Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Post traumatic stress disorder occur after an individual has gone through significant trauma. Many times, the situation is life-threatening like military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or violent personal assaults like rape (“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”). PTSD is a serious mental illness that can affect anyone. An estimated one in 11 people will experience PTSD in their lifetime. PTSD has been known by many names. During World War I, it was known as “shell shock”. After World War II, it was known as “combat fatigue” (“PTSD: National Center for PTSD”). In the Vietnam War alone, it is estimated that about 30 out of every 100 Vietnam Veterans have had PTSD in their lifetime. This is a serious issues among …show more content…
For symptoms to be considered PTSD, they must last more than a month and be severe enough to interfere with functioning in relationships or work. The course of illness varies from person to person. Some people can recover within 6 months. Others have symptoms that last much longer, sometimes a whole lifetime. This becomes known as chronic (ongoing) PTSD (“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”). People with PTSD might become emotionally numb, especially towards people with whom they used to be close to. They may lose interest in things they used to once enjoy before the incident. People with PTSD may be startled easily or become easily irritable, become aggressive, and may have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. They avoid situations that remind them of the original incident, and find anniversaries of the incident to be very difficult (“Feature: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD: A Growing Epidemic / Neuroscience and PTSD Treatments | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine”). Many people who suffer from PTSD repeatedly relive the trauma they experienced through their thoughts. PTSD symptoms are usually categorized into four types: intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, and changes in physical and emotional reactions. Symptoms can vary over time or vary from person to person (“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)”). Symptoms of intrusive …show more content…
Tinnitus is the first, hearing loss is second, and post-traumatic stress disorder comes in at third. PTSD can lead to more severe mental health issues if left undiagnosed. Many people do not seek treatment and try to brush off their symptoms. This puts US soldiers at great risk because the rate of suicide among veterans is 21% higher than the rest of the country. Sometimes friends and family of a person affected by PTSD can be confused by their behavior, which can become increasingly irrational or difficult to understand. Many times when service men and women return home they do not experience any suicidal thoughts. But when PTSD and depression are left untreated, it can snowball out of control and sometimes result in suicide. A lot of veterans will use substance to try to cope with their symptoms. Of the 10 % of people who experience PTSD after returning from combat, 20% also face struggles of substance abuse. The most common drug of choice for soldiers is alcohol. Although it may be at temporary fix, it only creates more long-term problems and can make PTSD treatment less successful (Rob. “Dramatic Rise in Ex-Soldiers Reporting PTSD”). Veterans need to be properly treated when they come home from combat so that these long-term consequences will

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