The Effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder on Returning Veterans - Research Paper Example

?Running head: THE EFFECTS OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER ON RETURNING VETERANS The Effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder on Returning Veterans Insert name Insert grade course Insert instructor’s name 20 June 2011 Outline Introduction Effects of Posttraumatic stress disorder Social effects Financial effects Professional effects Health effects Conclusion The Effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder on Returning Veterans Introduction Trauma defines a powerful shock that may have long-lasting consequences on any given individual. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) refers to a severe psychiatric disorder classified as an anxiety disorder that can develop after a person has been exposed to a terrifying event or ordeal, in which grave physical harm occurred or threatened. Traumatic stresses may be caused by natural disasters (floods, earthquakes, tornadoes), and human actions (torture, war, accidents, rape, child abuse). It results when a person has been exposed to any given event that is outside the range of normal human experience, an event that would remarkably distress almost anyone. A normal human response to an abnormal situation and the overall experience could be a serious threat to an individual’s life in terms of threat or physical harm to one’s children, partner, or other close relatives or friends. This is in addition to sudden destruction of one’s home or community, or seeing another person who has been seriously injured or killed because of either an accident or physical violence. The event in reality might not pose a serious threat to life, but if the incident is genuinely considered to be life threatening, then the individual or victim is considered to have experienced traumatic event outside the normal human range of experience, and considered to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. Such conditions have been pronounced in veteran individuals from war prone areas such as the Vietnam War veterans, who were displaying similar behavior and symptoms that showed the toll of the effects of the extreme traumatic events that they had experienced in the war fields. Such traumatic wartime experience within different countries affects the overall state of health of the veterans on return from war. For an individual to be correctly diagnosed as having posttraumatic stress disorder, certain criteria need to be met. These includes the exposure of the person to a traumatic event involving actual, threatened, or serious injury, with personal response in terms of fear, helplessness, or horror, intrusiveness, and persistent avoidance of similar stimuli. This is in addition to persistent physical experiences of over awareness, social discomfort in terms of normal functioning of the individual, and lasting effects of the experience for a certain defined period of time Posttraumatic stress disorder consists of primary (those who experience the life-threatening situation first hand), secondary (family and friends of victims of survival), and tertiary victims (onlookers and witnesses of the traumatic situations and events) (Kinchin p.14). Effects of Post traumatic stress disorder There have been identified various effects of disorder among the victims. Such effects are usually adverse and have both long term and short term influence on the individuals who are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. The effects include the following; Social effects Social effects influence the way veterans suffering from PTSD socialize and coordinate their daily activities within the society. Returning combat veterans with post traumatic stress disorder have reported numerous occasional marital problems compared to other groups of individuals. Such problems come in the form of self-disclosure and expressiveness, hostility and aggression towards partners because the veteran individuals are less communicative with their partners, frequent expression of anger towards their partners, and are more or less fearful of their partners. Family life is full of hostility and constant aggression resulting in compromise of peace between family members. In addition, there are numerous conflicts of interests within the family dynamics and stability, parenting skills, violent behavior, elevated levels of severe and diffuses marital and family adjustments, and the overall marital harmony and intimacy between the married couples (Corales p.100). Most of these people resort to avoidance and numbing to keep away from reminders using different forms. These include ingesting drugs and alcohol in order to numb awareness of distressing emotional states, or dissociation to keep unpleasant experience from the conscious awareness. The result of this is gradual detachment from everyday activities within and away from the family, hence resulting into the decline of productivity of individuals within the society. They face inability to modulate arousal, as their bodies react to certain physical and emotional stimuli, and experience intense negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, anger, and panic. This leads to overreaction and threatening of other members, hence causing difficulty in attention and concentration, which in turn brings about information distortion and loss of involvement in the ordinary everyday life, as well as overall loss of capacity to respond flexibly to the environment. There is also development of behaviors and conditions such as