Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Marriage

I recently wrote a paper for a class about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in war veterans and its affects on marital relationships.  I analyzed each American war, starting with the Civil War, and the PTSD symptoms that its veterans displayed. I think related it to how marriages were affected as a result of the veterans’ symptoms. Across the board, divorce rates skyrocketed the year after every war’s conclusion. The most blatant reoccurring theme I came across, is that cultural expectations of the men’s roles and the cultural attitudes concerning the war greatly affected veterans and their families. For example, WWII was an American phenomenon because most of America was involved in the war effort. Even women played a vital role in supporting troops and America’s mission for fighting the war. Therefore, veterans were seen as heroes and upon return home were praised and treated like royalty. In contrast, Vietnam was a highly controversial war and its veterans were treated as murderers. Therefore culturally Americans were more apt to help WWII vets with any problems they may have as oppose to Vietnam vets who were put on the back burner. Vietnam vets were expected to get over it and any complications they faced after war was seen as their payback for involvement in the war. Therefore, marriages were less likely to succeed because society at the time held Vietnam in contempt and women had remarkable pressure placed on them to leave these psychologically and physically “messed up” men.  Also men’s traditional roles as provider and protector of the family had a huge impact on their lives after war. They were dealing with trauma and stress which never goes away, while at the same time having the expectations of society thrust upon them. This puts tremendous strain on a marriage when the wife has to be both mother and father. So, how do we handle as a society those who come home from war. Because let’s face it, we are going to be bombarded with veterans who have fight in Iraq and Afghanistan who will need help. We are already facing this problem. Should veterans be kept in a sort of containment center for a few months and essentially decompress from war? One major aspect that psychologists have brought up about WWII and Vietnam is that WWII vets were allowed time to adjust after war was over. Many vets did not return home until a year after the war was actually over. They were allowed to talk to other vets at this time and relate with one another. Vietnam was not the case. Soldiers would get deployment orders and be home within two days. They were thrown from jungles to farmhouses within 48 hours. They had no time to decompress or people with whom to relate when they returned home. It’s not the fault of the spouse that they can’t relate but perhaps wives and husbands of servicemen and women should have to go through a sort of education process in which they learn about PTSD and what to expect when their soldier comes home. I think it would help the couple to immediately begin therapy sessions before and after deployment. Soldiers come home changed.  This has to be realized but that doesn’t mean they come home damaged and unfixable. They simply have been through hell and were trained to do a job that is no longer required of them once they return home. And it’s ten times harder to have gone through hell and come home to a nation that doesn’t appreciate or condemns your efforts. The media is especially at fault for this. In a perfect world if the media and our culture didn’t influence our thoughts or beliefs then we could simply love and not place judgment. However, we don’t live in a perfect world, so the best we can do is form educated and rational decisions of our own.  PTSD is a serious problem, soldiers will need help and our government is not providing the help they need for the number of soldiers that will need it. How do we make them listen? How do spouses of veterans hold together a family when society condemns their spouses for even partaking in fighting in the first place? How are they suppose to hold a marriage together when their partner has no self-esteem or nothing worth living for?  

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