Page 47 - Total War on PTSD

best to support such individuals should be treated as a special issue during coronavirus risk response” (Mcfarlane, Jetly, Castro, Greenberg, & Vermetten, 2020). Mcfarlane et. al also highlight the importance of the development of a program for “managing anxiety through exercise and relaxation strategies for those in isolation. In addition, technology must be leveraged to disseminate these programs and, ideally, tailored to the Veteran milieu”.
However, according to Dan Sabbagh from The Guardian journal, there are some Military Veterans who are hopeful that they can help this situation. Military Veterans “who served in Afghanistan and Iraq who have drawn up a package of guidance and support to help NHS workers cope with the traumatic stress from treating patients on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis” (Sabbagh, 2020).
According to an interview with Sabbagh, “Carole Betteridge, a former Navy nurse who ran a field hospital at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan, said the understanding of traumatic stress had changed dramatically over the past 20 years and lessons could be shared”. She spent 26 years in the Navy as a nurse and medical planner and is now head of welfare and clinical services at Help for Heroes. Betteridge goes on to say that “there are so many parallels I can see between the military experience and what NHS workers are having to deal with. This is a conflict situation and we have to make sure we care for the care workers”. “Medical staff are being faced with daily life-or-death situations just in the same way as in Iraq or Afghanistan”, Betteridge claims.
There are also recommendations for those individuals or Veterans already experiencing PTSD, which may be elevated additionally during the pandemic. According to Barbash, “the answer is working with a trained, experienced, and licensed trauma specialist. Not just a general therapist
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