Vietnam Adjustment Study

Hundreds of thousands of United States veterans are not able to leave the horrors of war on the battlefield (“Forever at War: Veterans Everyday Battles with PTSD” 1). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the reason why these courageous military service members cannot live a normal life when they are discharged. One out of every five military service members on combat tours—about 300,000 so far—return home with symptoms of PTSD or major depression. According to the Rand Study, almost half of these cases go untreated because of the disgrace that the military and civil society attach to mental disorders (McGirk 1). The general population of the world has to admit that they have had a nightmare before. Imagine not being able to sleep one

It is common knowledge that with every war, there always comes casualties. Soldiers can lose an arm or a leg, or even their life when they go to war. Unfortunately soldiers can even lose their minds because of war. Specifically, this research paper will focus on PTSD, or in other words: post traumatic stress disorder. PTSD has shown up as a factor from many wars, but for some reason, one war in particular stands out from all others regarding the the PTSD numbers. It is called the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War (1956-1975) was part of the cold war. The US wanted to prevent Vietnam from becoming a communist country, so after Vietnam split into a north and south, they began to support South Vietnam. The US thought that if Vietnam were to

Perhaps attesting to the enhanced understanding of PTSD and alarm at the troubling suicide rates of veterans, the media seems to be raising the public’s attention about the condition, for example, through the use of documentaries. In 2005, during the second push of the Iraqi and Afghanistan war PBS FRONTLINE released a documentary entitled, “The Soldier’s Heart,” This documentary gives an overview of the history of PTSD, but focuses specifically on the psychological toll of the Iraq war. It illuminates the fact that despite advances in our understanding of PTSD, there continues to be a stigma against psychological problems in the

Problem that the Vietnamese war veterans faced was the psychological effects which was very common for Vietnam veterans to have. The main cause of this is because it was different compared to other wars in the past like the condition that the soldiers were in. Studies has shown that a World War II soldiers experienced up to a total of 60 days under combat like conditions. A Vietnam infantryman endured on a comparable basis 300+ days therefore Vietnam veterans have more likely to develop psychological problems than a World War II veteran. (POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD), 2001)

There have been many diagnoses of PTSD in American soldiers. As Mark Thomas said in a magazine article, “The National Academy of Sciences have report estimated that up to 20% of 2.6 million US men and women who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq may have it (PTSD)”(Thomas). This quote expresses that nearly 520,000 US families have been affected by this disorder. It also shows that PTSD has become a large enough issue that more and more people and

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.

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).

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as a “disorder that develops in some people who have seen or lived through a shocking, scary, or dangerous events”. This being one of the titles strapped on to most returning veterans from war is an issue that is heavily debated and relevant to future war veterans. There is no known cure for this disorder and can be destructive to one who has it. This report will be going over 1) A brief history of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 2) Why does Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder pertain to Vietnam veterans specifically how the veterans helped PTSD be what it is today 3) Some evidence from other sources that

In the past, veterans who disclosed suffering from signs of PTSD encountered a great deal of ignorance and bias. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (n.d.), veterans who had the illness were often considered weak, were rejected by comrades, and even faced discharge from military service. In fact, even physicians and mental health specialists often questioned the existence of the disease, which of course led to society’s misconception of PTSD in general. Sadly because of this existing prejudice it appears even today soldiers are still worried to admit having PTSD symptoms, and therefore they do not receive the proper support they need. While individuals are assured that their careers will not be affected, and seeking help is encouraged, most soldiers see it as a failure to admit having a mental health illness (Zoroya, 2013). Educating military personal of this illness, and making sure no blame is put on the veterans who encounter this disease is therefore vital.

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,

If veterans do struggle with PTSD after they return from combat the Department of Veterans Affairs, a governmental agency that helps struggling veterans recover, offers two treatments. Studies have been done to see if one of the therapies is more effective than the other. There is not yet evidence that one therapy is better than the other. Cognitive processing therapy, CPT, helps by giving the vet a new way to deal with the maladaptive thoughts that come with PTSD. It also comforts them in gaining a new understanding of the traumatic events that happened to them. One of the other benefits of CPT is that it assists the person in learning how these disturbing events change the way they look at everything in life and helps them cope with that (“PTSD: National”). The second newer option of the two is prolonged exposure therapy, which is repeated exposure to these thoughts, feelings, and situations (“Most PTSD”). This type of therapy is now a central piece in the VA’s war on PTSD. “The problem with prolonged exposure is that it also has made a number of veterans violent, suicidal, and depressed, and it has a dropout rate that some researchers put at more than 50 percent, the highest dropout rate of any PTSD therapy that has been widely studied so far,”(“Trauma Post”). Both of the therapies are proven to reduce the symptoms but both have extremely high drop out rates and low follow through. It

“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

War is a complex concept that is increasingly difficult to understand, particularly in an age that allows for live images of combat to be beamed around the world. Many war films depict the brutalities of war and affects war has on participants, but it seems that these representations merely skim the surface. The 20th century is an era that saw a significant amount of military action: World Wars I and II, the Cold War, Vietnam, and the Gulf War - millions of men fought, some survived and live among us today. Unfortunately, the war experience for many veterans is traumatizing and as a result, many have been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This

Many of the war veterans who came home from the Vietnam War came home with PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder which is a mental health condition that is triggered by a terrifying event- either through experiencing it or witnessing it. Although it happens most to those who serve in the military, it can happen to anyone who goes either goes through or witnesses a traumatic event at any point in their life. There are many signs and symptoms that can let others know if someone has PTSD so they can be treated in the appropriate manner. There are many causes of this mental health condition and as a result of advancements in our medical system; there are different types of treatments for this condition, depending on the cause of your PTSD. I have heard many stories from those who have this condition and that probed me to choose this topic in order to learn more about this mental condition that plagues those who have it and hopefully I can learn different ways in which I can help those who have this mental condition.