National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study

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Introduction My aim through my investigation is to uncover how warfare influences soldiers in different ways through the lens of the three psychological levels of analysis. The biological, socio-cultural and cognitive levels of analysis will provide unique insights into the human brain, behaviour, social interactions, etc. which will all help to uncover and help us to understand the psychological consequences of warfare on soldiers. Through this process we will begin to understand how soldiers may be affected differently under the same circumstances and the psychological reasons behind this. We as humans have learned more about the human brain in the last 10 years than we ever have before. We are currently living in a time where technology…show more content…
Warfare is defined as engagement in or the activities involved in war or conflict. This investigation will focus on soldiers who have experienced warfare first-hand. The National Vietnam Veterans’ Readjustment Study (NVVRS) is an investigation of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other post-war psychological problems among Vietnam veterans. Its purpose was to collect accurate data on post-war psychological problems in order to serve the needs of the nation’s veterans after the Vietnam War. This investigation indicates that PTSD was prevalent in soldiers (more so than other problems such as generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and alcohol abuse and dependency, although these symptoms were and still are prevalent). The NVVRS found that at the time of the study, roughly 26% of male and female Vietnam theatre veterans (soldiers who served on active duty in Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia) had symptoms associated with…show more content…
Such experiences include life-threatening events, sexual abuse, war and other events such as these. PTSD is common in soldiers coming back from the war and many often do not seek help. PTSD is a relatively new term in the field of psychology but has been referred to by people in the past as shell shock when describing the behaviour of soldiers coming home from war. Both the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have manuals of sorts to document mental disorders and other related health problems (DSM-IV-TR and the ICD10). It may be difficult to diagnose PTSD due to the fact that both of these manuals offer different verdicts on the symptoms of PTSD. As a result of the uncertainty surrounding PTSD, many people with similar mental health problems such as general anxiety disorder or depression. In a study that compared PTSD, Depression and generalised anxiety disorder (Keane, Taylor & Penk 1997), authors reported that PTSD was associated with four characteristic
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