PTSD Affecting Soldiers He stood there, frozen, shocked, not knowing what to do when he saw a gun pointed at him. Thankfully, the trigger didn’t work, but he had to witness a scarring event, in which he had shot his enemy in the head. It is not surprising that soldiers returning from a stressful war often suffer from a psychological condition called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. For instance, in the book Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers, the principle character Perry unmistakably demonstrates how war troopers can be damaged and experience the ill effects of PTSD.
In the novel The Crossing by Gary Paulsen the sergeant, Robert suffers from a disorder called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is not a disorder that is rare, for there is more than 3 million US cases per year. PTSD is when a person fails to recover after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. For Robert he experienced war, where he could have seen innocent people die, where he could not have helped them, even if he wanted to. He probably took lives of people, even if he did not want to.
Throughout One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest the narrator, Chief Bromden, has a slight mystery surrounding him, like several of the other characters. That is, what mental illness is Chief in the ward for exactly? The answer might seem like the obvious post traumatic stress disorder, but is it really? While he does have the necessary traumatic experience for PTSD to occur, he doesn’t necessarily show all the symptoms. In fact, he shows just as many symptoms for depersonalization/derealization disorder and schizophrenia as he does PTSD.
After the very traumatic events that the Holocaust survivors experienced, many started to feel guilty because they survived and so many millions died. This long-lasting feeling of guilt is called Holocaust Syndrome. Holocaust Syndrome is also very similar to PTSD with its effects on the person. Holocaust Syndrome, better known as survivor’s guilt, is a common, long-lasting psychological illness that comes after experiencing a traumatic event. Holocaust Syndrome is caused by one experiencing a very traumatic event, usually involving death.
This usually affects anyone who has gone through a distressing or life-threatening situation, such as combat, natural disasters, physical or sexual assault. You can obtain PTSD from many things, but these few examples are just the most common examples. Symptoms of PTSD can include flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive thoughts, and changes in mood and behavior. There are several treatments available for PTSD. CBT, which is cognitive- behavioral therapy.
Dangerous and intense situations typically lead to certain devastating consequences to a persons both emotional and physical health. As result of these experiences, there is often not only exterior injuries, but also the non visual psychological damage that is just as hard, if not harder, to resolve. One commonality throughout all wars is this unseen casualty known as PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder. Tim O’Brien, veteran of the Vietnam war, demonstrates how PTSD affects soldiers in countless ways in his novel The Things They Carried. He uses fictional but lovable characters that readers can easily relate to, intensifying their emotional engagement in the book.
People with PTSD often relive the traumatic events through nightmares, and flashbacks, and may feel guilt for what happened. Although you usually hear about
PTSD- “A mental health condition that is triggered by a terrifying event” (National Center for PTSD). This mental health disorder can have long lasting or have a short term affects. Terrifying events can life threatening accidents, serious injury, or sexual violence. This disorder can be triggered by a noise, smell, sounds or emotion. A terrifying event could also include a plane crash onto a deserted island, just like in Lord of The Flies.
Some of the common side effects of PTSD are flashbacks, nightmares, and reliving the events that cause the PTSD. There are many people who also think that PTSD isn’t a thing and people are just making it up. Even if you believe it or not, people are suffering from something that
Military service members who are and have been deployed to the middle east show high levels of emotional distress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Both active duty and reserve component soldiers who have experienced combat have been exposed to high levels of traumatic stress. Consequently, many have gone on to develop a wide range of mental health problems such as PTSD. Common symptoms include: emotional numbing, anxiety, feelings of guilt, and depression. PTSD has always been an issue especially with those that have experienced sexual assault, a traumatic accident or injury, being a prisoner of war, or participated in combat.
Symptoms of PTSD can include intrusive memories, avoidance, changes in physical and emotional reactions,
There is more to post-traumatic stress disorder than traumatic events. People suffering from PTSD can experience trouble sleeping or feeling on edge. It is often difficult to function normally. With the right care, the person can resume normal activities. It is also common for those suffering from PTSD to adopt a service dog to help ease their fears and stress.
PTSD is an anxiety disorder that follows the experience of a traumatic event. Of the 2.7 million American veterans that served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, at least 20% were diagnosed with PTSD (Veterans Statistics). PTSD affects everyone differently but the most common symptoms of PTSD include: reliving the event, increased anxiety, and avoiding any reminders of the trauma (Robinson,Segal, Smith). These symptoms negatively affect their life
Additionally, PTSD can place an individual at a higher risk for developing a number of other mental health disorders and certain medical illness, as well as thoughts of or attempts at suicide, Anxiety disorders, including Generalized Anxiety Disorder, OCD, borderline personality disorder, depression, specific phobi’s, and panic disorder (PD) all experienced in around 75 percent of people with PTSD. It is characterized by frequent and unexpected panic attacks and on-going concerns about future attacks. PD occurs in people with PTSD at a rate four times greater than that of the general population. social anxiety disorder occurs in 28 percent of people with PTSD and is defined by the intense fear and avoidance of social situations. Having PTSD may be the natural consequence of the disorder as both are characterized by feelings of isolation and “not fitting in.”
I chose this piece of literature because I feel that PTSD is still a problem today in the world, a problem of which we yet lack a full understanding.
