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Emotional and psychological effects of war on soldiers
Historical trauma essays
Emotional and psychological effects of war on soldiers
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The risk for experience to trauma has been a source of psychological concern from the origins of time. In prehistoric ages, humans faced the potential of encountering dangerous predators while hunting with their community; while in today’s society dangerous animal predators are not the number one threat to humanity, other sources of potential trauma exists such as terrorist attacks, kidnappings, sudden deaths, and varying forms of abuse. The earliest accounts and studies of stress caused by traumatic events were related to wartime, and occurred leading up to the early 1950s. Prior to being termed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, the disorder was nicknamed “shell shock” from the horrific conditions of trench warfare during World War
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition, similar to an anxiety disorder, that is triggered by trauma and other extremely stressful circumstances. Throughout the book, Junger talks about PTSD in a wide range:from PTSD rates in natural disaster victims to PTSD rates in veterans. The latter is explained on a deeper perspective. While Junger gave many examples of why PTSD rates in America were so high, the most captivating was:
To begin, throughout slavery slaves were forced to endure tremendous amounts of psychological/emotional trauma. Psychological/emotional trauma can be defined as the heavy amounts of stress that the slaves were forced to experience due to the harsh reality of the slave lifestyle. The psychological/emotional trauma caused slaves to negatively change their perspective on life and their overall way of thinking. This is illustrated in the film Sankofa, when the film excellently portrays the differences between the two save classes: field slaves and house slaves. In the movie Sankofa the field slaves have a strong dislike for the house slaves, because the house slaves received many luxuries that the field slaves didn’t. These luxuries included having
Antwone Fisher presents characteristics consistent with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 271). The American Psychiatric Association described the characteristics of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, as “the development of characteristic symptoms following exposure to one or more traumatic events” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 271). The American Psychological Association (2013) outlines the criterion for diagnosis outlined in eight diagnostic criterion sublevels (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, pp. 271-272). Criterion A is measured by “exposure to actual or threatened” serious trauma or injury based upon one or more factors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p.
PTSD is as old as war itself (McClellend). PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can develop after a person lives through a horrible event, such as a war. During a traumatic event, a person’s nervous sy...
Freud’s approach trauma is based in the treatment of hysteria. According to Ringel and Brandell, Freud and Breuer, considered an “external event” as responsible of determining hysterical symptoms. The common component between hysteria and trauma is the outcome of fright. Freud and Breuer emphasis the importance of cathartic experience as a way of decreasing or vanishing the effect. The “cathartic method” that was developed by Breuer, assisted to release of inhibited emotions. Freud believed that the libido, necessary to be relished for the symptoms to be improved (p. 43).
"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)." NIMH RSS. National Institution of Mental Health, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), originally associated with combat, has always been around in some shape or form but it was not until 1980 that it was named Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and became an accredited diagnosis (Rothschild). The fact is PTSD is one of many names for an old problem; that war has always had a severe psychological impact on people in immediate and lasting ways. PTSD has a history that is as long and significant as the world’s war history - thousands of years. Although, the diagnosis has not been around for that long, different names and symptoms of PTSD always have been. Some physical symptoms include increased blood pressure, excessive heart rate, rapid breathing, muscle tension, nausea, diarrhea, problems with vision, speech, walking disorders, convulsive vomiting, cardiac palpitations, twitching or spasms, weakness and severe muscular cramps. The individual may also suffer from psychological symptoms, such as violent nightmares, flashbacks, melancholy, disturbed sleep or insomnia, loss of appetite, and anxieties when certain things remind them such as the anniversary date of the event (Peterson, 2009).
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after a traumatic event (Riley). A more in depth definition of the disorder is given by Doctor’s Nancy Piotrowski and Lillian Range, “A maladaptive condition resulting from exposure to events beyond the realm of normal human experience and characterized by persistent difficulties involving emotional numbing, intense fear, helplessness, horror, re-experiencing of trauma, avoidance, and arousal.” People who suffer from this disease have been a part of or seen an upsetting event that haunts them after the event, and sometimes the rest of their lives. There are nicknames for this disorder such as “shell shock”, “combat neurosis”, and “battle fatigue” (Piotrowski and Range). “Battle fatigue” and “combat neurosis” refer to soldiers who have been overseas and seen disturbing scenes that cause them anxiety they will continue to have when they remember their time spent in war. It is common for a lot of soldiers to be diagnosed with PTSD when returning from battle. Throughout the history of wars American soldiers have been involved in, each war had a different nickname for what is now PTSD (Pitman et al. 769). At first, PTSD was recognized and diagnosed as a personality disorder until after the Vietnam Veterans brought more attention to the disorder, and in 1980 it became a recognized anxiety disorder (Piotrowski and Range). There is not one lone cause of PTSD, and symptoms can vary from hallucinations to detachment of friends and family, making a diagnosis more difficult than normal. To treat and in hopes to prevent those who have this disorder, the doctor may suggest different types of therapy and also prescribe medication to help subside the sympt...
The article under review is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the DSM-5: Controversy, Change, and Conceptual Considerations by Anushka Pai, Alina M. Suris, and Carol S. North in Behavioral Sciences. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault (U.S. Department VA, 2007). PTSD can happen to anyone and many factors can increase the possibility of developing PTSD that are not under the person’s own control. Symptoms of PTSD usually will start soon after the traumatic event but may not appear for months or years later. There are four types of symptoms of PTSD but may show in different
What is post-traumatic stress disorder? Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a disorder that is characterized by the repeated experiencing or “reliving” of a traumatic event. With this disorder, the sufferer will also experience extreme emotional, mental, and physical distress. Recurrent nightmares, memories of the event, and vivid flashbacks are very likely too. (Wagman 915). PTSD wasn’t recognized as an illness until the 1980s, but it has been around as long as men have been killing one another (McGirk). Before PTSD was given its official name, many different names floated around within the whole entire world. In 1678, Swiss soldiers identified the disorder as nostalgia while German soldie...
PTSD is a debilitating mental illness that occurs when someone is exposed to a traumatic, dangerous, frightening, or a possibly life-threating occurrence. “It is an anxiety disorder that can interfere with your relationships, your work, and your social life.” (Muscari, pp. 3-7) Trauma affects everyone in different ways. Everyone feels wide ranges of emotions after going through or witnessing a traumatic event, fear, sadness and depression, it can cause changes in your everyday life as in your sleep and eating patterns. Some people experience reoccurring thoughts and nightmares about the event.
PTSD when it was first discovered and considered a mental illness, was considered an Achilles' heel, a mental state that only attacked the mentally weak. It was first known as ‘Shell shock’ (2). Some symptoms include suffering from hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, and secluding themselves from society, their families, and their close friends.
Rosen’s study, focused on the root cause of PTSD, showed that stress (major anxiety or nightmares) shown by soldiers before sent into deployment lessened or deliquesced in 13% of soldiers (Herbert 2). Additionally, those that did develop severe PTSD had suffered emotional problems prior to deploy-ment—especially child-hood abuse or exposure to violence.
The diagnosis of Post –Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) involves clusters of symptoms. They include persistent re-experiencing of the trauma, avoidance of traumatic reminders/ general numbing of emotional responsiveness, and hyper-arousal (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). In order for the possible diagnosis of PTSD the individual needs to have exposed to a
“PTSD was first brought to public attention in relation to war veterans, but it can result from a variety of traumatic incidents, such as mugging, rape, torture, being kidnapped or held captive, child abuse, car accidents, train wrecks, plane crashes, bombings, or natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes.” (NIMH)