Preview

Post Traumatic Stress in Vietnam

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1257 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Post Traumatic Stress in Vietnam
Post Traumatic Stress in Vietnam Veterans

For more than twenty years, Patricia Dietz, a wife of a Vietnam veteran, has suffered along with her husband the effects of post traumatic stress disorder. She has stated that, "It has changed everything; it has affected the rest of his and her life." Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is when a person, in this case a veteran from Vietnam, is haunted by his memories of war and death so badly that it affects not only the rest of his life, but others close to him as well. Any time there is a traumatic event, physical danger, or threat or personal danger, this disorder is able to appear in ones ' life (USA Today Magazine). "A key factor is the persons ' response to this event, whether it happens to them or they are witnesses to feelings of intense fear, helplessness, or horror" (USA Today Magazine). "To be classified as PTSD the symptoms must last longer than one month, and usually appear within six months to a year after the event" (USA Today Magazine). Jim Dwyer describes Traumatic memories as "frozen in time, waiting to thaw" (Block, Norris). "PTSD has become a common condition among the armed forces as well as the police, and it has spread throughout society" (Fitzpatrick). "After Vietnam, PTSD appeared and was rapidly taken over from the veterans" (Fitzpatrick). There are a large number of symptoms of PTSD. The Veterans symptoms can be identical to those symptoms experienced when the actual trauma was occurring (Panzarino). "[symptoms include] May be prone to insomnia, irritability, or outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, and an exaggerated startled response when shocked" (USA Today Magazine). Michael Wheeler, a Vietnam veteran, is divorced because of PTSD, he was having thoughts of suicide, he couldn 't handle life, he thought he was going crazy (Block, Norris). More symptoms are night terrors (dreams), flashbacks, and recurrent/intrusive thoughts of traumatic events (USA Today Magazine). "Many PTSD



Cited: - - -."Non Combat Related Post Traumatic Stress" USA Today Magazine 1 April 1995: 1 Fitzpatrick, Mike. "Doctoring Risk Society: The Home Front" The Lancet 29 March 2003: 1 Pettypiece, Shannon. "Enabling disabled veterans" Crain 's Cleveland Business 2 May 2005: 2 Welsh, Douglas. The Vietnam War New York: Gallery Books, 1982. Block, Melissa and Michele Norris. Radio interview. 25 April 2003 Panzarino, Peter. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. MedicineNet.com. 24 June 2005 http://www.medicinenet.com/posttraumatic_stress_disorder/article.htm Goodwin, Jim. The Etiology of Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders. DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS. - - - 1987 http://www.trauma-pages.com/goodwin.htm Dietz, Patricia. Lecture to class. October 2005

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Post-traumatic stress disorder is a term that many people are familiar with. We hear this on the news or read about it in the newspaper from time to time. Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD for short is often included in conversations discussing people who have survived some sort of life threatening danger or trauma. Post-traumatic stress disorder causes its victims to feel frightened, worried and stressed in normal situations in which an unaffected person would feel comfortable. Symptoms of PTSD fall into three main categories which are reliving, avoidance and arousal. An example of reliving would be described as having it disturb your day to day activity. Avoidance would be described as being emotionally numb or feeling as though you don’t care about anything and feeling detached or showing less of your moods. Arousal would be described as difficulty concentrating or being startled easily. Being hyper vigilant, feeling irritable or having an outburst of anger. There are many victims of this disorder but the focus in the past few years has seem be on war veterans and has been the cause of much study.…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Wounded Veterans

    • 1614 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), often known as combat stress, is an anxiety disorder which happens after being exposed to a traumatic life event. ("Make the connection,") Being sent into battle where bombs are set off at random and guns’ being fired toward a soldier’s direction is a great environment to obtain PTSD.…

    • 1614 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Suammary of Unhappy Meals

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages

    d. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, and terrorist incidents. Some people have stress reactions that do not go away on their own, or may even get worse over time. People who suffer from PTSD often relive the experience through nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty sleeping, and feel detached or estranged. These symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to significantly impair the Soldier's daily life.…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ptsd and Trauma Focused Cbt

    • 4160 Words
    • 17 Pages

    Yule, W., Smith, P., & Perrin, S. (2005). Post-traumatic stress disorders. In P.J. Graham (Ed.),…

