Preview

PSTD And The Effects It Causes

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2662 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
PSTD And The Effects It Causes
PSTD, the under addressed demon we battle.
Brian McCluskey
Psychology
Bryant and Stratton College

PSTD, the under addressed demon we battle.

One of the most difficult and most elusive war inflicted hardships to deal with are those involving psychological disorders or afflictions. These particular war related traumas are not ones that can be touched, amputated, surgically removed, or sutured. Yet to those inflicted the pain and suffering is just as tremendous. Yet, psychological disorders resulting from an individual’s involvement in combat are as real as any other type of war related injury. The psychological wounds of war present a situation where individuals are often times forgotten, unaddressed, and underappreciated-especially those who are suffering from the posttraumatic stress syndrome, they are also struggling with the transition back to normal life and work.
Literature Review: PSTD Defined. Examining the impact of military trauma on a veteran’s life remains in an infant stage with respect to knowing all that must garnered (Sutker, 1995). Accountability, sustainability, and treatment are far from being complete. Not only do diagnostic and treatment paradigms need to be made available to those veterans who suffer from PTSD, but a support system must be identified and structured to as well. Family and friends have to learn that they must be proactive in their understanding and support of the military veteran who have been diagnosed with PTSD disorder.
Notwithstanding the fact that people who have been in military combat and suffer from PTSD, there has been reported a direct relationship between the disorder and negative physical health as well such as non-specific ECH abnormalities and atrioventricular defects and infarctions. (Jankowski, 2004). Although not extensively researched there are indications that PTSD is related to some gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal dysfunctions as well. However, the psychological factors resulting from



References: Babbel, S. (2012, September 12). Somatic Psychology. Psychology Today. Retrieved December 2, 2013, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/somatic-psychology/201208/students-ptsd Bremner, J Comer, Ronald J. Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology. 4th ed. Worth Publishers (2005). Hoge, C., Terhakopian, A., Castro, C., Messer, S., & Engel, C. (2007). Association of posttraumatic stress disorder with somatic symptoms, health care visits, and absenteeism among Iraq war veterans. Am J Psychiatry, 164(1), 150-153. Samuelson, K. W. (2011). Post-traumatic stress disorder and declarative memory functioning: a review. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 13(3), 346-351.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Most nights when a restless Theo Galavant , a former marine, finally became somnolent he found himself back on the battlefields of Iraq. He would awake in a cold sweat, then struggle fruitless to return to sleep. Days were rarely better. Loud noises such as Car alarms shattered his nerves. Flashbacks came unexpectedly at the smallest triggers like a whiff of certain cleaning chemicals. Bar fights seemed unavoidable; he nearly attacked a man for not washing his hands in the bathroom. Desperate for sleep and relief, Mr.Galavant turned to bottles of alcohol to comfort him and to drown his woes in. One morning, his parents found him in the driveway slumped over the wheel of his car, the door wide open, wipers scraping back and forth. Another time, they found him curled in a fetal position in his closet. In denial of the obvious problem he had, it took his drunken driving causing the death of a 16-year-old cheerleader for Mr.Galavant to acknowledge the depth of his problem: His eight months at war had profoundly damaged his psyche.“I was trying to be the tough marine I was trained to be — not to talk about problems, not to cry,” said Mr. Galavant, who has since been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. “I imprisoned myself in my own mind.(Alvarez par 1). Mr. Galavant is not the only one struggling with with problems like this, PTSD affects about 7.7 million adults in just america…

    • 1828 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Horace Whaley Causes

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages

    According to statistics it is estimated that one in twenty of the surviving World War II veterans suffer from some level of post-traumatic stress disorder. Also known as PTSD, it occurs when one experiences a tragic, petrifying moment. War veterans suffer from this condition all the time. There are many ways to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, but not to completely get rid of it. Some treatments consist of medication, stress management classes, as well as different therapies. In war, you see and live through traumatic events. You foresee individuals that get there arm or legs blown off, on top of ones that lose their lives. Gunshots and explosions are implanted in your brain; there is no way to forget.…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Amanda Harris Research Paper

    • 2350 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Posttraumatic Stress Disorder was first brought to the public’s attention in affiliation to war veterans. According to the National Institute of Mental…

    • 2350 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Health, I. ,. (2009). PTSD: A growing epidemic. Retrieved from National Institute of health: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/winter09/articles/winter09pg10-14.html…

    • 1302 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ptsd in the Vietnam War

    • 1386 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Vietnam War was considered one of the bloodiest battles ever in the history of the United States. Not only were soldiers harmed physically during the war, but they were also wounded mentally. There are endless accounts of soldiers leaving the war and coming home not just with bullet wounds, but the memories that followed with it. These memories caused soldiers to not sleep at night and in some cases ruining their lives and forcing them to suicide. After the war, specialists came up with a name for this “disease” that was destroying the lives of many Vietnam veterans. They classified it as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. (National) The psychological burdens of war, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, have substantial effects on soldiers in the armed forces making reentry into civilian life challenging.…

