Essay on Trauma: PTSD, Developmental Disorder & Complex Trauma

Introduction

Trauma is an emotional or psychological response which is related to an experience which is disturbing or distressing. Trauma occurs to an individual who has been exposed to events such as accidents, war, and various illnesses. Trauma consists of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), developmental disorder, and complex trauma. The PTSD occurs whenever an individual has been exposed to a terrifying ordeal which led to physical harm. The individuals suffering from this disorder tend to have many frightening memories and thoughts which instills fear in their lives. Also, this condition is associated with flashbacks, feelings of hopelessness, unpredictable emotions, and constant feelings of despair and sadness. The situation is experienced mostly among the Armed forces since they get involved in frightening events throughout their lives. Due to the high cases of the militants who have this disorder, this paper will outline how the American armed forces perceive PTSD and trauma.

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Causes of Trauma among the Veterans

The PTSD is also referred to as the combat stress or the shell shock which arises after a life-threatening event. It is usual for the body and mind to experience shock after a threatening event, but whenever the nervous system becomes stuck, it leads to PTSD among the veterans. The nervous system experiences immobilization whenever one encounters much stress, which is caused by a specific event, and even when the danger has passed away, the person finds themselves stuck. The veteran cannot move away from an event and return to their normal state, thus leading to PTSD. The second way of responding to a stressful condition is through fight or flight, which happens whenever a veteran requires to defend or to survive from the dangerous combat situation. This action makes the muscles to tightens, increases the heart-beat and the blood pressure, thus making the person react (Hoge, Goldberg & Castro, 2009). After the hazardous event has passed, the nervous system prepares the body to remain calm, lowering the blood pressure and the heart rate hence making the body to go back to its normal condition.

Symptoms of the PTSD among the Veterans

The intrusive and recurrent reminders about the traumatic situation make the veteran to have nightmares and distressing thoughts, which cause them to feel like the event is repeating itself. The individual tends to experience physical and emotional reactions such as heart palpitations, panic, and uncontrollable shaking. Due to these occurrences, the person lives in fear, thus having negative alterations in their moods and thoughts. In most times, the veteran might live in guilt, which affects them when carrying out their daily activities (Elliott, Gonzalez & Larsen, 2011). Therefore, the dangerous event makes the individual not to have the positive emotions in their lives hence leading to PTSD.

The veterans might exceptionally avoid people and thing which contributed to the occurrence of these events. Among the militants, they tend to quit their job due to fear of occurrence of another event. This individual withdraws themselves from families and friend, which makes them antisocial. Due to the loss of interest in many activities, the veteran is affected by depression, making them experience difficulties in overcoming the stressful situation. The veteran is guarded all the time due to irritability, hypervigilance, and concentrating on the troubling situations (Elliott et al., 2011). Therefore these individual require to be advised according to avoid suicidal cases in society due to PTSD.

Recovery Steps for PTSD among the Military

The veterans are advised to acquire regular exercise, which helps them in minimizing the production of adrenaline in their bodies and lead to the production of endorphins, which is responsible for improving the person's mood. Also, exercises make the nervous system to become unstuck, thus moving away from the immobilizations response. Acquiring the frequent and regular practices makes the body to become engaged, leading to developing a focus on how the body feels. The veterans who are affected by this condition tend to get engaged in boxing, rock climbing, and in martial arts since they feel it is appropriate for the body movements. Therefore, participating in the outdoor activities challenges the body's sense of getting vulnerable, thus helping the individual to come back to their healthy lives (Ursano et al., 2016). It is advisable for the veterans' or the militants to find the local institutions which help the development of the teambuilding activities as it allows people to socialize.

Consequently, the veteran can try to connect and build a close relationship with other people who are present in their surroundings. This helps the veterans to socialize and minimize stressful thoughts, which leads to trauma and depression. The veteran can find an individual whom they can share their experiences without judging them. For example, the veteran might hang out with their family members, civilian friends, or their co-workers in the military. Whenever the condition becomes difficult to handle, the veteran can join the PTSD support organizations where they get to socialize with other veterans who are passing through the same challenges (Hoge et al., 2009). Since the groups' focus is to help people who are affected by trauma, the veteran ends up acquiring help, thus getting back to their usual conditions.

Since people possess the control of their nervous system, the individual can conduct self-regulation of their body hence making them not to be helpless or vulnerable. The veteran can carry out mindful breathing, where they focus on their breathing rate. Also, trying some of the sensory inputs makes the person go back to their combat zone hence dealing with the stressful conditions. The person can try and think of the thing which brought them comfort during their training, thus becoming advisable to accommodate such actions to move to their normal state (Ursano et al., 2016). Also, the veteran is advised to take healthy diets which can exacerbate the mood swings leading to energy fluctuations. These actions tend to minimize the stressful conditions among the veterans as they tend to become relaxed, thus easing the signs of depressions and anxiety.

Conclusion

The PTSD which is facilitated by the hazardous events which have occurred in the lives of people can become managed and controlled, thus making the person to go back to their normal state. The veterans tend to get engaged in various activities, which makes the body to be in a continuous motion as it limits depression. The PTSD has contributed to the suicidal cases among the veterans since they lack people whom they can share with. Some groups have been started so that they can help the veterans in coping with trauma. The groups make people share their experiences, thus creating a platform where they can listen and advise one another. At the end of these sessions, the veteran is ready to deal with their situation with ease, hence not getting affected by stress and depression.

References

Elliott, M., Gonzalez, C., & Larsen, B. (2011). US military veterans transition to college: Combat, PTSD, and alienation on campus. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 48(3), 279-296. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2202/1949-6605.6293

Hoge, C. W., Goldberg, H. M., & Castro, C. A. (2009). Care of war veterans with mild traumatic brain injury-flawed perspectives. WALTER REED ARMY INST OF RESEARCH SILVER SPRING MD DIV OF PSYCHIATRY AND NEUROSCIENCE. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19369664

Ursano, R. J., Wang, J., Ramsawh, H., Russell, D., Benfer, N., Gifford, R. K., & Fullerton, C. S. (2016). Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and binge drinking in the reserve component of the US Armed Forces. Military medicine, 181(10), 1287-1293. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27753565