Friday, October 18, 2013

Is PTSD to Blame?





John Needham and his 19 year old girlfriend
 Jacque Villagomez
People have always said, "You can take the soldier out of the war, but you can’t take the war out of the soldier". Just because a soldier is out of the battle does not mean his war is over. According to an article produced by nbcnews.com, every 1 in 8 returning soldiers suffers from PTSD. If you are unaware, PTSD stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. A disorder that is popularly diagnosed to returning soldiers due to the extreme conditions soldiers experience at war.This article continues to discuss that half of the soldiers who return from war and are aware of their symptoms of PTSD fail to report it or receive help. These soldiers brush this disorder off, not realizing how serious and dangerous untreated PTSD is until it’s too late. Unfortunately, it was too late for John Needham.

John Needham was only  23 years old when he was released on bail for murdering his 19 year old girlfriend. Needham was a veteran diagnosed with PTSD who returned from serving 11 months surviving some of the most intense combat of the war in Iraq. His father and brother express within the article that Needham definitely displayed symptoms of PTSD. They explained that he began self-medicating through alcoholism, experiencing mood swings, and intense flashbacks.  His brother states, "When people asked how John was, it was kinda like, 'I don't know. I don't know how John is because John's not here anymore. It's somebody else.” Clearly, Needham’s active duty in the war took a major toll on him mentally. He struggled to interact properly with people he’d known his whole life. The big question is, Is PTSD to blame for this? Three years later, that question remains unanswered.
  Obviously war has no boundaries; it follows these soldiers to their homes and causes some of them to act like completely different people. They aren’t able to function in normal society and suffer day to day. Unfortunately, many soldiers who pursue help for their PTSD are medicated heavily, but never really treated.  The mental state of an untreated PTSD vet is not only dangerous to the vet but to the innocent people around them. It is important that Mental Health Programs do more to improve the undergoing process of curing these soldiers before things get out of control.

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