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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder In Veterans

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a deeper mental problem than being anxious and jumpy. Veterans who have PTSD lose themselves as people. PTSD is one of the most common health issues among military personnel who served in a combat zone. When families have a loved one serving in combat zones, they fear that their soldier may not return home or will have a serious physical injury. But unlike the feared physical injuries, PTSD is not a visible wound, it is an injury of the mind. The PTSD will take a part of their loved one away, the veteran will not be at emotional or social. This disorder is an incurable mental condition caused by a traumatic event or events in person’s life. The soldiers who have PTSD have no way to get rid of …show more content…

War traumas date back to the Civil War. During the Russo- Japanese War (1904-1905) a Russian psychiatrist compared traumatized train crash survivors and returning war veterans. The train crash survivors were said to have “railway spine”, the doctors believed their anxiety was caused by the compression of the backbone (Frey n.pag). World War I (1914-1918) was the first war that used bombs, fighter airplanes, and chemical warfare. In 1917, Robert Gaupp explained that “the main causes are the fright and anxiety brought about by the explosion of enemy shells and mines” (Scott 550). During World War I the technically term was not PTSD at the time they called it “Shell Shock”. The symptoms of Shell Shock were the inability to hear, talk, stand and walk. In addition the soldier experience “thousand-yard stare” a blank and unfocused expression (Frey n.pag). Conditions like these were called “combat fatigue” or “traumatic war neurosis” during World War II (1939-1945). PTSD affect a lot of the soldiers in the Vietnam War (1954-1975). After the Vietnam War, the term Post-traumatic Stress Disorder was coined, connecting the terms shell shock, combat fatigue, and traumatic war neurosis. The veterans suffering from PTSD are not the only one the disorder is affecting, it also affects their families. The soldier with PTSD will have hard time connecting with his/hers family. The sufferer will feel numb and emotionless, this Post-traumatic stress disorder is not curable, but there are medicine and treatments that will help the veterans cope with the

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