Free PTSD In Vietnam Vets Research Paper Example

Have you ever heard stories about recently returned war veterans who do something completely contrary to their character and wondered: why did they snap? In many cases soldiers who return from high-pressure, high-conflict war situations suffer from a condition known as PTSD or Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. In fact, it is estimated that more than 5.2 million cases of PTSD are diagnosed each year in America (“How Common is PTSD”, 1.) War veterans and active military servicemen and women are more likely to suffer from PTSD than any other social group (Department of Veterans Affairs, 1). Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is an epidemic among soldiers and war veterans which can be extremely debilitating to the patient but is seldom recognized or even entirely understood.
For war veterans to get the help they need, they must first and foremost be identified as suffering from PTSD. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder. It always occurs after a person has been placed in a “dangerous, frightening, and uncontrollable event such as military combat exposure, a violent crime, a life-threatening accident such as a car wreck, criminal or sexual assault, a terrorist attack, or a natural disaster such as a tornado, flood, hurricane, or earthquake (Veterans Health Council, 1).”
For veterans, this can be directly linked to a single incidence in the war, or their involvement in the conflict as a whole. The war in Vietnam is, of the wars experienced by American vets, perhaps the most well-known for the creation of PTSD sufferers. According to the Department of Veterans affairs, more than 8.7 million Americans served in the America military during the Vietnam war, with an additional 3.4 million being deployed to volatile areas across Southeast Asia in support of that war effort. This left well over 11 million Americans left struggling to cope with the realities of living in a war-torn jungle, and the atrocities of war (1).
Though the Vietnam War ended nearly 40 years ago, many of those who suffered from PTSD in the wake of their experience are still struggling with it today. For example, veteran Bill Simon thought he had put the past behind him. He no longer suffered from the daily nightmare, flashbacks, and moments of panic that are commonly associated with PTSD, but then, the 65 year old veteran started having a recurrence of PTSD symptoms. Speaking of his mental illness after the war he said "For many years, I never had any issues," He went on to say that he had all the trappings of a successful life: a loving wife, three children and a house in Arlington Heights. But about 10 years ago, the nightmares returned. Night after night, they became more vivid and more realistic,” proving that he had not overcome his PTSD (Mastony, 11).
Though cases like this gain media attention, the reality is that not all cases of post-traumatic stress disorder need treatment (Veterans Health Council, 1). The National Vietnam Veterans’ Readjustment survey set out to document Vietnam vets ability to reassimilate into civilian life, without negative long term side effects (Price, 1). This study looked at total of more than 100 life adjustment factors, including marital difficulties, problems at work, psychological issues, and other life adjustment challenges. This study yielded several very specific conclusions, finding that the majority of Vietnam veterans fully readjusted to civilian life post-war, and steadily reduced the incidences of psychological disorder in their lives. However, men seemed to struggle more than women when trying to find ways to fully reintegrate with civilian life (Price, 1). This has ultimately resulted in a higher level of diagnosis for male veterans.
Diagnosis is typically based on recognition of a body of symptoms. These symptoms are broken into four basic categories: reliving the event, avoiding situations which might trigger memory of the event, negative beliefs or emotions, and hyperarousal. What is perhaps most interesting, however, is that all of these responses are perfectly natural reactions to trauma, what makes them indicative of PTSD, rather than just a normal stress related response is their severity and duration.
Symptoms that last one to three months, and which are severe enough to impair daily function indicate acute PSTD, and can be expect to respond to treatment well or self-resolve. However, chronic, or delayed PTSD, indicated by symptoms that emerge or remain for longer than 6 months indicate chronic PTSD and can result in a variety of comorbidities, complications, and life threatening psychological side effects (Veterans Health Council, 1).
