Inclusion and Diversity with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (ptsd)

A Non-Stressful Transition

Matthew Ramsay

Waldorf University

Introduction

        Anxiety sustains you ready to fight, and depression will hold you down from being too active in life leaving yourself at a greater risk of no recovery. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can cause personal impairments to many aspects of a person’s mental health. The trauma and tragedies witnessed by our soldiers can affect their emotional and physical health in all environments. Understanding PTSD symptoms is just as important as developing a supportive environment where the personal with PTSD can flourish back to normalcy. The goals of this plan is to focus on educating the current military culture in improving the quality of life and to reduce the profound stigmas associated with PTSD.

Plan Strategy

Post-traumatic stress disorder affects large percentages of Veterans in America. When soldiers return from a tour of duty aboard, these soldiers could return with an untreated psychological and mental heath issues that demand a reintegration program for a healthy return to a normal life.  

Research shows the predisposing and traumatic risk factors that are related to PTSD. On the other hand, little research is done on the post event factors of what triggers an increase in the chances of PTSD symptoms in one’s life. Another thought that comes to mind is the stigma that might be attached to being a veteran with PTSD symptoms. There may be military stigma related to being diagnosed with PTSD and some veterans may be undocumented or misdiagnosed. Further studies that can be reviewed are on stigma, criminal history, and bad conduct discharge of those who suffer from PTSD. (Toscano & Roberts, 2014)

The various branches of the military’s environment have demonstrated a negative stigma towards mental health issues as a sign of weakness within their cultures for example. “To ask for help would be seen as breaking” (Capps, 2014, Para 7).  The stigmatisim of having a mental illness is real with in the military culture and can have a tremendous negative consequence to a soldier’s capability to return to a normal life after returning home. “The examination of stigma as a barrier to care is very important because when veterans do not seek needed care for mental illness there are considerable long-term consequences” (Daoud, 2009, p. 2). Untreated PTSD can have a perminate effect on a soldier’s life after the military. This plan is to introduce an antistigma program within the military that is aimed at reducing the negative stereotype perceptions of mental illness. As the overall goal of this plan, Leadership will be demonstrating and educating the entire military towards a cultural shift in an comprehending and treatment of PTSD. The first goal will be to decrease the immediate impression of mental illness has with in the culture. Start by changing the perceptions of the current culture by not utilizing any underlying assumptions of the illness. Beginning with mental illness or PTSD education of each member. Leadership will foster a cultural change in how each member can identify with the characteristics of the mental illness. Cutlural change begins with the military’s leadership. Leadership has to openly acknowledge and accepts that there is a problem first of all. An evaluation process of the program will include each member of rank. Each member of the military and civilian family members will be valued for their imput in the effectiviness of the program and what changes need to take place in the plan to increase the programs effectivitness.