PTSD in World War I Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is something that Paul and his friends would most likely have gone through if they made it out of the war. PTSD affects an estimated 8% of Americans or 24.4 million people and affects people all over the world. (“Reacting to a Traumatic”). To start thing off, there are many different things that can cause PTSD. One thing that could potentially cause PTSD for Paul and his friends would be hearing the horses crying for help and seeing them with their guts hanging out of their stomach (Remarque [Page #61]). Military service is not the only cause of PTSD, physical abuse is the highest percentage of PTSD. Other causes include, car accidents, terrorist attacks, seeing a death in person, and many more (NHS Choices). Witnessing all of the events Paul and his friends experienced they most likely would have some sort of PTSD if they had made it out of the war. …show more content…
My grandfather had PTSD after the Vietnam war and therapy never really helped him. The one thing that did however is talking to other veterans who went through the same thing as him. Psychotherapies are the most highly recommended treatment for PTSD. They focus on the traumatic memory of the event and usually last eight to sixteen sessions. For others antidepressants are a prescribed way of treating PTSD but for some they may not work. In Paul’s day they had brief treatment that was never too helpful for the client (“Treatment of
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:
One in five veterans from Afghanistan and Iraqi wars have been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event and mostly effects military veterans. The book Lone Survivor, written by Marcus Luttrell, is an eye witness account of the 2005 operation Red Wing that tells the harrowing story of SEAL Team 10. Throughout the book, Marcus hears voices in his head of his fallen teammates. Even today, Marcus wakes up in the middle of the night because of the terrible nightmares, which are symptoms of PTSD. There are a lot of ways to combat PTSD so our troops do not have to endure this hardship. Some of the ways to combat the disorder is to understand PTSD, detect it early, having family support and preventing it.
...ype of treatment available for post-traumatic stress disorder patients is psychotherapies. There are various types of psychotherapy that psychologist can use such as exposure therapy, psychoeducation or mindfulness training. In exposure therapy, the patient is recreating the traumatic event help get rid of the fear relating to the event. For example, James Francis Ryan could be put through a session where there was simulation of explosives going off or even airplane engine noises. Research by F.R. Schneier et al., 2012, found that antidepressant medication taken alongside exposure therapy was found to be more effective in treating the post-traumatic stress disorder (Sue, Sue, Sue, and Sue, 2014, p.127). Psychoeducation is also used with exposure therapy because it educates the patient with information about their disorder in order to understand it and cope with it.
Nations may pay for the war, but soldiers pay the ultimate price, their lives. A soldier has to be willing to lose everything to gain freedom for others. Therefore a war is not fought by two nations, but rather than the millions of soldiers. With this comes great sacrifice and selflessness. In the book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien three soldiers that stand to lose the most are Kiowa, Norman Bowker, and Jimmy Cross.
A Vietnam War veteran experienced many gruesome and horrifying events during their time of serving the army. Seeing such horrifying things affected their mental and emotional thinking “PTSD is defined as a re-experience of a traumatic event, for example, flashbacks. Anything can trigger a flashback a click, a movement, anything associated with the past event” (Cruz). Seeing such horrifying things affected their mental and emotional thinking. A soldier was told to forget what they saw and basically move on from it, but it only made it worse. Having everything “bottled up” makes it even harder to treat PTSD. U.S. soldiers had to live with the disorder on their own without any help. “The veterans experience combat related nightmares, anxiety, anger, depression, alcohol and/or drug dependency, all are symptoms of PTSD” (Begg). The symptoms occurred over long periods of time when that person has been in certain situations that he or she was not ready to be in. Some of these situations including the Vietnam veterans not feeling like their unit was together or united. “Soldiers were sent into replace other soldiers, which caused the other members of the group to make fun or haze them. The unit never developed as much loyalty to each other as they should have” (Paulson and Krippner). “Many of...
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).
