Combat-Related PTSD and Chronic Homelessness - Research Paper Example

? Combat-Related PTSD and Chronic Homelessness. Table of Contents Combat-Related PTSD and Chronic Homelessness. 1 Table of Contents 2 Overview of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) 2 Current Research into PTSD and the effects. 5 Trends in PTSD diagnosis. 6 According to the method used to treat combat-related PTSD, either psychotherapeutically or pharmacologically, there are no differentiations of treatment in terms of any classification. This means that all the people receive similar treatments which have a similar goal; to alleviate the condition of the patients and help them to cope with life as normal as they could.( Vishnevsky, Cann, Calhoun, Tedeschi, & Demakis 2010). Through the different methods, care givers generalize the issue of age, sex or any other differences that could change the situation of the patients to ensure that they can live without remembering the traumatic experiences they felt when in the battlefields. The USA department of defense has adopted similar method to help their soldiers overcome the terrible issues of Iraq and Afghanistan casualties. 7 Evidenced Based Treatments for Combat-Related PTSD Victims. 7 Implications for social work practice. 8 Conclusion 9 Overview of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is not a present-day disorder; it has been acknowledged all through history but labeled in various ways. PTSD has for a long time been related to soldiers serving in the military thus giving an explanation to the symptoms of nervousness and despondence witnessed at the time of a combat practice. During the Civil War (1861 to 1865), medics and military commanders identified symptoms of PTSD and named them as “soldier’s heart” thus no true diagnosis or cure was implemented. (Carter-Visscher, et al. 2010) During the Vietnam War era (1955 to 1975), medics sought after finding an enhanced explanation to depict the psychological troubles told by soldiers, thus coming up with the term “Post-Vietnam Syndrome”. Regardless of the increasing number of soldiers telling of related symptoms, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was not acknowledged by the American Psychiatric Association not until the year 1980. PTSD, an anxiety turmoil that is brought about by exposure to distress, is now a generally acknowledged diagnosis that is experienced by both genders (Chaumba & Bride 2010). Some of the universal symptoms include; invasive thoughts, dodging of stimuli connected to the trauma and continuous symptoms of augmented stimulation. PTSD makes no favoritism as it can ensue to any person who has been open to the elements of a traumatic happening.However, for purposes of this research paper, I am focusing on the diagnosis, effects and treatment of PTSD in military employees, specifically from the Vietnam-era veterans and Iraq/Afghanistan deployments (Chaumba & Bride (2010). Even though various studies have shown women enrolling in the military are more vulnerable to PTSD than men, as a result of past traumatic actions, such as sexual distress. Mental health medics keep on diagnosing PTSD in male soldiers at a higher rate than female soldiers. One supposition for this inconsistency explains that most medics still believe that only male soldiers hold battle positions, holding fast to the suggestion that men are more likely position to contract PTSD (Feinstein & Sinyor 2009). However, in the present day combat, a good number of female soldiers take part in hold up roles that places them in battle zones, thus escalating their threat of being open to the elements of combat-related distress at related levels to those of their male counterparts. In order to diagnose PTSD, medics must bring into play the criterion and listing of symptoms as explained in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV-TR) formed by the American Psychiatric Association. Even though the DSM-IV-TR does not differentiate whether PTSD symptoms depicts it differently in men against women, thus it is vital to reflect on gender differences so as to come up with a suitable treatment strategy. Long-established PTSD screening equipment has been for a long time tested on males and do not screen for sex difference. As a consequence, women in search of services are screened with equipment intended to assess for symptoms generally described by males. (King & King 1996).Symptoms of PTSD in women may come about in many different areas of life that is not detailed in the ordinary military PTSD test checklist (Feczer & Bjorklund 2009). Consequently, many women are misdiagnosed, under-diagnosed or not diagnosed totally. This discrepancy can also lead to a scarce treatment strategy that is not sex receptive. Without suitable diagnostic equipment, it is not easy to fully tackle the personal and professional requirements that women may be putting up with because of their PTSD. It is vital to create an evaluation tool that factors in these gender differences in symptoms (Geppert & Maiers 2009). This research paper proposes that PTSD symptoms will have an effect on both women and men in a different way due to gender parity in PTSD system adoption, and additionally recommends that, because of the restricted amount of study in gender symptom in PTSD, studies point to creating more specific assessment equipment that is more gender receptive. Such equipment and strategy will suitably allow medics to come up with more precise and harmonious treatment policy for both male and female soldiers tormented by PTSD (Murdoch, M., Hodges, J 2003). Current Research into PTSD and the effects. As a result of