Finding help
Post-traumatic stress disorder can affect anyone, experts say.
A constant maze of people fill the hallways of the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center, many of whom are servicemen and women returning from deployment overseas. Leaving a war zone may come as a relief for most, but the veterans returning home can find that reintegrating into society brings its own set of challenges.
The VA hospital offers a variety of care and treatment for returning soldiers, including those seeking help with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The trauma and deployment recovery clinics offer help for veterans who are struggling with PTSD.
“With our clinic, we focus specifically on military-related trauma so our clinic has a very heavy emphasis on combat-related trauma but then we also do military sexual trauma,” VA hospital psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Braese said. “And then also there’s a lot of traumatic things that happen that are just a part of military service and we really focus on that, too.”
For veterans returning after time in a high-stress environment, certain triggers or reminders can cause anxiety or tension.
"With the more recent wars that have been more urban, things like certain driving-related triggers, like being boxed in, can be difficult if your service required you to be in convoys," Braese said.
Being boxed in, navigating large crowds or loud, unexpected noises are just a few examples of triggers that can cause a person with PTSD anxiety or stress.
"The triggers are basically anything that serves as a cue or reminder for something traumatic you’ve been through," Braese said.
Braese said films and television often portray the most extreme cases of PTSD, not showing how most people deal with it and creating an unpleasant stereotype.
"The worst misconception is always equating PTSD with violence," Braese said. "That's because you’ve been through something traumatic, you’re potentially unhinged and ready to blow up at any point in time. And unfortunately those are the kinds of cases of PTSD that are highlighted."
More than military
While military personnel are commonly associated with PTSD, civilians are just as susceptible to it.
The PTSD Alliance reports that about 8 percent of all adults — 1 of
13 people in the United States — will develop PTSD during their lifetime. It’s also estimated that 5 percent of Americans — more than 13 million people — have PTSD at any given time.
"There’s a lot of folks walking around on the streets from police officers to first responders to trusted friends and neighbors that have battled with these things," Braese said. “[There are] whole types of civilian-related trauma — childhood-related trauma, assaults, accidents — so it’s actually a very pervasive problem in the general population.”
Because PTSD is a prevalent issue for part of the community, Oklahoma City police officers are trained on how to deal with mental illnesses and are assessed after strenuous circumstances.
"The police department, since 2002, has adopted a program called the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)," OKC Police CIT Commander, Captain Jeff Pierce said. "It's a core group of officers, and there's 140 authorized slots."
Officers selected go through 40 hours of CIT training to help them understand how to deal with people who have mental illnesses, including people who struggle with PTSD.
The training program includes classes that are led by psychiatrists, abuse specialists, social workers and others who have experience working with people who have mental illnesses.
"We get about 1,200 to 1,300 mental health calls per month," Pierce said.
More than 600 officers from across the state have been trained through the program.
Gaining understanding
Understanding the stages of PTSD — reliving the trauma, avoidance, increased arousal and negative feelings about self-worth — can help family and friends get help for those who are struggling.
"We have some programs specifically for couples and families," Braese said. "We also have some that are just for spouses and caregivers that want to come and get education on their own."
Misconceptions surrounding PTSD can often discourage people from seeking treatment.
"I too often see folks that come in like, ‘Oh I held off from getting help for so long cause I was afraid about what I’ve heard about PTSD being labeled or what I heard about the VA,'" Braese said.
"A lot of folks don’t seek treatment because they feel like it’s a sign of weakness or a sign of a flaw in their character, and so it makes it kind of hard for people to want to raise a hand a say 'I could use some help.' "