Vietnam Vets Stress Disorders Triggered by Iraq

[anthony]

Only a person without PTSD would write something like Link Removed, because they just don't get what is a trigger for sufferers of PTSD.

More than 30 years after their war ended, thousands of Vietnam veterans are seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder. Experts say one reason appears to be harrowing images of combat in Iraq.

People who don't suffer PTSD, just cannot comprehend that PTSD is not a time based illness, its lifetime, and has no cure. I would imagine that some Vietnam Vets would have probably reached a point in their life where they are just so used to the way things are, it is part of them, but most certainly their stressors are still within them, just as their traumas.

People with PTSD are triggered constantly by reading traumatic articles, news, current events, etc etc, and they don't have to be related to their method of obtaining PTSD. Whether a veteran, or a child abuse victim, all PTSD sufferers equally WILL be triggered by reading stories of any type at some point within their life, whether because they are just a little mentally weaker at that point, or a particular event just reaches out and touches them, we will all be triggered.

There are people on this very forum who have had PTSD for 25 - 30 years, are not veterans, but are still being triggered by every day life stressors, news and media outlets. This is just another highlight to me, about how narrow minded some media and reporters are about this illness, the impact and the lifetime struggle those who have it endure.

When will it end!

 

[piglet]

It will end when the people writing this crap suffer some horrible experience that causes them to develop ptsd. I join you in your outrage!

 

[anthony]

Thanks Piglet. Like... its nothing against Vietnam Vets, because I know they suffered shit, and where treated like shit afterwards, but this applies to all who have PTSD, not just veterans. People are way too narrow minded for my liking about PTSD, and are still focusing far too much on veterans. I am a veteran, and this is coming from me. PTSD is so wide and spread, veterans are just not the only contributors to PTSD, and should stop being highlighted as such.

I understand they are the easiest to group and classify, compared to running globabl statistics on all other cases of PTSD, but bloody hell... enough is enough.

 

[Nam]

Yes, I agree with the both of you. When I was searching for a forum for PTSD sufferers, I only found about 3 ptsd forums that were for the ptsd diagnosis and not necessarily for veterans. There are numerus veteran forums and I kinda felt left out......

 

[piglet]

The thing is, while ptsd is the same set of crap for all of us, it's still a very individual thing according to the situation that caused it. That's what people don't seem to get.

 

[anthony]

The thing is, while ptsd is the same set of crap for all of us, it's still a very individual thing according to the situation that caused it. That's what people don't seem to get.

Well said Piglet. PTSD is the same symptom wise, and we all suffer the same things, thus we can all immediately relate to one another about our lives, stesses and feelings, but how each person got PTSD is vastly different, even each Veterans experience is vastly different. Some get it from seeing things, some doing things, some just the thought of what could happen in those situations... each is varied considerably, and that is what gets left out.

What I found with veterans forums, is that the military hierachy still existed within them to a point, where older veterans seemed to be more dictative to younger, or more junior veterans, which was poor form IMHO. It doesn't matter how long you've had it, because at the end of the day, we're all suffering it together.