Post-Traumatic+Stress+After+War

Post-Traumatic Stress After War

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (also known as PTSD) is a disorder which happens when a person experiences something disturbing, brutal, or scaring. It is not like depression, but can appear that way. Some people describe it as if you 'Can't stop remembering'. There are many way PTSD can happen, such as sexual assault, violence, and disasters. An on-going cause of PDST is actually being in wars.

Many war veterans call it 'shell shock', but what all it means is not being able to adapt to life after war. Many people can't sleep at night, go to work, parent there children, or have emotional, physical or verbal contact with friends and family. It wasn't until the Vietnam War that PTSD was discovered by doctors, this is because had they often mistaken it for depression.

What PTSD does is it changes the biology of the brain. It affects your memory storage (causing you to continue to remember), and it is not yet known if it is reversible or not.

In the USA alone, 60% of men and 50% of women experience a traumatic event in their life, and of those people, 8% of men and 20% of women may develop PTSD. Nearly half suffer from major depression, 16% from anxiety disorders, and 28% from social phobia. They also are more likely to have a dangerous health behavior such as alcohol and drug abuse. Almost 60% of Vietnam war veterans have PTSD.

Many soldiers suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress, but one in particular had it at it worse stage. David Chavarria, a veteran from the war in Iraq, suffered from PDST. When he was in Iraq, a fellow soldier, and a friend of his, died in his arms. Following his death, David started feeling depressed, and scared. It was as if he couldn't stop remembering that day. The fear led his to a suicide attempt. People become a threat to an operation while in a war and have PTSD, therefore when he turned to the army for help, they gave him 10 days to leave. A man suffering from PTSD

a chart showing people suffing after 9/11Parrts of the brain PTSD affects.

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