Research Paper Sample on PTSD: A Growing Challenge for U.S. Military Personnel

Introduction

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) impacts approximately eight million people in the United States each year (Reisman, 2016). Although civilians are impacted by traumatic events resulting in PTSD, military personnel are more commonly associated with a PTSD diagnosis. Over half of a million military personnel serving during the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns reported being diagnosed with PTSD (Reisman, 2016). Increased risk of PTSD has been closely correlated with combat experiences (Sundin, Fear, Iversen, Rona, R., & Wessely, 2010). Variances in PTSD reporting occur by gender and race/ethnicity of veterans. These variances are also correlated with the comorbidity of PTSD and substance abuse (Nunnink, Goldwaser, Heppner, Pittman, Nievergelt, & Baker, 2010).

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Literature Review

In 2011, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reported that PTSD cases in veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan had increased exponentially between 2004 to 2008 with 4,400 reported cases in 2004 skyrocketing to 69,000 reported cases is 2008 (Mitka, 2011). According to the research, at that time “20% of veterans serving in the current Iraq and Afghanistan wars, up to 10% of Gulf War veterans, and up to 30% of Vietnam War veterans have experienced PTSD" with overall VA treatment increased by 60% from 274,000 veterans treated in 2004 to 442,000 treated in 2008 (Mitka, 2008). More current studies show PTSD among military personnel that deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan range between 8% and 20%, respectively representing 192,000 to 480,000 military personnel (Wangelin and Tuerk, 2014). Other studies show that though most war veterans were healthy and highly resilient with the ability to cope with life-threatening stressors, the rate of soldiers reporting PTSD in the initial years of deployment ranged between 3% and 17% (Haagen et al., 2015).

Causes of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

PTSD can coexist independently with other mental health problems and contributes to poor physical health, severe distress, chronic suffering, and impairment (Haagen, Esmid, Knipscheer, and Kleber, 2015). Military personnel that has deployed to combat zones may be exposed to life-threatening stressors in combat, injury, and witness suffering and death, and therefore are at a higher risk of developing PTSD complications (Haagen et al., 2015). Increased risk of PTSD has been closely correlated with combat experiences, documented beginning in the Vietnam-era, and continuing into the Iraq War (Sundin, Fear, Iversen, Rona, R., & Wessely, 2010). Multiple PTSD assessments have shown increases during the post-deployment year, possibly due to the stresses of reintegration or initial elation masking signs and symptoms. With the constant being deployed to Iraq, PTSDrates pre-deployment versus post-deployment were significantly higher upon return (Sundin, Fear, Iversen, Rona, R., & Wessely, 2010).

Threatening life experience, severe trauma, and stress are some of the triggers associated with military personnel. The nervous systems of any individual have two reflexive ways of dealing with stress and they include immobilization and mobilization. Mobilization can be seen in many instances in military personnel where they are placed in a situation s requiring self-defense or survive the danger of the combat situation. The rate pounds at a higher rate while in the harsh conditions which mean that the stress reaction is also high. However, after dealing with the issues the nervous system helps the body to return to its initial conditions. Military personnel suffers many problems after this condition since they remember these incidences and experiences shocks.

Military people not only people would work in hostile conditions but also people who are at a higher risk while conducting their military services. Many military personnel is not aware they are suffering from PTSD due to the nature of the military services. A study shows that there has been an increase in drug use among military personnel. Drug use, especially alcohol, has been said to increase the exposure of post-traumatic stress disorder in individuals who regularly use it. Moreover, other studies are showing that the use of alcohol and its adverse effects affects military personnel in different ways and regarding gender basis. PTSD occurs after a series of minor mental problems which are accelerated by the exposure condition and substance use. It has been noted that PTSD occurs in many military personnel once they return home after completion of military services. Returning home from military services has been said to be the start of many problems in PTSD. PSTD is suffered when people start experiencing shocks, remembering life-threatening events, and other harsh conditions. The moment military personnel gets home from work they always remember threatening effects that affect them In their life but since they want to forget them they tend to increase alcohol use.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Gender

It has long been documented that women experience PTSD at twice the rate of men (Kessler, 1995; McDuff, 2004; Norr, Albanese, Boffa, Short, & Schmidt, 2016). Some researchers postulate that Anxiety Sensitivity is experienced at higher levels by women and has a bidirectional escalation impact when coupled with PTSD (Norr, Albanese, Boffa, Short, & Schmidt, 2016). A fear response develops from anxiety reactions based on traumatic events and maybe transposed to generalized anxiety reactions. Cognitive, physical, and social concerns are all aspects of Anxiety Sensitivity. “Women tended to report more frequent concentration difficulties and distress from reminders whereas men tended to report more frequent nightmares, emotional numbing, and hypervigilance” (King, Street, Gradus, Vogt, & Resick, (2013).

