Posttraumatic Stress Disorde Among Veterans

PTSD in US military veterans since the Vietnam War ranged from approximately 2% to 17%. Studies of recent conflicts suggest that combat-related PTSD afflicts between 4% and 17% of US Iraq War veterans, but only 3“6% of returning UK Iraq War veterans.According to the U.S. Department of Veteran affairs, an average of 20 veterans commit suicide per day.

Posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD it is classify as a psychiatric disorder that happens on people that witnesses a traumatic event such as war, natural events and or disaster. (2) Many recent reports have referred to post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury as the signature wounds of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. With the increasing of suicide and suicide attempts among returning veterans, (1) from 10.1 in 100.000 to 22.1 in 2012. Posttraumatic stress disorder could bring back memories, flashbacks and nightmares, another sign of PTSD is feeling constantly on guard, feeling numb towards things you cared before, that's why people try to avoid everything that could bring them back to the moment or image that caused it all. It could last for more than a month or it could be with them for the rest of their lives. Most of the times a military member doesn't want to talk about what happened because it still hurts or because his family would not understand. After returning from war some victims of PTSD can be set off by such things as fire works, loud noises, dogs barking, etc.

PTSD is not a new discovery, it has been around since mans has been able to wage war. After World War I it was known as shell shock, in reference to soldiers witnessing the explosion of artillery, damage to the brain was thought to be the cause of it but when more soldiers that were not near an explosion had the same symptoms the way of thinking changed. Treatment varied from soldier to soldier, some were give a couple days off from war and others got extra activity to keep them busy. Water, electroshock and hypnosis were used as a treatment.
During War World II shock Shell was changed to Combat Stress Reaction (CSR), it was common on soldier during this war to be exhausted.

Four different types of symptoms are related to PTSD: reliving the traumatic event; avoiding situations that are reminders of the event; negative changes in beliefs and feelings; and feeling keyed. PTSD is not actually identified without all four of the symptoms presence at the same time and lasting for at least a month. Huck Flynn From Colorado talked to the New York Time about his experience.

On Jan. 11, 1969, my pilot was shot down, captured and executed by the Viet Cong while on a reconnaissance mission near Cao Lanh, Kien Phong Province (now Dong Tap), in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. The day of his capture and eventual death, as well as many other aspects of my service in the field, has haunted me throughout my life in the form of severe headaches, nightmares, flash anger and broken relationships. I had fooled myself that I have been able to cope with these memories throughout my life by focusing on my work. But the reality is that I was hesitant to open the doors to the hurt and trauma that seeking help might bring. I am retired now and still try to keep busy, but with time on my hands, my mind invariably moves back, and I can't let it go. I finally took steps to seek genuine help by filing a claim with the V.A. and hope to start serious counseling in the coming weeks.

PTSD can fortunately be treated if you seek for help. There are different types of treatment and depends from person to person. Psychotherapy or Medication are used for handling PTSD. Psychotherapy or talk therapy usually last for 3 to 4 months and there are different kind of trauma-focused therapy.

Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD: teaches you how to deal and change those feeling or thoughts that upset you, Prolonged Exposure for PTSD: helps you approaching those memories and situations you have been avoiding since the trauma and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing for PTSD: processing your trauma while paying attention to back-and-forth movements and sound. Medication for PTSD are usually antidepressant like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). There are the most recommended for PTSD while benzodiazepines are not, they don't improve PTSD symptoms but over time can have serious effects.

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