Aggression in Veterans with PTSD

Introduction

Since hundreds of years, aggressive behavior in veterans or military combatants has been a commonly recognized notion. Highly aggressive behavior is most likely to occur in the conditions of diseases and psychiatric disorders, along with numerous other factors. A PTSD is a condition with anxiety disorders. This usually results, when the carrier has had directly experienced a stressor, which has been highly traumatic. Some of the commonly recognized symptoms of this disorder may include increased aggressive behavior, helplessness and high levels of anxiety. 

Discussion

Most of the combatants, who have had firsthand experience of war, tend to get more aggressive and sensitive, especially after dangerous encounters. Veterans are focused people and spend a lot of time in their particular fields. However, the veterans who are most likely to suffer from PTSDs are militants. In military, the soldiers are taught to survive with any means necessary. The training may look difficult, but the real life experiences are usually a lot worse. Traumatic experiences in real life significantly affect the mindset of the militants. This leads to emotional outbursts and aggressive behavior, which mostly gets them arrested.

Numerous researches have been conducted on the combatants suffering from PTSDs throughout the past 2 decades. One prominent research, which was conducted by the VA Medical center researchers of Seattle, included 117 combatants from Afghanistan and Iraq. Their research concluded that 40 percent of these people were suffering from PTSD and 18 percent almost had it. Additionally, more than 50% of the combatants reported that they had been involved in physical encounters in the recent past. It was observed that the reason for this physical and verbal aggression was their inability to control their emotions and anger seem to be the only way of maintaining some level of control. It is highly important to note that highly aggressive behavior is usually adopted in order to release the tensions and traumas inside the head of the individual. These tensions may also include feelings of guilt and shame.

Aggressive behavior mostly results in physical and verbal violence and the aggressor ending up in jail. This is the reason why numerous researchers have proposed different techniques for the patients of PTSDs to cope up with the real world by learning to handle their anger. The most basic technique includes therapy. This basically targets specific symptoms and aid in the reduction of anger. Additionally, there are other techniques like deep breathing, identifying the results of specific behaviors, anger management programs, etc. As technology is progressing, psychiatrists are looking for new ways to handle such patients.

Conclusion

Aggressive behavior is a common notion, especially in combat veterans. This may be due to the feelings of guilt, remorse, shame, etc. Researchers all around the world are looking for different ways to aid these combatants in managing their anger. Some of the common used techniques are therapies, deep breathing, yoga, spiritual learning, anger management programs, etc.