Page 653 - Total War on PTSD

significant impact on the mental health of Service Members (SMs) returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. This should be no surprise since war is perhaps the most challenging situation that a human being can experience. The physical, emotional, cognitive and psychological demands of a combat environment place enormous stress on even the best-prepared military personnel. Today’s SMs encounter many stressors in a complex, unpredictable and fluid operational environment. Thus, exposure to stressful events characteristic of the recent combat theaters have placed significant numbers of SMs and Veterans at risk for developing PTSD and other mental health conditions. For example, as of June 2015, the Defense Medical Surveillance System reported that 138,197 active duty SMs have been diagnosed with PTSD. In a meta-analysis across studies since 2001, 13% of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) operational infantry units met criteria for PTSD, and its incidence rises dramatically (25-30%) in units with the highest levels of direct combat. Moreover, since 2006, mental disorders account for more hospitalizations of U.S. SMs than any other major diagnostic category.
Theoretically, individuals suffering from PTSD often times experience fear or anxiety when confronted by events or locations that are reminiscent of those that occurred during the original traumatic event. These “fear structures” include information about stimuli, responses, and meaning and are composed of harmless stimuli that have been associated with danger and are reflected in the belief that the world is a dangerous place. This belief then manifests itself in cognitive and
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