Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a Mental Effect of War

The effects of these wars are felt even today. However, the world has witnessed many wars between countries as well as internal conflicts between nations. Some of the countries to have experienced long periods of war include Afghanistan, The Balkans, Iraq, Cambodia, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Vietnam, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and Rwanda. The wars have caused many effects including displacement of people, mass deaths, anxiety, fear and deterioration of the economy among the soldiers, civilians and the economy. With all these effects, the mental state of those involved is affected. However, this disorder is not only limited to soldiers, it has affected a wide range of individuals including children, refugees, prisoners of war, women and the entire civil class. Discussion Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is manifested in many people among the populations that have experienced war before.

The people with PTSD condition experience distress as a result of dreams, thoughts, and terror associated with their experiences in the times of war. The civilians mainly affected by PTSD include children, former soldiers, and women. The people affected also show a higher tendency to withdraw from the rest of the people, therefore, spend most of their time isolated (Yehuda, 2002). Sexual violence is one of the leading causes of trauma in the areas affected by war. Among the civilians, sexual violence increases during wars. The incidences of use of rape as a weapon of war have greatly contributed to the prevalence of PTSD among women. This mostly happens in civil wars whereby the soldiers taking part in war take advantage of women or even intentionally rape them in order to weaken their impact in war or simply as a form of punishment.

The result of this is that many women develop fear and suffering that is experienced long after the war is over. Some of the main symptoms of PTSD may range from the individual's own thoughts and feelings to having difficulties in sleeping, being easily startled, and losing interests in enjoyable activities. The effects of PTSD can, however, be overcome through various approaches such as psychotherapy where the people affected get consultations by talking out their experiences. This technique helps in lessening the traumatic impact of related to war. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has also been observed to cause increased abuse of drugs and morbidity. A study of the effects of PTSD in Somalia by UNICEF found out that there was a significant increase in the rate of abuse of the drugs such as khat as well as an increased morbidity among the Somalian population.