Introduction
Over the decades, our comprehension of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has advanced by leaps and bounds. The actual ramifications of this diagnosis initially termed “shell shock,” have become considerably obvious in the years after the Vietnam War. Researchers are still concerned about the effects of lingering stress on Americans who fought in Vietnam more than 30 years after the war ended. Previous research and the minority stress model imply that there is a link between race and PTSD, especially in veterans, according to Coleman et al. (2019). In comparison to Whites, all ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans, have recorded the largest lifetime prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The number of African Americans who served in the Vietnam War was greater than the general population, and the unfortunate result of their participation in the war has been a much greater frequency of postwar stress disorders among black veterans.
Why African American Vietnam Veterans Were Vulnerable to PTSD
There are several reasons why African American Vietnam veterans were more susceptible to PTSD. The high frequency of PTSD may be related to social, economic, and historical factors that influence people’s reactions to stressful situations. For example, African Americans cannot easily access social and economic resources as whites, and these underlying vulnerabilities will increase their chances of PTSD irrespective of whether they are comparably or distinctively exposed to a stressful incident.
Other explanations have been propounded as to why Vietnam veterans from Black backgrounds have higher prevalence rates of PTSD. Discrepancies in pre-war stressors; increased exposure to war-zone stress factors; stressful post-war situations that could make a significant contribution to PTSD tenacity or recurrence; ethnical factors, particularly sub-cultural variations in mechanisms of expressing anguish that could result in PTSD over-diagnosis; and experiences with racial bias are just a few of these factors. Notably, Vietnam was the first war in which African-American soldiers were fully incorporated into American military forces (Hampton, 2020). However, the shift resulted in Blacks being far more subjected to war-zone traumas than men from predominately white backgrounds in Vietnam.
According to Coleman et al. (2019), minority status was not the only factor that accounted for a higher PTSD degree–African Americans Vietnam veterans also had dissimilar experiences to other minority veterans. For example, African American veterans faced a distinctive circumstance in combat because the War was the first fight they served with Caucasian soldiers. This racial integration created specific challenges for ethnic and racial minority veterans as the Caucasian officers were possibly racists (Hampton, 2020). The increased stress among African Americans is thus linked to the nature of war that involved a supreme nation fighting a poor, nonwhite country, military racism, civilian social and racial instability during the war, and postwar racial profiling (Hampton, 2020). Each of these interconnected elements sabotaged the morale of black soldiers and veterans in different ways. They were disproportionately sent to the front lines in Vietnam, received fewer promotions, were reprimanded more frequently, and were imprisoned.
Other racial pressures faced by African American Vietnam soldiers included being compelled to tolerate military circumstances that resulted in a cultural struggle that included a language-cognitive classification system. African Americans were also pushed to develop a hostile attitude toward Asians. They saw the Vietnamese being dehumanized, which made it impossible to identify with this culture racially, and they were also threatened with death if they refused to kill the enemy. Because of their incapacity to explain cruelty, African American veterans were substantially more disturbed by the crimes against the Vietnamese (Hampton, 2020). African American troops who had negative feelings about their conduct in Vietnam were haunted by flashbacks of burning villages and engaging in a war that killed or injured 4 million Vietnamese people.
However, when they returned to the United States, their chances of developing PTSD increased. They got little sympathy from their hometowns, were deprived of assistance to Veterans Affairs, and were offered poor jobs. Also, the mental health professions failed to adequately assist and treat African American veterans with PTSD. PTSD in African-American veterans is sometimes misdiagnosed as schizophrenia, a far more debilitating disorder that necessitates more extensive treatment. Although the symptoms of PTSD and schizophrenia are similar to some extent, given the link between combat duty and PTSD (Garcia-Rill, 2019), it is remarkable that such errors occur so frequently. Furthermore, African American soldiers were hesitant to admit to or seek treatment for their PTSD symptoms because they lacked trust in the medical system and did not believe clinicians or healthcare administrators would treat them fairly or equally. Notably, mental health diagnoses have severe real-world effects when disorders are left untreated.
Effects of PTSD on African American Vietnam Veterans
Various psychological and physiological symptoms, such as numbing of reactivity to external stimuli, re-experiencing of the trauma, hyper-alertness, and sleep difficulty, led to the veteran’s diagnosis of PTSD. The impact of this disorder on veterans’ life varies greatly, ranging from severe disability to near-normal functioning. Most African American PTSD patients experience a great deal of grief and survivor’s guilt. Upon coming back home from combat, they may face challenges such as substance abuse, isolation, anger problems, and more.
