war in which a lot of people did not support or even know why we were getting involved in, many people fled to neighboring borders or faced the criminal charges that came with dodging the draft because they were so against it. This war has left the United States with lasting impacts and there are many ways that we have changed since including our country as a whole and our veterans themselves. The war has affected our veterans in ways that are unimaginable, the psychological effects that they have endured are tough

Introduction: In  order  to  stop  the  spread  of  communism,  America  joined  the  vietnam  war. Many  young  men  were  drafted  into  this  war,  with  no  other  options  but  to  go  or  to  be  arrested.  Many  were  terrified  to  go  into  the  war,  and  tried  to  flee  the  United  States.  The  main  problem  was  not  even  just  during  the  vietnam  war,  it  was  after  the  war  was  over  and  troops  were  sent  home.  This  problem was  known  as  shell  shock,  or  what  we  now  call  Post  Traumatic  Stress  Disorder  (PTSD).  Throughout  the  turmoil  and  pain  of  the  Vietnam  war,  many young  soldiers  were  emotionally  distraught  and  treated  poorly  in  their  return home,  each  with  their  own  load  to  bear.

For most Americans that fought in the Vietnam war, they Returned to hate. My co-worker’s father said that when they returned to the war spat on and screamed at by fellow americans. Many of the families had a feeling of lost, hate, and grief. Not only for the ones they lost but also for the ones that came back to them but in fact were not themselves. One can see that the detrimental effects PTSD can have not only on the person but that person’s family. A combat report in The Journal of Traumatic Stress, states

The vietnam war was a time of grief for many who left their homeland and traveled thousands of miles on rocky ships to foreign lands with foreign languages. Homes were abandoned, paperwork was feverishly gathered, and there was hope for a better life out of vietnam. Scattered within refugee camps across the world, the “boat people” desperately waited for their new life, hoping for the best. However depending on when they resettled and what their reason for leaving Vietnam was, these immigrants and refugees had different experiences starting a new life socially and economically.

According to SIM, various social determinants of health can dictate the presentation and severity of the patient’s illness. The main challenge in delivering effective care of refugee mental health is the complexity and the multi-factorial nature of their suffering. A refugee is identified as someone who was forced to flee his or her country due to traumatic factors such as war, persecution, violence and racism (Moussalli M., 1992). The exposure to these factors instills an overwhelming feeling of fear, submissiveness and vulnerability. As a result, refugees can be at a higher risk of developing debilitating psychological conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety (McKenzie et al., 2010). On the other hand,

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

According to Bender, about 470,000 of the approximately three million men who served in Vietnam are current cases of PTSD. Women who served as nurses, about 7,000 of them have also been found to suffer from this disorder (Bender 147). It is beyond imaginable the magnitude of how many men, women, children, and Vietnamese that have been affected by this one war. In recent research findings conducted by the National Center of PTSD, four out of five veterans struggle with PTSD twenty to twenty-five years later (Price).

The survival of a soldier depends on what he wears. In war, the line between life and death is thinner than ever, and often, supplies, weapons, and the equipment of a soldier is the only thing that can cause the line not to clear. But, a soldier also carries his memory, memories, amulets, ghosts of the past, and trivial objects that do not let him forget that there is another life-the life-beyond war. Soldiers of Alpha Company, who fought in Vietnam, carry everything they could. And, those men and things are making their appearance in the story The Things They Carried by Tim O 'Brien, which also fought in Vietnam. Mr. O 'Brien tells how, after fleeing to Canada he decided to return to his village and agreed to go to war for shame, because he felt that, otherwise, he could not stand the looks of the people in this community, for whom a deserter was forever an outcast, and a traitor. The Vietnam War was also a milestone in the history of the United States. The defeat was a deep blow to American pride and the belief that their nation was invincible; affected the confidence in their citizens. This feeling was also extended to the soldiers returning from Vietnam who were not welcome in his country, nor received treatment as heroes. Many of these soldiers went through great difficulties readjusting to family life; according to data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, half a million of them suffer psychological changes

This is very difficult for people to get jobs and have a social life. PTSD can make somebody hard to be with. Living with someone who is easily startled, has nightmares, and often avoids social situations can take a toll on the most resilient family. Research shows that Vietnam Veterans have more marital problems and family violence. Their children have more behavior problems than do those of Veterans without PTSD. Veterans with the most severe symptoms had families with the worst communication. This is because people who have PTSD have a hard time feeling emotions or expressing them. They may feel detached from others. This can cause problems in personal relationships with the spouse. The numbing and avoidance that occurs with PTSD is linked

They were treated horrible in the war and out the war. Some soldiers had post traumatic stress disorder. The conditions in the war were bad 58,000 Americans killed and 365,000 were wounded. This caused PTSD for a lot of them. 11 percent still have PTSD so, not only in the war did they have to suffer some suffer up until this day (What we know about PTSD and Vietnam veterans today). During the war they weren’t treated good. They couldn’t even choose to go into the war they just had to if they were put into the drafting cards. During the war the president was assassinated and that caused stress on them. Another thing that was difficult after the war is getting another job(The Vietnam WAR). They weren’t liked once the war was over or even when

As families suffered from loss of loved ones as a result of the Vietnam War and post-war atrocities, many came to America with symptomatic disorders found in depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), chronic maladjustment, and a high prevalence of opium addiction. Cerhan (1990) notes the needs for counseling services among the Hmong population to address issues with locating family members, stress related physical ailments, homesickness, traumatic memories, and opium addiction that began in Laos, continuing in the United States. Though traumatic memories could be considered an assumable prevalent issue, the isolation from family and larger Hmong populations actually produces a larger problem. The value of family and community placed by the Hmong is defined as the most dynamic within their culture (Tatman, 2004). This has lead to second-generation issues, where children are not as culturally in tune with the first migrated generation, due to acculturation with “western” philosophy and family

“All men are treated equal. They are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit Of Happiness.” (Creating the Declaration of independence) This quote was taken from the Declaration of Independence. In the quote they are stating that all men are to be treated equally. Yet, this did not happen to the soldiers in the Vietnam War. The purpose of the Vietnam War was an attempt to unify the country of Vietnam under a communist government and the United States attempting to prevent the spread of communism. The soldiers who had fought in the previous wars, found parades, bands, speeches, and celebrations. It was not the same for the Vietnam soldiers. The Vietnam war revolutionized the world

A soldier 's survival in war depends on what he wears, and his life is just one step away from death. However, a soldier not only carries supplies, weapons, and equipment; a soldier also carries memories, amulets, ghosts of the past, and trivial objects that do not let him forget that there is another life beyond war. The Soldiers of Alpha Company, who fought in Vietnam, carry everything they could. And, those men and things are making their appearance in the story The Things They Carried by Tim O 'Brien, which also fought in Vietnam. Mr. O 'Brien tells how, after fleeing to Canada he decided to return to his community and agreed to go to war for shame, because he felt that, otherwise, he could not stand the looks of the people in his community, for whom a deserter was forever a traitor (O 'Brien 37). The Vietnam War was also a milestone in the history of the United States. The defeat was a deep blow to American pride and the belief that their nation was invincible; affected the confidence in their citizens. This feeling was also extended to the soldiers returning from Vietnam who were not welcome in his country, nor received a treatment like heroes. Many of these soldiers went through great difficulties readjusting to family life; according to data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, half a million of them suffer psychological changes related to the experiences of war. The Vietnam syndrome left indelible marks on a

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,