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Welcome to WHAT IF Wednesday! WHAT IF... there were no more War?We wouldn’t have any more Veterans, and THAT would be a good thing.
It’s not a holiday — it’s a Day of RemembranceBut that day is not today. Today we have approximately 2.5 Million Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.
Many of whom are survivors of wounds and conditions which would have resulted in their deaths on the battlefield, just a few short decades ago.
Some of the conditions which plague our returned Veterans are PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and TBI (traumatic brain injury) and loss of limbs due to IEDs (improvised explosive devices).
Many of us have seen our Veterans here at home with visible injuries, but the PTSD and TBI wounds are invisible for the most part — except to the families and loved ones of our Wounded Warriors.
PTSD has been a condition seen after Wars down the centuries.
It’s was called “Soldier's Heart” in the Civil War era, which came from the physiological model, the observations that people's cardiovascular system in terms of their heart dynamics, their blood pressure, a pulse rate, seemed to be altered.
It was called Shell Shock during WWI & WWII, the notion being that being close to the big guns pounding out the artillery on both sides of the barbed wire in the trench warfare was somehow disrupting neuronal connections, so nerves were actually affected.
In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) added PTSD to the third edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) nosologic classification scheme (2). Although controversial when first introduced, the PTSD diagnosis has filled an important gap in psychiatric theory and practice. From an historical perspective, the significant change ushered in by the PTSD concept was the stipulation that the etiological agent was outside the individual (i.e., a traumatic event) rather than an inherent individual weakness (i.e., a traumatic neurosis). The key to understanding the scientific basis and clinical expression of PTSD is the concept of "trauma."
Treatments for TBI and modern prosthetics to replace lost limbs are relatively new.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one type of counseling. Research shows it is the most effective type of counseling for PTSD. The VA is providing two forms of cognitive behavioral therapy to Veterans with PTSD: Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy. To learn more about these types of therapy, see our fact sheets listed on the Treatment page.
There is a similar kind of therapy called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) that is used for PTSD. Also, medications have been shown to be effective. A type of drug known as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), which is also used for depression, is effective for PTSD.
For Veterans with missing limbs, modern prosthetics have made huge strides and the VA (Veterans Administration) has been on the forefront in new prosthetics advances.
Rehabilitation and Prosthetic Services provides program and policy direction for over 8,000 rehabilitation care and prosthetic services providers. Rehabilitation and Prosthetic Services is committed to providing the highest quality, comprehensive, interdisciplinary care; the most advanced medical devices and products that are commercially available; and, promoting advancements in rehabilitative care and evidence-based treatment. Rehabilitation Services and Prosthetic Services site.
So, while you are enjoying Veterans Day today — please remember, it’s not a day to celebrate, it’s a Day of Remembrance in honor of those who Served and Sacrificed for all of the rest of us. There are a variety of Veterans Groups and services to which you can contribute to aid those who came home with lingering or lifelong disabilities
The Wounded Warrior Project The American Legion The American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. The AMVETS organization The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) The Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW)
as always...
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