Proposal Development

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Humanities

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In Week 1 through Week 9, you should have been working on each section of the proposal. This week, you will collate all these sections and create the final draft.

Make sure your research proposal adheres to the following structure:

  • Title page
  • Abstract (see APA guide for format)
  • Introduction
  • Literature Review
  • Methodology
  • Discussion and Conclusion
  • References

In addition, each section should include the following information:

Abstract: An abstract is a summary of the paper. Review the abstracts of the articles used in your literature review for examples of detailed abstracts.

Introduction: This section has been already created in Week 8.

Literature Review: This section should be taken from the work in Weeks 2 through 6. The literature review is not a copy of that material. Rather, it is a synthesis of the material you found into a cohesive review of the literature on your chosen topic. Make sure to include all the articles that you used in Weeks 2–6 for your literature review.

Methodology: This section has been already created in Week 7.

Discussion and Conclusion: This section has been already created in Week 9.

References: In this section, you should include all of the articles you collected for the literature review. In addition, take care to cite all the references in the APA format.


*PLEASE FIX THESE WITHIN THE PAPER*

- This introduction of your topic is sound. However, be sure that proper APA format is always followed. For instance, all of the primary words in your title should be capitalized.

-Your formatting and content is excellent. However, organization can be improved. The analysis of the articles should be incorporated as part of each articles' discussion and not separated.

-be sure to integrate your analysis of the articles with the summaries and not separate these thoughts in the final proposal.

-Make sure your interpreting the content as it relates to the purpose of your research.

-The analysis is insightful but should be incorporated into the article summaries rather than set off by itself in the paper.

-You noted your data collection but more specificity in how the data will be collected was needed. Further, the research approach should be noted along with its justification. Lastly, be sure your following all of the tenets of APA formatting in your writing.

-While you referred to other research as support for your contentions, this has to be cited and referenced in the body of the paper. Further, make sure your separating content on ramifications, limitations, and implications for future research in your proposal. Lastly, make sure ALL elements of APA formatting are being adhered to.

*PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF THIS IS FIXED. EVERYTHING HAS TO BE IN APA FORMAT, THE ANALYSIS OF THE ARTICLE SHOULD BE APART OF EACH ARTICLES DISCUSSIONS. ALSO, AFTER FIXING EACH THING, MAKE SURE TO HIGHLIGHT ALL CORRECTIONS! MAKE CORRECTIONS ON THE DOCUMENT ATTACHED!THANK YOU*

