The History of PTSD: Where It Is in Nowadays World

PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is a disorder that people develop when they experience a shocking, scary or dangerous event. This is PTSD research paper outline will see the history of PTSD and how in today’s world it is affecting our veterans.

Now for an average person most events don’t leave such a mark on them that they have to suffer from PTSD. Imagine what it feels like for a veteran. Our heroes fight for us, they protect us from dangers we don’t know about, but they also fight these demons in their heads that we also don’t know about. For them it isn’t just certain events, their whole job is a traumatic experience, they see things that we wouldn’t see on an average day, and they are left alone to do it. What people don’t see is that it isn’t just a disorder that affects the veteran mentally but this disorder causes damage to their surroundings such as their personal lives if the veteran is married, personal factors such as religion or spiritual beliefs play a role in how PTSD is developed. Also, the transition from being on active duty to coming back home isn’t easy. This paper will see the history of PTSD and how in today’s world it is affecting our veterans.

Now of course PTSD is not something that sprouted out of the blue and appeared in today’s world. It can date back to the earliest war such as the Civil War, but there was no clear evidence or research being done to make something out of it. “Although clinical documentation of the adverse psychological effects of combat exposure goes back at least as far the U.S. Civil War, the etiology of these syndromes were neither clearly understood nor well defined.” This being said it was observed long ago and some of the symptoms remained the same but without the proper research and studies it was just brushed off. It could have also been mistaken for something else. “Ninety years ago during World War I, soldiers with acute adverse psychological reactions after combat were believed afflicted with shell shock, thought to result from the concussion effects of artillery bombardments. During World War II, combat fatigue was used to categorize soldiers exhibiting acute adverse psychological reactions after combat because it was thought that exhaustion played a role in this condition”. Researchers weren’t far off because they did find the causes of the soldiers PTSD but that was it. They never considered into further looking what was really going on with them or to establish the actual problem.

Seeing the origin of PTSD, one thing that is left to wonder is if there are any factors that affect the development of it. The obvious answer would be the intensity of the event in which causes PTSD to develop. As a soldier, you will experience unspeakable things and it will stay with you. It is not something you can just forget, but what if you are someone who is religious or have spiritual beliefs? You are put into situations where at one point you might have to take the life of another. It is kill or be killed, imagine the toll it takes one someone who has certain beliefs and it goes against those beliefs. Although many people report being religious or having high spiritual beliefs, it was a factor having to due with the development of PTSD. There were high percentages where veterans confirmed they were Christians, religious, or had spiritual beliefs. After seeing these results, it was confirmed that the PTSD symptoms were very severe. This goes to show that there are factors that have an effect on PTSD and how severe it is depending on the individual. Not only does it affect the development of PTSD, it makes it more severe.

Now over the years it has been brought up for discussion but there are services that offer help to veterans. One being the Wounded Warrior Project, with foundations like this there are studies and people helping the veterans recover from their PTSD. There are improvements within the soldiers and their PTSD. The statistics are low since many reports have shown not to change but there are a few cases where there have been signs of improvements. A majority of the veterans who were diagnosed with PTSD had a positive screening. Afterwards doing a follow up, 43% remained the same and only 27% had showed improvements. The results are small but they do show that there is room for recovery. This is something to take note of because although the statistic is small, it shows that there is way to come back from it and recover from PTSD.

What most people forget is that when you join the military and it doesn’t matter which branch whether it is the Army, Navy, or Air Force it is someone’s job, more importantly it turns into a career for some. This isn’t your average nine to five job where you get to go home after your day ends and you have days off. You follow a certain schedule, you are always dressed in your uniform, speak in a certain manner and address your “boss” in a different manner as well; you live where you work. The transition itself isn’t easy for the veterans. Being on active duty isn’t just their job. When they are over there, they adapt to a certain lifestyle. Veterans struggle with the transitions and some usually report it and seek out help. Others do not and, unfortunately, they suffer from substance abuse. It is said 4% only report needing help. Seeing this concludes that it isn’t as east as it seems. The veterans are living a completely different life when they are on duty; it isn’t just something they can just walk away from. It is not as easy as going on vacation and coming back home where everything goes back to normal.

Veterans have families too, whether it is the family they grew up with or their own family. PTSD has effects on the person and it doesn’t have to only affect them mentally. PTSD takes a toll on them and causes anger, or anxiousness. It doesn’t necessarily take something big to trigger those feelings, and even if they don’t mean to they channel that anger and those outbursts on their loved ones. This has a negative outcome on the household. Marriages are indeed affected in a negative way due to the PTSD. It is important to know that it isn’t the veterans themselves that carry the burden but also their spouses. The spouses have trauma as well. It was reported that family problems occur more often with those that report that they have PTSD than those that don’t. Also the divorce rate is twice as high with those that suffer from PTSD than those that do not. The outcomes all show negative results. It is something that both the veteran and their spouse have to deal with. It may not be at the same level of intensity but they both suffer in their own way.

To conclude PTSD research paper outline, “The brave men and women, who serve their country and as a result, live constantly with the war inside them, exist in a world of chaos. But the turmoil they experience isn’t who they are; the PTSD invades their minds and bodies.” As you can see, PTSD is not something new. PTSD has different ways of affecting the lives of veterans and just how it affects their lives, the veterans cause damage to their loved ones lives as well.