Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans - Coursework Example

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans Some incidences in life present traumatic experiences in life exposes individuals to fright, anxiety, sadness or a form of disconnection with the society. Such conditions are not easily overcome hence presenting a health risk to the individual involved. In most cases, the result is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To the patient reverting back to normal looks like a nightmare, however, through appropriate treatment measures the individual can be made to overcome the condition. There are a number of individuals that are exposed to traumatic events consistently hence presents a more complicated scenario. Such individuals include the war veterans, the individuals are exposed to incidences that relates to witnessing massive loss of lives to incidences of personal injuries. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is categorized as a form of anxiety disorder that results from an emotional trauma that is often associated with threats of death or even a loss of life. PTSD can be as a result of an event or a series of events and it is often associated with symptoms that constantly disturb the patient. Such symptoms include a reminder of the traumatic incidence, an attempt to avoid the memory of the event and sometimes the patient becomes highly aroused. A number of people who experience a traumatizing event have very high chances of developing PTSD (Savoca, 2011). However, its general prevalence in the population varies in terms of gender. Women are more vulnerable to PTSD after a traumatic event as opposed to men. In addition, the symptoms are more severe in women as opposed to their male counterparts. PTSD has an underlying psychological cause that is mainly based on an extreme trauma. The situation resulting to the trauma is usually associated a sense of extreme fear, powerlessness and horror to the traumatized individual. A fatal, injury, death, or a life threatening condition to either an individual or others are the most common causes of PTSD especially among individuals engaged in war-like activities such as war veterans (Rosenheck & Fontana, 2007). War veterans are a group of individuals that have engaged in warfare in various capacities and are likely to have experienced loss of lives or severe injuries among other frightening incidences. On the other hand, a war veteran may be the only survivor in a war situation hence they develop a certain form of fear that makes it difficult to forget that particular incidence. These traumatizing events make war veterans highly vulnerable to post traumatic stress disorder. PTSD among the veterans has been shown to become more severe if early interventions are not developed for the war veterans. In addition, the Hispanics have been identified as the most vulnerable group while any event that brings stress after the traumatic incidences aggravates the development of PTSD (Schnnur, Lunney & Sengupta, 2004). On the other hand, when an individual is socially supported through counselling reduces the potential development of PTSD. PTSD is a condition that can result to severe consequences if not treated on time. Statistics indicate that approximately 7.7 million people in America suffer from this condition (National Institute of Mental Health, 2014). However, despite all these, it is important that the condition be keenly focused and addressed early since it is possible to contain the condition. The severity of PTSD determines the ease of treatment. When the condition is left to occur over a long time, the amount of time that is required for psychotherapy is exponentially increased while treatment is made easier through the adoption of an early treatment. In addition, treatment of PTSD requires personalized attention where the specialist should endeavor to understand the individual patient in order to develop an appropriate treatment (Meltzer et al 2012). PTSD is considered a problem because of the disturbance it causes to an individual resulting to an exponential decline in their productivity. PTSD can also alleviate the development of other stress-related conditions. PTSD comprises of a number of effects to the well-being of an individual. This condition can either result to hyper-arousal, the ability of an individual to avoid other people and having recurring experiences of the traumatic experience. When an individual is constantly remembering the experiences of the traumatic experience, their daily activities are interfered with hence, they do not execute their roles normally. The feelings as well as the thoughts of an individual are highly affected by the flashbacks of the traumatic event, dreams that remind them of the event and thoughts that frighten them. The retrieval of the incidences is made possible through an encounter with any kind of object, event, or even words that remind of the traumatic incidence. The overall outcome of the recurring experiences is that the individual lives in fear that they are unable to overcome (Pittman, 2007). In essence, their productivity declines exponentially. Apart from the experiences that recur, the patient develops a tendency of avoiding certain situations and places and events. Through the fear the person’s emotions are affected hence they live in extreme worry and are sometimes having a feeling of guilt. In addition, there is a high likelihood that the individual will live a depressed life. This depression makes the person to segregate themselves from other people. The person may ,be forced to adopt a new way of doing things due to the underlying fear and uncertainty that the event may recur (Mueser et al., 2007). What seemed enjoyable and the hobbies that an individual had before the traumatic incidence can be greatly affected. While the event may recur on the mind of the