Factors identified with the favorable health status were male gender, married state, higher educational attainment, higher military rank and inclusion in the Air Force service. Lower quality of health was associated with increased use of health care, PTSD, disability, behavioral risk factors and death. The study also found that deployment experiences from 1998-2001 did not reduce favorable health status (Smith et al.).
The findings go against the reported poor health status of returning veterans, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan (Smith et al., 2004). They suggest a mentally and physically healthier military population that the general population. The outcomes of the study will be useful in evaluating health after deployment in a large, population-based military cohort (Smith et al.).
Mild Head Trauma and Chronic Headache
While these complaints are common among service members deployed to Iraq, there was a previous lack of systematic studies into those returning from Iraq (Theeler & Erickson, 2009). This retrospective cohort study of 81 such returning veterans was a response to the lack. It found that 41% of them had a history of head or neck trauma while deployed in Iraq. Others had concussion with or without loss of consciousness and accompanying traumatic neck injury. None of the complaints led to moderate or severe traumatic brain injury. The most common cause was exposure to blasts, 67% of which led to head and neck injuries. Most of the headaches started within a week from trauma and some of them said the headaches made pre-existing headaches worse. The headaches were of the migraine type in 78% of the respondents. This type, the frequency, duration and resulting disability were found to be similar in those with or without a history of head or neck trauma. The headaches were also found similar to non-traumatic headaches reported at a military specialty clinic (Theeler & Erickson).
Fibromyalgia Pain, a Prime Suspect
Fibromyalgia pain is another suspicious condition linked to PTSD. Fibromyalgia
Syndrome or FMS is a chronic pain condition of unknown origin (Staud, 2004). It is characterized by diffuse pain and tenderness for more than 3 months. Most of those stricken are women who complain of insomnia, fatigue and psychological distress. Systemic illnesses sometimes co-occur with FMS, such as polymyalgia rheumatica, rheumatic arthritis, inflammatory myopathies, systemic lupus erythematosus, and joint hypermobility syndrome. Diseases like hepatitis C, Lyme disease, coxsackie B. infection, HIV and parvovirus infection are said trigger FMS. About half of patients say the chronic syndrome starts after a traumatic event (Staud), hence, its connection with PTSD.
Research showed that more than half of all patients with FMS suffer from PTSD in the U.S. And Israel (Staud, 2004). FMS patients presented similarly increased rates to veterans in Vietnam and other war zones. FMS typically occurs after a severe traumatic event and accompanied by behavioral, emotional, function and physiologic symptoms. They relate similar threatening traumatic experiences and emotional responses of horror, helplessness or intense fear. PTSD symptoms include a re-experience of some traumatic event, avoidance and increased arousal. The trauma is associated with increased body and physical complaint, including pain. Research demonstrated that the incidence of FMS increased in 21% of PTSD cases studied and, consequently, also increased distress and functional impairment. Evidence has, however, still to prove that PTSD either causes or brings about FMS. The closest to do this to-date was the evidence provided by prospective studies of adults with neck injuries, which suggested that those with PTSD had a 10 times increased risk of developing FMS within a year from their injury (Staud).
Women as Partner-Victims of Violence in PTSD
An ethnically varied sample of 157 abused women from crisis shelters and the community presented symptoms of intimate partner violence or IPV and symptoms of physical health and PTSD disorder (Woods et al., 2009). These included detailed physical symptoms for which women in intimate abusive relationships sought health care; the connection of the symptoms to IPV and PTSD; and the unique predictors of physical health symptoms. The respondents had an average age of 33+, were in an abusive relationship for more than 5 years and experienced any or all of the four groups of physical health symptoms. These symptoms were grouped into neuromuscular, stress, sleep and gynecologic symptoms. Respondents who experienced more severe IPV reported stronger physical health and PTSD symptoms. These are avoidance and threats of violence or risk of homicide for which 75% of the women sought treatment in the last 6 months. About half of them were African-American and half were white (Woods et al.).
The findings were consistent with the allostasis and allostatic load perspective (Woods et al., 2009). The perspective holds that all types...
The embedded traumatic experiences are usually deeply disturbing to the individual and can lead to typical symptoms of PTSD, such as depression, suicidal tendencies and loss of personal motivation. In terms of existential analysis, these traumatic experiences can be understood and analyzed from the subjective and experiential viewpoint of the individual. The advantage of this form of analysis and treatment is that it is based on the view that the
, 2010). This point is also made by Yehuda, Flory, Pratchett, Buxbaum, Ising and Holsboer (2010), who report that early life stress can also increase the risk of developing PTSD and there may even be a genetic component involved that predisposes some people to developing PTSD. Studies of Vietnam combat veterans have shown that the type of exposure variables that were encountered (i.e., severe personal injury, perceived life threat, longer duration,
The study also revealed that 9% of those still in active military service developed psychiatric disorders. It concluded that many of them displayed psychotic symptoms other than flashbacks and dissociative symptoms. These symptoms are essential parts of PTSD. Most of the war veterans investigated exhibited psychotic symptoms of either depressive or schizophrenia. O the PTSD patients, 9% also suffered from major depressive disorder with psychotic features, while 11% had psychotic
For many reasons, children in such families are especially vulnerable (4). Many studies have established that, in comparison with children of combat veterans without PTSD, the children of combat veterans with PTSD have more frequent and more serious developmental, behavioral, and emotional problems (2,5-10). Some of them also have specific psychiatric problems." (Klaric et al., p. 491) It is thus that the discussion on PTSD must shift toward a more
In his book, Finley relates to the stories of four soldiers that suffered PTSD, including a U.S. Marine named Tony Sandoval "who can barely complete a full sentence about the horrors he saw" and by an Army soldier (Jesse Caldera) who "is haunted by fears he killed a child" (General OneFile). An article in the journal Policy Review references an early example of PTSD, suffered by an Athenian warrior that
There is a culture inside the military that continues to harass those who try to take advantage of mental health services (Hall, 2008). Because of its continuing and transient nature, chronic suicidal ideation (CSI) compared to active suicidal thinking is often not an indication for hospitalization. This can be a difficult factor in treatment of veterans with PTSD. For many who have experienced considerable trauma in their past and continue
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