In this episode of "Healing Our Hidden Wounds," Evan, our resident mental health and addiction therapist, turns our attention to a group deserving of our deepest respect: veterans. He delves into the unique form of PTSD that many service members face upon returning from combat. This video sensitively discusses the distinct challenges veterans encounter as they reintegrate into civilian life, from dealing with traumatic memories to adjusting to a vastly different daily routine. Evan highlights the importance of understanding and supporting our veterans as they navigate the complex journey of healing from combat-related trauma. Join us in acknowledging their struggles and learning how we can contribute to their path to recovery.
The concept of PTSD itself comes from the experiences of veterans who came home from World War one. Too often, military veterans cannot get the care that they need. Long term veterans deserve the same, if not better, care than what we get.
There's a population that experiences trauma and PTSD at a rate that is alarming. Whether you know someone who's a veteran, a veteran yourself, or just someone living in our society, we owe it to our veterans to understand their experience so that we could better help them and give them the experience, the healing that they deserve, especially after what they've done for us and our country. I'm Evan, your resident mental health and addiction therapist, and this is my trauma series, healing our hidden wounds.
And today we're going to be talking all about veterans PTSD and how they can heal. The concept of PTSD itself comes from the experiences of veterans who came home abroad from World War one. In this new form of modern warfare. People had such a uniquely brutal experience, they came back very often not able to function, sometimes shaking so violently, having these nightmares, flashbacks, and everything we know as PTSD today in such a severe form that it cannot be ignored. So after World War one, PTSD was first referred to as something known as battle fatigue or shell shock.
But as we continued to study this phenomenon, it became more and more clear of how it impacted individuals and how we conceptualized it moving forward in our ever changing understanding of PTSD. Now, every generation has experienced unique impacts when they go abroad. Each type of combat could breed its own forms of trauma reaction. For example, those brutal conditions in World War one made the military have to change their techniques, for example, rotating troops out, giving people a break, so that they didnt have this constant form of bombardment on their minds.
Also, the experiences of individuals in the Vietnam War that were in these tough conditions in the jungle, not knowing where the enemy was, this element of, but also a philosophical impact can happen. For example, if you're going to war and you don't believe in the mission. Many people were drafted into Vietnam and didn't necessarily believe in why they were there. And many of those individuals, even if they did, came back to a really hostile environment back at home. And this really led them to feeling worse about themselves and increase their levels of PTSD.
Now, looking at experiences in more modern warfare, like Iraq or Afghanistan, individuals really struggled because they didn't have this collective experience like you saw in World War two or in Vietnam, where a much higher percentage of the population had to serve. Now, it's important to understand that many veterans, especially the ones in these modern wars, did not experience severe PTSD until they got home. When they were in war, they had such a profound purpose, this level of intensity, connection with their comrades.
When they came home, they felt lost in civilian life and that's because very often, the dark thoughts and feelings don't come until everything is quiet. Now, there's another element we need to discuss if you want to understand why veterans can struggle at such high rates. Whether you've heard about this in the media or political conversations, when individuals come home, they're often not supported in their needs, whether that be their healthcare or mental health care. Now, way too often, military veterans cannot get the care that they need.
Often there are way too long of waits for healthcare. The system can get backed up in bureaucracy and also the ability to get a PTSD diagnosis. There is such a high bar versus someone who comes into my office who I could easily give a diagnosis to if they meet criteria. Very often, the military systems do not want to give that diagnosis because of the implications and also because of the cost and what they will have to do to treat those veterans. Long term veterans deserve the same, if not better, care than what we get, not just for their mental health, but physical health.
Also, veterans struggle at much higher rates of drug addiction, homelessness, all these things that often stem from the PTSD itself. And this is why it's so important, even for us civilians to understand their experience, what they've been through. When we're sending these individuals off to fight for us, we need to know what it is that they're going through and what they're sacrificing. So let's make sure as a society, our veterans know that we are advocating for them and that we appreciate everything they've done for us, because, again, they deserve it more than just about anyone else.
