PTSD is a very serious disorder. It changes how a person thinks, feels, and responds to everything. By undergoing trauma, a person’s entire life can be changed. The best thing possible is to try to understand PTSD. If we accept PTSD as a serious disorder, and not a sign of weakness, I think that soldiers (or even others) who have experienced trauma will be far more likely to seek out help, thereby saving themselves, and possibly even the lives of others whom they would have hurt.
To me, one of the scarier parts of PTSD is how people are resistant to help, and how many choose to hold everything all inside. This means that you can never completely tell whether or not a person has PTSD, except by noticing changes in behavior. One of the reasons this frightens me is because one of my family’s very good friends, “Big Alex,” is a General, who has seen combat. I wasn’t born before the first time he was deployed, so I have no idea whether or not fighting changed who he is. Its frightening to think that the big, comforting friend I have known for as long as I can remember may still have aftereffects from his past, and even more frightening still to think that they could suddenly reappear and the wonderful person I know could be gone in an instant.
PTSD essentially removes the control a person has over their life- the only way they can try to fix it is by seeking help, otherwise they are completely at the mercy of their past. Of the many symptoms of PTSD, it seems that anxiety and depression are two of the major factors, and that many other effects of PTSD can be seen as part of either one. For instance, many people suffering from PTSD abuse substances, in order to escape the anxiety and depression. Unlike getting and allergic reaction or a cold, PTSD is not cut and dry: it can easily spiral into a life-destroying force.
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It must be scary thinking about someone you know being so affected by the war. I've never been close to someone who has gone to war, so I've never felt personally affected by the risk of PTSD. I hope what you said in your post will come true: that we will reach a point where PTSD is not something to be ashamed of and that soldiers will seek out help when they need it before anyone gets hurt.
ReplyDeleteI like how you said that PTSD takes from a human being the ability to control their own life. A life destroying force is a very accurate description of the illness.
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