PTSD In The Military

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood. (Nebraska) PTSD from combat-related symptoms varies in severity and can be very harmful to not only the individual but also the families. In the worst cases, individuals will be removed from the military and are advised to seek professional help if it is not already given to them. In the more mild cases of combat-related PTSD, individuals are authorized to stay in the military but must seek help and continue to speak to others frequently as well as possibly take

People may have memories that upset them, reminding them of the traumatic event they witnessed. These upsetting memories are often unexpected. In other events, these memories might be triggered by a traumatic event that reminds them of the occasion. For example, a combat veteran hearing fireworks on the Fourth of July after experiencing a firefight. Re-experiencing memories may cause both emotional and physical reactions of the individual and of the family members. (Mowatt and Bennett 287) Re-experiencing memories are often called “flashbacks”. A flashback is also a memory that can feel real to the individual so much as to feel as if the event is actually happening. These memories can cause intense emotions of helplessness, fear, and horror that are very similar to the emotions that they witnessed when the event first took

These individuals often try to avoid situations that cause memories of their traumatic event. These personnel are hard to bond with due to the fact that they find it hard to feel emotions or express emotions toward others. These symptoms often make these individuals feel as if they have nowhere to go to because they do not want a reminder of the traumatic event. Those people who have PTSD use avoidance/emotional numbing as a way to cope with the traumatic event. (Ruggiero 496) Personnel who struggle with this symptom often have a hard time dealing with family members when they want to ask questions about the