War Veterans Returning with Mental Illness

Soldiers returning home from war are supposed to be safe now, but many veterans find themselves with another problem. They could develop a mental illness, such as anxiety, substance abuse, and adjustment disorder. The most common in veterans that appear in 1 in 5 soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, have developed symptoms of depression and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Most people take an average of a couple years to learn to cope with their mental state after they’ve returned from deployment.

Anxiety disorder is having excessive feelings of worry and uneasiness. Soldiers could develop anxiety from a traumatic situation. Substance abuse can occur when a soldier has many deployments and battles, there’s a lot of stress on them and their families. A couple months back from deployment, 27% of people have symptoms of substance abuse. After years and years of the abuse it can really affect the brain and lead to health issues.Adjustment disorder occurs after a stressful or traumatic event. Many veterans find it difficult to adjust back to civilian life after returning from war. PTSD and depression are the most common health issues in returning soldiers.

PTSD is commonly caused from life threatening situations or witnessing something traumatic. Some symptoms of PTSD are feelings such as irritability, anger, and feeling numb to everything. These symptoms can disrupt your daily activities and eventually your whole life. Commonly, veterans don’t develop PTSD until months or years later. Depression is also a very common mental illness veterans experience. Depression is when you’re feeling sad for more than a few weeks, normally people are irritable and just can’t enjoy anything they do. Many events can cause or trigger depression, like death of friend, health issues, deployment, ect. There are signs that could help diagnose someone at an earlier time, such as, weight gain or loss, sleeplessness or sleeping too much, low self-esteem, and decision making issues are just a few. Learning to cope with a mental illness can be difficult at first, but worth it in the long run.

There are many options for treatment for these types of illnesses. For PTSD counseling and medicine seem to be the most effective. Talking to a professional about your feelings and working on ways to cope can be worthwhile.Even talking to other veterans who have been through similar things as you is healthy and can help. Adjusting your daily routine would also have healthy effects. Eating right, getting enough sleep, and doing physical activities are some examples.

Veterans should feel safe and better when they get back from deployment, but too many times they may develop one of these mental illnesses. There’s anxiety, substance abuse, PTSD, depression, and others. In conclusion, treatment can definitely help a soldier get back on the right track.

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Three questions:

(1)   What differs between depression (and other disorders) for war veterans and in other people?

(2)   How do these problems affect daily life?

(3)   Why doesn’t the government try and help the veterans more before returning home after deployment if they know the veterans are most likely to develop a mental illness?

3 thoughts on “War Veterans Returning with Mental Illness

  1. I learned a lot in this article, I’m not much of a military guy. But I have some of my family in the navy and they have never had PTSD. Like you said 1 in 5 veterans from Iraq experience it when they come home to see their families. This disorder sounds horrible and id never like to have it, it would stink to feel depressed everywhere you go. Good luck to our heroes over sea and be safe. When having PTSD can develop after a person has experienced or witnessed a traumatic or terrifying event in which serious physical harm occurred or was threatened. PTSD can last for a very long, up for the rest of your life until you get over the fact of the things you have seen. It can be treated by getting consoling. This article talks about PTSD and tells you the symptoms and things that you can do about it. http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/post-traumatic-stress-disorder

  2. I learned a lot in this article, I’m not much of a military guy. But I have some of my family in the navy and they have never had PTSD. Like you said 1 in 5 veterans from Iraq experience it when they come home to see their families. This disorder sounds horrible and id never like to have it, it would stink to feel depressed everywhere you go. Good luck to our heroes over sea and be safe. http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/post-traumatic-stress-disorder

  3. This blog was really well-done. I’m in JROTC and have family members that were in the military. PTSD is a mental illness that I don’t think that we will be able get rid of. It truly is something that our troops battle everyday of their lives. The third question’s answer is the government can’t really help a mental illness such as PTSD.
    http://www.veteransandptsd.com/PTSD-statistics.html

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