Second Blog Post: Real Life Cases of PTSD

Over the past few weeks, I've been reading some statistics about PTSD. I discovered that women are more likely to be diagnosed with the disorder than men. Furthermore, the disorder is detected in roughly 30% Vietnam veterans, 10% Gulf War Veterans, about 6% to 11% veterans of the Afghanistan War, and 12% to 20% of veterans of Iraq War. Many of these patients start experiencing the symptoms of PTSD few months after the occurrence of the traumatizing event. The disorder is often accompanied by substance abuse, depression, and anxiety disorder.

In addition to the statistics, I’ve also gone over several cases of the PTSD patients. One of the example is a soldier who came back from Iraq War. He was overwhelmed with the happiness of being able to reunite with his family. However, when he was at the subway one day, feeling extremely intimidated as he watched a huge crowd of people walking past him. He started seeing flashbacks of the soldiers and his friends dying in the war. He was sweating and trembling as he felt the sense of guilt and terror. Eventually, he ran out of the subway station and darted right back home. When his wife asked what had happened, he replied with an aggressive voice, telling her to go away and leave him alone. This man was experiencing the symptoms of re-seeing the traumatizing event through flashbacks, seeing memories that are being triggered by a certain situation, and being overly sensitive and aggressive.

In the end, I've increased my knowledge about PTSD. I’ve also learned many interesting facts about this disorder. My next step is to start working on the brochure.