Sexual assault is a traumatic event that has traditionally been gender-linked to women. “Compared to individuals without sexual trauma, veterans in the VA who reported any type of military sexual trauma were more likely to have PTSD, depressive and substance use disorders, as well as aggressive/impulsive control problems, even after adjusting for several demographic and military service-related variables (Tiet, Leyva, Blau, Turchik, & Rosen, 2015). The trauma of sexual assault has been indicated as the highest risk predictor of PTSD. Military sexual assault (MSA) is more prevalent in women and has been identified as requiring differing levels of treatment techniques than PTSD trauma experienced by men, including combat trauma. As a response, the Department of Veterans Affairs developed the Women’s Treatment Rehabilitation Programs. However, due to the disproportionate number of men to women in the military, the number of men who were victimized by MSA is greater than the total number of women identifying as MSA survivors. In Fiscal Year 2002, 29,418 women and 31,797 men reported MSA in their VA treatment (Tiet, Leyva, Blau, Turchik, & Rosen, 2015).

The number of women personnel in military services has increased over time in many countries. For instance, in the USA the number of women personnel has increased by about 15% in the Department of Duty Active Defence Duty force. There has additionally been an expansion in the number of ladies seeking care services in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA; Frayne et al., 2014). Even though much exploration has assessed the effect of military-related stressors in the prevalently male veteran populace, less consideration has been given to military injury in ladies. This is dangerous because a significant part of the surviving examination has uncovered the varying effect of military stressors dependent on sexual orientation; for instance, female help individuals had higher seriousness of burdensome side effects, however, not posttraumatic stress issue (PTSD) indications, contrasted and male assistance individuals at post-deployment (Luxton et al., 2010; Maguen et al., 2012). So also, female veterans have been demonstrated to be at higher hazard for misery than male veterans (Maguen et al., 2010; Street et al., 2013). Given the extending numbers and jobs of ladies in the military, it is reasonable to all the more likely comprehend the effect of military stressors on female veterans' emotional wellness to encourage fitting evaluation and care.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Race/Ethnicity

“Race can impact one’s everyday experiences and mental health through explicit or implicit definitions (e.g., self-identification or racial stereotyping), and how those definitions shape interactions and access to resources. Ethnic identity, related to one’s cultural group, is important because ethnic norms and beliefs may impact the validity of psychological diagnoses, the acceptability of and response to evidence-based treatments, and the development of culturally competent care” (Onoye, Spoont, Whealin, Pole, Mackintosh, Spira, & Morland, 2017). PTSD has been seen to cluster by race, ethnicity, and gender. The demographic groups most likely to experience reported PTSD to include Asian/Pacific Islander women and African American men. Emotional numbing has been reported in the highest numbers by Latino women. In 1990, the National Vietnam Veteran Readjustment Study concluded that the veterans with the highest PTSD rates were African American and Latino. Recent research has suggested that Latino veterans experience PTSD at higher rates than Caucasian veterans because of “greater endorsement of positive symptoms (e.g., hypervigilance, intrusive thoughts, and flashbacks". In comparing race and gender, Caucasian female veterans were more likely to report childhood sexual trauma, whereas African American female veterans were more likely to report the physical assault (Onoye, Spoont, Whealin, Pole, Mackintosh, Spira, & Morland, 2017).

Conclusion

Presentation to military-related stressors is related with an uplifted danger of psychological wellness issues; among Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) veterans entering VHA care, PTSD and despondency analyze forcefully expanded after the intrusion of Iraq (Haagen et al., 2015). Battle presentation is exceptionally compelling in understanding the association among injury and emotional well-being in veterans, and results are blended concerning whether psychological well-being outcomes of battle introduction vary as an element of sex. For instance, Haagen et al. (2015)found that expanded battle presentation was increasingly prescient of PTSD and burdensome manifestations in female assistance individuals than in male help individuals, however, Goldstein et al. (2017) didn't watch sexual orientation contrasts in the probability of creating PTSD or seriousness of PTSD side effects among administration individuals who detailed battle introduction.