For years, I have suffered from severe anxiety and it used to harm my daily routine. In The Things They Carried, Ted
Lavender suffers from anxiety in the war. Soldiers still suffer from anxiety and worse,
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. In “TheTorment of a Distant War” by Mark A., he
discusses his time in the Vietnam War by saying, “When I first came home, I
thought I was fine. But over time, I became short-tempered and paranoid. I was
always on edge and alert—"hypervigilant," they call it.” Mark talks
about how he grew angry and his alcohol abuse
exploded. Just as Ted Lavender tried to self-medicate with marijuana, Mark used
alcohol.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh and Barbara Starr
declare, “The
mental health of troops in Iraq found one-third of soldiers and Marines in high
levels of combat report anxiety, depression and acute stress.” Anxiety has been
effecting soldiers and civilians for decades. A study published on March 12th
CNN explains that “31 percent of more than 100,000 veterans studied were
diagnosed with mental or psychological problems.” Still in 2013, Vietnam
Veterans are still struggling
with PTSD. In June, Web MD wrote a post that Vietnam Vets are at a higher risk
for heart diseases. Robert Preidt says,“The link between PTSD and heart disease
remained strong even after the researchers accounted for lifestyle factors such
as smoking, drinking and physical-activity levels, as well as for mental health
problems such as depression.”
Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder and anxiety can effect a soldier from the time they are at war
and then later in life as well. Tim O’Brien in
“The Things They Carried” could not express his feelings just as soldiers with
PTSD can not. Will there ever be a real
cure for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or anxiety? To soldiers it seems
completely incurable- if they can admit they
have a mental health issue.
