Is the PTSD Epidemic Society’s Fault?

I was looking through some videos for use in my class and ran across Sabastian Junger, who thinks that the problem with the PTSD epidemic might be society, rather than those with PTSD. What he was saying is plausible if you look at the way our society treats people with mental health issues. We have become so individualistic that veterans do not know who to turn to, so they do not turn to anyone and they try to deal with their PTSD on their own. No one says it aloud, but we do not welcome those with PTSD back into society. People fear them and often try to stay away from them, leaving their families to pick up the pieces. So often people throw money at an issue and think that will fix the problem but it never does.

I am often asked “why was PTSD not an issue after WWII and the Korean war”? That is a good question, and I have a theory. After WWII and Korea, veterans came home and blended back into society, they were accepted because everyone understood, everyone contributed to the war effort and sacrifices were made by all of society. WWII veterans also had time to decompress with their buddies while on the long ship ride home. Whenever a WWII or Korean war veteran did something considered outside the norm of society all that needed to be said was “he was in the war” and the issue was dropped. These veterans were not looked down upon, they were respected and not labeled with a “disability”. So often these veterans were accepted back into society and lived a normal life. That all changed when the troops from the Vietnam War came home.

The Vietnam War was a turning point for America when it comes to wars and society. The Anti-war protesters rallied and called our veterans baby killer.  Our veterans were spit on, and shunned because our society could not, and did not want to understand. Many of the protesters dodged the draft for assorted reasons, so they created a hostile environment for our Vietnam veterans to return to.  Since we know PTSD is a constant battle with threat assessment, these protests exacerbated veteran’s PTSD, the veterans felt threatened, as anyone would have, causing them to disconnect from society. This makes it is easy to understand how PTSD could stick around for some veterans.    

In the recent wars, we have had service members go on multiple deployments. Unlike the Vietnam veterans the present veterans are coming home to a hero’s welcome. It often makes you wonder if this is a good thing. I believe the new veterans are treated with respect and looked up to because of the guilt society has about how our Vietnam veterans were treated when they returned. Just like when the Vietnam veterans returned our society continually struggles with divisiveness, hate, and contempt. We are not a unified country and this puts our veterans in a heighted state of threat assessment, intensifying their PTSD. They feel they need to be on guard all the time. I don’t think this is what we fought for, a country that is divided to a point of dysfunction. If the military was as dysfunctional as our society it would cease to exist.      

For many veterans, this type of society is not what we fought for. We miss the camaraderie of our military family. We know that even if we have issues with someone in our military family they will still have our backs. We lose that sense of security when we return to society, we must watch our own backs, feeding into the hypervigilance caused by PTSD. The idea of feeling safe is gone, leaving us to use PTSD as a tool to survive.  What our veterans with PTSD need is connection, understanding, and a purpose. But society will not give them a chance because they are different and society doesn’t understand because they don’t have to.

For questions or comments, I can be reached at bo@afterdutyvets.com or visit our website at afterdutyvets.com.