After a person experiences a traumatic event that involves an actual or perceived threat
of death or injury, they may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is the
most common mental health disability affecting troops who have served in combat.
Symptoms of PTSD include:
re-experiencing of the traumatic event, often through flashbacks or nightmares
avoidance of anything associated with the trauma and numbing of emotions
difficulty sleeping and concentrating, and irritability.
PTSD can develop at any time after exposure to a traumatic event.For veterans,
it often emerges several months after return to civilian life.
Prevalence
Because neither the Department of Defense nor the VA adequately diagnose or effectively
track PTSD in veterans, precise statistics on the prevalence of PTSD in OEF/OIF veterans
are not available. However, current studies estimate that the prevalence of PTSD among
returning veterans ranges from 15% to 50%.
Because PTSD can take months or years to manifest, and because many troops are subjected
to multiple deployments and the worsening violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, rates of PTSD
will continue to rise.
Consequences
PTSD is a serious and specific diagnosis, but it can vary greatly in its severity.
In severe cases, it can lead to addiction, anti-social behavior or suicide.
Troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are killing themselves at higher
percentages than in any other war where such figures have been tracked.
Many factors can impact the extent of the reaction to a traumatic event.These
include the amount of death and devastation witnessed, and the degree of responsibility
felt for not preventing the event. Other factors include gender, age and race.
Treatment
Types of treatment include: individual psychotherapy, behavioral or cognitive behavioral therapy
(CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), group therapy, and medication.
Early treatment is more likely to be effective, and can help avoid a decline into alcoholism or
other destructive behavior.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Diagnosis and Assessment &- Study at the request
of Dept. of Veterans Affairs by the Institute of Medicine - Released June 16, 2006 - http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3793/32410/35130.aspx
Deployment stressors and a chronic multisymptom illness among Gulf War veterans. Nisenbaum R, Barrett DH, Reyes M, Reeves WC. Deployment stressors and a chronic multisymptom illness among Gulf War veterans.
J Nerv Ment Dis 188:259-266, 2000.
Page Located on the Web at http://www.cdc.gov/cfs/publications/causes_15.htm
The ACTH response to dexamethasone in Persian Gulf War veterans. Read/Download pdf.
The health of UK military personnel who deployed to the 2003 Iraq war: a cohort study. Read/Dowload pdf.
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Each of us needs to read "Iraq War Follows a Bryan Officer Home", the first in a
series of four articles written by Craig Kapitan, a reporter for
The Bryan-College Station Eagle, our home town paper. The articles relate,
in heartrending and factual detail, a brave veteran's bout with
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"She was afraid, but not for what her husband claimed to have done or what he
might do. Two years after returning home from Iraq - and after months of trying
futilely to get help for mounting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder
- the respected police officer, father of four and Marine Reserve sniper had lost
touch with reality."
Craig Kapitan's words sum up the lives of so many veterans who have returned
home "broken in body, mind and spirit"
and expose the impact of our government's inaction and denial.
Please read this series of articles. Pass this link on if you are a
veteran, a family member or a friend of a veteran
who is having trouble getting help,
then send me an email: Robin@honorthenames.com
We will put you in touch with people who will try to help you.
We at Honor the Names wish to express our deepest respect and admiration for
the Hancock family, who have bared their souls to help others, and to
Craig Kapitan, who wrote their story. You have our gratitude, Craig, for bringing to
the forefront an important veterans' issue, and we are proud of The Bryan-College Station Eagle
for making it available to everyone it might assist.
