Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) In Veterans

I am investigating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD) in veterans and how it can be treated. PTSD has been around since the world's very first conflicts, but it wasn’t until the 1900’s that is was medically recognized as a Mental disorder. The amount of veterans suffering from this disorder without treatment is un-imaginable. Often times veterans refuse to seek treatment for this disorder because they are afraid of the consequences of treatment. Veterans wouldn’t need to be treated if we take care of the problem before they come home. We train them for war, so why not train them to come home?
"Alternative Treatments for PTSD." Gale Student Resources in Context, Gale, 2014. Student Resources in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/OLCXYU147774022/SUIC?u=coll72001&xid=8f8d3b84.
Accessed 31 Mar. 2017. According to the article, “Alternative Treatments for PTSD” as of 2014 more than seven million people in the United States have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Those with PTSD most likely receive treatment in hopes that they can function in their Daily life. There are many different kinds of treatment for PTSD. Some treatments include: natural products, alternative traditional medicines, mind-body medicine, manipulative practices, and other therapies that do not fit into the first four classifications. Decaffeinated green tea is considered a natural product and is used to improve one's immune system. Then there is traditional chinese medicine that dates back more than 3,000 years ago. There is also a variety of mind-body exercises like yoga or meditation. Some patients even consider acupuncture, as it is said to increase blood flow and reduce stress. This article informs the reader of all the treatments that are available for treating PTSD and how they work.
"PTSD: A Historical Perspective." Gale Student Resources in Context, Gale, 2014. Student Resources in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/FOTRAS289842555/SUIC?u=coll72001&xid=25882b02. Accessed 6 Apr. 2017. In this article Gale Student Resources writes about the history of Post Traumatic Stress and how we’ve come to know so much about it. It was not until 1905 when medical experts realized the presence of a mental disorder as a result of a traumatic event. This is when the term “Shell Shocked” was conceived. Psychiatrist chose this word because PTSD was originally thought to be caused by constant change in air pressure due to exploding artillery shells in World War I. They later realized that the symptoms of PTSD was not due to brain damage, but rather a damaged emotional state. According to Gale Student Resources, 37% of soldiers who experienced combat in World War II “were discharged for serious psychiatric damage”. Research from the organization Vietnam Veterans of America Inc, states that a soldier who fought in the Korean War is 143% more likely to receive symptoms of PTSD than to die in combat. Finally, in 1980, the DSM-III officially defined this disorder as “a condition resulting from traumatic events that are not ordinary experiences of living, including rape, abuse, combat, or other traumas.”
"Sebastian Junger on PTSD: 'It's coming home that's actually the trauma'." PRI's The World, 13 May 2015. Student Resources in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A414011633/SUIC?u=coll72001&xid=387133b9. Accessed 31 Mar. 2017. In the article, “It’s coming home that’s actually the trauma” Junger writes about the difficulties veterans face when coming home. Junger says, “They come back from a very intimate, personal experience in their platoon, sleeping in groups, doing everything in groups. We basically evolved as a species to live out our lives like that.” Then we expect them to come home and live out their normal lives. It’s not really about what happen out there, it’s about whether or not they feel alienated when they come home. If one can come home to a “tightly-knit society” is really dissipates the effects of trauma. Junger actually believes that we need to come up with a new word for the disorder, like “re-entry disorder” rather than “Post Traumatic Stress”. Aaron from California stated “It’s like releasing prisoners without any job training and expecting them to just automatically change their prison mindset.” Jungers purpose of this article is to encourage readers to look at this disorder from a different perspective. Barbour, Scott. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. San Diego, CA, ReferencePoint Press, 2010. In the book, “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” Barbour Scott writes about PTSD and how we as a society can help. Barbour provides a variety of information dating all the way back to the civil war when some of the very first evidence of PTSD was discovered. Back then it was simply known as “Soldier's Heart” or “Irritable Heart”. According to Barbour, you are nearly 20% more likely to be diagnosed with PTSD if you have been in more than 5 firefights. Many veterans refuse to seek treatment for this disorder because they are afraid of the side effect in receiving treatment. 43.6% of soldiers said that receiving treatment would harm their career. 23% of soldiers refused to receive treatment because they were afraid their commander or supervisor would respect them less. Soldiers should not be afraid to receive treatment for PTSD because if they don’t it only hurts the people around them more. The purpose of this book is to inform the reader of the reality veterans face with PTSD.
