PTSD among Military Veterans - Research Paper Example

PTSD among Military Veterans: The Situation over the Recent Past as a Basis for More Aggressive Research Introduction Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been one of the most prevalent conditions affecting the U.S. military lately. Not that this problem is particularly new; however, it has gained greater relevance in society due to increased sensitization and growing awareness across the country. Persons suffering from PTSD are often unaware of their status. However, the rest of the society can easily detect changing personal behavior; including deteriorating socialization and poor concentration. A person suffering from these experiences will most certainly be withdrawn, inattentive, and possibly depressed. They may tend to turn to drug misuse and abuse among other suicidal tendencies that are common among mentally disturbed individuals. In view of the high awareness concerning PTSD, and the relatively higher rates of association drawn between military service (especially for personnel serving in war zones) and PTSD prevalence, this research seeks to respond to the question: should we be more aggressive in PTSD research and treatment to prevent veteran suicide? The approach involves an exploration of the available statistics to deduce trends in both rates of prevalence among military veterans and treatment options. Evaluation The U.S. army has participated in more battles than most modern states. With its highly mechanized troops, the army is relied on to combat stubborn and heavily equipped militants and military forces across the globe. In exchange, the national army has gained extensive experience in fighting enemies across several terrains, including hot deserts like those found in Northern Africa and the Middle East. However, this experience is in most cases acquired the hard way. Army personnel often endure horrific and traumatizing incidences that greatly affect their mental and psychological abilities. By extension, this derailment impacts the affected persons’ output and social networks, sometimes leading to suicide. Consequently, efforts to treat veterans already suffering from PTSD need to be intensified in order to overcome the high rates of suicide among members of the group. The return of personnel deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan has greatly refocused research on the relationship between PTSD and military service. In one study, veterans of the Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/ OIF) showed a 14% PTSD prevalence, which is higher than the national average. The results of this particular study were considered highly accurate due to the good attempt made at regional representation (the sample was drawn from 24 regions) and the large, representative sample (1,965 participants) who took part (Tanielian and Jaycox, xxi). Fischer (p. 2) captured the actual trend of increasing PTSD prevalence among servicemen, particularly those who have been to battlefields. In her analysis, reported cases of PTSD among non-deployed personnel rose from 1,746 in 2002 to 2,969 in 2010, representing a 70% increase in such incidents. Remarkably, cases of PTSD among the deployed troops increased from 90 in 2002 to 14,780 in 2010, representing an increase up to 163 times the reference figure. More troops have arrived since these research studies were undertaken, meaning that inevitably, the population has surged with more veterans with PTSD. The figures continued to balloon up to 2013, when the actual numbers of cases of PTSD among the non-deployed personnel reached 3,329 and the deployed ones hitting 14,200; a slight decrease from the previous year’s 17,640. The unprecedented rise in the number of PTSD cases reported among military personnel every year has led to the force overtaking the general population in the numbers of those with PTSD, and the dominance looks to be extending. It is therefore necessary to re-evaluate the state of the existing research to establish whether it is serving the adversely affected populations as intended. The ever increasing figures reported emerged despite vigorous efforts to treat those previously affected by PTSD and further research being conducted to contain the problem. Of greatest interest is how we can keep the rates of prevalence relatively low. Research has established that there is an association between PTSD and suicidal behavior. According to Pompili et al. (p. 802), there exists several risk factors that make veterans more likely to commit suicide – these factors are firmly the result of PTSD. The length of exposure to events that are mentally disturbing leaves veterans at greater risk of PTSD. This happens more often when the individual is repeatedly deployed into war zones, mainly major operation areas (Fulginiti and Rice, 1). PTSD has made suicide one of the leading causes of death among war veterans, elevating it to the second most probable cause of death among them (Pompili et al, 802). Yet despite all the research into PTSD, there remains no definitive method of ascertaining whether an individual is truly having the condition. According to Litz and Schlenger (p. 2) noted that symptoms of PTSD overlap with those of other mental conditions, often leading to wrong diagnosis. Equally important and relatively unexplored are the results of various experiences, which the authors posit could have definite, unique trajectories. If such can be proven to be true, then research could be easily