Our Veterans and the Growing Epidemic

This is an incredibly written article of a very personal account of our Veterans and a terrible growing epidemic in America. I found this article and thought it was appropriate to post a link to it near Veterans Day. Please read and please share!

“Ugly Epidemic Reality

There is an ugly epidemic that openly lurks within the United States in every town, city and state. It is an epidemic that has been steadily increasing for decades upon decades. Its face can be blatantly seen or shrouded under protective masks. Building like storm waves beneath the surface and either exploding outward like volcanoes or destroying from within like acid constantly eating until nothing remains, this epidemic expands and touches lives far and wide.

It first started to gain attention heavily back in the 40’s but the earliest recorded documentation of identifying this epidemic condition of today was back in the late 1500’s. Though it was during and after World War 2 that the condition was directly observed and studies began to open into the realm of medical and mental sciences. Even so, the rate of increase in cases from then through today has skyrocketed to become the epidemic it currently is that plagues every level of the social system, from the poor to the wealthy and spanning all ethnicities.

Though it can affect anyone, both male and female, young and old it is hardest struck in those who have endured extreme levels of trauma. Of course not everyone who has or will go through trauma will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Statistics show only about 8% of men who experience hardcore trauma will develop PTSD and 20% of women develop the condition. Interestingly children under ten years of age who experience trauma are less likely to develop PTSD than teens and adults. Nonetheless it has been seen that children who suffered trauma to the point of developing dissociation conditions are far more likely to develop PTSD later in life if they endure some traumatic experience than those who have not been forced into dissociative behaviors.

Common terms prior to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have been Shellshock, Soldier’s Heart, Combat Stress Reaction, Battle Fatigue and many others. PTSD was the official term brought into play in 1970’s when many Vietnam Veterans were being heavily affected by post war stress. The last number I heard was that 830,000 Vietnam Veterans were diagnosed with PTSD. That percentage of vets who developed PTSD were far higher for those who experienced combat than those who did not.

Even though a small percentage of people who experience trauma actually develop PTSD the sheer numbers of people who are diagnosed with the condition are staggering. To make matter even higher, there are a great many people out there who are thought to have the condition in some form that are not diagnosed. Another interesting fact is that people who have been conditioned or made aware of potential side-effects of trauma are far less likely to develop PTSD if they experience trauma.

The point of this article however, is to bring light to a sobering fact of this growing epidemic and some potent points that go hand-in-hand…

…I can say from my own personal experience of living with CPTSD for many years that it is no fun and a constant challenge. The smallest lack of focus or sickness or some other situation that dulls the sharpness of personal awareness allows the darkness of CPTSD to creep in like oozing tar to clog the brain and distort the entire system internal. You cannot just turn it off. It is not a simple matter of changing your focus because it involves the actual functioning of the physical brain mechanics.…

…Did you know that there are around 300,000 veterans wandering homeless on the American streets? Over 65% of them served this country for at least three years and saw the horrors of combat. Stats show that the average veteran that is homeless spends a solid 6 years being homeless. 1.4 million veterans of today are at risk of…“

Read the full three section article here- http://elementmountain.com/2014/10/personal-look-spreading-epidemic/