PTSD of War

VIETNAM - Untold story from NAM vets

What is learned in combat is never, ever forgotten.

PTSD was once called Shell Shock, something soldiers got from battle, or from "being shelled." It wasn’t until the eighties, when the name changed to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, that others who had not been in battle, but had been the victims of car accidents, domestic abuse, rape, incest, or other traumas that these people finally got the help they needed and the disorder was clearly defined and studied. What is learned in trauma is never forgotten.

Per capita, more Vietnam Veterans suffer from chronic PTSD than from any other war. There are lots of theories as to why this is, including the simple fact that we fought an unpopular war and were never given the welcome home other soldiers received, at least not until recently. It was the first war America had lost, and many Vietnam era veterans received initial scorn from veterans of previous wars. However, there were fewer cases of acute PTSD in Vietnam, attributed to the fact that every soldier knew the day he was coming home, thus the countdown ("Short" meant the soldier had a short time left in country) to the day he’d return, and the subsequent "stuffing" of their trauma while counting down. Following a battle in WWII, 17% were afflicted with acute PTSD, while in Vietnam only one percent were afflicted, debilitated.

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IRAQ - 1 of 8 return suffered PTSD

The Army’s first study of the mental health of troops who fought in Iraq found that about one in eight reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The survey also showed that less than half of those with problems sought help, mostly out of fear of being stigmatized or hurting their careers.

The survey of Army and Marine combat units was conducted a few months after their return from Iraq or Afghanistan last year. Most studies of past wars’ effects on mental health were done years later, making it difficult to compare the latest results with those from the Vietnam or Persian Gulf wars, said Dr. Charles W. Hoge, one of the researchers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

Of particular concern, he said, is that troops with problems are not seeking care.

“The most important thing we can do for service members who have been in combat is to help them understand that the earlier that they get help when they need it, the better off they’ll be,” Hoge said.

The study is published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.

Once called shell shock or combat fatigue, post-traumatic stress disorder can develop after witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event. Symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, feelings of detachment, irritability, trouble concentrating and sleeplessness.

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How to handle Post Traumatic Depression

Post traumatic depression is a result of stressful life. In order to tackle the problem, one should now how to handle and deal with stress. Here are plenty ways to manage your stress

1. Learn how to manage stress

   You may feel like the stress in your life is out of your control, but you can always control the way you respond. Managing stress is all about taking charge: taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment, and the way you deal with problems. Stress management involves changing the stressful situation when you can, changing your reaction when you can’t, taking care of yourself, and making time for rest and relaxation.

2. Strengthen your relationships

   A strong support network is your greatest protection against stress. When you have trusted friends and family members you know you can count on, life’s pressures don’t seem as overwhelming. So spend time with the people you love and don’t let your responsibilities keep you from having a social life. If you don’t have any close relationships, or your relationships are the source of your stress, make it a priority to build stronger and more satisfying connections.

   Tips for reaching out and building relationships:

   Help someone else by volunteering. Have lunch or coffee with a co-worker. Call or email an old friend.

   Go for a walk with a workout buddy. Schedule a weekly dinner date Take a class or join a club.

3. Learn how to relax

   You can’t completely eliminate stress from your life, but you can control how much it affects you. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing activate the body’s relaxation response, a state of restfulness that is the opposite of the stress response. When practiced regularly, these activities lead to a reduction in your everyday stress levels and a boost in your feelings of joy and serenity. They also increase your ability to stay calm and collected under pressure.

4. Invest in your emotional health

   Most people ignore their emotional health until there’s a problem. But just as it requires time and energy to build or maintain your physical health, so it is with your emotional well-being. The more you put in to it, the stronger it will be. People with good emotional health have an ability to bounce back from stress and adversity. This ability is called resilience. They remain focused, flexible, and positive in bad times as well as good. The good news is that there are many steps you can take to build your resilience and your overall emotional health.

Definition of Post Traumatic Depression

Post-traumatic depression, reactional depression, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder represent different clinical and nosographic disorders in despite of their occasionally common symptomatic core.

Historically, it is interesting to note during the XXth century the true semantic change of the terms of trauma from the somatic field to the psychic sphere. Physical traumatism is often represented by a material shock for the subject and by its organic consequences. It is defined as an event that leaves its mark which itself inflicts and handicaps the vital trajectory of the subject. It primarily comprises brain and rachis injuries, whose evolution is frequently characterized by the occurrence/appearance of a depressive disorder, whose genesis rests on psychological but also neurobiologic and physical arguments.

Thus major depressive disorders are often present in the course of various physical traumatisms mainly related to nervous system. In accordance with several studies, the prevalence of major depressive disorders ranges from 25% to 50%. These mood disorders occur in the year which follows the accidental event. Their average time of revelation is estimated at four months and their average duration lies between three and six months. Lastly, although these depressive illnesses present clinical symptoms comparable with those observed in other contexts, some nuances can be raised.