Unseen Battle
According to the National
Consensus Statement on Mental Health Recovery, “Mental health recovery is a
journey of healing and transformation enabling a person with a mental health
problem to live a meaningful life in a community of his or her choice while
striving to achieve his or her full potential.”
In my research on mental illness
of prisoners and war veterans, I have come upon a link that worries me to no
extent. Being a war veteran myself, I can related to many of those issues
written about in these health magazines and surveys conducted by research on
war veterans and the impact of such trauma inflicted during combat. To make
sure everybody understands what we are talking about there must be one
agreement. The wounds, whether physical, emotional or psychological are far
beyond what you can see with the naked eye or mind. These scars inflicted
during the times of battle last way beyond those times the person has left the
combat arena behind and comes back to face their own problems coping in a
different world than war. The concept of mental health soundness is how we
think, feel, and behave. This includes adaptation to life and its demands and
the ability to make good choices in every stage of your life with positive
results.
Tracking the most difficult
statistics to gather on this subject matter, we did glean that according to the
Bureau of Justice facts, in 1998, there were an estimated 25,062,400
veterans in the U.S.
“Folks returning from combat have a
constellation of health concerns, including physical issues, psychological
issues and psychosocial issues concerning things like work and family,” said
Dr. Stephen Hunt, national director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Post Deployment Integrative Care Initiative. “This is a population that has
unique health care needs that need to be addressed,” added Hunt, who is based
in Seattle
The biggest mistake one can make
is to group these health concerns into one group and address them with “one
pill.” There are many disorders present
that don’t necessarily run parallel to the others and can often create conflict
in the mannerism we function in life. Dealing with the aftermath of combat and
dealing with the fatigue, pain, and dysfunctional memories of these events can
create concentration problems as we deal with our daily strife and stress at
work or with the family. What appears to
be a psychosis of self inflicted pain or make belief discomfort in their body,
the reality of their psychosis is real as the combat trauma has impacted their
nervous system and cognitive abilities in one way or another. Therefore, being
under this constant barrage of “pain” the person’s ability to think straight is
impacted if not impaired.
According to the research
conducted there are several areas of the body that are impacting returning war
veterans and that seems to delay or create lingering means to cope with the
reality of post war relationships and life in general. Very common are the symptoms
related to injuries to the body’s muscular systems as many experience chronic
muscle pains in all areas of their bodies. According to an August study in the
Journal of Pain, about 100,000 veterans of the Gulf War nearly 20 years ago
have reported chronic muscle pain. Previous research indicated that regular,
sustained exercise can help reduce that pain, which doctors encourage to help
avoid disability. However, “A primary complaint of these individuals is chronic
musculoskeletal pain (CMP). CMP symptoms in Gulf War veterans are similar to
those reported by patients with fibromyalgia (FM), but have not received
equivalent scientific attention.” [3]
Without a doubt, there are mental
health issues whether acute or minor in nature, they are ever present because
of post-traumatic stress disorder, and other symptoms of war like psychological
effects. A June study in the journal
Archives of General Psychiatry found that one in 10 Iraq Walter Reed Army Medical Center
in Washington , D.C.
Other areas of concerns for
post-battle war veterans are exposure to the different gases or chemicals used
during wartime to control crowds, to kill the enemy or to conceal their
exposure when advancing into battle.
This has been linked to cardiac difficulties that will need to be
addressed for very long periods of time. Then there are the most annoying or
persistent cases of exposure to infectious diseases, fungus, bacterial and
viral infections as well as parasite infestations. Just like jungle rot of the
feet were attributed to Vietnam
veterans, Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease caused by the bite of a sand fly
native to the Middle East , is a condition many
gulf war veterans experience. Those infected suffer weight loss, fevers,
headaches, muscle pain and weakness, anemia, and enlargement of the spleen and
liver. It can be fatal if untreated, according to the Veterans Affairs agency.
When it is all said and done, war veterans suffer from lack of motivation,
irritability, anxiety and depression, headaches, memory loss and PTSD.
Sources:
[1]
https://www.aca.org/government/employees.asp
[2]http://blog.quantumunitsed.com/2010/11/11/after-the-battle-7-health-problems-facing-veterans-psychological-psychosocial-and-physical/
[4]
http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/search?fulltext=pstd+war+veterans
