Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Coursework Example

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is normally regarded as an anxiety disorder that develops when one is exposed to a terrifying event or ordeal which results to severe physical harm or threat. Such traumatic events that might trigger PTSD include physical violence, personal assaults, disasters, military combat as well as accidents (Muscari, 2012). Anyone who has been exposed to any kind of life-threatening event is at risk of attracting PTSD. Examples of victims include people like; military troop soldiers serving in wars, rescue workers for catastrophes such as the 2001 New York City terrorists attack, bomb survivors at Oklahoma, accident survivors, physical abuse victims, rape and sexual abuse victims, and victims of other crimes. Through the use of a survey on some combat veterans who went on war to Afghanistan and Iraq, this paper is aimed at researching on the effects of PTSD on the combat soldiers and how they can be rescued from the damages caused by the condition (Peter, 2010). The research looks at how the PTSD impacts on the lives of these veterans following their past experiences that they endured way back in those countries during various traumatizing events that took place there. The research then narrows down to specific insights used to understand the conditions of the victims in order to be able to offer them the required assistance to help them with their conditions. Following a cross-sectional study of the US military personnel deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan due to the conflicts that were prevalent in these countries, it was ascertained that the deployed soldiers had histories of combat theatre injuries and mild traumatic brain injury and the current prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorders as well as post-concussion symptoms (Aaron, Elisa, & Han, 2008). According to this research, in February 2005, there was a postal survey carried out on the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who left the combat theatres by around September 2004 and were, by then, living in Maryland, Washington DC, eastern West Virginia, and north Virginia. From this survey, about 12% of 2,235 respondents reported to have symptoms that were consistent with traumatic brain injury (TBI), while 11% of these respondents reported symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms were noted to be common among veterans who were injured through the use of machetes, bullets or shrapnel, blasts, motor vehicle crashes, air or water transport, as well as physical falls. Effects and Symptoms of PTSD on the Veterans The result of the survey above shows clearly that combat service may result into posttraumatic stress disorders and solders who are mostly at risk of such a condition are those who undergo combat injuries during their times of duty. Research has also revealed that, PTSD causes so many effects to the veterans including sense of isolation, anger, explosive aggressive behavior, fear of losing control, social avoidance, panic attacks, difficulties in parenting and bonding, phobic-like avoidance behavior, and job instability among others (Susan, 2010). The veterans returned from literal life and death situations, where horror and terror were daily realities and their current everyday activities have turned to be mundane and pointless as life has lost meaning to them. These people live in situations where they normally feel that no one, but just their fellow combat veterans, can understand what they went through and even continue to endure as they carry on with life. The wives of these veterans are also surprised and do not understand why they act the way they do. The feelings of alienation that make the veterans feel different are what make them have a feeling to isolate themselves from social lives. The veterans have learnt what it feels like to kill or that threat of someone trying to kill them. They are therefore living without fearing death anymore while others fear it greatly. They experienced or watched most of their fellows being killed at early age. These were very innocent fellows who trusted in their fellow men for protection. The veterans learnt to live and survive by watching at other people’s backs, something that they cannot do without in their daily lives and sometimes cannot even stay at the center of a room with other people at their back. They have a hard time living with others because they no longer feel comfortable in crowds. They always have their eyes darting and roaming about looking for anyone who can be of danger or pose a threat to them. They therefore undergo loneliness, have to be hyper-vigilant, have persistent anxiety, and have paranoia, as well as lowered trust or distrust of others, authority figures and systems. The veterans also undergo self-blame and too much guilt about their lost ones. They keep on asking themselves why so and so had to die and sometimes feel the guilt that the deaths of their fellows were because of their faults or negligence. These people also saw a lot of traumatizing events and were even forced to do certain things such as kill innocent people, rape children and women, etc. that make them feel guilty all the times they flash-back on the events. They were trained to shoot-to-kill when they are shot at. However in as much as this was their job and they did what they were sent to do there, they live asking themselves whether they are also killers. It is however very hard living when you know that you are a killer, if it is something you are not used to doing. The veterans therefore undergo depression, intrusive thought, personality disorders, reduced intimacy, and self-destructive behaviors (Madeline, Vastrlling, Kevin, & Patricia, 1993). Living with their families, the veterans also experience that they tend to rage at their family members. This also makes them feel guilty as they do not want to show irritable and angry feelings to their family members. They therefore live while feeling so helpless that this situation becomes very hard for both their spouses