Page 1 of 8

Allen Huddleston Comp. 1 Gilbert 10 April 2013 PTSD(Post-traumatic Stress Disorder) War is not romantic, war is heavy shit. It will effect a whole generation of people. A mental state is no joke; it can cause people to do horrible things. The reason why people think war is poetic is because it appeals to all five senses. Touch, smell, sight, taste and hear. Our advances in technology have numbed us to the reality of war and the effects that returning soldiers have. Mr. Lynsey is a civilian social worker at Camp Robinson here in Little Rock Arkansas. I got a rare privilege to site in and see a solider get evaluated fresh from Iraq. Mr. Lynsey and a black army man told me and made me realize how bad the military was with the mental stability of the soldiers. I needed to stay home and get a civilian degree if I really wanted to help them it is from those two men I am here now about to do my best to help these soldiers and there familys with this horrible burden they carry. I realized for the first time how bad posttraumatic stress disorder was when I saw a man who only saw one of his fellow troopers snap his ankle and was no longer a part of the military. This left him with a state of emptiness filling you can put your hand in a bucket of water and water will flow out. Though there will still be water in there when you pull your hand out, all

Page 2 of 8

you need to do is add more water. He felt he was that water being left out and then he was going to be thrown to the side like trash A story, a man fires a rifle for many years, he goes to war and after words returns the rifle in to the armory and he believes hes finished with the rifle. But no matter what else he might do with his hands love a woman, build a house, change his sons dipper, his hands remember the rifle. Soldiers coming home fresh from the battle field are put through a week of detox to get use to the states and changes from not being in a warzone. The first solider who came in was a thirty year old male who was perfectly normal and no major identacators of military achievements. He site there and through the evaluation he told us he was there because the guy infrequent of him tripped and snapped his ankle. The military did not want him anymore and sent him home never to comeback. This scared the solider because if he lost the military his life would be without purpose and he would fell lost in life. Most people in this case are easy to help prevent sever case of PTSD and require minimal treatment. The fact that he was willing to come to the People for help is also a great sign for a happy speedy recovery with no negative or other serious outcomes. The next solider though is a different story. The next solider we fallow is a male in his late twenties. He wears a different color beret and has many medals and accommodations. This young man was sent to use by order of his commanding officer. This is usually a serious case to hold to and a strong and high level of attain to every last move and word this man will say. He starts by filling out a basic sheet of paper, the last question is Do you have and super powers? his answer was my penis. This shows a high level of cockiness and arrogances. He will also be a chronic master baiter to help release stress. When we talk to him he seems perfectly normal and calm. Then as we continued on slowly easing our way into the topic of why he was in here, he catches on. Then his entire mood and

Page 3 of 8

body language changes. He looks at the main talker dead in the eyes at his desk about four feet away and his eyes begin shaking in fear. I was just following orders. Then after realizing what he done he had hit his stresser witch caused him to snap. I can remember that moment and I relive it every moment in my life. There was no need to check the file in fount of him you could tell one hundred percent that this story was real and he would never speak about it again. PTSD solders coming home from tours in Iraq go on about four to six tours; each tour last a little over a year for some longer and for some shorter. This puts a heavy stress on a person wondering what Jodie is doing with Mary Jane rotten crotch. Jodie is the guy who is still at home to swoop in and steal a soldiers wife girlfriend or significant other in the solider life. Mary Jane rotten crotch is a term used by a drill instructor to show solider that this does happen and to a lot of men in the military. This will show the solider that the loved one is not faithful. Only the military is faithful to you, his rifle and his squad. That is just one of the ways that the military begins its brain washing in striping a person down to what they want them to be. Then the stress of Charlies eventually attacking. Charlie is the enemy who is unknown and able to strike at any random time. About 7.8 percent experace PTSD at some point with U.S.adults aged 18-54 thats about 5.2 million people that have PTSD through the course of a year. There is a dominate sex type to people who have PTSD womens numbers were 10.4%. That is twice as likely as men with 5%. At least one traumatic event or experience is reported t0 accour in about 60.7% of men and 51.2% of women. About 30% of the men and women who have spent time in a war zone experience PTSD. A 20-25% had a parcel PTSD at some point in their lives. Most soldiers only talk to other soldiers due to they feel like they have been there and understand them better. This is also probley do to the basic training brain washing. Also being in a warzone were there are no words to describe seeing a man get shot or that cousent need to have a guard up.

Page 4 of 8

Posttraumatic stress disorder is considered a biological change to the mind. The hippocampus, medial frontal cortex and amygdala go through changes that are caused by PTSD. PTSD is caused by a traumatic event happening to a person or when a person watches a traumatic event happen to a person. Some say its worse when its a loved one or person that they know. Today there are three common types of systems that make it easy for someone to tell if someone has PTSD. First someone relives the event over and over again having nightmares about it and keep playing it over and over in their head thinking what could Ive done different There is also a flashback case were their mind puts them back in that warzone in which case they do not know where they are or what they are doing only what their mind wants them to believe basically. Next someone is staying away from very crowded places or people that remind them of this traumatic event like having problems with load noises like a car backfiring or a gun shot. This will trigger a mindset of them being attacked so they get into a defensive state. Finally there is a feeling of always having to be on guard. Someone also feels irritable and gets startled easily. Kevin M. Gilmartin believes in hyper vigilance also being a system of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD can cause more mental problems if not soon handled. Mainly because it is an emotional and a cognitive problem. It can lead to bipolar, paranoia, scitafrenia, and more mental illnesses that need medical action and medication. Heres a brief history on how Posttraumatic Stress Disorder became acknowledged in American soldiers. Around 1980 PTSD was added to a mental disorder bracket called DSM-III by the American Psychiatric Association. The next task for DSM-III was to determine what is outside the human bars of trauma. PTSD would not be diagnosing unless a person passed what was called a stressor criterion. Stressor Criterion means someone has been exposed to a historical event that is considered tragic, such as the Holocaust. I believe with these numbers it

