Understanding PTS(D): Adapt and Overcome
Ryan Steinbach, VHA Communications
Returning
home from combat can be a very daunting challenge for returning
Veterans, according to Dr. Matthew Friedman, the Executive
Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National
Center for PTSD. Anger, insomnia, anxiety, pain, nightmares
and interpersonal difficulties, all common symptoms of Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), can also be common experiences
for Veterans transitioning back to the lives and families
they had spent months away from overseas.
“It can be an extremely difficult experience,”
Friedman explained. “You go from an environment where
your primary focus is survival but you are trained extensively
for it and you have group cohesion and the general support
structure of your platoon, company, battalion and so on to
help you deal with troubling emotions and symptoms and keep
it contained.”
“Focusing
specifically on National Guard and Reservists who return to
a civilian environment, when you come home, there is no formal
support structure anymore. There is no training for the daily
routine. You have spent a year or more away from family and
friends, a spouse and perhaps children, and managed a very
different set of responsibilities.”
“Also,
while you were deployed, your family underwent some important
transformations to fill the gaps left by your absence. At
the time of reunion, you can’t just flip an off switch
and instantly go back to the way things were before your deployment.
People need time to grow back together, to become reacquainted
and adjust to the changes each has experienced so that they
can develop a new normal.”
Symptoms
experienced during readjustment after a deployment may often
resemble those seen in PTSD. But for most Veterans, they are
temporary and will diminish within weeks or months. Indeed,
Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) is a nearly universal response
to traumatic events, but the symptoms go away for most people.
In fact, VA estimates only 11-20 percent of US Iraq and Afghanistan
Veterans develop PTSD.
So
how does a Veteran know if their nightmares, pain, trouble
sleeping, anger and interpersonal difficulties are PTS or
full blown PTSD? Like any medical condition, it requires diagnosis.
Fortunately for today’s Veterans, VA and the Department
of Defense are screening for PTSD immediately after deployments,
months afterward, and also during routine clinical visits.
“Persistence
and severity are the keys to suspecting the problem and to
diagnosing it,” Friedman said. “It’s like
the difference between a cold and a pneumonia. They share
many of the same symptoms, but if your cold is extremely severe
and hasn’t gone away in more than a week, something
more is at work in your body and you should get checked.”
VA
does ask Veterans about their current mental health during
every medical visit to VA’s national network of health
care facilities. However, with walk-in Vet Centers and mental
health programs at hundreds of communities across the Nation,
Veterans are encouraged to come to the VA whenever they feel
more support may be needed.
“The
best thing Veterans can do when they experience symptoms of
PTS is to get as much information as possible. As with any
challenge, knowledge and preparation will make a big difference,”
Friedman said. “Knowing what to expect will help Veterans
and their loved ones identify when issues are going deeper.
When you find you can’t function, have trouble with
work or school, you can’t sleep, are constantly jumpy
and on-guard, feel uncomfortable without a firearm, can’t
accept the love and support from family and friends, those
are signs you may have more than typical readjustment stress.”
Friedman recommended resource for newly-returned Veterans
and their families is the Department of Defense site, afterdeployment.org.*
“The
single greatest resource Veterans need when they return home
is social support,” said Dr. Laurie Slone, Associate
Director for Information and Communication at VA’s National
Center for PTSD. “Understanding and patience from loved
ones are key, but the Veteran needs to put forth effort to
maintain those bonds as well. All parties will benefit from
knowing what to expect during reintegration. Although sometimes
Veterans feel like withdrawing, it is important to make use
of the support of loved ones.”
According
to Friedman, there is no definite answer as to why some Veterans
develop PTSD and others do not. All Veterans, though, have
the capability to learn more about PTSD, so they can recognize
when it might be present and can seek help before the disorder
takes too high a toll on the lives Veterans fought for.
“When
a Veteran is returning from war, there is this fantasy on
both sides, the family and the Veteran,” Friedman explained.
“There is this idea that once they get back together,
everything will be great. The reality is that war-zone and
home-front experiences during deployment have affected both
the Veteran and his/her family. Sometimes, such changes are
very dramatic and difficult to overcome without assistance.
Adjustments need to be made for people to grow back together
and weave into a new existence. When that reality is in sight,
when the challenge is identified correctly, then the Veteran
has the opportunity to adapt and overcome.”
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