Gonzalez 1

Kevin Gonzalez

Mrs. Monica Rodriguez

ENGL 1301-171

30 November 2022

Essay 3 Draft 2

One of the most painful traumas a soldier in the army can come back with is

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). “The battlefield is cold. It is the lonesomest place which

men share together.” This quote from the show Black Mirror depicts what PTSD can feel like for

most men at war. PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by something terrifying - either

experiencing it or witnessing it. Many reports and articles highlight PTSD as more common in

battle than in the real world. James E. McDonald, in a report titled, “Fiscal and Operational

Impacts of Standardizing US Military Resiliency Programs to Minimize Post-traumatic Stress

Disorder”, persuades their audience by presenting scientific research on the history of PTSD

dating back hundred’s of years, using statistics to show the growth rate of PTSD throughout the

(2000-2013) period under all services in the US Military, and raising awareness with the costs of

PTSD treatments.

McDonald provides ethos for the readers with the research on the adverse psychological

effects of war on human beings that have been acknowledged for hundreds of years, even as far

back as medieval times. Expressions such as “Soldier’s heart”, “shell shock”, “battle fatigue”,

and “ war neurosis” are American Predecessors to the currently popular terms of PTSD. This

level of dysfunction is reportedly experienced by as many as 30 to 40 percent of military

personnel who have been in a warzone. As early as 1919, doctors began to closely observe and

track shell shock- a psychological condition found in World War I veterans. After the war, the
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government looked at screening processes as a way to lower the rate of PTSD, thinking that

perhaps more “mentally healthy” service members would have better recovery from combat

stress. Later on, the sections show that it wasn’t a one-time thing, the soldiers felt fear and

fatigue throughout their lives after they left the war. They felt every last bit of their body would

shatter like glass because of how any sound can scare them into making themselves hurt

someone or themselves. As a result, Archibald and Tuddenham, two of the scientist that worked

on the PTSD case before it was considered a common disorder, argued that symptoms following

severe trauma stress “may persist over very long intervals”. The research done back then to

identify a new trauma that would become one of the most prevalent disorders among veterans of

war is shown to the readers through McDonald's research on the history of PTSD and how it was

recognized as a long-term trauma.

Next, the author demonstrates logos by using a graph of the rising rates of Post-traumatic

Stress Disorder (PTSD). In spite of the decrease in time deployed, the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and

Afghanistan have produced even higher levels of PTSD. The graph depicts the number of PTSD

diagnoses in all services from 2000 through 2013. There are speculations that the growing rate of

PTSD cases has to do with today’s warriors transitioning rapidly from a relatively comfortable

lifestyle into the stressful military environment and combat surroundings. During many earlier

wars, many soldiers would deploy and stay in combat until they are injured or the war ended.

That can cause so much damage to one person and can end their life in that instant and may

come out of the war another man that no one recognizes. That is one of the worst things a family

member can see coming out of your deployment from war, a person that they don’t recognize

and the person with PTSD having flashbacks and hurting the people around them. Within two

years after the start of the Iraqi War, the Defense Department identified higher rates of emotional
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difficulties in Soldiers who had both deployed for 12 months or more and seen extended periods

of combat. The Mcdonald's graph illustrates the data of how, over the course of the 13 years,

PTSD rates were higher because more soldiers were sent to fight and didn't return until they were

hurt or the war was over.

Lastly, Mcdonald provided pathos which is a section that gives awareness to people with

PTSD and how the government has covered their treatment and given them better

self-motivation to keep themselves away from loud noises and to get help so that they won't

trigger their Fears and fatigues in front of family members and friends. In 2010 1.14 million Gulf

War veterans overtook the 1.1 million Vietnam veterans collecting disabilities. Vietnam disability

recipients due to PTSD still outnumber Gulf War PTSD cases by 33 percent, and the $17 billion

in disability payments to Vietnam veterans is 50 percent more than the $11 billion paid to Gulf

War veterans. Experts anticipate that the number of Gulf War PTSD disability recipients will

likely increase in numbers due to PTSD cases worsening over time. Since 2009 all military

branches have at least partially implemented programs aimed at preventing PTSD and suicide.

This shows the reader that PTSD patients have gotten taken care of throughout their entire

careers as a vet and have many programs to look up to when they go into early retirement due to

the trauma they will have when they were at war. McDonald did a great job of explaining that

those with PTSD don't have to deal with their tragedies alone and can obtain support, much like

the millions of soldiers who have survived numerous wars.

In conclusion, when analyzing the report of James E. McDonald, he persuaded the

audience by presenting research on PTSD through hundreds of years from getting the first case

of PTSD to having millions of cases in one year and getting higher because of more people

wanting to be in the military. Using statistics of the growth of PTSD from a graph that depicts
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that many there is a higher amount of groups getting PTSD from joining the military the second

they leave their comfortable lifestyle and transition into the stressful military environment and

combat surroundings. Ending with increasing public awareness of the government's support for

veterans suffering from PTSD and providing them with a location to seek assistance for their

traumas so they won't have to go through them alone because millions of other veterans have

experienced similar trauma. Here is a quote for readers that best describes PTSD. “It’s not the

person refusing to let go of the past, but the past refusing to let go of the person.”

Works Cited

James E. McDonald. “Fiscal and Operational Impacts of Standardizing US Military Resiliency

Programs to Minimize Post-traumatic Stress Disorder”.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep13842.11?searchText=ptsd&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasi

cSearch%3FQuery%3Dptsd%26efqs%3DeyJjdHkiOlsiY21WelpXRnlZMmhmY21Wd2IzSjAiX

X0%253D&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6704_basic_search%2Ftest-1&refreqid=fastly-default%3

Ab07ba566b4bd1ccff3dd847a0adc6ee0&seq=4#metadata_info_tab_contents

Accessed 24 November 2022.