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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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Long Buried, PTSD Emerges in WWII Veterans

1 in 20 surviving vets affected

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(Newser) – For many World War II veterans, decades-old memories of war aren’t as deeply buried as they once believed. The veterans administration estimates that 5% of the 2.5 million US World War II vets suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Older vets came of age when “expressing psychological symptoms or distress was pretty stigmatized,” a psychiatrist says—meaning emotional wounds often went untreated.

So why is PTSD emerging just now? The changes that come with aging are a factor. The death of a spouse or friend can trigger symptoms, as can health problems. For some, old age simply allows more time to think. “We find many individuals who have … worked out ways to develop defenses,” says one VA pschologist. “But as they get older those defenses don’t work quite as well.”

Herman Zeitchik of Silver Spring, Md., a World War II veteran, places his hand on the inscription for the Battle of The Bulge at the World War II Memorial in Washington, May 25, 2009.
Herman Zeitchik of Silver Spring, Md., a World War II veteran, places his hand on the inscription for the Battle of The Bulge at the World War II Memorial in Washington, May 25, 2009.   (AP Photo)
Alabama Army National Guard Major Mike Davenport presents World War II veteran Sgt. James Hall, 89, with a service medal at North River Assisted Living Facility in Tuscaloosa, April 6, 2009.
Alabama Army National Guard Major Mike Davenport presents World War II veteran Sgt. James Hall, 89, with a service medal at North River Assisted Living Facility in Tuscaloosa, April 6, 2009.   (AP Photo)
President Barack Obama shakes hands with veterans during the commemoration ceremony of the 65th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, June 6, 2009.
President Barack Obama shakes hands with veterans during the commemoration ceremony of the 65th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, June 6, 2009.   (AP Photo)
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The dementia folks seem to have more flashbacks, more instances where they really feel they're back in the war. It can be very scary. - Dr. Edgardo Padin-Rivera,
chief of psychology,
Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center

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5 comments
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Wraith
Jul 16, 09 12:44 PM CDT
Your damn right that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is going to grab the WWII troops just as it does the Vietnam Vet, and even the guys who serve in the Sandbox. When your in the middle of a damn firefight and your buddies head explodes all over you or the guy on the right suddenly falls back with his gut flying out it gets to you a little bit then you come online when you get a break and can't sleep, you browse the news and what do you find some lilly livered coward promoting the crap so we can go get killed someplace else to make some politician richer, and yea, I am talking about the lilly livered Cornhole_Queen or whatever you call the coward. Reply
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newzjunkie
Jul 16, 09 1:07 PM CDT
My dad. a Marine Sgt. was at Iwo Jima and never seemed "normal" when I was growing up. He was caring and loving but just never got into society and couldn't work. The vets hospital finally found him disabled with no physical handicaps, when he was about 40. He never talked about what happened until he was dying. Then he kept calling for his buddies. If that isn't PTSD I don't know what is.
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RobN
Jul 16, 09 2:47 PM CDT
My WWII dad did everything he was supposed to do, work, marry, have a bunch of kids and coach little league. He also periodically got depressed and tried to drink his way out of it. Mom used to say he was thinking about things and we should just leave him alone for awhile. Great guy who needed help and would never have asked for it. Not too surprising that there are a lot of his generation who were just the same. Reply
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Omaha_Intelligencia
Jul 16, 09 4:49 PM CDT
The thing about PTSD is that people develop coping mechanisms to deal with it, the Greatest Generation threw itself into work, raising families, and were generally well accepted in to society post war, this gave them something else to focus on. Now that they are retired, and losing loved ones, they are beginning to crack. With PTSD, you are either going to crack, its simply a question of how long you can hold out. The human mind has great difficulty dealing with the trauma of war/death, this is compounded when you find yourself with no support structure upon your return from these events, as Vietnam Vets did. Hopefully, this will lead to a better level of care and treatment for the PTSD sufferers sure to develop symptoms from our most recent "peace actions" Reply
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mamabear
Jul 16, 09 9:42 PM CDT
I work at a VA hospital- surprisingly, or not, a lot of the patients have been seeing great results for PTSD with acupuncture. Reply
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