The African American veterans had to relive the events years after the war. A trigger can bring up terrible memories, whether the veteran is awake or asleep, and make them feel like they are reliving the experience. Nightmares are caused by this element of PTSD. Complex dreams that create significant degrees of tension or panic are called nightmares. When PTSD causes nightmares, they frequently involve the same dangerous or terrifying set of situations during the horrific experience. Soldiers returning from battle, for example, may have dreams of horrific sights such as bloodshed, body parts, colleagues dying, and relentless fighting.
Therefore, the veterans decide to avoid situations that remind them of the event (Garcia-Rill, 2019). Some veterans, for example, avoid crowded places or circumstances that are very stimulating. Some veterans would even refrain from discussing the incident that has affected them. Additionally, negative thoughts might overwhelm veterans suffering from PTSD. A veteran may also find it difficult to trust others, feel shame, guilt, or regret, or lose interest in previously enjoyable activities. Consequently, the veterans decide to look for other places to live as they feel burdensome to their families, eventually becoming homeless.
Another effect is that African American veterans become hyper-aroused (Garcia-Rill, 2019), which means they are always on the lookout and often feel uneasy in strange situations. For example, they may choose to sit facing the door at a cafe and watch for potentially dangerous persons or things in everyday circumstances. This can be distracting, making concentrating or appreciating simple pleasures difficult. Veterans with PTSD may also have trouble sleeping or relaxing, be prone to rage or irritation, be quickly startled, or act impulsively (Garcia-Rill, 2019). Because trauma is linked to rage and violent behavior, memories of it may elicit these emotions. Each time they remember something small reminds them of that occurrence; the recollection triggers a full-fledged stress response. Re-enacting the traumatic incident in PTSD is very harmful since it triggers the stress response and raises glucocorticoid levels in the blood, which puts the brain cells at risk (Garcia-Rill, 2019). The subsequent stress response is thus worse, causing more damage. There will be a destructive cycle of neurological damage triggered by a traumatic flashback from which they will never be able to break free.
The Veterans thus resort to abusing drugs or alcohol as a coping mechanism. As a result, as a coping technique, veterans turn to drugs or alcohol misuse. Self-medicating with drugs is a typical approach to coping with traumatic events since it can help them cope with painful thoughts, feelings, and memories (Garcia-Rill, 2019). According to a psychiatrist, endorphin withdrawal may play a role in why veterans utilize alcohol or drugs to manage their PTSD symptoms. Endorphins can provide euphoria—-when a person experiences a horrific event, such as war, their brain creates endorphins to help them cope with the high stress. When the event that caused the brain to release endorphins has passed, a soldier with PTSD may be more prone to giving in to heightened desires for alcohol or drugs to replace the feelings induced by the brain’s naturally created endorphins.
While drugs and alcohol may appear to be a quick fix, they might cause more issues. The need to “self-medicate” to cure the symptoms and effects of PTSD is a typical reason for the high rate of substance misuse (Garcia-Rill, 2019). When medicines or alcohol are used to treat PTSD symptoms, they might exacerbate the condition. Alcohol can exacerbate sadness and anxiety and disrupt natural sleep habits. Someone with PTSD who is also under the influence of alcohol is more likely to take risks. Legal issues, homelessness, economic hardship, family issues, and joblessness are common outcomes of PTSD and substance abuse.
In combination with the many PTSD symptoms, drug abuse sometimes results in suicide among these veterans. Those with PTSD have a suicide rate roughly double that of veterans without PTSD. The shame and guilt that African American veterans of the Vietnam War feel for their actions make them unable to live with themselves. They cannot come to terms with what they have done, and the reliving of those events drives them to commit suicide.
Conclusion
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is unfortunately common among veterans, and it is especially prevalent among African American Vietnam veterans. This is because a disproportionate number of African Americans were assigned to the front lines during the combat, exposing them to the most intense action and terrible danger—and leaving them with an increased risk of PTSD. Consequently, the effects of PTSD can be seen in their reliance on drugs, nightmares, homelessness, unemployment, and even suicide. Despite the efforts that have been put in place to help these people with PTSD, more strategies need to be implemented by the government to achieve significant results.
References
Coleman, J. A., Ingram, K. M., & Sheerin, C. M. (2019). Racial differences in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among African American and Caucasian male veterans. Traumatology, 25(4), 297. Web.
Garcia-Rill, E. (2019). Posttraumatic stress and anxiety, the role of arousal. In Arousal in Neurological and Psychiatric Diseases (pp. 67-81). Academic Press. Web.
Hampton, I. (2020). Jeremy P. Maxwell. Brotherhood in Combat: How African Americans Found Equality in Korea and Vietnam. Web.