streamlined knowing that a section of veterans are going to follow a specific trajectory based on their experiences, while another group takes a different but known trajectory. Until we get defining literature based on research into the subject, basing treatment procedures on such a hypothetical relationship could be naïve and unfounded. However, it shows that there are more areas to consider when furthering research and knowledge into treatment of PTSD. In their research, Zivin et al. (p. 2193) acknowledged the existence of many factors that could each contribute to suicide. Among these are biological, psychological, environmental, economic and social risk factors. For instance, one biological distinction when reviewing prevalence of suicide is the gender of the individual. Interestingly, there are conflicting accounts of research findings on whether males are more likely to commit suicide than do females. For instance, Zivin wrote that men are more likely to commit suicide, a position disputed by Tanielian and Jaycox (p. 56) who highlighted females as being more likely to commit suicide after suffering mental illnesses. Pompili et al. (p. 802) underscored the results of the National Comorbidity Study in the United States that established that persons with PTSD have a higher likelihood of committing suicide. Similarly, Zivin et al. (p. 2193) noted that patients with psychiatric disorders and conditions are more likely to contemplate and actualize suicidal acts. However, the challenge of associating specific experiences to suicidal acts persists. Additionally, Rozanov and Carli (p. 2505) offer a clearly different dimension to the debate on experiences and trajectories, noting that biological and social factors could be equally important in determining the trajectories of individuals relative to committing suicide. Summing up the situation, we realize that two interrelated phenomena are playing in the current situation. There is a steady increase in the number of war veterans being diagnosed with PTSD, at least up to 2013 (Tanielian and Jaycox, xxi). This increase has persisted despite the current wave of research that could be expected to provide a solution – at least partial – to avert further rise in the numbers of veterans with PTSD. However, there are emerging avenues for performing further research into the relationship between causes of PTSD, social, biological, and economic factors to the trajectories that the affected persons follow. Additionally, during the same period of time, research has intensified, but we can only get more aggressive with any kind of research into this field to be able to permanently reduce deaths among the military veterans that result from PTSD. Failure to explore the emerging avenues of research will not improve the current state of treatment. Conclusion A mixture of literature and available statistics presents a world of widening opportunities for more research into the prevalence of PTSD among veterans and how the condition relates to elevated suicidal behavior. Besides the literature, there is a wide array of data indicating that despite the current attempts to understand the aforementioned relationship and use this knowledge to stem the emergence of PTSD, there has only been an increase in the prevalence of the condition. On one hand, this implies that the methods of prevention currently in use are not effective while on the other we realize that the treatment methods for PTSD are partly futile. If they were not, PTSD-diagnosed veterans would not be having a higher rate of suicide than the rest of the officers. Therefore, we need to invigorate research into PTSD in order to prevent a larger fraction of the affected group. With their experience, veterans are an important group not only for their skills and experience but also for their ability to effectively train their colleagues on battlefield approaches. Works Cited Fischer, Hannah. A Guide to U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: Operation Inherent Resolve, Operation New Dawn, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2014. PDF. Fulginiti, Anthony and Eric Rice. Divided We Fall: Connectedness, Suicide, and Social Media in the Military. California: University of Southern California, 2011. PDF. Litz, Brett T. and William E. Schlenger. “PTSD in Service Members and New Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars: A Bibliography and Critique.” PTSD Research Quarterly 20.1 (2009): 1-8. PDF. Pompili, Maurizio, Leo Sher, Gianluca Serafini, Alberto Forte, Marco Innamorati, Giovanni Dominici…and Paolo Girardi. “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Suicide Risk among Veterans – A Literature Review.” The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 201.9 (2013): 802-812. PDF. Rozanov, Vsevolod and Vladimir Carli. ‘Suicide among War Veterans.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 9.7 (2012): 2504-2519. PDF. Tanielian, Terri and Lisa H. Jaycox. Invisible Wounds of War – Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery. Pittsburgh: RAND Corporation, 2008. PDF. Zivin, Kara, Myra Kim, John F. McCarthy, Karen L. Austin, Katherine J. Hoggaett, Heather Walters and Marcia Valenstein. “Suicide Mortality among Individuals Receiving Treatment for Depression in the Veterans Affairs Health System: Associations with Patient and Treatment Setting Characteristics.” American Journal of Public Health 97.12 (2007): 2193-2198. PDF. 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