Afterthoughts ...

This week's afterthought on Escaping the Prison of PTSD
by Dr. Mark Hannemann

Do you have a soldier in the family who has come back from a combat environment in Iraq or Afghanistan? How are things going? Coming back home can be a very difficult adjustment for soldiers who have experienced the extreme conditions and trauma of war. Anyone who has a soldier in the family or has a friend who has experienced war has heard of PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

I spoke with some friends recently whose son came back from Iraq. He served as a medic on the “front lines”. He experienced the deaths of friends, the terror of IEDs, the unspeakable carnage of war. It changed him. He left a happy-go-lucky high school graduate and returned a battle-hardened and battle-scarred soldier. There were times when he didn’t want to talk. He often withdrew to his room, the scenes of warfare replaying in his mind. He was away from the trauma, the explosions, the death, but he brought it all home with him. His mind couldn’t shut off, the scenes of this horror continually replaying in an endless loop. His experience set him apart. His family and friends did not experience what he experienced. How could they understand? He is slowly but surely getting back into the swing of things. He is back in school and moving forward with his life this side of war. He is adjusting. He is recovering. It will take some time, some effort, some understanding, and a lot of love and prayer.

This generation of soldiers isn’t the only one to experience PTSD. Soldiers coming back from the two World Wars who struggled mentally and emotionally often were referred to as “shell shocked”, which was a way of saying, “we’re not sure what happened to these guys out there, but whatever they’ve been through really did a number on them”. My father-in-law experienced nightmares for many years following his Korean War experience. Due to the unpopularity of the war they were sent to fight, Vietnam veterans were not allowed to process their experience when they got home. When they came back they had people yelling obscene things at them and throwing stuff at them. Not exactly a supportive environment in which to work through your issues. Their trauma continued after they got home.

War is not the only experience that can trigger Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can develop after any event in which serious physical or psychological harm occurred or was threatened, such as violent assaults, accidents, natural disasters, or man-made disasters. Chaplain Steve Hokana, who we interviewed for this program, suggested that those who are suffering from PTSD need four things: 1) hope; 2) assurance that God does not abandon us in difficult circumstances; 3) the ability to ascribe meaning to the traumatizing event(s); 4) to continue in their most important relationships.

You can read more about PTSD in the article I’ve written on this topic. Just click on it for more information to help you or a loved one cope with PTSD.


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