Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Communication Conflicts Within the Home After Returning from War.

Prepared by: Patrick Ferguson, Adriana Gavrau and Shannon Marshall.

INTRODUCTION

Many soldiers, returning home from their years of service in the military, have fond memories of things they have experiences and friendships they had acquired. For most soldiers, the time they spent in the armed services was a transition point in their life from high school graduation, into adulthood. However, there is a vast majority of these soldiers that are left with unpleasant reminders of the war, more commonly known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These psychological reminders are causing conflicts within the Gulf War veteran's marriages because they are unable or unwilling to deal with them. There are many issues that cause these interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts, we will focus on psychological issues, stress, and alcoholism that have and are breaking apart relationships for the Gulf War veterans.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES

Military psychiatrists have always recognized that horrific events could trigger acute symptoms in previously well-adjusted individuals. These reactions would subside soon after the solider left the battlefield. These conventional ideals changed after the Vietnam War (McNally, 2003). Psychiatrists believe that certain aspects of this war such as being unable to tell friend from foe, unclear military goals and high levels of violence heightened the onset and longevity of PTSD. The same could be said of the Persian Gulf Conflict of the 90's, as well as today's Gulf War. Unclear military goals, maintaining a heightened attention of your surroundings and surprise attacks could all have severe psychological effects on the soldiers of today's dessert wars.

Research on anxiety disorders has increased dramatically since the early 1980's (McNally, 2003). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) defines Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome as: a syndrome erupting in response to a stressor that would evoke significant symptoms of distress in almost everyone (McNally, 2003). There are three symptom clusters of PTSD; re-experiencing (intrusive thoughts, nightmares, flashbacks), numbing (feelings of detachment, lost of interest), and a group of miscellaneous symptoms (exaggerated startle, sleep disturbance, and memory impairment). In a two-year study of veterans of Operation Dessert Storm, it was found that PTSD increased over time (Southwick, 1995). Their symptoms varied at one month checkup, six month checkup, and a two year follow up studies; all studies found that the veterans suffered from some sort of PTSD. The most common in this study were exaggerated startle, irritability, intrusive memories and sleep disturbances (Southwick, 1995). The severity of the disorders coincided with the veteran's exposure to trauma. Veterans who were on the front line, Military Police, or in medical units suffer more from PTSD than others.

These psychological effects all have a direct impact on intrapersonal and interpersonal conflict. Veterans returning from war returned "changed" because of what they have seen and experienced. They internalize their feelings from their spouses for several reasons. One being they do not wish to burden their loved ones with the horrific details of their experiences. Secondly, they feel their spouses are not qualified to help them because they were not there and did not experience the same traumatic events they did. These avoidance tactics lead directly to displaced arguments and feelings. In the case of male soldiers returning to home, their wives wish to communicate with them and talk through their emotions. Females have natural nurturing instincts; they wish to share their feelings and emotions and expect their male counterparts to do the same. However, men do not react that way. Men have been socialized to internalize their feelings and to not show weakness, because showing weakness signifies that you are less than a "man". This is where the majority of displaced arguments and miscommunication come into play from veterans suffering from PTSD. Wives wish to "help" their husbands by talking through their feelings, and the husbands internalize and hide their feelings and experiences because they feel they are too terrible to share with their loved ones. Men become detached, less interested in activities they once took interest in and non-responsive to those around them. The National Center for PTSD advises all persons suffering from a PTSD event to act in a "normal" fashion; to share your feelings, dreams, and experiences with your loved ones; and to seek professional help if you feel your symptoms are too extreme (National Center for PTSD, 12/11/05). This advice is all good in a perfect world, but people do not act perfectly. They hide behind their psychological personas and fill their lives with activities of avoidance so they do not have to deal with the issues that are at the root of their conflicts. A 2003 article stated that there is a 40% divorce rate of all male veterans of the Persian Gulf War (Laurier, 12/11/05). These divorce rates can be directly linked to the intra- and interpersonal conflicts that our veterans experience upon their return home.

STRESS

Scientists are just beginning to unravel the physiological connection between the human brain and its' connection to the rest of the human body. Animal studies demonstrate that stress can have measurable effects on the brain, the immune system, cardiovascular system, and various hormonal responses. While these animal studies show the connection, the human body often adapts to normal stresses, provided the level of stress does not remain high for an extended period of time. Researchers suspect that in some humans, however, there may be an inadequate production of stress hormones, thus a stress response in some humans may not compensate for the period of exposure to the stress and may be a definitive link to humans with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

In some cases, stress can cause issues to present themselves months, or on occasion, years after a person either witnesses, or survives a traumatic event. In the case of Gulf War Veterans, often times the specific traumatic event is a firefight or a bomb explosion. The soldiers are already on edge around the clock by the very nature of being in a combat area and compounding this fact, there is always the possibility of being confronted with the stark reality of their comrades becoming injured or killed in the line of duty. These images are difficult enough to deal with at the time they occur, but the long term effects in some of the worst cases can be devastating.

Soldiers