the American soldiers’ exposure to the Vietnam era war, a lot of alarm arose from different soldiers for the reason that those who contracted PTSD never received support that may well make better their condition. The homelessness setting uncovered irritated the anxious condition of the affected soldiers, which came from the distress of the war, and noteworthy researches concerning PTSD were executed. Later in time, researchers carried out studies concerning the treatment of people affected by PTSD and they recommended a variety of methods to focus on the predicament with conclusiveness. (Savas, White, Wieman, Daci, Fitzgerald, et al. 2009). Past studies established that different forms of combat-related PTSD affect different soldiers and therefore, they suggested different curative measures to deal with the different forms of the problem. With continuity of the problem in soldiers, researchers continued their work to discover the things that pre-exposes different soldiers to PTSD while others remained unaffected even after participating in the same battle. This research found that soldiers with mental disability were more susceptible to the risk of the combat-related PTSD after exposure to a similar condition of battle within a similar duration of time. The research that exposed such things took place before the American soldiers went for a peace-keeping engagement in the Iraq or Afghanistan. (Haskell, Gordon, Mattocks, Duggal, Erdos, et al. 2010). The research discovered that before deployment, only three percent of the soldiers had mental illness of any kind but which could not incapacitate them to engage in the battle with the terrorist. On return, the populace of the soldiers who had PTSD symptoms had risen to an enormous eight percent, which was more than double the number of soldiers who had the predicament before they went into the battle. From the past discoveries of the problems that result from combat-related PTSD, different methods are in place to curb the problem; medical providers have developed a variety of ways to address the problem (Spoont, Sayer, Friedemann-Sanchez, Parker, Murdoch, et al. 2009). PTSDs exist as long as wars and traumatic experiences befall people within their environment or away from their environment. This means that although various methods are in place, some scores of people experience the problem following their exposure to traumatic effects which result from tragedies in different places. These researches give a good explanation as to why the different American soldiers got better treatment after the Iraq and Afghanistan engagement than the one in Vietnam. The move by researchers to implement ways to prevent the occurrence of stresses after exposure to such traumas will assist to reduce the number of PTSD cases that are reported (Kelly, Vogt, Scheiderer, Ouimette, Daley, 2008). Trends in PTSD diagnosis. In order to curb the effects of combat-related PTSD, there have been various methods which have offered solution to the problem and which caregivers have used to effectively treat the problem. These methods of treatment fall under the categories of psychological and pharmacological therapies and involve different procedure done on patients (Feinstein & Sinyor 2009). Through these methods, the affected attain their healthy condition totally or to some levels that enhance better performance than the previous condition prior exposure to the treatment. The psychological methods vary according to the activities through which a caregiver subject a patient to alleviate his or her case and it also depends on the duration over which the patient has had the exposure to the problem (Street, Vogt & Dutra 2009). The other category of methods of addressing the problems associated with the combat-related PTSD is the pharmacotherapy, which uses drugs to help alleviate the condition of the health of a patient. There are different drugs that doctors use in this process and they vary in efficiency and the impact they have on the patients as well as the time of invention. In this respect, the most recent drugs produce better results than the older types, although all of them produce the notable impact with their continued usage according to the prescription of the doctor (Kelly, Vogt, Scheiderer, Ouimette, & Daley 2008). According to the method used to treat combat-related PTSD, either psychotherapeutically or pharmacologically, there are no differentiations of treatment in terms of any classification. This means that all the people receive similar treatments which have a similar goal; to alleviate the condition of the patients and help them to cope with life as normal as they could.( Vishnevsky, Cann, Calhoun, Tedeschi, & Demakis 2010). Through the different methods, care givers generalize the issue of age, sex or any other differences that could change the situation of the patients to ensure that they can live without remembering the traumatic experiences they felt when in the battlefields. The USA department of defense has adopted similar method to help their soldiers overcome the terrible issues of Iraq and Afghanistan casualties. Evidenced Based Treatments for Combat-Related PTSD Victims. Numerous researchers have studied diverse conditions through which individuals go as victims of PTSD consequential of a traumatic experience and they vary in terms of the level. The choice of different methods to treat different conditions in patients take a form of evidence based practice because it depend on the evidence of the existence of the condition to implement practice. For example, the selection of execution of treatment by the SSRIs in a certain condition is