It is common for returning Veterans of war to experience symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Spending years overseas fighting in a war can cause the person to have trouble when they return to their homes. In order to help with the PTSD that veterans face after coming back from war, reintegration programs are needed. With programs to help combat PTSD in the returning Veterans it will be easier to protect the heroes that risked their lives to fight for us. It is important to help Veterans reintegrate into civilian life, which for them may be hard after the years that they faced away being in the military. The topics that will be focused on in this paper are the history of PTSD will be discussed briefly in this paper to give background
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Becoming more popular is Equine Programs to help veterans in reintegrating into society, they have been proven to have the same effect on the problems that PTSD cause in veterans that dogs have. Some equestrian programs can be found in San Antonio, Bedford, Massachusetts, and even in Albany. Lt. Col. Bridget Kroger retired and after having her PTSD helped by equine therapy she created her own organization in 2010, so that she could do the same and help others who suffer from PTSD (Eugene 1). Another form of animal assisted therapy that has been used is avian therapy. The Avian Veteran Alliance was created by Patrick Bradley a veteran of the Vietnam War when he saw the signs of PTSD manifesting in his son. The program allows veterans to visit Bradleys’ park twice a week so that they can work with wounded raptors, then Bradley takes the birds to the VA center each month (Eugene 1). This program helps veterans get better because they’re helping other wounded things heal, which helps them heal themselves. Without these types of programs, if we didn’t use animals to help wounded veterans, both physically wounded as well as mentally wounded the veterans would not have the help that they need to heal. Animal assisting programs give a better chance at veterans getting better because with them the veteran doesn’t have to worry about being judged for their wounds. With animals, they know no matter what they are suffering through the animal will still be okay with the veteran and that is a relief for many of the veterans who are suffering through these problems. Many veterans don’t want to ask for the help they need because they are ashamed of the problem. Eliminating some of the human aspect of the therapy makes it easier for the Veteran to get the help because the animal doesn’t make them feel weak for having to get the
Becoming more popular is Equine Programs to help veterans in reintegrating into society, they have been proven to have the same effect on the problems that PTSD cause in veterans that dogs have. Some equestrian programs can be found in San Antonio, Bedford, Massachusetts, and even in Albany. Lt. Col. Bridget Kroger retired and after having her PTSD helped by equine therapy she created her own organization in 2010, so that she could do the same and help others who suffer from PTSD (Eugene 1). Another form of animal assisted therapy that has been used is avian therapy. The Avian Veteran Alliance was created by Patrick Bradley a veteran of the Vietnam War when he saw the signs of PTSD manifesting in his son. The program allows veterans to visit Bradleys’ park twice a week so that they can work with wounded raptors, then Bradley takes the birds to the VA center each month (Eugene 1). This program helps veterans get better because they’re helping other wounded things heal, which helps them heal themselves. Without these types of programs, if we didn’t use animals to help wounded veterans, both physically wounded as well as mentally wounded the veterans would not have the help that they need to heal. Animal assisting programs give a better chance at veterans getting better because with them the veteran doesn’t have to worry about being judged for their wounds. With animals, they know no matter what they are suffering through the animal will still be okay with the veteran and that is a relief for many of the veterans who are suffering through these problems. Many veterans don’t want to ask for the help they need because they are ashamed of the problem. Eliminating some of the human aspect of the therapy makes it easier for the Veteran to get the help because the animal doesn’t make them feel weak for having to get the