Understanding PTSD and Methods of Treatment Essay

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.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been the focus of considerable attention, and some controversy, since it was formally recognised in 1980 by the American Psychiatric Association. This essay will discuss the history of this relatively new diagnosis and its place within the DSM-IV-TR, whilst three perspectives of pathological reaction to trauma, namely, socio-cultural, psychological and biological factors will also be compared. In conclusion this essay will discuss how the three perspectives contrast and contribute to our understanding of PTSD.

About 30% of the men and women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD. (Military.) The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that PTSD afflicts almost 31% of Vietnam veterans, as any as 10% of Gulf War veterans, 11% of veterans of the war in Afghanistan, and 20% of Iraqi war veterans. An additional 20 to 25 percent of all military men and women have had partial PTSD at some point in their lives (Military.)

Among those who served in the Vietnam War, 84.8% of those diagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder still show moderate impairment of symptoms, even 30 plus years after the war (Glover 2014). As of today, the Unites States has 2.8 million veterans who served in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, of those it is estimated that 11 to 20% currently suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. As of 2013, a total of 12,632 veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars are currently diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Glover 2014). Of course it is to be taken into account that these numbers are based on those who admit to experiencing symptoms and seek treatment.

Rates of trauma and mental illness are reported to be disproportionately higher among American veterans, especially those of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The barriers to care after civilian reentry further disadvantage this already vulnerable population. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been the longest sustained US military operations since the Vietnam era, sending more than 2.2 million troops into battle and resulting in more than 6,600 deaths and 48,000 injuries. Veterans are at risk mental health challenges, as well as family instability, elevated rates of homelessness, and joblessness. Veterans have disproportionate rates of mental illness, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse disorders, depression, anxiety, and military sexual trauma.

PTSD is a severe form of anxiety that affects a person so deeply that they cannot overcome the memories of the events that caused the distress to live a healthy life. These people are tormented by the circumstances

PTSD stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. According to a medical dictionary, PTSD is a “debilitating psychological condition triggered by a major traumatic, such as war, death of a loved one, a natural disaster, or rape”. It is triggered by upsetting memories or thoughts of the incident. For example; Veterans returning home from a war often have PTSD.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in war veterans is most commonly created when soldiers are put into situation in which they fear for their life. Recent war have changed in the way in which they have been fought. In past wars like World War I and World War II they type of fighting was strategically planned out. There would be attacks and retreats back to safety allowing some time to recuperate. However, in today’s war like in Iraq and Afghanistan soldier are attacking and being assaulted on the daily basis where there is little if any time for recuperation. The daily stress and common occurrences of horrific events and casualties but tremendous stress on soldiers’ brains. This daily stress is not just left on the battlefield once the soldiers return home. The physical, mental and emotional strain that war has on humans leaves lasting impression on the brain and body. When PTSD results from this strain, veterans can experience a wide range of symptoms. According to the Journal of Occupational Medicine the most common general symptoms include re-experiencing phenomena, avoidance tactics, and increased arousal (Bisson). Re-experiencing phenomena refers to a patient’s recurrent psychological recollections to the events that transpired to cause his or her PTSD. For many patients once they find a stimulus that causes them to have a recollection many try to avoid such areas in attempt to block their memories of the events. Arousal is shown through numerous methods with the most common being inability to sleep, difficulty concentrating, or irritability. Each treatment that follows is focused on reducing a patient’s symptoms and the severity in which it affects their

PTSD is a mental health problem that people can develop after experiencing or witnessing a severely traumatic event. Veterans can develop PTSD after returning home from the horrors of war. Symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares and other physical and psychological setbacks. This can lead to difficulties getting and keeping a job, and family or marital problems. The result is a downward spiral of substance abuse and depression. It is no surprise that the Department of Veterans Affairs has reported that 20 veterans commit suicide everyday. PTSD is an important issue in the veteran community, but not all veterans suffer from the disorder. Only about 11 to 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans actually suffer from

Between the year 2002 and 2010, 27.9 % of the veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan were diagnosed with mental illness such as PTSD and depression (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2014) Department of Veterans Affairs (2015)

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.

It is suggested that the number of Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers that have PTSD is much higher estimated. “According to RAND, at least 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers have PTSD and/or Depression.” (Veterans PTSD Statistics) It is also said that fifty percent of those soldiers do not seek to get treated for PTSD. Nineteen percent of the Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers have traumatic

One major concern that our society currently has is how to help veterans with mental disorders. According to research, about 30,000 people killed themselves and nearly 650,000 other people were seen in the emergency room after a suicide attempt after serving in the Vietnam war (Wineke, 2007). During this time the government had concerns about readjustment difficulties for veterans as they were returning home from war. Eventually, the nation expressed their concern about the mental health of returning veterans, and in 1970, the congress conducted the first hearing to address these issues (Rosenheck and Fontana, 1999). Service members reported having several psychological problems, including anxiety, depression, nightmares, and insomnia following a return from a combat zone. The Vietnam era was the turning point in assessment and treatment of combat-related psychological distress (Tanielian, 2008). Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, was officially defined as a mental disorder in 1979, in recognition of the potentially disabling mental health challenges confronting veterans returning from the war: “The most lasting contribution of Vietnam to the history of battle trauma is the legacy of post-traumatic stress disorder” (Helmus and Glenn, 2005). The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS) estimated that, in 1998, 15 percent (472,000) of those who had served in Vietnam met the criteria for active PTSD (Rosenheck and Fontana, 1999). A study of over 100,000

Roughly two million troops have been deployed to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan since September 2001. Current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in a number of investigations examining the post deployment mental health among military personnel serving in these regions. The primary focus of research on returning veteran has been on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD), specifically on the etiology, preventative measures, and treatment of PTSD. Some of the risk factors for military members to develop PTSD include: combat experience, being wounded, witnessing death, serving on graves registration duty or handling human remains, being captured or tortured, being exposed to unpredictable and uncontrollable stress, and experiencing sexual harassment or assault (Institute of Medicine,

While PTSD was not yet defined it was clear that these symptoms were caused because of the disturbing things that had been seen. With no treatments available and a stigma that the effected persons were cowards or scared soldiers were often sent home with no supervision. During World War I physicians began calling it “shell shock” or “combat fatigue”, they believed that concussions caused by the impact of shells disrupting the brain caused the symptoms. Treatments included hospitalization and electric shock therapy. By World War II medical personnel noticed that soldiers that were engaged in longer more intense fighting had much higher levels or psychiatric disturbances and started using the term battle fatigue or combat exhaustion. Soldiers were being labeled as fearful and lacking in discipline and PTSD was still not fully recognized as a disorder, at this time treatment included barbiturates.