The Internal War
Mackayla Harris
What is PTSD? Before this class I did not really know what PTSD was. I know it is kind of crazy for me to not know that, but I do not really know many people who have fought in a war. During this semester I have read many blog posts and articles about PTSD and it seems to really affect people after war. PTSD stands for posttraumatic stress disorder. PTSD can develop after someone has been harmed or has seen someone else harmed. It usually comes from a fear. It could be a fear of being harmed, someone else being harmed, or losing a loved one.
There are many symptoms of PTSD. According to the article “What is PTSD?” some of the most common symptoms of PTSD include “recurring memories or nightmares of the events, sleeplessness, loss of interest, or feeling numb.” Many people with PTSD relive the event that caused the disorder. They play back the scene in their head with vivid details. The memories can come back at any time, and they can feel just as terrifying as when it was actually happening. The person will often have nightmares. They also have flashbacks about the event. There are also triggers that can cause the person to remember. The person with PTSD may see, smell, or hear something that triggers the terrifying memories. PTSD can make people have a hard time concentrating and sleeping. It can cause the person to become irritable and anxious. The trauma caused by PTSD changes people’s lives. The people often do not do things they would have normally enjoyed for fear of it bringing back memories. They will go out of their way to avoid things that could be triggers. PTSD prevents people from living their lives like they should. It also affects the families of people with PTSD. The family must learn to cope with the new way the person will act. That can be very stressful for the family members because they are not used to how the person will act, and it is not how the person used to be. 
There are a couple different ways to help treat PTSD. The article “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)” states that “the main treatments for people with PTSD are psychotherapy (“talk therapy”), medications, or both.” Different people need different treatments. Psychotherapy is talk therapy. The person can talk with a mental health professional about their illness. The person with PTSD can also talk to family and friends about what they are going through. The family must be understanding and ready to listen whenever the member with PTSD needs to talk about their disorder. There are many different medications approved for treating PTSD in adults. These medications are antidepressants. The medications can help the person stop thinking about the memories as often. Also, taking the medications may help people go through psychotherapy. The person with PTSD will often have to try different treatments to find what works best.
Living with PTSD is very stressful not only for the person with the disorder, but also the person’s family. It is important we keep trying to help the people with PTSD. A lot of veterans have PTSD because of their time fighting for our country, and it is only right that we do what we can to help them when they return from war. We should be willing to talk to the people with PTSD and help them cope. We should also help them find professional help to make it easier on them. They do not deserve to go through a war in their head every day while trying to fight the memories. I do not know anyone with PTSD, but I know now that it can cause many problems and that it is an awful thing to have to live with.
PTSD is a very serious thing! I also do not know anyone who has it, but I do know that those who have PTSD are changed forever. I think that if a soldier has PTSD it is super important that they receive help and counseling for their condition. Family and friends are very crucial to someone who has PTSD. Family members and friends are relied on to help someone cope with the disorder. If someone with the disorder receives no support or help the outcome could be extremely sad.
ReplyDeleteI do not know anyone with PTSD either but the diagnosis does change someone's life forever. Soldiers go through the day fighting memories in their head sometimes causing things to happen in real life that they do not mean to cause to happen. Living with PTSD is very stressful on a person and with out the right help they go through it alone and that is not good it makes the disorder worst.
ReplyDeleteI also do not know anyone with PTSD but it is a very terrible thing that can be brought onto a person. It seems terrible to me that the people that should be honored the most, are often mentally hurt in battle and are not the same people they used to be. Hopefully there will soon be a way to treat this.
ReplyDeletePTSD is a terrible thing for the families of those with the disorder. Personally, I watched my grandfather suffer for years with it until he finally broke down and we had to commit him. I think the hardest thing for a family member to go through is knowing that their loved one went through something so horrible, so horrendous, that they can't talk about it. To this day, I'll never forget the look on my momma's face when she saw one of the men that raised her in the mental wing of a VA Hospital. The thing that really gets to me though, is that most of our troops and veteran's that suffer from PTSD are too ashamed to seek treatment.
ReplyDeleteIt is very sad that some are too ashamed to seek treatment. That's just another battle they have to deal with. I hope they realize that it is not something to be ashamed of at all. They could not help it. People will not think any less of them because we know they were serving their country, and that it was very hard mentally and physically.
ReplyDeleteI agree PTSD can be something awful, I believe it can control people's lives. I also don't know anyone with PTSD; however, my mother use to work with Vietnam Vets. She always has stories of how terrible these men would be after the war. I agree with Danielle, soldiers that suffer from PTSD always want to be seen as to strong to seek help. I think it hurts families a great deal.
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