The most common of these comorbidities drug dependencies. Alcohol and drug addiction. More specifically, combat vets appear to routinely depend on alcohol and drug substances as a means of coping with the PTSD events that occur after a trauma, and research demonstrates that the increase of use parallels the increase of symptoms (“TRAUMA, PTSD, AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE,” 1). This means, that unless the underlying cause and symptomology related to the PTSD can be treated, the substance abuse is also likely to continue, unremittent.
Similarly, those suffering from PTSD also suffer the wear and tear the PSTD stress places on the physical body. As a result, they often suffer from hypertension, amnesia, chronic pain, cardiovascular diseases and sleep disorders (Veterans Health Council, 1). These medical conditions, in combination with the debilitating effects of PTSD often lead veterans to increased levels of homelessness, underemployment or unemployment, incarceration and suicide (Veterans Health Council, 1).
For example, a 1980s survey found that more than 500 veterans who were involved in a previous study, had died, giving an estimated death rate of 17%, with elevated cases of cancer, which the study attributed to an increased dependency on tobacco among veterans (Zarembo, 1).
These increased comorbidities and negative side effects increase in cases of chronic PTSD, because the symptoms are not something that changes or goes away quickly, in fact for chronic patients, these symptoms are known to come in stages, or waves, with new symptoms presenting in an accepted and chronological order. In fact, with regard to the Vietnam War alone, on study found that an estimated 283,000 Vietnam veterans, including both men and women, most of whom are now past the traditional age of retirement, still suffer from PTSD directly related to the time they spent serving the American military in Southern Asia (Zoroya, 1). According to William Schlenger, who was the acting lead on the PTSD study funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, “The study's key takeaway is that for some, PTSD is not going away. It is chronic and prolonged. And for veterans with PTSD, the war is not over," (Zoroya, 1). When studying postpartum depression, it important to understand how the stages of the disease appear, and create a battery of psychological symptoms over time.
According to the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, hyperarousal typically develop first, during the first year post-trauma (“TRAUMA, PTSD, AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE,” 1). Hyperarousal is most simply feeling keyed-up. Those suffering from symptoms of hyperarousal are typically jittery, and pay appear paranoid, because they are always looking for signs of danger. This may, eventually lead to a significant loss of sleep. (“What is PTSD,” 1). As hyperarousal begins to subside, signs of avoidance often surface (“TRAUMA, PTSD, AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE,” 1). Avoidance is the act of avoiding “situations or people that trigger memories of the traumatic event (“What is PTSD,” 1).” This can escalate to even avoiding speaking or thinking about the event. Finally, PTSD generally progresses to include symptoms associated with the “intrusive cluster” (“TRAUMA, PTSD, AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE,” 1). The intrusive cluster is a cluster of symptoms that lead victims to relive the events of their trauma, and include symptoms that specially disrupt, or intrude, on the victim’s ability to live a normal life (“What is PSTD”, 1). These symptoms include flashbacks, night terrors, vivid memories, and more. Generally, in cases of combat trauma, the first symptoms of PTSD occur at the time of the exposure, or shortly thereafter, and then increase during the first several years following the war. Over time, symptoms move through the natural symptom progression, until plateauing three to five years after the war. From this point forward the disease becomes stable, chronic, and “unremitting” “TRAUMA, PTSD, AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE,” 1).
Not all hope is lost, however. There are systems in place to treat veterans living with PTSD recover. Historically, the most common treatment for PTSD is chemical. The most common prescription approach is the use of Selective Serotonin rebuke Inhibitors, but other anti-depressants have been used with some success. Additionally, mood stabilizers and antipsychotics have been used to treat specific comorbidity symptoms (Jeffreys, 1). Unfortunately none of these treatment plans work with 100% efficiency.
This has left many experts in hopes that the advancement of technology, and of neurological sciences will eventually lead to the creation of new, and more effective treatments. Carol North, director of a program for trauma victims, and head of psychiatry at UT Southwestern has offered hope to those struggling with PTSD, arguing that even if combination drugs fail to successfully treat a patient’s condition, there is every reason to believe that they can be treated with new therapies that “alter how memories resonate in the emotional network in the brain” (Farwell, 1).
