Complex Trauma

According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, a traumatic event is a dangerous or distressing experience, outside the range of usual human experience, that overwhelms the capacity to cope. Traumatic experiences commonly result in intense emotional and physical reactions, feelings of helplessness and terror, and threatens serious injury or death (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network [NCTSNET], 2014). Trauma informed providers strive to be aware of the association between how traumatized youth understand the world and interact with others differently from other children and how to provide appropriate treatment for those with a history of traumatic exposures. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE) has been one of the largest research investigations exploring the link between childhood stressors and long-term consequences on adult health. Early childhood trauma has been shown to alter brain development and neurochemical pathways away from a healthy trajectory.

Mental health regarding a person 's psychological and emotional well-being, can greatly be affected by states of war or terror. The Military Health Policy Research expressed that twenty percent of those who serve in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With the majority of those personnel have experienced a traumatic brain injury. Approximately two point one million veterans received mental health treatment from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006-2010. This is a fairly low number for twenty percent of all active duty suffer from PTSD.

During the time between 2000 and 2011 almost a million veterans were diagnosed with a minimum of one psychosocial disorder nearly half as many had multiple cases. The U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs has annually spent millions of dollars on researching cures for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) without finding any new way for treatment to commence. The current method for treating this disorder is merely getting them to interact with other people; loved ones, or fellow soldiers are the most common. Many veterans are coming away from war with mental scars that require just as much attention as any physical wound and the United States needs to help stem the tide of this growing

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in The Things They Carried During the turbulent times of the Vietnam War, thousands of young men entered the warzone and came face-to-face with unimaginable scenes of death, destruction, and turmoil. While some perished in the dense Asian jungles, others returned to American soil and were forced to confront their lingering combat trauma. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried provides distinct instances of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and reveals the psychological trauma felt by soldiers in the Vietnam War. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD for short, is the most common mental illness affecting soldiers both on and off the battlefield.

A child who experiences trauma of domestic violence will hinder their emotional growth, hence the child will not develop and maintain a normal level of trust. A child that experiences domestic violence or is exposed to domestic violence can develop a fear of their environment, for they think that everyone will try to hurt them. They also do not trust anyone with their problems or issues, hence they will keep everything inside and this will affect their state of mind. An abused spouse may experience chronic psydiasmatic pain or pain due to diffuse trauma without visible evidence. This form of pain will have a very bad effect on the body.

A constant watch over mental health issues of all military servicemen and women has gone under the radar in the past few years due to a lack of knowing how unrecognizable the problem just might be. The magnitude of this problem is enormous. A recent report finds that the estimates of PTSD range from 4 to 45 percent for those soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan (Cesur, Sabia & Tekin, 2012). Research suggested that other serious medical issues are likely to accompany the PTSD diagnosis, such as cardiovascular disease, and chronic pain (Frayne, et al, 2010). Compiling mental health issues, physical ailments along with family reintegration can prove overwhelming for a returning veteran.

In the New York Times article Death of a Marine, Bob Herbert discloses a story regarding a young man who participated in the Marines. Jeffrey Lucey of Massachusetts enlisted in the army instead of going to college. Despite his parents’ disapproval, he still joined. When Jeffery turned 22, his unit was one of the first to mobilize in the Iraq War. The damage that impacted Jeffery in Iraq included, explosions “just short of blowing out your eardrums”, damaged nerves, nightmare hallucinations and above all else, PTSD.

The most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that among men aged 25-34, Gulf-War era II veterans (veterans who served after September 2001; OIF/OEF veterans) had a higher unemployment rate (6.8%) than did nonveterans (5.4%). This is significant because almost half of all Gulf-War era II veterans are between the ages of 25 and 34. Additionally, OIF/OEF Veterans have high rates of TBI and mental health disorders such as PTSD and depression. Of 289,328 OIF/OEF Veterans enrolled in Veterans Health Administration services from 2002 to 2008, 37 percent received mental health diagnoses, including 22 percent with PTSD, 17 percent with depression, and 10 percent with substance use disorders (Twamley et al. 2013) . TBI is the hallmark injury among OIF/OEF Veterans, with approximately 20% experiencing a mild TBI and 7% of returning Veterans experiencing persistent post-concussive symptoms (Hoge et al. 2008).

Another issue that veterans struggle with when they come back from war is mental illnesses like PTSD. According to “bringing the war back home”, “Of 103 788 OEF/OIF veterans seen at VA health care facilities, 25 658 (25%) received mental health diagnosis(es)”. This disabilities can make getting into the workforce much more difficult and even leave veterans to live on the streets from lack of employment. The solution discovered from this research is that if these mental diseases are caught early enough, the veterans will receive the help they need and be able to continue their normal civilian lives. “Targeted early detection and intervention beginning in primary care settings are needed to prevent chronic mental illness and

Trauma will affect children’s development because it does give an impact to their emotion that relate to their behaviour. Traumatise children likely will develop fear and tend to be too sensitive into something that may remind them of the trauma and possibility being aggressive in such a way thinking they need to protect themselves. They tend to have lack in their emotion and may not coping themselves with their surrounding well. Difficulty to get themselves into the surrounding, chances they will reduce their involvement in learning or playing or being around with other people. For not having much interaction may affect their language development and probably having a social issue.

For many years the only injury soldiers were believed to have could be seen with the naked eye; however, the real injuries are within the soldier’s mind. Most soldiers and victims of war suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), their own minds become danger zones as they recall horrific experiences when they dream, think, or merely close their eyes. The emotional pain stays with the victim years after the war is over. The physical pain that a soldier or victim endures can be healed with time and care, the emotional trauma they deal with stays with them for a lifetime. The psychological pain that the victims endure usually goes unnoticed until after the traumatic event.

Historic trauma stems from relocation, disease, residential schools, the Indian Act, and racial policies meant to assimilate and eradicate Aboriginal people (First Nations Health Council, 2011). Contact between Aboriginal Peoples and non-Aboriginals facilitated the spread of epidemic diseases which lead to the Aboriginal population collapse (First Nations Health Council, 2011). Daschuk, Hackett and MacNeil (2006) note that different severities of diseases experienced by First Nations were directly related to the new realities of the First Nations peoples as they struggled to adapt to the world of the colonisers including economic dislocation, political changes, and changes from traditional diets all created the perfect environment for breading diseases. The government and churches actively colonized and controlled Aboriginal peoples by eroding all Aboriginal systems including “spirituality, political authority, education, health care systems, land and resource access, and cultural practices” (First Nations Health Council, 2011, p. 13).

Soldiers train rigorously, preparing for the departure of war. They sacrifice all that they have to fight for their country. As they return after the war, they are left with painful experiences and traumatizing memories, suffering from their inevitable conditions. However, the spouse, families and children back at home are suffering even more than soldiers.

When soldiers go back home, if they make it home, they’re still haunted by regret, guilt, and depression. People experience it in their own ways and cope with it differently. War changes people. It’ll takes away someone's humanity and replaces it with holes, instability, and mental defects. Whether you’ve lost a significant other, lost your will to live, or lost your future, civilians and soldiers both indulge in losses when involved in

Later in this chapter the impact is described through models, theories and earlier practices to develop the reliability of this study. This chapter has significant