Post-traumatic stress disorder: overview and clinical implications

PTSD

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders and Personal Beliefs

The focus of my studies and of my anticipated professional practice is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder within the context of educational psychology. This specialization is pursued with an emphasis on veterans of combat-related experiences. This particularly vulnerable population drives both the research and the personal orientation taken toward the subject. The connection between combat-experience and PTSD is inextricable and evokes a certain sense of responsibility for me.

In accordance with my personal beliefs, attitudes and values, the sacrifices made by combat soldiers and by their families is a significant one and one that carries many physical and mental health implications. Thus, I am inclined to view it as society's responsibility to ensure that this particular population is attended to with the proper care, treatment and compassion. Significant evidence encountered in the present research suggests that we don't -- as communities or as a country as a whole -- do enough to prepare soldiers and their families for the psychological implications of a return to the home-front. My cultural background is heavily colored by an emphasis on loyalty to family, friends and country. Particularly for those who have served in the most perilous of roles to serve and protect our freedoms, I am compelled by a sense of loyalty and responsibility. This is a direct influence on the professional path which I have chosen. If I can parlay my personal abilities and education into a more meaningful service of this population, I believe I will be contributing effort to a great social need.

Naturally, as I evolve in my role as a therapist for combat-veterans, it will be with an appreciation for the dilemmas which are unique to military service. As the text by Willis (2010) notes, soldiers returning home from conflict are in the unique position of having been trained to live according to two very distinct ethical codes. In civilian life, such individuals will have gained a traditional ethical education whereas in a combat context, such individuals will have been instructed on the use of lethal force. According to Willis, "habit and practice help the willingness and capacity to kill on command. The new recruit or volunteer may, and likely has, the innate reservation against killing anyone. Yet day in and day out, the 'normal' person is saturated with intellectual, physical, and emotional reinforcements and repetitions, to become prepared to kill. Centuries of military methods have been polished and refined to cope with any individual whose natural resistance to killing remains intransigent." (Willis, p. 1)

These are instincts that can be difficult to 'turn off' as it were. This means that the therapist trained on how best to deal with such individuals must understand with empathy the aggression and the propensity toward violence which might be exhibited by the patient. This also means that the therapist must sometimes make decisions with respect to protecting the health and well-being of the family and children of such an afflicted individual.