Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among soldiers

This is because the trauma of combat among soldiers tends to be intertwined with other positive encounters that end up indistinguishable from the mischief. The encounters of a large number of people in battle run from the best to the most exceedingly bad of times, the experiences they go through in combat change their lives and their behaviors in general, which basically defines their identity of who they become. Basically, hundreds of thousands of soldiers don’t have the capability to leave the horrors of war on the battlefield. Most of them carry these experiences throughout their lives. This is what health professionals call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Post Traumatic Stress disorder has proven to be a reason why soldiers are unable to live normal lives when they get home from wars or even when they get discharged.

Statistics reveal that approximately one in five soldiers on combat wars get back home with PTSD symptoms or even depression. However, most of them go untreated because the military and the soldiers themselves tend to attach high levels of disgrace to mental disorders. Most of them are afraid to get help from health professionals believing that they are strong enough and that they are expected to protect the people. However, the truth is that the action, the environment of war, the emotional impact of combat missions and even witnessing deaths during wars changes the attitudes and behaviors of soldiers. Generally, it’s always common for soldiers to complain about the imperceptible injuries caused by wars. The recurrent nightmares, vivid flashbacks of the deaths they witness and the memories of the events are things that don’t leave them alone even after the war is over.

As described by McGirk (2009), Waddell was diagnosed with PTSD after a combat war in which the soldiers had to save four comrades who were trapped by a Taliban Ambush in the Kunar Mountains of Afghanistan. Eight Seals and eight Army Aviators were killed during the war and Waddell had to sort through the remains of people he had worked with, mentored, and also led into battles. He also was responsible for informing the families about the loss of their loved ones in which he had to witness the pain these families went through. The experiences are not simply left in the jungles, but follow them and hunt them for weeks, months and years after the mission is over. In “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien demonstrates the harsh environments soldiers have to bear when Lieutenant Jimmy Cross leads his men to the village of Than Khe where they have to bear the late afternoon heart.