This article is about a group of psychologist dealing with the post-traumatic stress disorder involving Viet Nam soldiers. It points out who these soldiers do not forget traumatic events, they just postpone dealing with it. For example, they talk about a soldier from World War II that began having nightmares 40 years after the war. He wanted to forget because it made him feel strong and he thought if he remembered he would be weak. This caused psychologist to understand that the main characteristics of PTSD which is to find ways to cope by avoiding the issue. What they determine is that these soldiers forget because they feel no one will listen. However after some time they remember because something from the present makes them remember. By treating Vietnam vets, psychologist help them learn ways of coping with PTSD.
2. Brown, Patti Coleen . “Legacies of a War: Treatment Considerations with Vietnam Veterans and Their Families.” Social work. Vol 29 issue 4 (Jul-Aug): 372-79. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 14 July 2011.
In this article, author Patti Coleen Brown focuses on how post-traumatic disorder which affected more than half a million Vietnam veterans affects the vets an their families. She indicates that these soldiers enter the war at an immature age of about 19 and to deal with the horror of war, they desensitize their feeling and sees the enemy as non-human. However when they return home and reach a level of maturity, they begin to have conflicts with dealing with their environment and war. This causes them to be abusive to their families, abuse drugs and isolate themselves from society. To deal this problem the Veterans Administration (VA) began outreach programs that included individual and group sessions for families as well as rap groups for soldiers so they could talk to each other about this problem.
Decades later, many vets still had nightmares, flashbacks, depression and a number of issues, but as brown points out the social has to make way to be prepared to deal with this problem and find ways to help soldiers and their families deal with it.
3. Park, Nansook “Military Children and Families: Strengths and Challenges during Peace and War.” American Psychologist. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 16 July 2011.
Author Nansook Park focus on how throughout history children and their parents have been resilient and able to adapt to their family being in the military. Challenges such s death, injury and multiple deployment can take its toll on these children. She mentions that more than 900,000 children have lost at least one parent and about 230,000 have lost both parents. Such challenges has proven too difficult for the children whose grief has practically gone unnoticed. This has led to the need for mental health services to help children and their families deal with their grief and other challenges relating to the absence of a parent of spouse during war.
4. Costello, Miriam, and Others And. "Children and Military Conflict: Current Issues and Treatment Implications." School Counselor 41.3 (1994): 220-25. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 16 July 2011.
This article points out that the way children cope with war depends on a number of issues, age, sex and family stability. Research shows when children feel strong levels of turmoil even though the conflict is in a distant country. The children perception of war is more traumatic than anything else in their lives. As they become mature, their fears about war decreases because they become more rational and informed. However they still feel a range of emotions, anger, guilt and anxiety. The article suggest the children need a way to explore these feelings through support groups, journal writing and art.
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