Ptsd In Veterans Essay

Do you know that seven to eight percent of Americans’ will experience some form of PTSD at some point in their lives? PTSD is an acronym for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The cause of this anxiety disorder can be onset by a number of horrific traumas including events such as death, war, and even sexual assault. PTSD is a serious illness that requires help for those who suffer from this silent killer. Clearly, this illness is a long lasting consequence of war and other traumas. The earliest accounts of stress-related disorders are commonly attached to previous wars. PTSD in veterans has been formerly called shell shock or combat stress (Crocq, Marc-Antoine, and Louis Crocq). Doctors and Psychologists originally studied the psychological consequences of trench warfare during World War I. This led to the

Many people are unaware that certain groups of people are more likely than whites to develop this mental illness because research has shown that Hispanics and African Americans are slightly more likely to go through trauma. An example is that in the Veterans who survived Vietnam, a larger percent of minority groups were in combat than whites. It is estimated that 30 out of every 100 veterans who served in Vietnam have had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in their lifetime. About 15% of these men currently suffer from this illness (PTSD: National Center for PTSD.”). There are self help guides available online to these veterans. A huge focus of these guides is suicide prevention. Symptoms of PTSD in Veterans can be extreme and detrimental. They may feel a large amount of survivors’ guilt and think they are helpless. The suffering Veteran may feel that they are still in combat and certain triggers can set them off the edge. This causes them to appear jumpy or frequently on guard (Smith, Melinda, Lawrence Robinson, Jeanne Segal). PTSD affects people from many different walks of