Side Effects Of The Vietnam War

The Social and Emotional Effect of the
Vietnam War on Returning Vets

The Vietnam War is arguably one of the biggest mistakes that the United States Government ever undertook. The War lasted from November 1955 to April 1975 Over the course of nineteen and a half years America took the lives of over one million vietnamese civilians. The public’s opinion on the war changed dramatically over the course of the war. Two years before the end of the war the last poll on public opinion was held, finding that only 29% of the population approved of the war. When the American soldiers returned home to the United States from the Vietnam War, they were shunned by the public, suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, endured the hardship of broken
PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or seeing a terrifying event. The symptoms of PTSD can vary widely from person to person, but there are a couple common symptoms. First there are people who re-experience what ever traumatic event that they went through. So for people who experienced war it can be very terrifying to have to relive their experiences. Second is that people who suffer from PTSD have increased anxiety and emotional arousal. Emotional arousal makes those suffering with PTSD more prone to anger, develop insomnia, and/or hypervigilance (being on constant “red alert”). Over the years Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has gone through numerous name changes. During the First World War PTSD was referred to as “Shell Shock”. Then during the Second World War the same condition became “Battle Fatigue”. Yet again, during the Korean War the exact same condition turned into “Operational Exhaustion”. George Carlin, a comedian known for his satirical look on the world, once did a small comedy bit on euphemisms that really sums up the neglect that PTSD
Simple, honest, direct language. Two syllables, shell shock. Almost sounds like the guns themselves. That was seventy years ago. Then a whole generation went by and the second world war came along and very same combat condition was called battle fatigue. Four syllables now. Takes a little longer to say. Doesn't seem to hurt as much. Fatigue is a nicer word than shock. Shell shock! Battle fatigue. Then we had the war in Korea, 1950. Madison avenue was riding high by that time, and the very same combat condition was called operational exhaustion. Hey, we’re up to eight syllables now! And the humanity has been squeezed completely out of the phrase. It's totally sterile now. Operational exhaustion. Sounds like something that might happen to your car. Then of course, came the war in Vietnam, which has only been over for about sixteen or seventeen years, and thanks to the lies and deceits surrounding that war, I guess it's no surprise that the very same condition was called post-traumatic stress disorder. Still eight syllables, but we've added a hyphen! And the pain is completely buried under jargon. Post-traumatic stress disorder. I'll bet you if we'd of still been calling it shell shock, some of those Vietnam veterans might have gotten the attention they needed at the time. I'll betcha.” - George