    • 4160 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder. PTSD usually occurs after someone has seen or experienced a traumatic event that involved the threat of injury and death. It is commonly associated with the soldiers who have fought in wars or conflicts. All of the symptoms of PTSD are classified and categorized into three distinct groups: “reliving”, avoidance, and arousal. Some of these symptoms include flashbacks, repeated nightmares, detachment, hyper-vigilance, and being easily angered, along with many others. (PubMed Health, PTSD) (*1). “According to a survey conducted by the Veteran’s Administration, some 500,000 of 3 million troops suffered from PTSD after the Vietnam War. The survey also states that rates of divorce, suicide, and alcoholism and drug addiction were higher among Vietnam veterans.” (History, Vietnam War) (*2). We may never fully know how much this disorder has truly affected our troops. Most veterans are not open about their condition, however some have accepted it and open up about it. So, how much does PTSD really affect someone?…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Tim O’Brien is a veteran of the Vietnam War and is the author of such novels as The Things They Carried and Going After Cacciato. In his novels, O’Brien talks about in great depth of the horrors of the Vietnam War. Soldiers returning home from Vietnam had a hard time adapting to civilian life. Some veterans thought they were fighting in the war while at home. Many were later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Even today, a majority of PTSD cases handled by the Veteran’s Administration (VA) are from Vietnam veterans. What are PTSD and its symptoms and effects on the human body? Only recently are ways to prevent PTSD and viable treatments have been discovered to combat the illness. Clearly, what happens to veterans with PTSD once they have separated from active duty implies a need for care. How many Vietnam veterans suffered from PTSD and committed suicide is a topic that O’Brien’s work explores. More Vietnam veterans suffer from PTSD than any other war veterans per capita.…

    • 2500 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ptsd

    • 1530 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Post-traumatic Stress or more commonly known as PTSD is a regular reaction to an uncharacteristic experience that is far outside normal human experience, causing substantial distress and damage to a person mentally, physically, and emotionally. When people have experienced a tragic life experience, many develop symptoms of PTSD because of the tragedy. Tragic experiences can range from going to war and seeing horrific scenes, a bad car accident that injured themselves and possibly others, and childhood situations such as molestation or loss of a parent or close family members. Many people associate PTSD with people that only were in the military, however anyone can suffer from PTSD from other sources as well. Post-traumatic stress can affect not only the person who endured the horrific incident, but also the people closest to them that witnessed the incident, the first responders to the accident, or situation, as well as close friends and family to the person directly affected. PTSD was first…

    • 1530 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    PTSD In Veterans

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A study found that for PTSD: “Among male and female soldiers rates range from 9% shortly after returning from deployment to 31% a year after deployment”(Irribarren 2) Veterans with PTSD recall traumatic events through nightmares and flashbacks. They slowly fade away from society and this is often followed by disorders caused by distress such as depression, substance abuse and problems with memory. PTSD eventually leads to problems with daily social and family life. This is usually followed unstable relationships, problems with marriage, divorces, parenting problems, and family issues. The PTSD disorder can become grave and turn into a long lasting complication that can hinder a person’s daily life, and possibly suicidal tendencies. Long after…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    P.T.S.D: Causes & Effects in SoldiersShane WhiteMiller-Motte CollegeRunning head: PTSD: CAUSE AND EFFECT IN SOLDIERS…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that is triggered from traumatic experiences such as, horrid childhood, flashbacks, and possibly nightmares. Natural disasters, rape, sexual assaults, war veterans, or any other serious experiences could lead to having post-traumatic stress disorder.…

    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has become a rising mental disorder among both male and female veterans. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, also called PTSD for short, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a traumatic event in which physical or mental harm may have occurred. Events such as wartime situations, violent attacks, serious accidents, and terrorist incidents can all play a part in the increase of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder cases. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can have many negative effects on the individual’s life, such as personal relationships, potential health problems, and having a successful career.…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    PTSD is classified as a severe anxiety disorder which is likely to develop when a person is exposed to one or more traumatic events. This study consists of surveys which measure the levels of posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms in soldiers returning from active duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The research will attempt to show soldiers returning from an extended tour of duty are at high risk for developing these mental issues. As discussed in class, stress is any challenge to the system and has an effect on one's emotions as well as their physical well being. Measuring the effects of war on a soldier is sure to expose signs of stress. If a soldier should show signs of posttraumatic…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychological response to a petrifying, life-threatening or life-altering event. (Staff, 2014) PTSD affects those that experienced the traumatic experience, those that witnessed the event, or family and friends that help “pick up the pieces” after the catastrophe. (Smith, Robinson, & Segal, 2015) Men and women returning from combat deployments often begin to have flashbacks due to everyday sounds or triggers; aside from flashbacks, veterans with PTSD may experience night terrors,…

    • 77 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that is caused by a traumatic event. PTSD can be developed when an individual experience, or observe an event that caused intense fear, helplessness and horror (Mayo Clinic, n.d.). Post-traumatic stress disorder has identifiable symptoms, specific therapeutic interventions, and affects all segments of the population. PTSD is commonly associated with our military personnel who were involved in combat, from World War 1 to the police action in Iraq this illness has been labeled a variety of names by the military such as: shell shock, battle fatigued, gross stress reaction, and post –Vietnam syndrome (Edwards, n.d.).…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    PTSD

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Tull, m. (2001). Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In about.com. Retrieved December 20, 2011, from http://www.bookfixer.com/PTSD/Default.htm…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays