PTSD As a Result of Unnecessary Conflict Post Traumatic Stress Disorder occurs when an individual experiences a traumatic event, such as combat, assault or natural disasters. With PTSD, individuals feel threatened and stressed beyond the healthy reaction. The physical symptoms of the disorder include alcohol and drug dependence and the inability to maintain jobs and relationships. On the psychological spectrum, symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks and social avoidance. Today, hundreds of thousands of military veterans have seen combat. Several of which have been shot at, and witnessed death. These are types of events that can lead to PTSD. The Department of Veteran Affairs reports 31 percent of Vietnam war vets to have PTSD. Veterans with PTSD face life changing challenges. …show more content…
According the Department of Veteran Affairs, more than twenty percent of those with PTSD experience substance abuse. They spend night after night resorting to alcohol and drugs in an attempt to numb the hellish memories that seem to never stop replaying. Fortunately a third of all of the diagnosed veterans are searching for substance abuse treatment, rather than spiraling further into the pit of guilt and depression (Department of Veteran Affairs). Drugs and alcohol are perpetually consumed in efforts to numb the psychological pain caused by the traumatic damage. Drug and alcohol dependency influences negative behavior, as exhibited by Glenna Tinney’s story of her father’s experience with PTSD: “I remember the day he called me and told me that he had a gun and was going to shoot himself. I knew he had a gun, and I could tell that he had been drinking.” (The Consequences of War) Drugs and alcohol are temporary solutions to an issue that can only be treated with time and professional
In some cases, an afflicted veteran then turns to drugs, alcohol, or even violence because they do not
PTSD affects more than 3 million people a year and people can either forget about what happened to them that caused them PTSD or people can get serious symptoms. PTSD is when someone experiences or witnesses a horrifying accident that they can’t forget. PTSD is caused by physical and emotional feelings or thoughts. Some effects of PTSD can negatively affect your physical and mental health. All Quiet on the Western Front is a book that can relate to people nowadays that have PTSD by talking about a soldier named Paul that goes through terrifying experiences in World War 1.
For example, many family 's force their loved ones to get treatment at the VA to help make their family better. PTSD makes the memory and senses more active and sensitive, this can be very disturbing to anyone. For example, a veteran who has PTSD has many blank stares throughout the day and can cause very bad dreams about what they saw over seas. All veterans who come home from war have received a diagnosis of
Years after the war, and after returning home to a somewhat normal lifestyle, a majority of veterans suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. Post traumatic stress disorder also known as PTSD is a delayed effect of the mind that includes severe cases of anxiety, regularly occurring panic attacks, and severe cases of rage. psychological disorders often led to divorce, drug abuse, and especially suicide. The war in Vietnam had the most cases of suicide amongst veterans than any other war in American history. More cases of psychological disorders resulted from Vietnam rather than World War I and II because unlike the two world wars, Vietnam wasn't a war with straight battle lines of back and fourth fire in which the position of the enemy
However, in his nightmares, it would be him who was in the man’s position, staked down to the ground begging for death. PTSD is common in soldiers with all the horrors they had to see and experience. The horrors of war was the reason why soldiers would get addicted to drugs and alcohol to lessen the pain and the nightmares. Black soldiers got along with the Vietnamese people better than the white soldiers because they knew how it felt to be seen as inferior and live in poverty.
PTSD is a condition of persistent mental and emotional stress occurring as a result of injury or severe psychological shock. Veterans who have suffered service related injuries are four times more likely to develop PTSD than those who have not been injured. Experiencing a terrifying event, whether it happens to them, or they witness it happening to someone else, can cause PTSD (NIMH). It makes the traumatized person feel frightened, sad, anxious, and disconnected. Developing PTSD can also make them feel endangered
PTSD and being an alcoholic follows him around and constantly haunts him. In the novel, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, it shows a true story of a soldier’s life of positives and negatives while being stranded out at sea, being a prisoner of war, and having post
Bruce Dohrenwend, and his colleagues have done research on the percentage of people affected by PTSD, “The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS) of a representative sample of 1200 veterans estimated that 30.9% had developed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during their lifetimes and that 15.2% were currently suffering from PTSD”(Dohrenwend et al). Monaco, Perry, and Walowick all experienced these symptoms at one point in Fallen
Being in war for a long time can make you numb to the people dying around you. People that just got there will most likely be paranoid or have anxiety. Those symptoms show posttraumatic stress disorder. The flashbacks, guilty feelings and nightmares are what happens a lot of times while there in war. Flashing back to the same place over and over would be the worst nights ever.
Negative alterations in mood, arousal, and reactivity often display as persistent, distorted and negative beliefs; distorted blame; constricted affect; and/or irritable, aggressive behavior. Mitchell Sanders exhibits increased arousal towards aggression and hostility when confronted with the corpse of a young Viet Cong, choosing to “…put his hand on the boy’s wrist” and use “Kiowa’s hunting hatchet to remove the thumb” (77). To the reader, this action is unnecessary, but to a soldier suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder this is a routine
PTSD is an illness that cannot be easily healed. The symptoms include: Nightmares, flashbacks, triggers, hard time sleeping, difficulty concentrating, you could also be easily startled. There are many situations that you would make you angry, or upset. If you were close to death in a Vietcong dug hole, you may hate being in small places, avoiding them at all costs becoming claustrophobic. This disorder often times does not end up being healed and is something you have to deal with for the rest of your
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental disease that develops in those who have experienced a scary or dangerous event and it affects an estimated 6.8% of Americans in their lifetime (National Institute of Mental Health, “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”). Post-traumatic stress disorder is also abbreviated as “PTSD.” Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, follows Billy Pilgrim, a World War II soldier, on his adventures through both the war and after the war. Pilgrim believes that he is visited by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore and abducted by them. He also thinks that he is able to “time travel” to different events throughout his own life.
PTSD can occur while facing either a direct or indirect event. A direct event is a trauma that personally happened to you compared to an indirect event is a trauma you heard of. Medical intervention, abuse and the loss of a loved one are examples of direct and indirect events. Any child that undergoes different procedures and surgeries in a hospital setting can become traumatizing. The kids are exposed to direct events because it is personally happening to them.
PTSD is an anxiety disorder that follows the experience of a traumatic event. Of the 2.7 million American veterans that served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, at least 20% were diagnosed with PTSD (Veterans Statistics). PTSD affects everyone differently but the most common symptoms of PTSD include: reliving the event, increased anxiety, and avoiding any reminders of the trauma (Robinson,Segal, Smith). These symptoms negatively affect their life
An estimated 7.8 percent of American Veterans will experience PTSD at some point in their lives, with women at (10.4%) twice as likely as men (5%) to develop PTSD. About 3.6 percent of U.S. adults aged 18-54 (5.2 million people) have PTSD during the course of a year. About 30 percent of the men and women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD. An additional 20 to 25 percent have had partial PTSD at some point in their lives.