Lest We Forget

Posted on: Sunday, November 4th, 2018

As we remember the loss of our fallen soldiers, we also acknowledge the troops that have witnessed or experienced life threatening events. War trauma made a great contribution to the current studies of PTSD. In the First World War, military psychiatry came to birth. The emotional trauma became known as shell shock because doctors were not able to detect whether or not the symptoms were from physical or psychological wounds. In the Second World War PTSD affected soldiers who engaged in prolonged combat. This caused a higher rate of psychiatry.

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health problem that can be developed in people who have been through a traumatic event. Traumatic events may include threats to life, accidents, war or conflict, natural disasters or other life altering events. An individual can be the one that can experience it or see it happen to others. The concern arises weeks after the trauma just like any disorder. People usually feel numb, anxious, depressed and aren’t able to sleep. People re-experience the trauma, so they keep replaying it in their minds and have recurring flashbacks.

Interestingly, recent studies have found that people in rich countries are more likely to suffer from PTSD than poorer countries. This is because PTSD is linked to things that may violate our expectations. If the norm is to live in a safer environment and something occurs to turn those ideas upside down, it might be harder to get over. Although not everyone who has experienced a traumatic event gets PTSD. This disorder affects 1/10 of Canadians at some point in their life.

If you or know of someone who may have PTSD, please advise them to seek help and talk with a  counsellor today. Know you don’t have to go through it alone and it can get better.

Not all wounds are visible.