Psychological stresses of captivity, and coping mechanisms of the Prisoner of War (POW) experience

Psychological stresses of captivity, and coping mechanisms of the Prisoner of War (POW) experience

Introduction

The purpose of writing this paper is to highlight the impact of psychological stress on the Prisoners of War. The paper is about comparing the stress and coping mechanism, therefore, the focus of the paper is towards the psychological problems, stress, substance abuse and misconduct. The American soldiers are in the state of war for many years, they were in Vietnam, in Somalia, whereas, in the recent history, they involved in Iraq and Afghanistan. A lot of research has been conducted and published on the soldiers, therefore, in this research psychological condition of the prisoners of war highlighted.

Discussion

Since the human beings started witnessing the modern war fare, psychological disorder and stress has increasingly become part of people's consciousness around the world, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. This can be partially attributed to the impact of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A new openness about the experiences of people involved in these conflicts has brought attention to the complexities of stress disorder and even substance abuse. Individuals develop or face the psychological disorders after experiencing a single or series of traumatic events that often involve death, threat of death, or serious physical or psychological injury, including threat to the physical integrity of oneself or others. For the prisoners of war in the military, the most common cause of stress disorder of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is experience in combat, and while this can happen for women as well, the majority of prisoners of war develop PTSD and other stress disorder from experiences related to war that seriously affects their life (Caplan, 2011).

Criteria for diagnosing

There are six main criteria in diagnosing an individual with PTSD or stress disorder. The person's response to the trauma must involve helplessness, intense fear or horror, and a persistent re-experiencing of the event, which can occur as dreams, images, thoughts, or perceptions. Some individuals may feel or act as if the event was recurring, and this can take the form of flashbacks, illusions, or hallucinations. Additionally, Prisoners of war avoid conversations, feelings, and thoughts associated with the trauma and tend to avoid activities, places, and people that may make them recall the event; many are unable to remember important aspects of the trauma. Avoidance behavior also includes an inability or lack of interest in maintaining intimate relationships, diminished interest or participation in significant activities, and feelings of disassociation or detachment from others. Hyperarousal is another symptom: this includes outbursts of anger, an exaggerated startle response, and difficulty concentrating, sleeping, or staying awake.

Many of these symptoms—intrusive recollection, avoidance or numbing and hyper-arousal—must occur for longer than one month for an individual to be diagnosed with psychological or stress disorder due to substance abuse or misconduct. Lastly, these symptoms must cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of ...