Despite this relatively recent acceptance by the psychiatric community, the notion of traumatic stress has been discussed in the context of military service as far back as the writings of the Ancient Greeks (Shay, 2002). PTSD is still in the process of becoming more appropriately diagnosed and discussed as a serious problem among all military personnel and veterans. The term “post-traumatic sress disorder” was coined in the late 1970’s after the Vietnam War. Another form of PTSD that is frequently experienced by veterans is known as “survivals guilt” (Smith, 2015). This occurs when a veteran returns from active duty and feels guilty that that they had survived while others did…
Often time, wars are believed and seen as a mean to defend the home nation from physical catastrophe of foreign land and soldiers are praised and honored for their sacrifice. Not often enough do the common people take the time to scrape the surface with sayings like “thank you for your time” to look at the understanding that even though a war “makes men” and unites them, Hynes says that it isolates and cuts them off from other people. We are also controlled into believing that we understand exactly how a soldier feels from what the media broadcast to us, and then we take that false understanding and channels it to a way that we think may help soldiers deal with their traumas or past. The truth that the media provide has been filtered out enough…
Veterans Returning Home “Sixty-one percent of men and 51% of women in the general population report having experienced at least one traumatic experience that qualifies to be considered for PTSD”(Kilic 409).Soldiers go to war to fight for America’s freedom and protect the citizens of America; however, many of their lives change while at war, and they are seeking treatment. Many soldiers get psychological help and many professionals are trying to find different ways to treat the soldiers’ suffering. Upon returning home, soldiers have a hard time assimilating back into civilian life. In Homer’s epic poem…
Trauma can affect every areas of a person’s life (body, soul, and spirit). Trauma can affect a person’s faith; their will to live; their view of themselves, others, and their worldview; their sense of safety, every aspect of their emotions, physical & psychological health & well being, their relationships, etc. The list can go on and on. Trauma knows no boundaries in it affect on an individual.…
The Effects of War on Veterans in Afghanistan and Iraq More than half of the 2.6 million Americans dispatched to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq struggle with physical or mental health problems and often begin to feel disconnected from civilian life, deriving from deployment. As stated in the article “After the Wars: A legacy of pain and pride”, written by Rajiv Chandrasekaran and published by The Washington Post. The conditions of being deployed and serving for our country can conclude in widespread consequences within soldiers in which if no help is provided, could become permanently detrimental. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Military Sexual Trauma (MST), and an increase in suicides are some of…
Over the past fifteen years Americas finest warriors have been sent all over the world battling the war on terror. According to the President, the wars and battles are now over. Due to the President’s lack of combat experience, he fails to realise that the battles still continue. These battles are not in Afghanistan, Iraq, or any other country, the battles are now here in the United States. Veterans with and without PTSD are and will continue to relive those battles in their minds for the rest of their lives.…
PTSD is one of the most horrific disorders known to man. PTSD is a mental disorder that affects people that have been through a traumatic experience in their lives. It is very common with veterans. Around 30% of all veterans that have been exposed to combat will suffer from PTSD. Since the government is so willing to send soldiers to war, they should also be willing to take care of the ones that get PTSD.…
Soldiers during wartime, especially during Vietnam, had to deal with a great deal of mental and physical challenges such as fighting the elements, the enemy, carrying the weight of their gear, and the mental stress of their problems and worries thousands of miles across the sea back home along with the horrors of war. “First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey.” This shows the reader one of the many things of what runs through the minds of the soldiers and the weight of those burdens on their shoulders. During a combat mission having these worries on one’s mind when in a firefight can cause the soldier to make mistakes that could lead to his untimely death. It is a problem many faces when serving during a war.…
Disasters can happen at any point in time, and when they do they drastically affect those around the disaster. Disasters can happen by nature or anthropogenic; these disasters can lead to social unity and vulnerability. In the novel Tribe, Sebastian Junger examines an anthropogenic disaster that has affected millions, war. When people unite under extreme situations “class differences are temporarily erased, income disparities become irrelevant, race is overlooked, and individuals are assessed simply by what they bring to a group” (pg 54). These extreme situations cause a shift in social class, values and social morale.…
This explains that soldiers in O'Brien circumstances do experience an abundance of guilt, O'Brien as a soldiers killing maybe for the first time, did not realize that killing will actually make him feel guilt. This relates to other soldiers because there are many who have this experience, and are still trying to overcome that guilt of killing another person. Also in situations like these soldiers will imagine what that victims life will be if death did not take them. Which causes them to put more pressure on themselves because that is taking away a gift from someone. Though civilians are not soldiers they can relate to the guilt because, they might have been experienced traumatizing events that plays a massive role in their emotional behavior towards situations.…
Soldiers have had problems psychologically during and after wars throughout history. During WWI these symptoms were referred to as shell shock, in WWII it was called battle fatigue, after the Vietnam War people called it post Vietnam syndrome. After being studied it was found that all these soldiers had the same symptoms and it was finally given an official name in the DSM, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome or PTSD for short. Although the disorder has officially been recognized, the stigma remains and many soldiers are still reluctant to seek help during or after…
War stories are gruesome. They capture the reality of war--death, grief, and pain. “The Sniper” and “Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?” (by Liam O’Flaherty and Tim O’Brien respectively) are both shining examples of this; unpacking the glorification of victory to reveal how humans are dehumanized and trained to kill other people. Their differences outline a common theme: how war dehumanizes people from killing and guilt, and how that all builds into a catastrophe later on in life.…
Situations like these leave such devastating scars on the psyche that they cannot function the same way prior to that moment in time without out the aid of drugs, alcohol or psychotherapy. Soldiers are perceived as something more than human because they are described as being trained, rugged, edgy and always prepared for anything. Despite this perception, the Veterans Health Administration knows all too well how they can be injured and damaged just…
Soldiers in the Vietnam War carried as an emotional burden the loss of their mates and some that saw the traumatic events were marked for life, including those who were directly involved. In the Vietnam…
When I envision myself working with individuals who have experienced trauma or experiencing trauma, the first thing that comes to mind is my own personal reaction to the client’s traumatic experience or story. I have this inner fear of being very sensitive and empathic to that person’s story that it may come across as a sign of weakness as a counselor or not. As discussed in class, each client may react differently to their counselor’s reaction and may want a certain kind of reaction from their counselor. I believe as I work more with individuals who experienced trauma, I will be able to observe my clients reaction to how I am processing their story and adjust by emotions as needed. I became interested in the topic of trauma for several reasons, one of which is personal.…