The hope that a new cure can be found is based purely in science. Early results from a test conducted by the Dallas VA Medical Center has advised that a cure may be nearing for soldiers suffering from PTSD. The new treatment technique focuses on helping literally erase the memory of fear from the mind, to minimize the impact of the trauma (Farwell, 1). Scott Farewell described the new treatment process by saying “Think of it as opening a document — a traumatic memory — on your computer, changing several lines of text, then saving the new file to your hard drive. For traumatized veterans, they’ll still be able to remember battlefield experiences, but the thoughts won’t invoke panic (1).” North clarified this sentiment by saying “When you bring these memories up into active memory, they become changeable. We now understand that emotional response to memory is malleable. (Farwell 1).” If, in fact memory can be altered the way this research suggests, the cause of PTSD would be eliminated. This is very different than working to minimize the symptoms with chemical suppression and pharmaceutical therapies.
The problems that Vietnam vets have faced when trying to adjust to daily life have, however yielded positive results for their military offspring. Today, veterans need for therapy while suffering from PTSD is readily acknowledged, and post-traumatic stress disorder is actively recognized as a medical condition. As a result, soldiers suffering from PTSD are entitled to an honorable medical discharge, which allows to receive more timely treatment for their PTSD while maintaining access to their veterans benefit package (Lamothe,1). This ensures that today’s veterans do not fall through the cracks the way they were allowed to during the Vietnam era.
Unfortunately, this change in policy, which came in the 1980s came too late for Vietnam war veterans. Studies done at the time, which lead to the change in policy, found that roughly 15% of all Vietnam veterans suffered from PTSD. Though 25 years have passed since these findings, the numbers have changed very little. Charles Marmar, New York University psychiatrist, and author of the original study, explained this lack of improvement saying that “People who develop PTSD, if they are going to recover, they tend to recover in the first months, or years. For everybody else it is chronic. (Zarembo, 1).”
PTSD is an under studied disease that requires more research because of the amount of people it affects, many of whom are combat veterans. Mental illness is an understudied field in America and PTSD should be at the top of the list of mental illness that needs to be more fully understood. Studies demonstrate that science is near a long term medical treatment for PTSD, and until that level of cure is found, the veterans who need it most can experience little relief.

Works Cited:

Bremner, Douglas J., Steven M. Southwick, Adam Darnell, and Dennis S. Charney. "Chronic PTSD in Vietnam Combat Veterans: Course of Illness and Substance Abuse." APA PsycNET. The American Journal of Psychiatry, Mar. 1996. Web. 29 Jan. 2015. <http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1996-00417-008>.
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Lamothe, Dan. "Long Road Still Ahead for Vietnam Veterans Seeking PTSD-related Discharge Upgrades." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 4 Sept. 2014. Web. 30 Jan. 2015. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/09/04/long-road-still-ahead-for-vietnam-veterans-seeking-ptsd-related-discharge-upgrades/>.
Mastony, Colleen. "For Vietnam Veterans, Retirement and Aging Can Trigger PTSD." Chicago Tribune. N.p., 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2015. <http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-11-11/news/ct-met-late-onset-ptsd-2-20131111_1_vietnam-veterans-nightmares-vietnam-war>.
Price, Jennifer L. "PTSD: National Center for PTSD." Findings from the National Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Study -. U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2015. <http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/research-bio/research/vietnam-vets-study.asp>.
Veterans Health Services. “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” 2009. <http://www.veteranshealth.org/Vietnam/ptsd.html>.
Zoroya, Gregg. "Vietnam Veterans Still Dogged by PTSD." USA Today. N.p., 8 Aug. 2014. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.
Zarembo, Alan. “PTSD Continues to Afflict Vietnam Veterans 40 years After the War.” LA Times. N.p. 8 Aug 2014. Web. 22 Feb 2015.