Post-traumatic Stress in War Veterans

Most of the time when soldiers are featured in magazines and newspapers after being wounded, the main form of disability that is featured is physical wounds. Why is it that there is no real spotlight on those that are victims to post-traumatic stress caused by war? While all of those who are injured (whether it be physically or psychologically) are victims to the cruel realities of war, my impression is that the media focuses on the physical aspect.

I’ve been interested in the effects of the war on an individual’s mind since I was younger, when my aunt told me about my biological grandfather. She said that he was a good man, a good husband, and a good father. He left home to fight in the Korea War, and my aunt said that when he came home he was a completely different person than the father she had known before. His whole personality had shaped into that of a stranger, and he allowed his life to be consumed with drugs. The war had messed him up, she told me, and he never returned to his normal self.
Now I know that my grandfather isn’t the only case of this happening. I have heard of several accounts of people transforming into different versions of themselves after involvement in war. It has been noticed that post-traumatic stress disorder is fairly common among those who have been subjected to the atrocities of war. It has been stated that “considerable evidence suggests that some Vietnam veterans have suffered long-term mental health problems as a result of their experiences while in the military.[1]”

More focus needs to be put on this aspect of victimization in war. Rather than focusing solely on physical wounds, attention needs to be paid to the mental wellness of war veterans. When looking back to the Vietnam era, one can find that the suicide rates were higher for those who were eligible for the draft as opposed to those who were not, and it was determined that the actual events of the war were the cause of this as opposed to the eligibility itself (Norman).
The trauma that many of these vets face is a sad fact of war. Many people don’t think of individuals, but rather see war veterans as statistics. They look at the news and are able to see how many are dead or injured. But each veteran who is faced with post-traumatic stress should be given attention as well. They have suffered just as those physically wounded, though in a different form. However, this does not diminish the importance of each veteran’s victimization.

[1] Hearst, Norman, and Thomas B. Newman. ". Proving Cause and Effect in Traumatic Stress: The Draft Lottery as a Natural Experiment ." Journal of Traumatic Stress 1.2 (1988). Psych Info. 3 Dec. 2008.

War is Hell

Certainly everyone has heard of the phrase, “War is Hell”. It is used in describing war and what goes on during armed combat. There are so many different things that go on during war it is nearly impossible to imagine the intensity of that sort of situation without having experienced it firsthand. Just because they leave the battlefield though doesn’t mean they’re problems stop. Often they come home to a public that is unhappy with the war and they don’t get the welcoming that they deserve. Now, similar to Vietnam, soldiers returning from duty get far less than they deserve. Especially considering that they’ve spent so much time training to fight and are now forced to live a civilian life.
Re-acclimating to this new lifestyle is a challenge since soldiers are forced to experience all kinds of extremely violent and stressful situations. Along with physical reactions to these different sights there are also psychological reactions, some that can affect a person months and years after the causal experience occurred. Sometimes these experiences can cause serious psychological damage which can be classified at post-traumatic stress disorder. This is a person suffers long term effects from a stressful situation, such as combat or seeing someone get killed. People who suffer from PTSD end up re-experiencing the traumatic event or events and will try to avoid places, people, or other things that remind them of the event. Soldiers affected by this will show symptoms for a long period of time and considerable damage can be done.
In the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, there are a total of 40,000 reported cases of PTSD between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007. The number increased following the move to increase soldiers in the area and to increase the lengths of tours. As of May 2008 there had been 4,759 American deaths and over 32,000 wounded (Morgan). All of these soldiers eventually come home back to the states, where they have to deal with the PTSD as well as face a public that is unhappy about the war, with Bush having an approval rating of 31 % (Steinhauser). One of the best methods for helping a person to deal with PTSD is using exposure therapy. This is where the person is exposed to situations that caused the disorder in a controlled way so that they are not overwhelmed, with the exposure eventually reaching a point where the subject is no longer affected by it. This was shown when Dr. Keane conducted clinical trials with Vietnam veterans and concluded that exposure therapy was very successful at limiting things like flashbacks, irritability and nightmares (Keane).
Exposure therapy works though because of it being done in a controlled manner. When veterans are subjected to scenes from the war which they just recently returned from a public source, especially when the coverage has a high chance of being negative, it will affect them negatively. Though not nearly as bad as with the Vietnam war where soldiers were termed “baby-killers” among other things, veterans from the middle east often have less than grateful experiences while trying to adjust to civilian life. All the while dealing with PTSD and mass images they are confronted with on the news and nearly every other media outlet. There are programs currently in place that work through the Veteran’s Affairs, but not very much attention is paid to PTSD as it isn’t the easiest thing to diagnose. A change is needed to help those soldiers returning to be able to live a normal life in the suburbs, so to speak.

Keane, T. M. & Kaloupek, D. G. (1982). “Imaginal flooding in the treatment of a posttraumatic stress disorder”. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
Morgan, David. “Post-traumatic stress soars in U.S. troops”. 27 May, 2008. Reuters. Dec 2, 2008 www.reuters.com

“National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet”. United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Dec 2, 2008 < http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_what_is_ptsd.html>

Steinhauser, Paul. “Poll: Bush’s popularity hits new low”. 19 Mar, 2008. CNN. Dec 2, 2008 <>