Page 5 of 8

caused them to relook at the program. In the Vietnam War it is reported over of male veterans and almost of women experienced Clinical Serious Stress reaction systems. In the Gulf war about 10% was reported experiencing this system. In the Afghanistan war around 6-11% of soldiers was reported to have this problem. It is currently reported an estimate 12-30% from Iraq war. So in 1994DSM-IV was put into effect. Though in 2000, PTSD was changed again to DSM-IV-TR. So the history on PTSD is very long and messy, when trying to find out why the soldiers are coming home so different. They feel like who is this cock sucking butt fucking fag that is making me to feel this way? They cannot sleep in bed, hit the deck(get on the groud) to some load noises and avoids highly crowded areas, family problems like child abuse and high rate of devoice and separation. The solider re-experace most of these systems with other people for the rest of there life. They adapt by sleeping on ground with weapon next to them; wear earplugs in public, using mail to get supplies anything to keep from going into public. They emotsonaly feel Fear, helplessness, horror, scared, worried, hard to cope with peace and civilian life. Systems with a typical case of a PTSD soldiers Depression, substance abuse, alcohol issues, difficulty expressing feelings and semichsing with others, some are lucky enough to just forget, difficulty sleeping, random outburst of anger, difficulty constraining and anxiety. A flash back that I experienced from a loved one that luckily ended up well. One night I went to get water in the kitchen and I heard my grandpa. I did not say anything because he had a broom in his hand. I am glad my grandmother hid the guns in the safe and only she knew were the key was. I stood were I was I turned around to get stabbed very hard in my rib cage. Scared I went down acting dead waiting for him to walk off. I ran back to my room and hid under my covers in fear.

Page 6 of 8

The current treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is long and time consuming with sometimes no changes. Though how to really understand and treat this illness is by understanding what Trauma truly is to that person. Most common treatment is Psychotherapy (mainly-talk) method and also medicines (antidepressants). Early treatment can help to prevent long term effects and maybe even remove the problem all together PTSD is not diagnosed unless systems last at least one month or serious distress at home or work. Before it can be diagnosed they need three systems re-experiencing systems, avoidance with numbering symptoms and arousal symptoms. Marines solution for most problems. If ill, report to sick bay, if wounded, report to core man, if dead, report to grave registration, if losing his mind however, no standard solution exist. In the mind of a solider always being told what to do, when to pee, poop, call home and were to dig abed to sleep. This shows just how much of the solider life is really being controlled. How the solider is just use to being told what to do. What the government is doing about it. This is still being looked at by the United States Government. The V.A. (Veterans affairs) still uses paper files. This takes a lot of time to go through the files. Some people wait up to two years. This means that when someone comes in for help they are most of the time turned away or down and that is unacceptable. The Government is looking at how to more effectively move traffic in and out of the V.A. (Veterans affairs) and stop making people prove their illness with the Stressor test. The government needs to help the veterans get a clear name with the community, because most people do not wont to hire veterans. They fear the veterans will snap and have a violent flashback hurting others. It will be hard for our veterans when they come home from war. They will not be able to handle the to find jobs causing a higher stress level.

Page 7 of 8

A counter augment could be, the cost of putting a new system in the V.A. is going to be extrdinary. The cost of hiring more specific trained staff will be a greater risk do to their high pay wages. Then they will need to pay for someone to go through all the mountains of paperwork in about 6 months max with absolutely no mistakes that are just unreal and unimaginable to believe that could be achieved in such a short period of time. These people specialized in this field will be best off being for more soldiers in the military. The reason is that he soldiers will feel more comfortable talking to a former military man then some know it all doctor who is just going to shoot them up with pills till they die. These people want be better and not scared to go out in public enjoy life with their special someone and grandkids or kids. My personal view and suggestion, they are putting their lives on the line to keep us free. We need to give them all a monthly psych. eval to soldiers fresh from the battle field for about six months. Next we need to put that lost puzzle piece back in there life. There are a few contravsol theories as well such as training children. Children are more mentally acceptable to the needs of war. We need to study Trauma so we can start to understand PTSD. Yes we live in 2013 though when our soliders come home we will be in a huge war of hurt unless something is done about it. This is my views and conclutions on it.

Page 8 of 8

Works cited page: 1.Emotional survival for law enforcement a guide for officers and there familys. Kevin M.Gilmartin,Ph.D. 2 Trimble, M.D.(1985),Post Traumatic stress disorder: History of a concept in C.R. Figley(Ed.), Tramuma and its wake: the study and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.New York: Brunner/Mazel. Revised from Encolpia of Psychology, R. Corsini.(New York: Wiley,1985,1994) 3. Hermon J.L.(1992) Trauma and recovery, New York basic books. 4.United States department of veterans affairs,www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/pages/ptsdoverview.asp 5.Post-tramatic Stress Disorder by Nabraska Department of Vertens affairs, www.ptsd.ne.gov/what-is-ptsd.html.