The Things They Carried - Journal three: Extended

For my first extended journal, I decided to do a research report on Vietnam veterans after the war, how it was hard for many of them to live a "normal life" once they got back from the war. I didn't really know what to look for at first, so I searched around on Google for possibilities for a research paper. After searching for longer then I expected, I found a site specifically for Vietnam Veterans, that was actually organized and easy to read and understand. The site I would recommend to anyone curious about Veterans from the Vietnam war and the web address is http://www.vietnow.com. Once I found this site I pulled out two articles and studied them. The two articles were "PTSD; Is It Treatable? Or Do I Just Have To Learn To Cope?" by Mary Tendall and Jan Fishler, and "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD)" also by Tendall and Fishler. I found this research to be very helpful and PTSD to be a serious and interesting illness affecting many veterans across the world.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a Disorder that veterans from many wars have suffered from due to the intense trauma they experienced while in the service. Mary Tendall and Jan Fishler explain, "For over 40 years now, PTSD has been a major problem for many Vietnam veterans" (PTSD, 1). It is caused by some sort of intense trauma that over time has harmed a person's mental state of being. Later in life, some still suffer even now, there are certain triggers that cause a person to feel as if the event that caused the trauma is re-occurring, and the person runs on auto-pilot; panic overtaking there entire being. The triggers can range from loud music blaring next door, to a falling leaf out of a maple tree, and anything in-between, depending on the person and their situation.

There are many ways to see if a person suffers the symptoms of PTSD. Tendall and Fishler, "Validate the fact that symptomatic behavior - exaggerated startle response, nightmares, trust issues, emotional numbness, irritability, isolation, avoidance of crowds, and avoidance of social events - is a normal response to the untreated trauma caused by the combat experience"(Is It Treatable?, 1). Because of all these symptoms, it becomes very hard for those suffering from PTSD to live a normal life again. Norman Bowker, in The Things They Carried suffers from untreated PTSD. When trying to explain what he's feeling, he writes that, "The thing is...there's no place to go. Not just in this lousy little town. In general. My life, I mean. It's almost like I got killed over in Nam ... Hard to describe. That night when Kiowa got wasted, I sort of sank down into the sewage with him ... Feels like I'm still in deep shit" (TTTC, 156). Some of the symptoms Bowker was experiencing were: emotional numbness, isolation, avoidance of crowds and avoidance of social events. He feels like he cannot live a normal life anymore, and in the end, "He'd been playing pickup basketball at the Y; after two hours he went off for a drink of water; he used a jump rope; his friends found him hanging from a water pipe"(160). Tendall and Fishler say that, "PTSD is a major cause of suicide among Vietnam veterans"(PTSD, 1).

For those veterans who have been able to keep strong while combating this disorder, there are a number of ways they can go about seeking treatment or getting help. The most common treatments for PTSD are, "cognitive therapy and veterans' support groups" (Is It Treatment?, 1).

Cognitive therapy basically helps patients to understand that the way we think about things affects how we feel about those things emotionally. What cognitive therapy does for veterans is it allows them to focus on what's going on in the present, rather than in the past. With luck, "cognitive therapy can help veterans understand their symptoms, decrease their reactivity, and learn coping skills"(Is It Treatable?, 1).

Another common way for veterans to cope with their PTSD, or to help friends is to join a veterans' support group. To comfort those who would feel embarrassed to join a support group, many veterans explain the group therapy as "a group of men who would never be caught dead joining a support group"(Is It Treatable?, 2). What this therapy allows for is it gives veterans a chance to say their mind, to tell their stories, and to talk about how they've suffered after the war to others who understand exactly where they are coming from. The group sessions are always confidential, and these therapy groups are shown to be effective in helping veterans deal with their PTSD.

Beyond these two more common methods of recovering from PTSD, there are two other ways that veterans can lessen or eliminate the damages from PTSD. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapy session that, "uses cognitive treatment and imagery to create resolution for intruding silent statements such as, 'I'm not safe,' or 'Don't trust anyone!'"(Is It Treatable?, 2). There are many steps to EMDR, which will help eliminate negative thoughts in a patient that would typically trigger a PTSD attack. The other treatment that alters the nervous system is Somatic Experiencing. by using relaxation and breathing techniques and imagery to "create resolution within the nervous system"(Is It Treatable?, 2). This treatment allows veterans to learn how to relax again, and when they are relaxed they can deal with stress and resolve the internal conflicts that may be causing them to suffer from PTSD.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a serious disorder that many veterans still suffer from today. But with these new therapeutic concepts along with old ideas like group therapy, many veterans will finally be able to find solace and end their lives living they way they've wanted to since their return from war. These techniques will also be an asset in assisting the veterans of the War on Terror deal with their own cases of PTSD, when the time arises.


*NOTE*
I'm thinking about doing my ethnography on a Veterans' support group or something similar to that. I think it would be really interesting to see (depending on what war(s) the veterans are from) how time has helped them cope with the trauma they most certainly experienced while serving our country in its time of need.