Post Confrence Draft

Kelsch 1 Kassidy Kelsch Alison Fernley ENGL-1010-411 27 January, 2018 Veterans With PTSD: What Is It and How Can We Help. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in terms of those in the military or armed forces some discussions have been what exactly is it and how can we help soldiers with it better. PTSD stand for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It occurs when the brain is mentally scarred from a traumatic event. PTSD is very common in those who have served our military and/or in war zones. Symptoms of PTSD include violent outbursts, flashbacks, anxiety or panic attacks, night terrors and much more. There are a lot of opinions in terms of managing it, but there is currently no cure for PTSD. Many military men and women are ashamed or in denial of needing help and this honestly doesn’t help anyone. But there are ways of coping with it such as group therapy, one on one counseling, prescription medication, and so many more ways of living with this disease. Several groups especially care about this issue such as the veterans who have PTSD both treated and un-treated, their families, and the government. Veterans want, need, and deserve a peaceful life after serving us all but some veterans are ashamed or embarrassed at the fact that they may need help.Veterans are mostly ashamed because there is this stigma that as a protector of home and country veterans must stay strong and have no weakness or fear, although as we all know, everybody experiences plenty of fear at times it’s just human to feel that way. It doesn’t help that there are very little resources for them to look to. While the Veteran’s Administration (also known as the VA) and veterans are closely tied together they sometimes have very different views on this issue. The government has cut spending to the VA and now they rely on donations and volunteer work along with their set

Kelsch 2 government budget to continue functioning but are still the best place for a veteran to get help because of their vast resources and the fact that the people working there desperately need and want veterans to live happy and healthy lives after their service to our country. While families of veterans, on the other hand, want to see their loved ones be happy and healthy after them being away for such a long time. Treated veterans want whats best for their military bothers and sisters, only veterans truly know what other veterans are going through and they want their fellow soldiers to live happy lives as well. Most groups in the government want to show love and respect to those who have served our country as well. The majority of people in society today think that veterans deserve to be free of this disease and this opinion has been enhanced by media coverage on PTSD such as TV shows and movies that features characters with PTSD; such as Netflix and Marvel’s The Punisher and The Long Road Home on the Nation Geographic Chanel. Even people’s personal stories on the internet and the recent focus of treating metal illness in society has helped this public opinion change from never acknowledging mental illness to just the very opposite. With every solution there are always problems that come with it such as trying to fully help veterans with PTSD, such as the aforementioned fact that veterans sometimes are embarrassed and/or ashamed about asking for help because of this pressure that is put on them to not have fears or weaknesses; there’s also the fact that many people just don’t know where to start getting help and that some veterans sometimes don’t have the means or resources to be treated or even diagnosed. And the fact that sometimes mental illness is treated as if it is an imaginary pseudo disease and say things to the like of “just get over it” whereas PTSD is not just something one can just “get over.” Some of these mentioned groups need to change their opinions about PTSD because then this group of men and women who served our country would be able to live healthy and productive lives and their families who so graciously lent their soldiers to us to protect our

Kelsch 3 freedom would rest easily knowing that their loved ones are happy with who they are and their life. People with PTSD would be able to accept the fact that they have it and go get help without the feeling of shame that usually goes with it. We would see a more quantity and quality of people with PTSD represented of TV and by displaying this people who have it might see self parallels and finally understand their disease a bit better that they might actually go and get help. The changes mentioned could mean a healthier statistic of veterans who struggle with PTSD but unfortunately some don’t see the benefits and look at the drawbacks. Some people cannot be treated in the most conventional way because some therapies require a lot of money that veterans just don’t have. So what are they supposed to do then? They could go the VA for help but that also requires money, not for the veterans but for the American taxpayers and not everyone wants their taxes to increase. Volunteering, donations, and their set budget can only take them so far. I for one am very interested in reading and writing stories that feature veterans with PTSD such as Marvel comics/movies characters, some examples including The Punisher, who’s morally gray values are a possible side effect of his apparent PTSD, Captain America, who has been depicted specifically with the symptoms of PTSD but has not been “officially” diagnosed, and the Black Widow whose service to the KGB has obviously left her with major PTSD. My father has instilled a deep respect for those who have served our country; a couple months ago we got enthralled in a documentary about the Vietnam War. One of the most important things what piqued my interest was that PTSD wasn’t seen as a mental illness or even “discovered” until after the veterans of this war started to show symptoms of it, I found that very interesting and I wanted to explore the topic of PTSD in war veterans more. After writing this paper with just what I know I still have questions that I could research. Such as once someone wants to be treated or even diagnosed with PTSD where do they begin?

Kelsch 4 Can one ever be truly treated and free from PTSD? What are the different types of therapies out there to manage PTSD? What treatments work and don’t work? What is the medical definition of PTSD? How does someone decide what course of treatment is right for them? Are there just some people out there that can’t be cured of PTSD? How can we, who are not afflicted with it, truly help those who are? PTSD in veterans of the armed forces is an important issue because they protect us, our homeland, and our freedoms. So after their done protecting us shouldn’t we extend some help to them? Right now there are only a few people who actively do something to help them, some are paid to, some are volunteers, and some are connected to this issue in various other ways; but no matter how or if you even are connected to a veteran with PTSD, we all should care. When someone needs help they deserve to get it; it is just human decency.

Questions for Reflection: 1) As a result of the peer feedback, I developed my paper as follows: I was able to specify my issue that I wanted to talk about and I also did just a bit more research online about veterans with PTSD. 2) In writing this paper I feel I have learned the following about writing: I have learned that the standard way of writing a paper that I learned in school is not always the best way to write an essay and get your point across. 3) I am still unclear about: Honestly, really nothing, I feel like I understand the meaning of writing and essay such as this; and I can see how it translate to the next paper. 4) As a result of my conference with you, I revised as follows: I have fixed some spelling and grammatical errors; I’ve rewritten the title to grab the reader better, expanded on why veterans are ashamed to get help, made a bit clearer distinction between the views of veterans and the VA. I have also expanded on some examples of Marvel superheros with PTSD to grab a specific audience.