individual, connecting the incidences that leads to the condition becomes very difficult for the patient. These situations indicate that it is not business as usual for the patient, their activities are adversely affected as well as their productivity. Another effect PTSD is that the individual may become hypersensitive to situations and conditions. For example, a war veteran can be scared and feel very distressed when they hear of a gunshot. Such incidences that arouse an individual are mainly constant ad can result to high degree of trauma. When an individual becomes aroused, their activities are completely disoriented and the person may have a strong feeling of anger and distress. When an individual is highly aroused, they develop a tense feeling, can be easily startled or their normal and routine activities such as sleep and hunger are severely affected. In addition, the individual becomes very poor in paying attention hence resulting to reduced productivity. The disappearance of these symptoms is dependent on the urgency of treatment as well as the presence of other underlying factors such as stress emanating from other events in life. The effect of PTSD affects people across the strata depending on their exposure to traumatic events. However, the vulnerability of individuals depends on the magnitude of the trauma and the care given after the trauma. In addition, women and children are more vulnerable. Considering the case of veterans, due to their engagements in various war-related activities, their chances of developing PTSD is relatively lower as compared to ordinary citizens who face similar traumatic events. This indicates that PTSD among the war veterans is not very severe as opposed to other citizens. Despite this, a number are affected and need support. Some of these people may leave the battlefield when they are normal but end up being influenced by other external factors such as stress to develop PTSD (Wood, 2012). This is the reason that the veterans should also be provided with adequate support in order to overcome any form of trauma. List of Resources that are Addressing among the Veterans American Psychological Association American Psychiatric Association The Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS) The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Gateway to Posttraumatic stress Disorder International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) National Alliance on Mental Illnesses National Institute of mental Health Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences (USUHS) Centre for the Study of Traumatic Stress DART Center International Society for traumatic Stress Studies Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America The War Writer’s Campaign Veterans Inc Veterans Yoga Project Vietnam Veterans of America Department of Veteran Affairs National Center for PTSD Cru Military (US Department of Veterans Affairs, 2013) Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) IAVA is a country wide supported organization that looks into the welfare of veterans of war as well as their families. The organization was founded in 2004 and the organization has grown, having subscribed over 300,000 people to the organization (IAVA, 2014). The objective of the organization is to provide support and care to the military personnel that have engaged in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan to have a decent live after the home return until they die. They are also focused on providing support to the families of these military personnel. One of the many services that the organization provides is the treatment and alleviation of PTSD. This is because the organization places a lot of emphasis on the health of the veterans. Apart from the health issues, IAVA has other diverse programs that are geared towards protecting the welfare of veterans. One of the strategies adopted by IAVA is advocacy. In this regard, they facilitate the adoption of the veterans into the community hence they are accepted and taken care of by the community. Through their social media, IAVA’s Community of Veterans, provides the veterans a platform to interact and share experiences, hence they have a feeling of community (Raab, 2013). However, the major role of the organization is to promote advocacy that ensures that the veteran’s welfare is taken care of. The organization has been pushing the Department of Veteran Affairs to develop better terms for veterans. In addition, they have continued to raise funds that facilitates the discharge of their activities while supporting veterans overcome post-war trauma. IAVA does not provide opportunities for social workers. This is because its role does not involve the actual treatment of the veteran PTSD conditions. However, theirs is to advocate for the rights of the war veterans. In a greater way, the organization is also focused on helping the veterans realize their position in the society and feel part of the community again. In their model, the IAVA’s core mandate is captured as providing assistance, creating awareness as well as providing advocacy. This means that their initiative in providing personalized services to the veterans is limited hence the reason why they do not require social workers. Veterans Inc The organization provides an array of services to veterans, including health and wellness programs. The organization has dedicated its resources to serving veterans as well as their families. In this regard, the organization provides referral to individual veterans that have the conditions such as PTSD. They also provide any form of emergency services that a veteran may require while developing intense advocacy geared towards the promoting the welfare of the veterans (Veterans Inc, 2014). They also discharge other non-health related roles that are developed in an attempt to promote the welfare of the veterans. PTSD is combated under the provision of health and wellness programs of the organization. Actually, the organization is committed to promoting the entire physical and mental health of the veterans. They do this by developing assessments that ensure that a proper diagnosis is done for the veterans. Key among the treatments done includes the psychological counselling for veterans with PTSD. In addition, they provide other services that promote the psychological wellbeing of veterans despite the fact that they have PSTD or not, these include classes on anger management and socialization skills. The organization provides individualized attention to each of the veterans. The organization attempts to help the veterans overcome physical, emotional, and mental conditions, which are likely to interfere with the normal activities while predisposing them to conditions such as PTSD. The Veterans Inc provides opportunities for social workers who play a role in the provision of counselling services as well training on socialization skills among the veterans. The social workers help the veterans develop social skills while facilitating their integration to the society. The organization has a wellness coordinator who foresees the development and implementation of wellness programs that are supposed to promote healthy living among the veterans (Veterans Inc, 2014). Veterans Yoga Project This is a project that was developed to help veterans with PTSD and other trauma-related conditions have access to yoga services. However, the organization has a bigger mandate of providing educational and advocacy for war veterans. The organization was started in 2010 in an effort to help veterans overcome psychological scars that had been left by the impact of the war (Veterans Yoga Project, 2014). The project started with the mandate of having the veterans engage in Yoga but their mandate was broadened later on. Initially, the organization endeavored to provide free yoga resources to the war veterans in order to help them overcome all trauma-related conditions. The organization has engaged in providing training to yoga teachers in order to help them understand the specific needs of veterans suffering from PTSD. The training provides a spectacular opportunity for trainers dealing with veterans to understand what they need so that they are able to overcome war-related traumas (Morgan, 2014). Veterans Yoga Project does not provide direct opportunities to social workers. This is because the organization offers its team of psychologists does Yoga training that have also mastered the art of yoga. In addition, the size of the organization is relatively small hence, it does not have a lot of workforce. However, it seems that he organization may require social workers in future so that they can help the trainers in developing training programs that help deal with traumatic incidences. References IAVA, (2014). Model, mission and history. Retrieved from http://iava.org/about Meltzer, E. C., Averbuch, T., Samet, J. H., Saitz, R., Jabbar, K., Lloyd-travaglini, C., & Liebschutz, J. M. (2012). Discrepancy in diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Treatment for the wrong reason. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 39(2), 190-201 Morgan, T. (2014). Helping war veterans deal with PTSD. Retrieved from http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/santacruz/ci_24893447/helping-war-veterans-deal-ptsd#top Mueser, K. T., Bolton, E., Carty, P. C., Bradley, M. J., Ahlgren, K. F., DiStaso, D. R., . . . Liddell, C. (2007). The trauma recovery group: A cognitive-behavioral program for post-traumatic stress disorder in persons with severe mental illness. Community Mental Health Journal, 43(3), 281-304 National Institute of Mental Health, (2014). What is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml Pittman, J. O., E., Goldsmith, A. A., Lemmer, J. A., Kilmer, M. T., & Baker, D. G. (2012). Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and health-related quality of life in OEF/OIF veterans. Quality of Life Research, 21(1), 99-103. Raab, J. (2013). Guide to a few non-profit groups providing care to veterans. The New York Times.retrieved from http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/guide-to-a-few-nonprofit-groups-providing-care-to-veterans/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 Rosenheck, R. A., & Fontana, A. F. (2007). TRENDS: Recent trends in VA treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental disorders. Health Affairs, 26(6), 1720-7. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/204645152?accountid=45049 Savoca, E. (2011). Accounting for misclassification bias in binary outcome measures of illness: the case of post-traumatic stress disorder in male veterans. Sociological Methodology, 41, 49-XII. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/912208293?accountid=45049 Schunurr, P., Lunney, C. A. & Sengupta, A. (2004). Risk factors for the development versus maintenance of post-traumatic stress disorder. Journal of Trauma Stress, 17 (2): 85-95. Two conflicting images of veterans; veterans support organizations depict many veterans as disabled with post-traumatic stress disorder. (2014, Feb 03). Wall Street Journal (Online) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1493869623?accountid=45049 US Department of Veterans Affairs. (November 25, 2013). Trauma organizations. Retrieved from http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/web-resources/trauma-web-resources.asp Veterans Inc, (2014). Health and wellness. Retrieved from http://www.veteransinc.org/services/health-wellness/ Veterans Yoga Project, (2014). About veterans yoga project. Retrieved from http://www.veteransyogaproject.org/about.html Wood, D. (2012). Iraq, Afghanstan war Veterans struggle with Combat trauma. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/04/iraq-afghanistan-war-veterans-combat-trauma_n_1645701.html   Read More