after the individual has indicated symptoms of anxiety, irregular mood, and lack of appetite and lack of sleep. On the other hand, treating a patient with the problem of nightmares, a therapist selects the most appropriate method to address the problem of nightmares as guided by the evidences of methods that work in the system (McCormack, L. 2009). Implications for social work practice. When PTSD affects people negatively in their engagement in the combat activities, they send a message to other people who could be willing to take a job in the department of defense. In the case of the Vietnam War, most people felt that the VA had very little to do with affected soldiers and the fact of their homelessness which aggravated their condition and people thought that the government is not committed to the wellbeing of its people (McCormack, L. 2009). This is because people will perceive combating as a possible risk to their mental health if they allow themselves and hence create in them the fear to engage in the activities at any cost. As a result of the fear that come in the people, there will be a possibility that there the soldiers will be perceive themselves as lower in the rank in terms of mental health. This would consequently mean that their productivity will reduce with a very high degree because they will a negative perception about themselves and this may cause them to fail to identify with the job. Those individuals who themselves in combatting and get PTSDs, they may sympathize with their lives and always be tempted to compare themselves with other colleagues who successfully combatted and never got the negative impact and therefore, it will become very difficult to assist these people to heal from the problem( Zinzow, Grubaugh, Frueh, & Magruder, 2007). Perceived from an economic perspective, the issue related to combat-related PTSD can contribute to joblessness and unemployment because all the people may avoid going to places which risk their life. Unemployment effects will not only affect the economy of the potential employee but also the general economy of the family and the issue will translate to the economy of the nation with negative impacts. At the national level, the issue of PTSD will affect the entry in the forces that combat meaning that with continued avoidance of the job, the security department will have insufficient personnel. The nation will also incur a lot of cash in compensating those affected by the problem and they will also need to invest a lot of money in offering healthcare to the affected people (Friedman, M. 2006). Conclusion From the past when the Vietnam War, the World War I and World War II as one goes to the impact on the American soldiers of the fight against the militants in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are things that are necessary to be considered. For a long time since the soldiers started to go to war, there are always issues that relate to traumas and mental disorders that result during, shortly or long after the people are through with the wars. Looking at the different issues of health of the PTSD patients, different explanations to the issue has emerged and these people have resulted to different therapeutic measures to curb the problem. Although there methods of treating have improved with time, scientists and social workers need to develop a sustainable method to address the problem of PTSD which has had negative impact not only to the people affected but also to their family and hence, the nation. Research activities have done some work but people need to do more than that to save the lives of people who have loyally given service to their nations (Wojcik, Akhtar, & Hassell, 2009). References Carter-Visscher, R., Polusny, M., Murdoch, M., Thuras, P., Erbes, C., et al. (2010). Pre- deployment gender differences in stressors and mental health among U.S. National Guard troops poised for Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 23(1), 78-85 Chaumba, J., & Bride, B. (2010). Trauma experiences and posttraumatic stress disorder among women in the United States military. Social Work in Mental Health, 8(3), 280-303. Feinstein, A., & Sinyor, M. (2009). Women war correspondents: They are different in so many ways. Nieman Reports, 63(4), 24-25. Feczer, D., & Bjorklund, P. (2009). Forever changed: Posttraumatic stress disorder in female military veterans, a case report. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 45(4), 278-291. Friedman, M. (2006). Posttraumatic stress disorder among military returnees from Afghanistan and Iraq. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(4), 586-593. Geppert, C., & Maiers, A. (2009). From war to home: Psychiatric emergencies of returning veterans. Psychiatric Times, 26(10), 1-7. Haskell, S., Gordon, K., Mattocks, K., Duggal, M., Erdos, J., et al. (2010). Gender differences in rates of depression, PTSD, pain, obesity, and military sexual trauma among Connecticut war veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. Journal of Women's Health (15409996), 19(2), 267-271. Kelly, M., Vogt, D., Scheiderer, E., Ouimette, P., Daley, J. (2008). Effects of military trauma exposure on women veterans' use and perceptions of veterans’ health administration care. JGIM: Journal of General Internal Medicine, 23(6), 741-747. McCormack, L. (2009). Civilian women at war: Psychological impact decades after the Vietnam War. Journal of Loss & Trauma, 14(6), 447-458 Wojcik, B., Akhtar, F., & Hassell, L. (2009). Hospital admissions related to mental disorders in U.S. Army soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military Medicine, 174(10), 1010-1018. Read More