PTSD in Vietnam Vets
1A) The Vietnam War, often thought by many as unnecessary, was a crushing, traumatic experience to all the men and women who were involved in it. Most of the soldiers were just kids who were essentially taken away from their families to fight a war they did not care about. While in the jungles of Vietnam they quickly began to learn that they were fighting for something important. If not to help the oppressed people in Vietnam it was a fight for their own lives. Upon returning from war, the soldiers that were still alive, thought of themselves as heroes. This was not the popular opinion in the states however. They were treated like prisoners when they returned, which just added fuel to the fire of post traumatic stress disorder. While involved in Vietnam, John experienced many traumatic events. The first was actually going to Vietnam. He was just a nineteen year old kid who should have just been starting college. His life was just beginning and before he knew it, his life was stolen away. Going to Vietnam changed John, and thousands like him, forever. He was no longer the kid he used to be. Within a few days he was turned into a man and saw things most men will never see. John arrived and mos
John was also forced to fight even while he was extremely sick. John was so sick that he could not even eat, yet he was put out on patrol. Finally, after 2 weeks in the hospital, John was back fighting. There was no break from the death that was all around him wherever he went. go into the stage of exhaustion where your body could develop colds, the flu, sores, allergies, and aching muscles. As stress increases all of these symptoms could come into effect on a certain person. Perhaps one of the most traumatic events to happen to John was his return home. This is all that he had been dreaming about for years and it was finally happening. Although he was home nothing was the same. He thought he would be considered a hero, but instead he was treated like garbage. No one was able to ever understand what he went through and therefor they didn't appreciate it. John, and other soldiers, were called baby killers and rapists while they thought that they were warriors who protected their country. This could possibly have been the most traumatic event John had to go through. John found it very hard to cope with PTSD. He secluded himself in the woods for years. He hid himself from everyone else. This was not only because of what they thought of him but it was also for their own safety. John was a bomb waiting to explode. John really has a problem dealing with post traumatic stress disorder. Although he made the effort to have it treated it was not working. John would see things that really did not exist. He could hardly support himself so he moved out into the woods. There he was left with some time to contemplate. He realized that he was not normal and he was in a great need of help. He finally admits that a child went to war, and a crazy man came home. He can not think of any other way to explain it. According to the general adaptation syndrom stress model, the alarm stage is the first step in stress. The alarm stage is marked by activation of the fight-flight response which causes physiological arousal. Normally the fight-flight responses come and go but they can continue for a long period of time. This will eventually lead into the resistance stage. The resistance stage is defined as the bodies reaction to continues stress during which most of the bodies physiological responses go back to normal but the body will use up great amounts of energy. During the resistance stage the body will use up vital reserves of hormones, minerals, and glucose. It will interfere with the digestion process and could cause stomach pains. If the stress continues then the body will slip into the exhaustion stage. This stage is defined as the bodies reaction to long term stress and is marked by the actual breakdown of internal organs or a weakening of the immune system. Your body can ! Now is the time when post traumatic stress disorder came into effect in John's life. John was not able to hold a job because of it. He would have hallucinations from the war on a regular basis. John was given sleeping pills to help him rest but those were only drugging him. John was treated for PTSD by a psychiatrist but the government would still not compensate him for it. Partly because of his lack of money and partly becau
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Approximate Word count = 2190
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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