A Broken Journey

 

Unseen Battle Scars, a Broken Journey

 

According to the National Consensus Statement on Mental Health Recovery, “Mental health recovery is a journey of healing and transformation enabling a person with a mental health problem to live a meaningful life in a community of his or her choice while striving to achieve his or her full potential.”

In my research on mental illness of prisoners and war veterans, I have come upon a link that worries me to no extent. Being a war veteran myself, I can related to many of those issues written about in these health magazines and surveys conducted by research on war veterans and the impact of such trauma inflicted during combat. To make sure everybody understands what we are talking about there must be one agreement. The wounds, whether physical, emotional or psychological are far beyond what you can see with the naked eye or mind. These scars inflicted during the times of battle last way beyond those times the person has left the combat arena behind and comes back to face their own problems coping in a different world than war. The concept of mental health soundness is how we think, feel, and behave. This includes adaptation to life and its demands and the ability to make good choices in every stage of your life with positive results.

Tracking the most difficult statistics to gather on this subject matter, we did glean that according to the Bureau of Justice facts, in 1998, there were an estimated 25,062,400 veterans in the U.S. population, including 225,700 veterans held in the nation's prisons and jails. That means that for every 100,000 veterans there were 937 incarcerated.  The number of veterans in prison or jail rose from 154,600 in 1985 to 225,700 in 1998, an increase of 46%.  Other facts reveal that 1 out of 6 incarcerated veterans were dishonorably discharged from the military. 1 out of 5 veterans in prison or jail reported seeing combat duty during their military service. Veterans accounted for 12% of all inmates in 1998, down from 21% in 1985.  In 1998, an estimated 56,500 Vietnam War-era veterans and 18,500 Persian Gulf War-era veterans were held in state and federal prisons.  Males comprised 99% of those veterans in prison and jail. (Bureau of Justice Statistics Veterans in Prison or Jail. January 2000.) [1]

 “Folks returning from combat have a constellation of health concerns, including physical issues, psychological issues and psychosocial issues concerning things like work and family,” said Dr. Stephen Hunt, national director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Post Deployment Integrative Care Initiative. “This is a population that has unique health care needs that need to be addressed,” added Hunt, who is based in Seattle. “It’s something that really needs to be done by a team. We can’t do it without the collaboration of other providers, and the knowledge and presence of the community.” [2]

The biggest mistake one can make is to group these health concerns into one group and address them with “one pill.”  There are many disorders present that don’t necessarily run parallel to the others and can often create conflict in the mannerism we function in life. Dealing with the aftermath of combat and dealing with the fatigue, pain, and dysfunctional memories of these events can create concentration problems as we deal with our daily strife and stress at work or with the family.  What appears to be a psychosis of self inflicted pain or make belief discomfort in their body, the reality of their psychosis is real as the combat trauma has impacted their nervous system and cognitive abilities in one way or another. Therefore, being under this constant barrage of “pain” the person’s ability to think straight is impacted if not impaired.

According to the research conducted there are several areas of the body that are impacting returning war veterans and that seems to delay or create lingering means to cope with the reality of post war relationships and life in general. Very common are the symptoms related to injuries to the body’s muscular systems as many experience chronic muscle pains in all areas of their bodies. According to an August study in the Journal of Pain, about 100,000 veterans of the Gulf War nearly 20 years ago have reported chronic muscle pain. Previous research indicated that regular, sustained exercise can help reduce that pain, which doctors encourage to help avoid disability. However, “A primary complaint of these individuals is chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP). CMP symptoms in Gulf War veterans are similar to those reported by patients with fibromyalgia (FM), but have not received equivalent scientific attention.” [3]

Without a doubt, there are mental health issues whether acute or minor in nature, they are ever present because of post-traumatic stress disorder, and other symptoms of war like psychological effects.  A June study in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry found that one in 10 Iraq war vets develop serious mental problems, including violent behavior, depression and alcohol abuse. The study found that PTSD or depression seriously impaired daily functioning in 8.5 percent to 14 percent of these vets. Disabling on its own, PTSD is also linked to the development of physical illnesses for veterans as years pass. Researchers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., reported this year that 54 percent of veterans with PTSD also had sleep apnea, compared with 20 percent of PTSD patients in the general population. PTSD in vets is also associated with a greater risk of developing dementia, according to a June study in Archives of General Psychiatry. [4]

Other areas of concerns for post-battle war veterans are exposure to the different gases or chemicals used during wartime to control crowds, to kill the enemy or to conceal their exposure when advancing into battle.  This has been linked to cardiac difficulties that will need to be addressed for very long periods of time. Then there are the most annoying or persistent cases of exposure to infectious diseases, fungus, bacterial and viral infections as well as parasite infestations. Just like jungle rot of the feet were attributed to Vietnam veterans, Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease caused by the bite of a sand fly native to the Middle East, is a condition many gulf war veterans experience. Those infected suffer weight loss, fevers, headaches, muscle pain and weakness, anemia, and enlargement of the spleen and liver. It can be fatal if untreated, according to the Veterans Affairs agency. When it is all said and done, war veterans suffer from lack of motivation, irritability, anxiety and depression, headaches, memory loss and PTSD.

Sources:

[1] https://www.aca.org/government/employees.asp

[2]http://blog.quantumunitsed.com/2010/11/11/after-the-battle-7-health-problems-facing-veterans-psychological-psychosocial-and-physical/

[3] http://www.jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(09)00881-5/abstract

[4] http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/search?fulltext=pstd+war+veterans