Garcia, Hector. "We Train Soldiers for War. Let's Train Them to Come Home, Too." TED Talk. N.p., Nov. 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2017. Hector Garcia, in the Ted Talk “We train Soldier for War. Let’s Train Them to Come Home, Too” talks about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the immense difficulties that are handed to veterans who are coming home from war. Garcia talks about the development of PTSD in the recent decade with the outbreak of the Iraqi War overseas. According to Garcia PTSD was never a problem with our ancestors because they fought on their homeland. Nowadays, we ship young men overseas where they receive the most intense, repetitive training of their lives. We train these men to never let their guard down and carry out every mission with extreme caution. Firing a weapon easily becomes 2nd nature to these young men. Then when it’s all said and done, we bring them home and act like nothing happened. Garcia states that getting long term treatment for PTSD has a lot of the same principles as training for war. It requires repetition, endurance, and determination. The only solution to completely avoid PTSD is simple, don’t go to war.
Junger, Sebastian.
"Our Lonely Society Makes It Hard to Come Home from War." TED Talk. Nov. 2015. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. Sebastian Junger, in the speech “Our Lonely Society Makes It Hard to Come Home from War” talks about the difficulties veterans face when they arrive home. According to Junger, 50% of veterans file for PTSD compensation upon returning home. But only 10% of the military is actively engaged in combat. That means that only 40% of veterans were traumatized over sea’s. Junger takes a step back and looks at Post traumatic Stress Disorder in a different perspective. Junger claims, “Maybe it’s not what happened out there, but the kind of society you come back to”. You are eight times more likely to suffer from depression if you live in a modern society. We live in a very alienating and isolating society that makes it hard for veterans to come home to. After 9/11 the murder rate in New York City went down forty percent. After 9/11 PTSD symptoms went down. The idea of one traumatized person living by himself is scary, but if you traumatize a whole community, we come together. At the end of Junger’s speech he says, “Sometimes we ask ourselves if we can save the vet’s, I think the real question is can we save ourselves?” Junger’s purpose of this speech is to inform and motivate our society to come together if not for themselves, for the men and women who fought for this
country.
Pilkington, Ed.
"Multiple Deployments Contribute to Suicide Among Veterans." Veterans, edited by Dedria Bryfonski, Greenhaven Press, 2015. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010686244/OVIC?u=coll72001&xid=07aa4ac5. Accessed 7 Apr. 2017. Originally published as "US Military Struggling to Stop Suicide Epidemic Among War Veterans," Guardian, 1 Feb. 2013. In this article Libby Busbee shares her son's tragic story. Her son, William Busbee, served three year long tours in Afghanistan before retiring from the military. When he arrived home he wasn’t the same person he was when he left. William once said to his mother, “You would hate me if you knew what I’ve done out there.” He had nightmares frequently and eventually began sleeping in the closet for a better sense of security. On one occasion William was so startled that he lept out of a moving vehicle after a nearby train sounded its horn. On the date of March 20th, 2012, William Busbee locked himself in his car and shot himself in the head. Opposing Viewpoints in Context states that “In 2012, for the first time in at least a generation, the number of active-duty soldiers who killed themselves, 177, exceeded the 176 who were killed while in the war zone”. This article shows the tragic reality of a traumatized veteran and the shocking
statistics.
Ramsey, Christine, et al. "Incidence of Mental Health Diagnoses in Veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and New Dawn, 2001-2014." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 107, no. 2, Feb. 2017, pp. 329-335. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303574. Christine Ramsey states that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the “most frequently diagnosed mental health condition across gender and age groups.” Ramsey and a group of Medical Scientist studied Mental Health in veterans upon returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The study included participants from all age groups, gender, and race. Women accounted for 12.4% of the study while men accounted for 87.6%. Any participant that had a Mental Health Disorder before enlisting in the military was excluded. The information gathered in this study will work to help us predict Mental Health of veterans in the future and how to prevent it. The purpose of this study is to inform our society with these so called “Predictors”, so that we can obtain a better understanding of Mental Health in veterans.