Imagine living in despair after coming back home, dismayed from a war that got no appreciation. Robert Kroger once said in his quote, “The brave men and women, who serve their country and as a result, live constantly with the war inside them, exist in a world of chaos. But the turmoil they experience isn’t who they are, the PTSD invades their minds and bodies.” Eleven percent of Vietnam Veterans still suffer with symptoms of the terrifying disorder of PTSD (Handwerk). Vietnam Veterans struggle with the physiological effects of PTSD after war, which leads to despair and many deaths.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that develops when an individual experiences or lives through a life-threatening event. (NIH 2010) These individuals react with intense fear, helplessness, or horror. On a daily basis, the Troops overseas live through life-threatening events. These events are why 12-30% of warfighters develop combat-related PTSD. Troops are prepared for duty but are unprepared for psychological effects of war. We can witness the effects of PTSD in American Literature. One unusual example of these impacts could be shown in the novel, The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a symbol of combat-related PTSD, which he inquires during World War One(WWI) while stationed with the 17th Infantry. Throughout the novel, Gatsby is described to have many symptoms and risk factors of PTSD. Jay Gatsby’s
PTSD is defined as mental health disorder triggered by a terrifying event (Mayoclinic). This ordeal could be the result of some sort of physical harm or threat to the individual, family members, friends or even strangers. (NIMH) While PTSD is typically associated with someone who has served in the military, it can affect more than just that genre of individuals. It could affect rape victims, victims in a terrorist or natural disaster incident, nurses, doctors, and police and fire personnel and bystanders. PTSD can manifest itself in many forms. The primary signs and symptoms of PTSD include but are not limited to re-experiencing symptoms (flashbacks, bad dreams, frightening thoughts), avoidance of places, situations, or events that may cause those memories to resurface, and hyperarousal symptoms (easily startled, feeling tense or on edge) (NIMH). Other symptoms may include not having positive or loving feelings toward other people, staying away from relationships, may forget about parts of the traumatic event or not be able to talk about them, may think the world is completely dangerous, and no one can be trusted.
War is no child 's play, but unfortunately, we have had times in our past when the youth of our great nation had to defend it. Combat is not an easy for anyone; watching death, the constant ring of gunfire, the homesickness, fearing for your life, and witnessing bloodshed daily, this will begin to take its toll. The minds threshold for brutality can only handle so much and eventually will become sickened by these events. This sickness is called Post-traumatic stress disorder. As shown through the characters of The Things They Carried, soldiers of war may begin to show PTSD symptoms before the war is over, and may continue to fight the disorder after the war has ended.
There are many different causes of PTSD such as sexual abuse, sudden death of a loved one, and war. Trauma affects people in different ways, some can develop it from watching a fellow soldier being killed, and some can develop it from losing their jobs or a divorce. Being diagnosed with PTSD is a difficult process because there are many other psychological disorders whose symptoms can overlap and are very similar. An important fact to remember is that PTSD doesn’t just affect the person suffering; it can also have secondhand effects on their spouses, children, parents, friends, co-workers, and other loved ones. Although there is no direct cure, there are many treatment and alternative treatment options to assist them in moving forward after a trauma.
It is evident because they are exposed to many indications of PTSD. The characters experience shock, anger, nervousness, fear, and guilt all caused by the traumatic situations they undergo. One example of Paul practised PTSD is shown in book on page 141;" But that does not mend matters, After I have been startled a couple of times in the street by the screaming of the tramcars,which resembles the shriek of a shell coming straight for one, somebody taps me on the shoulder."(Remarque [Page 141]). One symptom of PTSD is being paranoid by things that remind them of their traumatic experience, things such as noises, sights, and people. Another case of PTSD in the work is found on page 137 within the text, "I can not feel at home amongst these things...There is a distance, a veil between us."(Remarque [Page 137]). PTSD causes a person to feel removed and distanced from others, as explained in the quote. These two quotes are just a preview of examples of PTSD presented in the
The soldiers that come home from the battlefield are not the only ones that suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. More than two-million children have also been affected by their parent’s PTSD. Combat-related stress disorders have always been around but throughout history this phenomenon has been given different names, like “Soldier’s Heart” in the Civil War, “Shell Shock” in World War I, “Battle Fatigue” in World War II and “Vietnam Syndrome” in Vietnam War as. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was first recognized as distinct psychological disorders in 1980.Providing veterans with an opportunity receive proper medical treatment because it was not classified as a mental health problem. Delays of the proper treatment resulted in the Veterans going into substance abuses and depression.
Post traumatic stress disorder to most people is a soldier that has just come back from
PTSD was such a horrible sickness because it embedded traumatic events in a soldiers mind. So later on this memory impeded a soldier enjoyment of life. Certain smell, sights and taste a soldier experienced triggered their memory making them recall those horrifying moments when their friend was brutally slaughtered. When these memories occurred soldiers would lose themselves. They would would break down and question themselves, ‘What could I have done to save him? Why did he die and not me? The guilt was so great that for many that they simply killed themselves. However, this was only one of the horrible effects of PTSD. Another