Post Traumatic Stress Disorder In The Military Essay

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Jessica Schoch Psychology 140 Professor Crothers 15 Nov. 2017 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Military Post traumatic stress disorder is most common in soldiers, but particularly in Vietnam veterans. Soldiers get it from combat in wars. Post traumatic stress disorder can also occur when someone witnesses a car accident, natural disaster or any other traumatic event. Post traumatic stress disorder is a serious health issue and mostly everyone who has it commits suicide. Soldiers that suffer from Post traumatic stress disorder commit suicide because they can not deal with the flashbacks and nightmares from war. The range of suicides in Vietnam veterans is 50,000- 100,000. On the New York times website it states “ Of the 37 million male …show more content…

Avoidance symptoms is a way to forget a traumatic event such as war, natural disaster or any stressful event. One type of avoidance that is most common in Vietnam veterans is behavioral avoidance. Vietnam veterans often stop watching the news or reading the newspaper when they talk about war. Another symptom is hyperarousal symptom which is when someone is easily startled. Emotional and physical symptoms also play a role in post traumatic stress disorder. Emotional symptoms include depression, extreme guilt and feeling numb while physical symptoms include difficulty sleeping, tension and other symptoms that emotional symptoms have. Post traumatic stress disorder also messes with peoples brains specifically with the part of the brain that controls memories and emotions, also called the hippocampus. The hippocampus appears smaller when a person has post traumatic stress disorder because of fear, anxiety and any other symptoms. Nightmares and flashbacks do not process correctly when the hippocampus is malfunctioning. There is a treatment for this and it is allowing the memories to process correctly so the nightmares and flashbacks slowly

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