Post Traumaic Stress Disorder

During this past year, President Obama has spent billions of dollars to stimulate the economy in order help the people our nation get back on their feet and have confidence in our government once more. For the most part, I appreciate the effort. The one thing that he left off of his list though was our soldiers that continue to fight a war, even though they have already returned home. They are fighting a battle with an illness called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Also known as PTSD, hundreds of thousands of veterans struggle through their normal ever day lives with symptoms such as flashbacks or nightmares of the traumatic event, hyperventilation, anger or even suicidal thoughts and the list continues. What are people doing to help these veterans through their struggle? The answer is sometimes nothing. Our government has only limited resources to help. Our veterans deserve better. Although spending more money on PTSD stricken veterans would cause a greater national debt and deficit, the United States Government needs to help up those who have fought for our freedoms by providing the necessary funding for specific treatments that are proven effective for the recovery from this terrible disorder.The government has programs and treatment facilities for those with physical wounds. They will pay for disability and treatment and rehabilitation costs but what about those who come back with all of their limbs and no physical scarring but have deep emotional wounds that are not visible to the naked eye and cannot be corrected with surgery? We should be doing all that we can for these soldiers to assist them in their recovery. They shouldn’t have to suffer in silence because their wounds are not apparent to those around them.

Many people do not understand what exactly Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is and rightfully so. It is difficult to understand because the disorder can present itself differently on a case by case basis. The Mayo Clinic defines it as, “a type of anxiety disorder that's triggered by a traumatic event. You can develop post-traumatic stress disorder when you experience or witness an event that causes intense fear, helplessness or horror (Mayo). This definition however does not give specific enough symptoms or criteria to categorize someone as having the disorder. According to the American Journal of Nursing, there are six separate criteria, each with its own subcategory that one must meet in order to qualify as a PTSD patient. The criteria are: “The person has been exposed to a traumatic event; The traumatic event continues to be re-experienced; There is a persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responses which were not present before the trauma; Persistent symptoms of arousal as indicated by…difficulty sleeping or an exaggerated startle response; Duration of [the previous] symptoms for more than one month; A significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning (Clark 28).” These specific criteria aid in narrowing down those who are candidates of PTSD from those with a one time response to a traumatic event. It is so important to realize the symptoms of someone with PTSD in order to help them get treatment. For veterans of older wars, PTSD was not recognized as a disorder during their service in the military and most often, those veterans have no awareness that it even exists or that they can receive help for their condition.

Currently the government has specific protocols on which diagnostic tool to use and then treatment is essentially up to the individual. The Department of Defense implements a program called the combat stress control program which educates those individuals in recognizing the early symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This program includes a list of questions that can be asked to determine if the individual is experiencing PTSD. What they do not have however are the numbers to veterans being treated for the disorder, or how many they expect to treat in the coming years (USAO 2).”

In a report given to the Committee on Veterans Affairs in the House of Representatives, the government acknowledges that at least, “15 percent or more service members returning from [current] conflicts will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (5).” With approximately 180,000 troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, that is 27,000 soldiers that will come home with a debilitating mental disorder (wikipedia).