and children to manage. The veterans always try so much to maintain an even mood but there is a constant ebb and flow of adrenaline in their bodies as well as the constant recollection of the traumatic events that makes it impossible for them to do so. On the other hand, what they can constantly maintain are nightmares that traumatize them yearly leaving them not to enjoy peaceful sleep. Due to lack of peaceful sleep, the veterans therefore develop irritability symptoms. They therefore have their memory and cognition impaired, sexual dysfunction, disturbances of sleep, concentration impairment as well as insomnia (Melissa, Shannon, Nathaniel, Christopher, Paul, & Paul, 2011). In order to try to cope with their situation, some veterans undergo very difficult situations that include tiring themselves at job excessively to an extent that they get so exhausted and just fall asleep easily in order to at least have some few nightmare free hours of sleep. Some of them resort to excessive drinking of alcohol and taking of drugs to help them overcome recollecting on the traumatic events that make them have sleep disturbances. Some survive by running and staying busy long enough to make them fall asleep easily and sleep better. The fact that the nightmares keep coming and going, and the veterans keep recollecting on those traumatizing events, makes them confused thinking that the events are happening currently in their lives or reoccurring. It is very hard trying to control such experiences as this will mean that they reverse all the traumatizing events that had already occurred which is something very impossible to do. Some of these veterans had a problem with their emotional growth whereby some of them had this particular growth stopped or growing at very slower rates. This was evidenced on certain situations where the veteran may have joined the combat and went through the traumatizing experience at a very early age, let’s say at 18-year old, after several years, these people will still behave and think just as an eighteen year would. The veterans are sometimes washed over by the horror experiences of their lives and these normally make them feel unbearable. They sometimes feel so much overwhelmed by the experiences until they even feel that they cannot endure it anymore. They then have the feeling as though such a feeling will never end. Such persistent feelings make such people feel of committing suicide or have homicidal thoughts which are most of the times associated with depression. It is very hard for the veterans to deal with holidays when others are happy, relaxing and enjoying. On such occasions, on the other hand they re-experience horrible and traumatizing events more so when they feel to take a break from work, and therefore are less busy and occupied in the minds. The occurrences of deaths and destructions that took place during those days are what they are trying to deal with now as there are certain events that try to superimpose themselves on today’s events. They therefore undergo a situation referred to as emotional numbness. It is normally the result if experiencing repeated tremendous traumatic behavior. Treatment and Control of PTSD on Veterans In as much as the above discussed effects and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder seem to be more over control, some of the symptoms can be controlled in order for the victims to learn and have, once again, some quality of life. Therefore, in order to assist the veterans try to cope with better quality lives, the particular symptoms that they experience were identified and advice and counseling given appropriately. For instance, it has been realized that what causes PTSD mostly is the replay of the traumatizing events that these veterans underwent when they were at war in those countries. Therefore, the best way to deal with this situation is to prevent the memory process as soon as possible (Alice, 2012). This, we realize that could have occurred almost immediately after these veterans came back from war. However, for now, to help them cope with the situation, professional counseling and medication have proved to be the best ways to treat PTSD. Counseling will make the victims understand their thought and realize the best ways they can use to cope with their feelings. On the other hand, through taking of certain medications referred to as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, a veteran is able to feel less worried and sad. Conclusion In a nutshell, combat service normally exposes the soldiers to the PTSD. The veterans undergo hard time in life when trying to move on with life after such traumatizing experiences. The flashbacks of the traumatizing events keep haunting the veterans and do not give them time to have a quality life. In order to have a quality life once again, the veterans need to undergo counseling and take medications. References Aaron, I. S., Elisa, R. B., & Han, K. K. (2008, April 17). Understanding Sequelae of Injury Mechanisms and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Incurred during the Conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan: Persistent Postconcussive Symptoms and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. American Journal of Epidemiology, 167(2), 1446-1452. Alice, G. W. (2012). Taking Early Controls of Traumatic Memories May Help Treat PTSD. Biological Psychiatry, 112-132. Madeline, U., Vastrlling, J. J., Kevin, B., & Patricia, B. S. (1993). Memory and Attention in Combat-Related Post-taumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment , 15(1), 43-52. Melissa, A., Shannon, M. K., Nathaniel, W. N., Christopher, R., Paul, A. A., & Paul, T. (2011, January 3). Longitudinal Effects of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Comorbidity on Postdeployment Outcomes in National Guard Soldiers Deployed to Iraq. JAMA Psychiatry, 68(1), 79-89. Muscari, M. (2012). What Nurses Know-PTSD. New York: MacGraw-Hill. Peter, B. (2010). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Psychology Today Publication, 1-5. Susan, B. (2010). How PTSD Affects the Veterans. The Veterans Voice, 2-10. Read More