acute confusional states, reactive psychoses, dissociative states, hysterical reactions, and behaviors out of touch with reality (Kolk, McFarlane, and Weisaeth, p.12). Financial effects Financial effects are realized due to the influence of overall economic activities that are carried out by the returning veterans within their societies. The victims suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in general affect the economy of the society. Some of the individuals are physically challenged due to harsh and extreme treatment in combat cells (torture of the prisoners of war). Hence, they are not able to perform physical activities that add up the economic value of the society because either they lack certain body parts, or the parts are numb and cannot measure to performance. For example, lack of hands, legs among other parts due to injury afflicted from the war. This results in the individuals being totally dependant on other family or society members for their daily support. The drugs prescribed for the victims to suppress the aftermath traumatic effects such as anti depressants, anti anxiety medications, biofeedback, relaxation mechanisms, combined therapies, herbal medications and other available approaches are demanding in terms of their cost. Moreover, due to the effectiveness of such medications to the victim’s health, there are financial obligations including direct treatment and social costs to be met in order to acquire such medications. Thus, the overall effects are gradually suppressed to increase the productivity of individuals (Roberts p.67). Professional effects In terms of professionalism, this concerns both the health professionals and the veterans themselves in terms of their active involvement in the war through acquiring and use of combat skills. Post traumatic effects on the individual veterans tends to increase the professionalism of psychiatrists, therapists, and other medical practitioners who are involved in checking, regulating and providing treatment to the affected individuals. However, the professionals face numerous challenges from their patients due to detachment, numbness, and the fear of reoccurrence of events when the victims speak out in order to be assisted medically. The veterans on the other hand have their profession in jeopardy, in that, they suffer from generalized weakness, cardiac infections, and cases such as neurotic manifestations, exhaustion, and traumatic neurosis. These conditions drastically affect the veterans’ professions to the point of majority of them quitting from their respective careers, while others lose their jobs because of the adverse health risks posed by such disorders (Kume p.65). Health effects Majority of the returning veterans from war are affected in terms of health. Such effects include brain disorders, anxiety, fear, depression, and physical heath problems caused by adoption of unhealthy behavior such as smoking. For example, a quarter of veterans deployed in Iraq smoked and used alcohol; almost 40% were physically injured, whereas 40% had met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder – this is essentially a health effect on the veterans who had come from Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Such health effects were linked to chemical exposure, level of combat exposure, drinking, smoking, and experience of post-traumatic stress symptom, of which out of the various symptoms, PTSD had the most prevalent and severe health effects to veteran’s health, including arthritis, cardiovascular problems, digestive, respiratory, reproductive problems, diabetes, and varied pain. Conclusion Post traumatic stress disorder (the invisible injury) is a condition that develops as a result of a traumatic event and may involve a variety of symptoms including nightmares, flashbacks, anger, and emotional numbness, and the symptoms can be difficult, even devastating. However, the victims of such conditions can be taken care of and find healthy ways to cope with their daily lives. The victims of PTSD are categorized into primary, secondary, and tertiary, and they have to meet certain criteria in order to be classified as having the PTSD condition. Nevertheless, post-traumatic stress disorder eventually promotes health, social, financial, and social effects within the society among the returning veterans. Works Cited Corales, Thomas. Focus on posttraumatic stress disorder research. New York: Nova Publishers. 2005. 20 June 2011. http://books.google.com/books?id=nj2ExxhfyM0C&dq=effects+of+post+traumatic+stress+disorder&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Kinchin, David. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Invisible Injury. Oxfordshire: Success Unlimited. 2004. 20 June 2011. http://books.google.com/books?id=NI928UA0TJgC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=true. Kolk, Bessel. A., McFarlane, Alexander and Weisaeth, Lars. Traumatic stress: the effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society. New York: Guilford Press. 2006. 20 June 2011. http://books.google.com/books?id=C9owN3KYOSwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false. Kume, Guida. Posttraumatic stress: new research. New York: Nova Publishers. 2006. 20 June 2011. http://books.google.com/books?id=7TaOXvTcZE4C&dq=financial+effects+of+post+traumatic+stress+disorder&source=gbs_navlinks_s. Roberts, Cheryl. Coping with post-traumatic stress disorder: a guide for families. North Carolina: McFarland. 2003. 20 June 2011. http://books.google.com/books?id=VVaSam6-E8wC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false. Read More