Corwin Maness

March 12, 2017

EIP Rough Draft

Military service men and women undergo immense stress while deployed overseas,

which can complicate things when they get back home. The stressful situations that they are in

can make them mentally unstable and can impair their judgement or how they function in

society. Many people think that there is no hope for these once warriors, but there are certain

ways that they can find help and many of those things come from themselves with little or no

outside help. There are many professionals who know how to help these people in need and have

ways that can help them.

Overseas and even in the United States, people in the military live a stressful life. They

are pushed past their limits and can witness some intense things, like combat or a firefight for

example. Combat is a huge stressor because it demands split second decisions on a life or death

level. Such things, when happening repeatedly, can have a huge impact on the mind and a

persons wellbeing. According to mentalhealthamerica.net, such impacts can include difficulty

completing tasks, feeling powerless, difficulty sleeping, and alcohol and drug use. Reasons for

these things are due to mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Such things would

diminish a persons life and make it to where they cannot live to their fullest potential. This is a

problem because these people had once protected the country we live in and protected the

freedom of every citizen in it and now they are living a life that is less than optimal. But there are

things that can be done to help these people.

 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD for short, is a mental disorder that impacts

approximately twenty-four million people in the United States. It is common when someone

experiences something traumatic in the past. For military service men and women, that stress is

called Combat/Operational stress, or COS. The things they experience every day are sometimes

not easy and as a result, they can develop PTSD later in life. If COS is seen early on, then a

person can get treated and is less likely to develop PTSD. But often times PTSD is something

that is seen later down the road in symptoms such as flashbacks and nightmares.

At first help is as close as the veteran themselves. Accepting the fact that they need help

is a great start to making progress. This way they are not shutting out any other help that is

already there available for them, such as family and friends. These are also great resources for

help. These two groups are usually a persons biggest support group. Not only do they know the

person like no one else, the veteran also feels comfortable around them, making it easier to

communicate their problems with them. Another good way to help heal socially is through

support groups. There are many groups, actual groups that meet or through online chatrooms,

that are for military service men and women who are going through ther same things as others or

have already conquered their mental disorders or problems. Having a good social sphere is key

when dealing with mental disorders because it wil help people not feel alone.

Substance is another key topic when dealing with mental disorders. People use alcohol

and drugs as an escape from reality and an escape from their problems. But this is only a

temporary fix and does not actually solve any of the mental issues, and depending on the type of

drug, could actually make things worse. Cutting harmful substances like this out of ones life

could benefit them, not only because these things are rough on the body, but also because it can

clear your mind and can help you focus on the steps that can help your mental health. Also, drug
addiction is just another mental disorder that a PTSD patient does not want on their plate.

Physical health is another thing that comes into play when thinking about mental disorders. A

person may lose hope and be discouraged when their mind is not at one hundred percent. Taking

care of your body and eating right can help someone get back into the swing of things.

Looking towards a higher power spiritually is something that may also help some PTSD

patients. When a person feels like they do not have anyone else to reach out to, this could help

them find someone and something. Not only does religion give some people a purpose and helps

explain life and what it means to them. Also, religion usually comes with a community of people

around it. These people could become a positive group of people and could help them cope with

their stress and could even help to fix it. Oftentimes, a person loses hope when they are facing

such a debilitating metal disorder, so religion could give them back the hope they had before this

illness or could at least give them hope.

Finding a hobby is another way to find a purpose. Once a person finds what they are

passionate about, they can put their time into it. Since their time would be spent preoccupied

with the hobby, they would not be focused on the stress they experienced. The hobby is a way to

get a persons mind to stop thinking about certain things by replacing the time they would not be

doing anything with something that makes them happy. Self-happiness is something that is very

important when dealing with PTSD because sometimes the person does not feel happiness much

anymore because of the disorder.

Another thing that combat veterans need to remember is that they are not alone. There are

people that have gone through similar experiences and have the same disorder. There are support

groups made just for people with these kinds of problems. If they are feeling uneasy about
fidning help, then it may be easier to talk to someone who actually understands the context of the

stress firsthand.

One of the most important steps to making progress with PTSD is acceptance. Once a

person has accepted that they have a mental disorder and that they cannot do this on their own,

progress can be made easier. This makes all the aforementioned ways for help easier to

accomplish because the person knows that they have an issue and need help. This also makes it

easier for a person to get psychiatric help, which is most likely the fastest way to get someone

back to their normal way of living. This is because there are trained professionals who know

exactly what is wrong with these people and can support them in the most beneficial way. After

some treatment, a person should be able to live a full live again.

 Works Cited

Bray, M Robert, Camlin, S. Carol, Raibank, A. John, Dunteman, H. George, Wheeless, C. Sara.

The Effects of Stress on Job Functioning of Military Men and Women.

NCBI. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2883251. Mar, 12, 2017

Web.

Coping with War-Related Stress: Information for Military Families and Communities

Mental Health America. http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/coping-war-

related-stress-information-military-families-and-communities. Mar. 12, 2017.

Web.

Military The American Institute of Stress. https://www.stress.org/military/. Mar. 12, 2017.

Web.

PTSD Statistics PTSD United. http://www.ptsdunited.org/ptsd-statistics-2/. Mar. 12, 2017

Web.