What is PTSD?
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can happen to people who have been hurt, or watched and heard others being hurt. People with PTSD have a hard time dealing with other people and events.
When young people are exposed to intense violence as children, sometimes PTSD can be the result. Oftentimes in the classroom, a student that is out-of-control, or cannot concentrate enough to do the class work, may be expressing PTSD. They may have seen intense violence that they cannot remember but that still affects their behavior today. They feel jumpy and upset almost all the time.
Veterans and soldiers returning from the Resource Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Columbia may also experience PTSD because of things they have seen, heard, or done.
Soldiers and PTSD
When men and women go to war they are put in situation of intense and chaotic violence that never seems to end. Even when soldiers have been trained to be warriors, this does not stop them from getting PTSD. When soldiers come home to rejoin their families and their communities and get on with their lives, sometime the memories of war make them depressed, suicidal, and can cause many nightmares. These nightmares seem very real, so that even though they are at home with their families, they may believe they are still at war under attack from an enemy or attacking and killing people. Sometimes this even happens when the person is awake. This is called a ‘flashback”. It is very difficult for families and loved ones to deal with someone who has PTSD. This can be a very frightening and even dangerous time for the veteran and for people around them. It is best for people with PTSD to go see a counselor at the Vietnam Veteran’s Center (Vet's Centers), the Veterans Administration (VA), or a doctor. As they work with a counselor they can begin to express some of the terrible things that they have seen. It may be impossible for them to tell a mother or father, or brother or sister, about these things, so they need to see a counselor.
Here is a table from the New England Journal of Medicine (July 2004) showing some of the things that may cause returning soldiers to come down with PTSD:
Table source: New Englnd Journal of Medicine http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/351/1/13
When people are exposed to these types of events and then have to become part of our community when they return home they can still be thinking of these events. It is not something that they can control. Our minds and our bodies are not designed to be exposed to these kinds of things and so they become very defensive, to make sure that the person survives. So people with PTSD may always feel that they have to be ‘on-guard’. At other times they might think that something is wrong with them and that they are not ‘right in the head’. This can cause them to be depressed. Sometimes the sadness becomes overpowering and they kill themselves. Other times they try to hide the hurt with alcohol and other drugs. This can create a whole bunch of other problems. When a person has PTSD it may be very difficult for them to do things like hold a job, or live at home in their old bedroom, or even talk to people like they used to do before they went to war.
Anyone can get PTSD if they have been scared enough by the violent situation they have been involved with. The person who has PTSD is not crazy but a lot of the time that person thinks “I must be crazy!” because they feel so odd, bad, and different from the way they used to feel. People with PTSD cannot just forget about what happened and cannot just make the bad feelings go away. A lot of times they feel out of control.
Here is a PDF file on PTSD for our Adopt-A-Schools booklet. On our Video page is a 20 minute video on Womens Trauma Issues in the Military.
Here is a 2-page document PDF developed by military faculty at the Uniformed Services University to be used with families of OIF/OEF veterans to help them understand and recognize combat stress symptoms.
How You Can Help a Veteran with PTSD
People with PTSD need professional help. They need to go and talk with someone who is trained to work and to help out people with PTSD. These people are counselors, therapists, psychiatrists, social workers, and doctors. There has also been great promise shown with forms of Art Therapy, especially Music and Dance Therapy. Here are some local contacts for helping people overcome PTSD and get their live back together.
Returning veterans should get in contact with IVAW, Iraq Veterans Against The War. They are a great and growing resource.
Vietnam Veteran’s Center, or Vet's Centers (these were started by veterans and are the best for PTSD)
West Los Angeles Vet Center
(310) 641-0326
5730 Uplander Way
Culver City, CA 90230
Vet Center Counseling & Guidance
(310) 767-1221
1045 W Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247
Vet Centers Counseling Guidance & Claim Assistance
(714) 776-0161
859 S Harbor Blvd
Anaheim, CA 92805
East Los Angeles Vet Center
(323) 728-9966
5400 E Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90022
Vet Center-Readjustment and PTSD Counseling
(818) 892-9227
9737 Haskell Ave
North Hills, CA 91343
Vet Center Veteran Counseling & Guidance
(951) 734-0525
800 Magnolia Ave
Corona, CA 91719
Veteran Housing Center
(661) 948-7626
44348 20th St W
Lancaster, CA 93534
Veterans Administration Centers (VA) (Veterans...Use your benefits!)
Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles Health Care System
351 East Temple St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 253-2677
Veterans Administration West Los Angeles Healthcare Center
11301 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90073
(310) 478-3711
Veterans Affairs Department: Sepulveda
16111 Plummer St
North Hills, CA 91343
(818) 891-7711
Veterans Administration San Diego Health Care System,
San Diego, California, 92161
(858) 552-8585
What are your rights?
GIRHot.pdf :: A flyer for the GI Rights Hotline (1800-394-9544).
For people who are trying to hide their pain with alcohol or drugs:
Drug-Rehabs.org To Find Drug Rehab and Treatment Centers
Call toll free 1-866-845-8975
Trauma Resources
More Information about PTSD:
Combat Duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mental Health Problems, and Barriers to Care
Guided Imagery/Alternative therapies
Music and Art Therapy Resources
Also see our News & Commentary page.
Thanks to Callie Wight MA, RN, C, for her insight and contributions to this page.
For more information contact us