THE REALITY CORNER
July 2010
The cost of war: PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder)
I’m sure that you celebrated Memorial Day last month with a cook out, a day off of work or just a weekend at the beach with family and friends. Did you take the time out to think about the cost of Memorial Day?, Did you think about the troops that have died and their families?, Did you think about the troops that have survived with life changing injuries such as: loss of limbs, severe brain damage, loss of vision and the mental health diagnosis of PTSD? This month I want to dedicate this article to and focus on the lives of our military personnel those that fight daily and those that have died so that we may have the freedoms and security that we experience every day.
Do you know how many military personnel have died since we began fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2001; there have been 4,391 deaths from Iraq and 1,087 from Afghanistan. There are so many more troops that have survived with serious injuries and a mental health diagnosis of PTSD. Research shows that 1out 8 military personnel return from war suffering from PTSD.
What is PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder); it’s defined as when a person has been exposed to a traumatic experience where the following are present;
(1) The person experienced or witnessed, or was confronted with an event that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury.
(2) The person’s response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror.
The traumatic events that our troops report seeing are their fellow troops dying in their arms, trying to figure out why they lived and their buddies died and constantly being reminded of the traumatic event such as seeing their wounds daily and horrific nightmares. The traumatic event is persistently experienced such as:
(1) Recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event including images, thoughts and perceptions,
(2) Recurrent distressing dreams of the event.
(3) Acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring when awakened or intoxicated.
(4) Intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.
(5) Psychological reactivity on exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.
A person doesn’t have to experience all of the above to be given a diagnosis of PTSD if one or more of there are present that will receive the diagnosis.
There was a great movie that I saw it was released last year called “Brothers” starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman; it’s a movie about a solider returning from war and suffering with PTSD. The movie successfully showed the impact that PTSD has on the family and friends. The uncertainty that families experience because the person that returns from war and in some cases isn’t the person that left for war. When we watch the happy reunions and celebrations of troops that return have you thought about are they the same or are they just a “shell” of the person that left for war and survived.
There is also an aspect of PTSD that is called persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness; it’s important to note that these responses weren’t present before the traumatic event. Such as:
(1) Effort to avoid thoughts, feelings or conversations associated with the trauma
(2) Efforts to avoid activities, places or people that will arouse the recollections of the trauma
(3) Inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma
(4) Marked or diminished interest in participation of significant activities
(5) Feelings of detachment or estrangement from others
(6) restricted range of affect (unable to show love)
(7) Sense of shortened future
So while I’m focusing this article on the military we know that PTSD can be triggered by many other events such as rape, domestic violence, car accidents, death of a child and from being molested as child. I want to tell you the signs that someone is suffering from PTSD will have persistent symptoms of increased arousal such as:
- Difficulty falling or staying asleep
- Irritability or outburst of anger.
- Difficulty concentrating
- Hypervigilance
- Exaggerated startle response.
This impact and life changing event is so powerful for our military and their families that most times people will tell you that I don’t know who my husband, son, wife or daughter is anymore because they are so different now compared to when they left. While PTSD is life changing there is treatment available so that they can return to a normal life. Some of the types of treatment for PTSD are:
(1) Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy-this is when the person is gradually exposes their thoughts, feelings that remind them of the traumatic event.
(2) Family Therapy- bringing the family into sessions so that everyone can be educated about the affects of PTSD while providing an environment for open communication and healing.
(3) Medication- is prescribed sometimes to help relieve the depression and anxiety symptoms but it’s not designed to treat PTSD.
I know that I’ve given a lot of information in this article, I just want to emphasize the lasting impact of war, maybe we are drawing down our forces in Iraq, maybe the insurgents/terrorist are moving out of Iraq and Afghanistan and in the end maybe all of our troops will come home. They may return but not as the men and women that left home months and years ago. I pray that when you watch the news, when you celebrate Memorial Day, veterans day and when your loved ones return home that you will not forget to thank them for their service to our country, that you provide an environment of open communication and that you will point them in the direction of a mental health therapist if there is an sign of PTSD. I also will say yes pray because we know that prayers works and the peace of God will guard our minds and our hearts…Philippians Ch. 4 verse 6-7 states: 6.Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your request to God 7. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus.
Let’s keep troops and their families in our prayers and remember that with war there is a cost and the question we should be asking as a country is what is worth it.
For more info on PTSD visit the following websites:
