Effective Therapies for PTSD in War Veterans: A Comprehensive Analysis

This report examines the prevalence and impact of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on war veterans, drawing on experiences from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It highlights the severity of PTSD, including panic disorders and suicidal tendencies, and contrasts traditional treatments like antidepressants and counseling with advanced techniques such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, and cognitive restructuring. The report emphasizes the importance of addressing social isolation and utilizing targeted interventions to mitigate the root causes of PTSD episodes. It concludes that while time is a factor in healing, effective therapies like CBT can significantly expedite recovery and improve the quality of life for veterans suffering from PTSD. The report references key sources to support its findings and underscores the need for comprehensive psychological support for this vulnerable population. Desklib provides this and other solutions for students.

A professional healing touch can support war veterans suffering from PTSD
In the year 2014 reporter Emily Badger raised a question about the fact that why the war of
Iraq produced more victims of PTSD rather than the war of Afghanistan (Badgar, 2014). I
also participated in the war of Iraq and my experience says that the nature and consistent
frequency of the combats made a big difference in the stress levels of the soldiers when we
compare it with Afghanistan war.
According to the estimation of more than 8 million people in the USA are suffering from
PTSD, the number of war veterans is the biggest contributor when we check the cases of a
most severe type of PTSD attacks. We can broadly divide the most severe conditions into two
brackets; the first bracket belongs to the patients that are suffering from panic disorder, under
this disorder the episodes of panic attack bothers a person repeatedly. The second type of
attack is related to suicidal tendencies. War veterans often suffer from this type of attack
where after a point of time suicidal tendencies overlap their psychology because of a series of
the events that took place in their day to day life because of the attacks of the PTSD (Ives,
2018).
Until a few years ago, the management strategies related to the PTSD were confined to the
administration of antidepressant and certain counseling sessions. One of the major reasons
behind the development of the PTSD can be attributed to the social isolation of the subjects.
Most of the PTDS management strategies were focused on breaking this social isolation of
the subjects. It was their attempt to bring them back in life. In the recent past, we have seen a
lenient approach of the medical practitioners where they were using medications or anti
represents to calm down the PTSD and considering time as the biggest healer. This type of
approach is a generic approach to solve the problem and the results were not up to the mark

for the patients that were suffering from a problem that can be considered as an ordeal of
sorts.
In the present context, psychologists have come up with advanced techniques to handle this
problem. They are experimenting with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Under this therapy,
first, a psychologist studies the behavior patterns of the subject and try to figure out the root
cause of the PTSD episodes. After the identification of the root causes, they administer a
targeted intervention to mitigate the impacts of the root causes. Exposure therapy is one such
method where the psychologists took the help of the images to erase the ugly picture which is
bubbling in the mind of the patients.
Cognitive restructuring of the events is another method which is very useful in the case of
war veterans. Cognitive restructuring is very useful when a person is suffering from a guilt
pang. Sometimes war veterans feel that they are guilty of bloodshed and murders; cognitive
restructuring allows them to think about the events of the war from a different perspective
where they can see things more objectively.
Stress inoculation training is another method that can be utilized to support the patients of
PTSD. Sometimes the intervention related to the removal of the social isolation fails because
the patient or the subject fails to cope with his personal stress levels. This condition acts as a
barrier to the implementation of other therapies.
In the present context, we can always say that advance clinical interventions like CBT can act
as a rapid cure for the patients suffering from PTSD. The consistent intervention of the
psychologists can also provide momentary relief to the patients and mellow down the impact
of the ordeal that they are passing through. Time indeed is the biggest healer, however, we
cannot deny the fact that right kind of PTSD management techniques like CBT therapy can

cut down this time span quite easily and convert the journey of the patients into a pleasant
journey.

Bibliography
Badgar, E. (2014). Why the Iraq War has produced more PTSD than the conflict in
Afghanistan. The Wasington Post ,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/04/03/why-the-iraq-war-has-
produced-more-ptsd-than-the-conflict-in-afghanistan/?utm_term=.37e9e568ca3c.
Ives, L. (2018). Higher levels of PTSD among veterans', says study. BBC News ,
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-45761546.