I recently talked about a book about PTSD in veterans. I’m working with psychiatrist Dr. Harry Croft—you can see him on this video of a television interview in which he talks about PTSD and the book project.
Suffering with PTSD or Know Someone Who Is?
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There was a man in the church who suffered PTSD when he came back from Iraq.
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Bluestocking,
Tragically somewhere between 10% and 30% of combat veterans suffer PTSD. Various sources give different numbers, but the lowest is 10%—that is a lot!
And many of them suffer in silence with no hope. Dr. Croft really wants to highlight as many things as possible that have helped others to give hope and help to those who are still suffering.
Lillie,
A very interesting topic.
Not having experienced any of this myself, I cannot pretend to understand what sufferers are going through.
I wonder whether or not there are any differences in tendencies between those who experience a ‘once-off’ horrific event (such as a sexual assault, witnessing a murder, a terrorism incident or a horrific traffic accident) and those such as war veterans who experience trauma over a long and sustained period?
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Andrew,
Although the official psychiatric definition of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder does not differentiate between the cause of the trauma, Dr. Croft feels there are differences and points those out in the book. As you mentioned, a trauma such as a terrible accident or an assault is a one-time event, while combat is a constant level of stress over a prolonged period of time.
PTSD is such a huge issue that one book can’t adequately cover it, and Dr. Croft’s experiences are with vets with combat-related PTSD. Therefore, this book will be focused on helping vets overcome PTSD.
I have a buddy that got back from the war about a year ago and it has affected him a lot. He does pretty well most of the time, but there are some times when he gets pretty depressed or angry. They are providing some care for him though. Whether or not its enough is hard to say, but they are making an effort.
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Steve,
For too long, vets with PTSD weren’t properly diagnosed or treated. The situation with the VA is much better now, but vets who take responsibility for their own healing may do much better than those who depend solely on therapy. That doesn’t mean that psychotherapy may not be an important part of treatment. It does mean that medical treatment is augmented by self-help techniques, support groups, and other means. One of the goals of the book is to give vets tools to help themselves.
For a soldier the battle is never over. Once he is home, he has to adapt to the new realities and also get over PTSD. I can only hope that every soldier has a loving family to stand by him.
Mia,
A loving family does help soldiers overcome the trauma of combat. For those who suffer PTSD rather than acute stress reaction, though, they need more than a loving family to deal with the issue. In the book, Dr. Croft plans to cover a lot of things that can help.