PTSD In Veterans

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental health condition caused by experiencing or seeing a terrifying event. It has been known to affect mostly war veterans but has also affected people who are not veterans. Rape victims and people who have suffered severe abuse have also been diagnosed with PTSD. In most cases, veterans have a higher percentage than others.

Another interesting factor that has affected the prevalence of PTSD in returning veterans is the difference in the demographic constituency of American veterans across these wars. The first demographic factor worth noting is that of gender. Statistically speaking, there were far fewer women enlisted during the Vietnam War, than in the Gulf War and OIF. Less than one percent of the soldiers were women in the Vietnam War in comparison to the Gulf War where women made up 8.1 percent and 12.1 percent in OIF ("Vietnam War Statistics") ("Public Health").

After seeing many terrible things while serving in the military, many soldiers will have to deal with post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. Many will try a variety of therapy methods, but many say they don’t really help. Without help, some will turn to alcohol or other things that lead to an addiction.

Memories of war are like poison in the minds of the broken soldiers calling for help, only to find out that their voices have become a distant echo. Their words lost in the society of the land they've slaved to protect, robbed of the aid, and crippled by their illness. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), became a documented mental disorder in 1980, when the American Psychiatric Association (APA) added PTSD to the third edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. For about 30+ years, since the Vietnam war began, veterans have experienced the pain of this ailment. Human beings experience PTSD in varying degree, but often we associate it with war. Since the recognition of PTSD as an illness, the government has failed

War veterans brought PTSD to public attention in the early nineteen eighties, with the lack of knowledge and treatment; planning and specialized mental facilities were not available. PTSD can stem from traumatic incidents, such as mugging, assault, torture, kidnapping or held captive, child abuse, automobile accidents, train crashes, plane crashes, bombings, or natural calamities such as floods or earthquake. The majority of people exposed to such events experience some symptoms of distress (sleep problems, jumpiness). Most fully, recover in a few weeks or months. Therefore, has there been enough accomplished over the past century to help treat veterans coming home with PTSD?

Countless numbers veterans that have served in the military are dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Men and women have experience detrimental incidents that caused them PTSD and some are unable to recover from it or cope with their own feelings, in many cases they are their own enemy because some know that they are need help however some refuse to address it because of their pride. The military initially show their troops to oppress their feelings and to deal with their feelings after returning back from war. Veterans are displaying symptoms of PTSD when they are returning home to extreme extend some are suicidal and homicidal. While in combat things are so up-tempo that it gives them minimum time about what is really going on around

An anonymous veteran sends in his story about serving for the U.S military. He states that he was diagnosed with severe PTSD. While at work, he sometimes had to go outside due to the lack of being able to control his emotions. His wife and son also take caution by keeping their distance on the days he is emotionally unstable. Drinking also became a habit to try to calm the emotional episodes he was facing. Even though his family and friends noticed these issues, they decided not to bother for the sake of his anger. (PTSD and Me: True Stories from Military Veterans). These things happen to many veterans all over the world. PTSD affects every aspect of a person's life.

Throughout history active military have constantly had experiences with traumatic and life changing experiences, even before we knew what Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was. However, not a lot has changed since we began acknowledging PTSD as more than just depression or anxiety. PTSD has slowly become more recognized among the medical community due to an increase in the number of cases; are we to blame for that? Is there discrimination for people that suffer from PTSD? Through my research I found multiple cases where a person with PTSD was denied a job or suffered other indignities because of their diagnosis. How can we diagnosis such a disorder when there may be little to no signs of the trauma until

The aftermath of war not only has long term effects on the men and women who served or currently serve in the military, but their families and social institutions as well. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a very serious illness, and if left undiagnosed and untreated can result in serious life-threatening effects to include death.

There has been controversy about whether the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs is taking care of their veterans or are resisting in recognizing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Union of Concerned Scientist found that the Department of Defense stated that, “The U.S. Army allegedly pressured psychologists not to diagnose Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to free the Army from providing long-term, expensive care for soldiers. The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) has also been implicated in pressuring staff to misdiagnose veterans with the aim of cutting costs” (UCS). In result of not properly diagnosing the veterans, they are left unsure why treatment

First of all, what is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is an anxiety disorder that develops when someone is a witness to or experiences a traumatic event. PTSD has specific symptoms resulting from traumatic life threatening experiences. Symptoms resulting from the event must be present in a certain way over a period of time and for a certain duration. A person who witnesses two or more traumatic events in a short amount of time can cause the brain to release the hormone glucocorticoid which helps control the response to stress. When this hormone is low or depleted and a second traumatic event takes place before the hormone is replenished in the brain, the stress becomes even more intensified thus increasing the person’s chances of developing PTSD. Most people who develop PTSD, get better, but 1 out of 3 people may continue to have some symptoms over their lifetime

To effectively treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD in combat Veterans and service members, therapists use different techniques, which are preceded by addressing any underlying pain associated with the disorder. In their research, Chard et al. (2011) reported significant modifications to the CPT protocol for use with patients in a TBI-PTSD residential treatment facility, including increasing the number of sessions per week, combining group and individual therapy, and augmenting the treatment with cognitive rehabilitation. However, their research was marred with the use of few participants which provides doubts regarding the outcome of the proposed treatment procedures. Moreover, the researchers do not state with certainty as to the

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a relatively new diagnosis that was associated with survivors of war when it was first introduced. Its diagnosis was met largely with skepticism and dismissal by the public of the validity of the illness. PTSD was only widely accepted when it was included as a diagnosis in 1980 in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) of the American Psychiatric Association. PTSD is a complex mental disorder that develops in response to exposure to a severe traumatic event that stems a cluster of symptoms. Being afflicted with the disorder is debilitating, disrupting an individual’s ability to function and perform the most basic tasks.

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.

The history of diagnosing PTSD took years before understanding the disorder. In comparison to PTSD, The policy on soldiers being diagnosed with a personality disorder classifies them as having a pre-existing injury. Several military soldiers are being misdiagnosed, when they should be diagnosed with PTSD. Pre-existing injuries leads to losing financial and health benefits after being discharged from the military. PTSD occurs after serving in the war, usually being diagnosed six months after returning home from deployment. Recommendations for military personnel would benefit the soldiers who are in need of treatments after serving in the military. There are a various amount of treatments used today such as Prolonged Exposure, Virtual Reality, and