What are the Effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a hidden enemy and must be exposed if we are to better understand the serious effects that post traumatic stress disorder has on the lives of so many minorities. Decades of haunting memories and overwhelming feelings leave these Veterans suffering, demoralized, and alone. Others including the spouse, children, family members, friends, and co-workers are often more aware of the Veteran's emotional distress than he is.

Often the Veteran believes his family or community needs him to bear the burden of pain, anger, shame and guilt silently. He also believes post traumatic stress disorder symptoms are a sign of weakness and failure, due to a lack of will power, self-discipline, or self-control and a shameful personal flaw that must be hidden or corrected by behaving more correctly. Yet, for these veterans, post traumatic stress disorder may be an extreme spiritual crisis because when family or friends see signs of the veterans' inner turmoil, they do not know why it is happening and often blame themselves.

Post traumatic stress disorder as included here and listed in the "Publication Manual of the American Psycological Association" fourth edition (DSM-IV) should be viewed by Veterans and health-care providers as a physical illness and treated as such. Some of the effects of post traumatic stress disorder are:

  • Unwanted distressing memories or a feeling of reliving (flashbacks) traumatic Vietnam experiences.
  • Nightmares and difficulty falling or staying asleep restfully.
  • Bodily stress and tension, especially when reminded of traumatic Vietnam experiences.
  • Loss of interest in activities and difficulty in concentrating on activities or projects.
  • Detachment or withdrawal from emotional involvement in relationships.
  • Difficulty feeling or expressing emotions other than irritability or frustration.
  • Feeling as if there is no future or their lives will be cut short by an untimely death.
  • Feeling jumpy, on edge, easily startled and unable to let down their guard (hyper-vigilance).

Neither these symptoms nor others are what the Veterans, their families or Veterans Administration (VA) Counselors and Doctors realized would be so tremendous and would later be diagnosed as post traumatic stress disorder. This is evident by the many minorities that were separated from military service with entries in their medical records and papers of separation implying their mental disorder was anything except what is now described in the DSM - IV as post traumatic stress disorder. It is time for this cycle to end, as it no longer affects only the veteran. Signs of post traumatic stress disorder are very prevalent in the lives of many family members where there is a veteran who suffers from the disease now recognized as post traumatic stress disorder.