    • 1386 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) causes a painful recollection of a past harrowing event that haunts victims for the rest of their lives and often causes extreme anxiety, depression, and in some cases, drug abuse and suicide. The suicide rates have increased effectually among soldiers, with about twenty-eight veterans killing themselves each day (Rosenshield). Many veterans are diagnosed with PTSD, and are forced to live with it for the rest of their lives. It is hard to understand the shift in a person before and after serving in war because the change is not physical, but mental. Though a person may seem perfectly normal, their mental make-up is morphed in a way that changes them forever. As time progresses, medical advances increase. Less and less soldiers are being injured and killed on the battlefield, however the damage being done to soldiers is not controlled due to PTSD. Until the 1980’s, medical professionals did not recognize PTSD as an illness. This being said, many veterans traumatized in the Vietnam war did not get the recognition they needed from psychiatric doctors and suffered alone. This rings true for both World Wars as well,…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Post-traumatic stress disorder is among the leading diseases that veterans face after their time in the military. Most veterans, some being homeless, have some form or symptoms of PTSD. This disease destroys veterans’ lives one day at a time. Veterans with PTSD go unsupported and uncared for every single day. Veterans who suffer from PTSD need more support from the government they served under and from the people they protect.…

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tim O’Brien beautifully details the war zone and its aftereffects on specific veterans in The Things They Carried. Some war veterans leave their respective battle with war stories and life lessons to tell, but others leave empty-handed with an empty soul. Despite remedies recently implanted for veterans, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) continues to negatively impact not only certain veterans but also society.…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Military Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious mental health disorder that must be better understood by the military. PTSD, battle fatigue, shell shock, and several other phrases describe a condition that has been observed in war veterans for centuries. In Achilles in Vietnam, Jonathan Shay studied veterans of the Vietnam War with PTSD and explained the similarities between these veterans and Achilles in the book The Iliad. PTSD is triggered by traumatic events that result in symptoms that can lead to very bad behavioral problems. Without proper awareness and understanding of how to identify and treat the disorder, many veterans will have difficulty functioning normally in society.…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    People most commonly diagnosed with PTSD include those in the military who have been exposed to war or similar traumatic events, adults and children who have been physically and/or sexually abused, victims of attacks such as those on September 11, 2001, and individuals in severe accidents or natural disasters such as a car crash, house fire, earthquake, hurricane, or tornado (Butcher, Mineka, and Hooley, 2013). While an individual who has experienced a traumatic event has the possibility of developing PTSD, it does not mean that they will. This paper will review three peer reviewed research studies on PTSD, examine the causes of PTSD according to the biopsychosocial model, and the best practices for treating PTSD.…

    • 1737 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Vines, B. (n.d.). Understanding How Combat PTSD Changes The Brain [Article within a website]. Retrieved from…

    • 2115 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    PTSD is classified as a severe anxiety disorder which is likely to develop when a person is exposed to one or more traumatic events. This study consists of surveys which measure the levels of posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms in soldiers returning from active duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The research will attempt to show soldiers returning from an extended tour of duty are at high risk for developing these mental issues. As discussed in class, stress is any challenge to the system and has an effect on one's emotions as well as their physical well being. Measuring the effects of war on a soldier is sure to expose signs of stress. If a soldier should show signs of posttraumatic…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Military Needs Assessment

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Two quantitative surveys are given to military personnel before, after, and following the treatment process, which are the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and the PTSD Checklist (PCL). The CAPS is given to guide researchers in making a current diagnosis of PTSD, examine a lifetime diagnosis for PTSD, and assessing PTSD symptoms over the past week (Weathers, 2013). The PCL is given to monitor military personnel symptom change before and after treatment and an overall screening for PTSD (Weathers, 2013). The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) is given through a set of semi-structured questions designed to confirm the PTSD diagnosis and assess mental health (First, Spitzer, Gibbon, & Williams, 1996). A focus group is conducted, where military personnel become educated on PTSD, create goals for treatment, acquire breathing and relaxation techniques, and manage future planning (Astramovich,…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by the re-experiencing of an extremely traumatic event accompanied by symptoms of increased arousal and by avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma . Cowley says that PTSD is as old as war but it did not become an official diagnosis until the 1980’s. PTSD’s causes are still murky and…

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The trauma that they have endured is not handled appropriately and the facilities which they need are often not mentioned to them, this leads to problems developing such as; committing suicide and violent crimes, and suffering homelessness, addiction, and mental illness in record numbers. On January 13, the New York Times published the first part in a series of examinations into killings committed in the United States by returned veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Under the title “War Torn,” the series examines 121 cases in which Iraq and Afghanistan veterans had committed or were charged with killings, most of them murder, and many linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and consequent substance abuse and domestic distress. Families or single veterans are left to contend with the mental damage themselves. Overwhelmingly from lower-income working class backgrounds, military families bear multiple burdens in caring for wounded loved ones: psychological difficulties, alienation and lack of social infrastructure, enormous, medical costs, and lost economic livelihoods. With our general economic situation in poor standing – job prospects being impossible to attain, and the cost of living rising – all the difficulties manifest and compound into huge burdens for these veterans. Consequently, domestic disturbances, self-medication and drug dependency, homelessness, and incarceration are becoming more and more…

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays