Facts about PTSD
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PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, is a psychiatric problem that affects people who have survived deeply disturbing or traumatic events.
Some of the most common symptoms of PTSD include:
- Flashbacks, which are disruptive bits of the traumatic event that are re-experienced vividly and without warning.
- Nightmares and insomnia. People with PTSD have vivid bad dreams, often about the original trauma.
- Chronic anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. PTSD is very disruptive and painful. Sufferers have bouts of severe depression that alternate with panic, anxiety and chronic emotional stress.
- Avoidance of places, people, and situations that may recall the original trauma or trigger a flashback.
- Hypervigilance is an increased sensitivity which makes the survivor feel constantly 'on edge' and ready to react, even when no danger requires this.
- Dissociation and derealization. Dissociation makes a person feel disconnected from a traumatic event. It may feel as if the event is happening to someone else or as if the person is watching it on TV. Derealization makes life or self feel unreal or imaginary.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has been around for as long as people have endured trauma and tragedy, but it has only been recognized as a legitimate psychiatric disorder since 1980, when it was first listed as a diagnostic category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (the DSM-IV), which is currently in its fourth edition.
During the Civil War, soldiers who returned with symptoms of PTSD were said to have "soldier's heart." During later U.S. wars the condition was called "combat fatigue" or "shell shock."
Somewhere between 10% and 30% of all soldiers who see combat come home with some form of PTSD, with current levels possibly higher than that due to the repeated tours of duty many U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan must serve.
PTSD is also commonly seen in accident victims, people who have survived a major catastrophe (like Hurricane Katrina or 9/11), people who have witnessed domestic or criminal violence or murder, and victims of rape or sexual abuse. About one third of all rape victims experience some form of PTSD.
About 9% of the general population will experience PTSD at some point in life, but girls are twice as likely to seek treatment for the disorder as boys. The longer a person is exposed to trauma, the more serious and persistent PTSD symptoms will be.
One form of PTSD called Complex PTSD or C-PTSD is unique to individuals who experience prolonged severe trauma, and often includes other psychological problems that make treatment more challenging.
About half of all people who seek mental health services in the U.S. have PTSD.
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The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook: A Guide to Healing, Recovery, and Growth
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Courage After Fire: Coping Strategies for Troops Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and Their Families
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PTSD Treatment and Prognosis for Recovery
If PTSD is diagnosed and treated soon after a traumatic event, it usually resolves within three months.
However, PTSD symptoms often do not appear for up to six months after the event, and sometimes, in the case of C-PTSD and long-lasting traumas, the first symptoms do not appear until many years after the trauma has ended.
The person may have amnesia for the trauma itself, and may experience the first symptoms as hallucinatory or intrusive.
In these delayed cases, recovery depends on the individual, the length of the trauma, and the complexity and severity of symptoms.
Even severe cases of PTSD usually see marked improvement within one to three years of the start of treatment. Complex PTSD can become a chronic problem requiring long term care and intervention, but most cases of PTSD do resolve in time with the right help.
Unlike other psychological disorders (depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia), the prognosis for complete recovery from PTSD with treatment is excellent.
The most common treatment approach is multifaceted and may include:
- Drug therapy, usually with antianxiety or antidepressant medications.
- Talk therapy, especially Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which is a short-term, results-focused form of talk therapy that helps patients 'reframe' perceptions and thoughts so as to lessen their emotional charge.
- EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. EMDR is a form of cognitive therapy during which the PTSD client recalls traumatic events while watching the therapist's moving finger. The theory behind EMDR is that certain eye movements are incompatible with fear and panic. By reprocessing the trauma while the therapist deliberately redirects the patient's eye movements, the difficult emotions are modified.
- Practical counseling and advice. PTSD victims benefit from exploring practical strategies for handling emotions and social stress while cognitive therapy is progressing.
PTSD treatment is a process that involves giving the client a place to talk about and review the trauma and get helpful direction and while doing so. Over time, the symptoms resolve spontaneously. Symptoms do not resolve without treatment.
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Political Issues and PTSD
Today it is common for U.S. soldiers and National Guard members to see three, four, or even five consecutive tours of duty in combat zones in Iraq or Afghanistan or both. Although attitudes are changing, the military has not traditionally been sympathetic to PTSD sufferers.
Soldiers are often expected to 'suck it up' or are treated as if PTSD is a sign of emotional weakness or poor character. For this reason, many U.S. soldiers avoid seeking treatment for the disorder.
The cost of sending untreated PTSD victims back into combat is high. Hyperreactivity is a primary symptom of the disorder that makes soldiers unable to react appropriately in combat situations. They may overreact when no action is needed or not react at all when it is. Suicide is much more likely, as are accidents.
When soldiers are sent home with untreated PTSD, they have higher rates of divorce, have trouble securing employment and staying employed, are more prone to addiction and alcoholism, and have a much higher rate of suicide.
On the civilian side, minorities and women experience PTSD much more frequently than others, yet mental health services are no longer easily accessible to them. Even people with good jobs and good health insurance may have limited mental health coverage.
Since half of all people who seek mental health care have PTSD, this means more homeless mentally ill, more addicts, lower employment for poor people and minorities, and higher rates of suicide for women, minorities, and veterans.
All of this is especially tragic since PTSD responds well to treatment when treatment is available and when the client sticks with treatment for at least one year or longer.
PTSD Resources
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Gateway
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - MayoClinic.com
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Comprehensive overview covers symptoms, causes, treatment of this anxiety disorder. - National Center for PTSD Home
The National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) aims to advance the clinical care and social welfare of U.S. Veterans through research, education and training on PTSD and stress-related disorders. This site provides educational resources - NIMH Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
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Great informative hub! I have suffered from this and know how important it is to get treatment. It really does help!
Hi Scott--Yes, I had the privilege of working with several returning soldiers when I was at the bank and they were not able to stay at the job. Both had to drop out and one was hospitalized. Of course, not all soldiers come back this way, but more and more do, and too often we do not help them out as much as we should, if at all.
It isn't widely known but many women also suffer from PTSD because of rape, assault, and abuse issues, and here too there is a certain amount of shame and lack of social support involved. People don't want to think about these things and services for these women are harder and harder to find.
I think we have a critical need in the U.S. for good, accessible, affordable mental health care and public education on mental health issues. Too many misinformed people still act as if mental health is a character issue instead of a health issue. Thanks for your comments.
Patrice--Thank you for stopping by! Me too--I was in treatment for 3 years in my late 30s and haven't had a flashback in many years. It's a hellish disorder but if you get help it really does get better and eventually go away.
Thanks, Pam for pointing out this ongoing ailment. I liked how you included the evolution of the euphemisms associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I remember the late comedian George Carlin cycling through the many politically correct terminology of such condition. One of the best examples I've seen (on film no less) was in Oliver Stone's, "Heaven and Earth," based on Le Ly Hayslip's incredible memoir. Tommy Lee Jone's character exhibited PTSD and committed suicide because of it.
Hi Pgrundy, As you know my work with sexually abused children exposed me to PTSD as it is exhibited by the young. Also, as general domestic violence often goes hand in hand with these issues, I've seen it in abused women, and very severe cases in those surviving long term abuse.
I think it's great that you've gone to so much effort to gather the information and lay it out for us here so intelligently. Hopefully, as with all problems, the more it's out there, the more people know about it, the less of a problem it becomes.
And dohn121, yes and wasn't T.L.Jones performance and portrayal of this very real problem a powerful one?
Hi Dohn--Thank you for referencing that portrayal. I have not seen it but now I will look for it. That would make a good hub too--PTSD in movies and literature. Maybe I could do one of those in the future. Sometimes it is portrayed realistically and sometimes, movies being what they are, not so much.
Immartin--Thank you for reading it. I just wish we have better mental health services and better public education on some of this. This is my very, very small contribution.
Hi Pam,
Thanks for the straight scoop on PTSD. You paint an uncharacteristically hopeful picture about a social problem!
Probably because PTSD is trauma-specific, this combination of treatments is effective (vs. treatments for other mental illnesses which have lower treatment success rates).
If I were in charge, every military person returning from atour of duty (EACH tour of duty if they're doing multiples) would have A+ health care, including unlimited access to PTSD therapy.
Pam,
Like many mental health conditions there is still the problem of the stigma attached to them. PTSD is unfortunately not immune from that stigma. This means evaluation must be mandatory or PTDS will continue to go undiagnosed until inappropriate behavior has resulted in many cases.
Hi MM--Amen to that. I would extend it to giving EVERYBODY unlimited access to PTSD and top notch health care. People who need treatment for PTSD have been through enough already--you'd think we'd have a bit more compassion. We throw too many people away, and the tragedy is, treatment is not that expensive and it really, really helps. Thanks for your thoughts.
Hi Tom--That is so true. We need mandatory evaluations and also better public education about mental and emotional illness. None of this stuff should have a stigma, but you are right, it still doesn.
I just had a VA doctors appointment. Spent about 10 to 15 minutes answering questions about PTSD symptoms. Someone must be getting the point.
Thanks for making us aware once more of this crippling condition. I live in South Africa and here it is a very big problem amongst our Police as they work under tremendous stress and a "normal" day most of the time is highly traumatic! We are seeing a lot of alcoholism and suicides as a result. Good news is, our government is giving it their full attention.
Here I go again...I have seen the effects of PTSD first hand. I worked in a psychiatric unit for a long time. We had a lot of women who suffered from it as a result of a traumatic incident as children. These women ended up as very unstable adults. This is a very real affliction. I suppose mental illness will always have a social stigma attached to it and it makes it difficult for people to seek treatment. Strange to me though that some mental illnesses are genetic (schizophrenia, bipolar) and some as a result of situations in life.
I have gone on too long. Great Hub -Tammy
Hi papajack--I hope that went well for you. Maybe with the recent tragedy at Fort Hood the military is taking a closer look at this issue. I hope so.
Hendrika--Thank you! I appreciate your comment. :)
Hi Tammy--My background is in psychology, but it's hard to get a job these days in that field without an MSW or a PhD, or of course if, like you, you are an RN. So many services have been shut down or gutted. What I want people to know is that it is so treatable. People can have acute attacks that require hospitalization, but in most cases recovery is possible over time. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Pam, this is a really useful hub about a surprisingly common condition. You mention several treatments, including EMDR which I have seen used to great effect, alongside hypnotic interventions.
"...many women also suffer from PTSD because of rape, assault, and abuse issues..."
Well said and a very useful reminder.
Although PTSD is most present in public consciousness as a war-related condition, maybe the general public is not altogether aware of how many categories of people are implicated.
In fact, anyone may be a victim of PTSD, and at any time.
For example I have in mind here a friend who is still getting over the sight of three children and an adult burning to death in a car accident she witnessed, and that was three years ago...
This is a very informative page, the comments too.
An interesting Hub. Pat has just read a book called 'Regeneration' by Pat Barker - about a mental hospital in Scotland in 1917, with soldiers from WWI. The novel is based on real people - no PTSD by name but very much an issue.
It seems sad that there is still a stigma attached to this, as to almost all mental health issues.
I kbnow that my Dad's post war ill health was down to this but back in the fities it was not recognised. I do hope people these days receive the appropriate treatment.
Thanks for your informative hub. It is always interesting to me how we take a perfectly normal brain function and turn it into a disorder. In a sense, the brain is designed for PTSD to occur. It is the way a person survives the horrific or an event that pushes one over an emotional threshold, too painful, too scary, too frightening. When we experience an over the top emotional experience, the wonderful neurological dialogue that goes on between our "thinking brain" and "emotional brain" is interupted by the brain stem. The brain stem is activated by the excess of adrenalin and other stress hormones. The brain stem basically takes over the operation of the brain and the body.
The stress hormones neutralize the chemicals necessary for memory processing, so what happens is the traumatic event itself does not get processed into memory, but the intense emotions, associated with the trauma, are stored in the amygdala. We have no conscious access to the amygdala, so the emotions sit there waiting to get reactivated by any experience that even remotely reminds the brain of the trauma. Part of any good PTSD treatment involves providing a "story line" for the trauma emotions so that the entire event can be processed into our memory, at which point, we will then know that the trauma is over and in the past.
However, it is important to note that the brain stem cannot think as such and whatever action is taken to survive the trauma gets stored for future use whether or not it was in fact helpful! So that is one reason, debriefing, after any kind of over the top emotional expeerience is so important.
There are plenty of seemingly ordinary life events that can be traumatic, for example, unanticipated or unezpected pain during a mediccal or dental procedure. I think trauma is much more common and there are a lot more folks out there deserving healing than the statistics indicate. Not to mention our service men and women. I do not believe that you can go into war or even prepare for war and not be traumatized. Come on, folks, we're training our service men and women to KILL and then they do KILL or almost get Killed. They hand out malaria pills and the like willy nilly, and treatment for trauma needs to be just part of the package.
Great information. Our soldiers need a lot more help than they're getting.
As usual Pam, you are bringing into the light the facts we need to get real about how we actually take care of the military men and women who serve and do the dirty work. We put them into hell and then deny them the treatment they need to heal. Kartika
This is another great hub, Pam. You've really laid it all out. This material is familiar to me--my sister ended up being deeply troubled with this ailment for many years, due to our upbringing, which isn't surprising.
I'm sorry for its sufferers. Unrelieved PTSD is purely hell, and to send the soldiers BACK to the conditions that created this disorder, untreated is SO INHUMAN!
As always your writing is timely, informative and very cogent.
Here we have yet another debilitating symptom of a terminally ill society.
Until we are able to face and achieve the fundamental changes that are required in the way we live and think, these symptoms will continue to proliferate.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
- J. Krishnamurti
Great hub, great idea for a hub. You are an exceptional writer and thinker. Thanks for bringing it up. We all have minor episodes with PTSD if we've been fired from a job, told we lied about something we didn't, were in combat as you pointed out. Sometimes I think most mothers have been in combat and silently have suffered PTSD and we need to give them all the support and help we can, especially from us men. Thanks again, Don White
Thanks everyone--I was in South Bend all day today with my eldest daughter, who recently had knee surgery. God am I tired. It will a fine day for me when those near and dear start feeling a bit better---Bill is still out (goes to see a specialist tomorrow about another possible surgery), my daughter has been unable to do for herself, and even the dog had problems these past two weeks--the dog's BUTT exploded. I am not kidding. Apparently dogs have these glands back there that get infected sometimes and burst.
Still, it's all better than having PTSD, which I personally have had myself and recovered from--not quickly though. We need a kinder society in general I think.I heard the funeral for the Fort Hood dead on the trip back on NPR and had a good cry. Now I'm really wrung out.
Thanks for all your wonderful comments. :)
Pam: Geeze, I had written my comments, did a google search to search a link I wanted to share with you and lost the comment. Anyhow, just wanted to say that this is a very thorough article on PTSD, you give hope and information that it is treatable. When my sister's son passed away, I paid for a session with a therapist in Chicago who does EMDR but with a unique approach and uses it to help with grief; she was astonished to find she felt a peace and could smile for the first time in a long time. However, she lived in NY and we couldn't afford the trips to his office, but he taught her how to do the eye movements on her own. He happened to read one of my "after death" hubs (he had no idea, I was his patient's sister) and left a comment, I was thrilled because this is a small world.
I was thinking about Bill and wondering how you were doing; hopefully he doesn't have to go through another surgery. I wish him a speedy recovery!
Thank you excellent post!
Hi VioletSun--What a fascinating link! Thank you for posting it. I'd like to read more about that treatment technique--it sounds like a kind of hypnosis. Bill sees the specialist this morning, so we should know more about what is next. Intense month here. Thanks for stopping by and sharing!
JamesBenajaminJrMD--Thank you!
Hi, I am a medical student i studied about it. But it is advantage to my study by getting knowledge from experienced once.
Thank you for writng such a thorough article on something that affects more people than most realize. It's very interesting to learn why some people react the way that they do and suffer from PTSD while others may go through the same exact thing and never suffer from PTSD. It is truly heart-breaking to see people suffer from PTSD and not be able to help them like you want to.
Excellent overview article! In the light of Fort Hood domestic terrorism and other similar news stories, this is a timely hub to help those who do not understand to gain some useful knowledge.
One of the above comments is far too cavalier declaring that because of the way the brain is hard-wired and the role of stress chemicals that we do not have a memory for the trauma, only the emotions. That's just crap. I remembered every incident, year after year, because the emotions seared it all into my memory, duh. Some of what is touted as true in neuroscience is only based off generalizations and very small studies of PTSD. Basically, it's only useful for one-time events of trauma not long term abuse.
While I started to write a whole lot more I deleted it as it's too specific for this hub - and who needs to hear my personal story about how to heal from PTSD anyway? :) Hmmm... I think the percentage is far higher than this:
"About 9% of the general population will experience PTSD at some point in life"
As a writer, all we can go on are the stats we research. Lately, news stories have been detailing how many women experience abuse, molestation or rape closer to the 20% mark – and that’s the reported incidents. It does make you wonder just how much goes unreported.
Anyway, great hub again from you and delighted to hear you made your way out of PTSD and are fine now. Will keep you and yours in my prayers as you finally get some rest and the others heal…
I know several people with PTSD. Half of them are from military action. The other half is from trauma in their lives. This is a great article that I think more need to read. The perception of this condition can be so skewed.
The eye-movement therapy was news to me! Great writing on a serious problem. Enjoyed it!
Hi Denny--I have concerns similar to yours about women and PTSD. It's hard enough to get people to care about veterans--but if you can get people to care at all, it is usually directed at veterans. Rape, abuse, violent crime--these impact women's lives in major ways and they impact ALOT of women's lives. I do think quite a lot of PTSD goes unreported, both in women and men, but somehow, it's harder for people to face PTSD as a result of sexual trauma so they just skip right over it and make it all about our soldiers.
Everyone should matter. When I was being treated, I ended up estranged from my entire family of origin. They were hysterical that I was in treatment for this and thought it should be a family matter and private, no involve therapists. I wasn't suing anybody, I wasn't even talking with them much, but they went nuts over it. When I was a young woman, rape was considered shameful FOR THE VICTIM. It's better now but not much.
I also agree that not everyone has amnesia for the traumatic events--there are so many levels and so many mitigating factors, and as you say, lots of misinformation. Thank you for your excellent comments.
RGraf and Bookflame--Thanks you! I appreciate you taking the time to comment here. :)
This a very good hub the will help alot of people. Me included. The hubs I write helps me redirect my anger into something productive. I really like learning from people like you and arguing with others here on the forum.
Thank you,
Friendlyword
Yes, we also need to remember the soldiers who have been back from war for 30+ years who are for the most part still untreated or diagnosed!
I have a very close friend who served in Vietnam. He is just now getting the treatment he has needed for decades, I wish the government would install a better "coming back home" program for those who have served...
Really interesting post, It is strange how an outside influence without impact can have such an effect on the mind!
Quite informative. I know someone that has this and this helped me to understand it much better. Very good hub. Thank you.
Oi, Pam, that's plenty of info on PTSD! Do you ever wonder what this form of mental ailment was called back then, or even if it existed? I mean, surely rape victims or war victims or abuse victims of any kind may have experienced post trauma disorders, but I wonder if at the same level, because those were tough times back then, where rape or war or abuse were "part of life", expected if not accepted. My, what wandering mind I have today don't mind me, too much anyhow :-) Kudos on the article!
Thanks Elena==You make some good points. I'm glad there's more help out there now and these things aren't considered so much a normal part of life anymore. But I do think you're right about that. :)
My uncle served in Korea; when he got back to the states he still dove under tables when he heard an aircraft fly over. I think most of us have no clue what a soldier endures.
Yes I think that is true.
If people do understand perhaps they will all get the help they deserve.
Thank you for your information on this topic.It was good to see that you included women in the mix. I use to work with people-loved my work-helping people and miss doing so now. I feel that the evil acts in the world today add to the problem normal people have reaching out for help. I say-NORMAL-because evil doing is not mental health issues-or PTSD issues-in my opinion. It is beyond that- either do to ones beliefs- or more serious issues. It is so easy to point a finger and accuse the entire genre rather than see that healthy normal conditions can be crippling to ones life and require intervention-without fear of loss and-credibility.
Sometimes I wonder if I have it. Thank you very much for sharing this.
Great article, as a Vietnam combat veteran, who went into police work in major city I have become some what of survial expert when it comes to suffering from PTSD. As an abused child in every way one could possibly imagine I was likely suffering from PTSD before I ever went to Vietnam. Obviously my heavy combat experience and then becoming a police officer to help people, part of trying to work guilt. When I saved a life I felt good for awhile. But then incidents occurred where I fored to take lives.
In the end I could save people fast enough to keep up the ones I couldn't save and my life came crashing down around me.
I hope they can help this generation of veteran better than did us. these young soldiers are coming home many with severe PTSD but a lot of them won't really get clobbered by for five to eight years.
The number tours is part of it, but the real culprit is the IED they are everywhere. The never knowing when to expect it is far worse than being shot at.
Anyway thanks so much for such a great article on subject few can talk even fewer won't to talk about. Ithink your percentage of the number of Americans that will suffer from PTSD is very low but that is just my opinion. Take care
Hi Sue Gee--I agree with you. I think sometimes people judge asking for help harshly because they see that as weakness, but I don't see it that way. I think it takes more courage to ask for help than to pretend you don't need any, for one thing, but beyond that, I think all people deserve compassion and a chance to live the best life possible, and if we can help each other we should. Life will get us all in the end and beat each of us up in different ways, so in the meantime, let's all try to be kind instead of judgmental. That's how I see it.
Animalanding--Thanks for stopping by. If you really do think that, I hope you reach out for some counseling. Been there, done that, and it really does make the quality of your life 1000% better.
Doyle--Thank you for sharing your story and for all your excellent points, especially the delayed onset of PTSD for many people, and the fact that a good percentage of the military is probably going in for the first time already suffering from it. I also agree it is probably severely underreported.
I had PTSD symptoms (dissociation and amnesia especially) that were ongoing from the events, but the actual flashbacks didn't start until years later. At first I thought I was hallucinating and had gone schizophrenic or something--they were that bad. And I didn't want to believe the contents so I assumed of course they were hallucinations. Time was very distorted. And sequences.
Over the course of therapy I finally came to realized EVERYONE in my immediate family and many of my friends had known for years and years. I was literally the last one to fully 'remember' my own life. But that doesn't really describe it either--I don't think people really understand until they've been there. Good luck to you and thanks again for sharing.
Excellent hub on an important topic. Our soldiers are lacking serious care, where PTSD is concerned.
On another note, after having lived through extreme stress and an abusive childhood, and now reading and learning about PTSD, I wonder if this isn't what I've been dealing with over the last 20+ years. It's amazing how we sometimes learn to cope with serious problems because we don't understand what's wrong with us.
Hi Hope--I do think many people with tough backgrounds who are not soldiers just suck it up and suffer with PTSD because they don't realize they have a treatable problem. Probably lots more people suffer from it than we know. Good luck to you and thank you for your comment and for sharing.
Great info.. PTSD, now I know what exacty it is.. :)
Your words are so good.My pleasure to introduce uggs to you.
"About half of all people who seek mental health services in the U.S. have PTSD. .."
At least its recognized in U.S. In most of the world, especially developing countries, PTSD is not even diagnosed. People spend their entire lives suffering from this monstrous disease, without even being aware that its a condition which needs to be treated. Based on the symptoms you mentioned in the beginning of this hub, I realized that these symptoms were so visible in so many people I met in recent past. I didn't even know that there was a name for such behavioral pattern. Thx for this informational hub.
Hi anjali! Yes I do not doubt that in some parts of the world PTSD is what people call 'life'--never realizing it could be better. That is tragic. It also creates an odd reactionary response here in the U.S. though, whereby a common response to the existence of PTSD is something like, "Suck it up! Other generations suffered through it, stop psychologizing every damned thing." This attitude kept generations of veterans from getting the help the needed and continues to shame rape and trauma victims into years of needless suffering.
It never stops amazing me that so many people think happiness and security are luxuries that no one 'deserves' and that you must earn them. I take the opposite view--We all deserve these at minimum, and we all have an obligation to relieve the suffering of others to the degree that we are able so that all can experience the best life possible. To throw people away to a condition that can be readily and successfully treated out of social neurosis or the discomfort of people who are well strikes me as inhumane but also wasteful. We should not waste people this way. Not when we don't have to. Thank you for your thoughtful comment. :)
Scott.Life says:
2 weeks ago
Thanks for pointing out a growing affliction in America. This disorder is crippling more and more people in the Armed Services every day. How do you expect someone to witness absolute hell then just shake it off. Even if you manage to push those memories back for awhile they still come out sooner or later. You cannot train someone to do what they have to over there then expect them to just turn it off after its done. I have yet to meet a single soldier, Marine, or sailor that has not somehow been effected by what they have been through over there.