Post-traumatic stress disorder also known as PTSD. PTSD is a disorder that has been around for a long time but was not recognized as an actual diagnosis until 1980 when it was added to the American Psychiatric Association ‘s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. PTSD is the name we know it by now but it has been around in varying forms since the beginning of time and the first traumatic events ever took place. In World War I and through Vietnam it was referred to battle fatigue, CSR (Combat Stress Reaction), CSR replaced the shell shock diagnosis during World War II.
Here are some examples from history before PTSD had an official mental disorder classification here in the United States. One of the first known documented cases of PTSD is of aa soldier in 490 BCE. This soldier seen his fellow soldiers butchered by the enemy and subsequently developed hysterical blindness even though he had no visible injuries. During the Civil War, there appears to be a significant increase of PTSD symptoms. This shouldn’t come as a surprise as so many soldiers were maimed by he weapons of the time. It has been reported that Adolf Hitler had a similar case during an attack in WW I. Hitler went on to ban the word shell shock and any diagnosis of mental illness. During WW II two soldiers were slapped by General Patton while they were hospitalized and recovering from shell shock. I honestly thought that that was a fictional portion of the film based on him. Turns out it truly did happen and is one of the major reason he was removed from command. Knowing todays numbers of people with diagnosed PTSD I can only imagine the number of people that would have been diagnosed with PTSD in ancient and early warfare.
Symptoms of PTSD are broken down in to 4 groups typically. These groupings are as follows:
1. Reliving the event. This is mostly self-explanatory. Aa person continues to see the traumatic events in nightmares. May have flashbacks as if the event is happening to you as you go through out your normal daily activities. The person may also have the event triggered by a smell, sound, or sight. For me I have nightmares at least 2 to 3 times a week reliving the events. They always wondering if there was something I could do differently or questing why it was them and not me?
2. Avoiding similar situations that caused the traumatic even. An example of this is a car accident victim who suffers from PTSD avoiding the site of the accident or the freeway all together. I still do my best to avoid being around low flying aircraft and loud explosions that are not expected like fireworks, I still an unable to watch many war themed movies as many of them hit to close to home and bring back the memories that I struggle to forget.
3. Negative changes in beliefs and feelings. This is when you start to change the way you think of yourself and how you may view other. For me personally I ended many long-term relationships and became jaded in my view of others. I personally felt that it was better for those in my life to view me as dead already, get used to me not being in their life. I dreamt for the longest time that I would die in service to my country and at times wished for it. I remember there was one point in time my mother had to contact the red cross to find out my status. The red cross then contacted my Captain who made me call home in front of him to make sure my family knew I was alive and ok. I continue to operate as if I am still are target. What I mean aby that is I do my best to make sure I know every way out of a room as soon as I ender it. I do my best to sit in a position when my back is protected. My fight or flight senses always seem to be in a heighted state.
4. Feeling keyed up. This is the hypervigilance always being on guard. This is the symptom that leads to the insomnia. There are close tie ins to the second symptom as it ties in with the sights sounds and smells that can trigger the effects of the PTSD.
There are three classifications of PTSD. First is acute PTSD which is when PTSD sets in in a short period of time after the traumatic event typically within one month and is short lived. Symptom last three to days to a month. Next is chronic PTSD this caused by most often by long term exposure to a traumatic experience. These symptoms are more likely to me be more severe and can last days, months, years, or for the rest of the person’s life. The last classification of PTSD is delayed PTSD this is when the symptoms of PTSD do not reveal themselves till months and or years after the events that are the original triggers. This is the type of PTSD I was diagnosed with. For me it was more of a straw that broke the camel’s back. I had been through the loss of a Fiancé and a loss of a child, the September, 11th 2001 NYC attacks, loss of two friends in the War on Terror. Then when I was out I received a call while at work telling me that I had just lost another friend due to indirect fire attack on his base. I finally broke. I could no longer understand why all these good people and not be and I feel into a deep depression. Lucky for me I realized that I needed help may at this point turn into a static one of the 22 a day that commit suicide.
Treatments are available to treat this mental disorder the problem is many of us that need have a hard time getting it, we fear being looked upon as weak by our peers, don’t understand that we need help, or just don’t know where to even turn to. For me personally it started as I was to proud to admit I needed help, but then when I got over that it was I honestly know where to turn to for help. Some treatments that have been tested and show positive results are:
Prolonged Exposure (PE): This type of treatment is where a patient will be exposed to things that bring on the memories of the event causing the issue. This treatment lasts roughly 10-15 weeks. While this does sound kind of cruel it does help in that it can help desensitize you to a situation giving you the ability to work your way through things that might have once been a trigger. As an example, I try to make a trip to the airport to prove to myself not all low flying aircraft are going to be dangerous and that it is a normal every day thing that happens thousands of time a day without incident.
Cognitive Therapy (CPT): this type of therapy evolves a lot of talking and trying to figure out why and how you make certain types of decisions and reactions to situations. Once that is discussed you and the therapist try to in a way reprogram the thought processes and reactions to a more positive one.