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Running Head: THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS The mental effects of war on soldiers Gabrielle Earle PSY2061 June 20, 2018 1 THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 2 The mental effects of war on soldiers Introduction Just as the topic suggests, this research will focus on the explanation of the possible impacts that war has on soldiers. In most cases, scholars and also researchers only engage in the other pieces of work while neglecting the affairs of the soldiers who participate in war. These soldiers most of the times end up suffering various forms of illnesses and conditions, which affect their abilities to interact and live together with the community where they come from after their retirement. Numerous cases in the past showed that soldiers sometimes exhibit different behavior, due to the impacts or events that they witnessed in war. War involves large-scale killing, injuries and also blood. As a result, the soldiers when at war, may not get the time to perceive or internalize the events as they occur. However, after retirement, some of the events may haunt them back. These events come as flashbacks that may happen in the long run. If not treated, these flashbacks may result in the realization of mental health problems. The primary motivation behind the selection of this topic comes from the need to identify the various issues of concern faced by the soldiers who participate in war; which in the end lead to mental health challenges. Regardless of the duration of the war, soldiers sometimes find it hard to access the necessary help which may offer the best interventions and also therapies to enable them to cope with the challenges faced (Tian, 2010). Based on the previously collected pieces of evidence, it follows that soldiers often face significant problems after they retire from war. Some may turn to drugs among other behaviors in case they fail to get the required assistance early enough. This topic carried multiple issues often overseen by the researchers. These research areas would enable the scholars to collect as many pieces of evidence as possible, that help them understand the short and long-term mental effects that war has on the soldiers. THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 3 Hypothesis Soldiers who usually get exposed to war face numerous problems after serving. The veterans in most cases end up in mental hospitals because of the psychological challenges and encounters that they face while serving in diverse areas. However, numerous pieces of research explain the possible impacts that the various soldiers who served in war suffer from while considering the health conditions. However, not many pieces of work tend to evaluate the mental health effects of soldiers who served in multiple areas. Further, the past pieces of research do not evaluate the possible impacts that the soldiers who served in different areas suffer from. This research will not only help to analyze the mental effects of war or combat on soldiers but also will highlight the degree of the impacts with regards to the area under which these people operated or performed their missions. For example, this research will focus on the development of an analysis that matches the mental health effects of the war on the selected soldiers based on the areas that they served. With this kind of data, the research will offer the relevant recommendations that the health care among other stakeholders can adopt thereby developing an effective approach to the underlying impacts. The continued exposure to war may, in the long run, result in various challenges to the affected soldiers. For instance, the soldiers deployed in diverse fields of operation who encounter different incidences such as murder and demise of their colleagues may exhibit numerous challenges that arise from the mental perspective. For example, some of the most common issues that arise in the long run may include post-traumatic disorder, work, and family conflicts and also reduced health and normal functioning of the affected soldiers (Vinokur, Pierce, Lewandowski-Romps, Hobfoll & Galea, 2011). Further, soldiers exposed to war for an extended period may exhibit other conditions such as cardiac, nervous and also the gastrointestinal THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 4 illnesses which significantly affect their mental health. In most cases, the trauma or mental health challenges that the soldiers face come from the past experiences and also the prevalence of the underlying illnesses as the ones mentioned above. Most soldiers may fail to seek the relevant assistance from the medical teams which increases the chances of suffering from more severe conditions in the future. Looking at the past experiences and the kind of lives that the soldiers who participated in war lead, it raises various issues of concern. The following section on literature will show that a large number of soldiers who participated in the war, in the long run, suffer from diverse mental health conditions which includes PTSD among others. Therefore, one may wonder the probable cause of these conditions based on the nature of missions that the soldiers perform when serving. Therefore, the development of this research must focus primarily on evaluating the most likely issues of concern that affect the mental health perspective of the soldiers who get exposed to combat. Therefore, this research will use the past literature among other pieces of data as the ultimate evidence to create a conclusive report that relates the mental impacts that soldiers who participated in combat to the experiences that they encounter while serving. The continued exposure to combat action plays a huge role in bringing about mental health conditions such as PTSD among others as exhibited by veterans among other soldiers after serving. Therefore, the past experiences that soldiers encounter while at service contribute a large part towards the witnessed conditions that the soldiers exhibit such as mental health challenges among other risky behavior and also suicidal incidents. This hypothesis forms the starting point where the research will base its arguments. Therefore, the proposed research seeks to evaluate the possible effects that war and combat bring about to the various soldiers by THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 5 addressing many variables such as age, gender and also the area of services such as Iraq, Iran or even Afghanistan. The research carried out will primarily focus on the mental health issues that the soldiers suffer. Secondly, the researcher will look at the short and long-term effects of war on the soldiers from an emotional perspective. Further, the scholar will highlight the results of mental health challenges to the soldiers. Other than addressing just the problems faced by the soldiers, the paper will, on the final section, highlight the most likely and most effective interventions that the medical teams, as well as their families, may implement to reduce the witnessed problems (Acosta, 2013). This paper will primarily focus on the mental health impacts that war brings onto the soldiers, their families and also the environment that they reside. Literature review After considering the basics of the selected topic which revolves around the evaluation of the various impacts that the soldiers who participate in war suffer from, this section looks at the past pieces of literature with regards to supplementing the provided thesis statement. The identified thesis claimed that soldiers who take part in a war, suffer from several mental health problems (Hoge et al., 2014). The research of Wilk, Quartana, Clarke‐Walper, Kok, and Riviere (2015) focused on explaining the aggression usually exhibited by the various soldiers who participated in war after their deployment. The authors, in this case, claim that in most cases, the soldiers who retire from their service, their deployment tasks may exhibit numerous attributes that do not go in line with those of the ordinary population (Wilk et al., 2015). The most common traits witnessed hence include anger, agitation and also but not limited to, aggression. The authors, however, claim that although a large number of soldiers exhibit these attributes after THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 6 their service to their countries, researchers and experts yet do not provide a clear association between the characteristics and exposure to war (Wilk et al., 2015). In their study, Wilk et al. (2015) outline the possible link between exposure to war and combat and the witnessed characteristics such as anger and aggression. The study selected 2,420 soldiers who served in various areas. The selection of the soldiers who would act as the ultimate research subjects, happened randomly where the experts subjected the participants to questionnaires. These questionnaires sought to collect information about the levels of exposure in war, their rates of PTSD, aggression, and anger, three months after returning from their mission in Afghanistan. The study concluded that the soldiers who participated in the war exhibited varying levels of anger traits among other attributes. Those soldiers who exhibited higher levels of anger also carried the characteristics of PTSD and hence, aggression. However, the soldiers with low anger traits did not show high levels of PTSD and aggression simultaneously. Another study carried out by Barr, Kintzle, Sullivan & Castro (2017), focused on the evaluation of the underlying impacts that PTSD brought to the soldiers who participated in a war, with regards to suicide among other risky mental health-related behavior. In the study, the authors claim that in most cases, the respective research teams engage themselves in evaluating the impacts that continued exposure to the combat of soldiers brings to them in the long run (Barr et al., 2017). However, according to the authors, few to no experts devote their time to explore the other non-suicidal related behavior that the soldiers may exhibit. In the long run, soldiers who participated in combat may exhibit other high-risk behaviors such as reckless driving among others, which in most cases go unnoticed. This research attempts to evaluate the THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 7 possible impacts that exposure to war brings to the soldiers, without considering the suicidal behavior because the area receives much attention from the various parties. The authors, in this case, implemented the structural equation modeling strategy in determining the possible link that exists in the various behavior that the soldiers after war exhibited (Barr et al., 2017). Some of this behavior and attributes include PTSD, HRB and also suicidal cases. After conducting the experiment and data analysis, the experts, in the end, concluded that soldiers who participated in war might exhibit various attributes such as PTSD, suicidal thoughts and also but not limited to, the other negative high-risk behaviors. In the end, these effects in most cases may lead to premature deaths among the affected soldiers. The obtained results form a firm foundation to the clinical practitioners, to develop the right procedures and mechanisms to act as the ultimate interventions to the witnessed challenges on the overall scale to prevent the possibility of premature deaths. Ferrajao, Oliveira & Badoud (2017) focused on determining the effect of attachment dimensions on the mental health of those fought in the wars. The study involved understanding the avoidance and anxiety conditions of soldiers and the impact this had on their behaviors later on in life. The authors developed their analysis by researching some individuals. It was evident that the prolonged exposure to war activities led to some significant changes in the health conditions of the soldiers. They avoid family members and friends due to the fear of influencing them, due to their mental health conditions (Ferrajão, Badoud, & Oliveira, 2017). The authors identified that getting post-traumatic stress disorders, impacts the way soldiers live their lives. They get the feeling that they need to live in isolation. The authors, therefore, sought to develop the idea that the exposure to wars affects on the afterlife of the soldiers since they live in fear and tend to distance themselves from others as well as refuse the help that provided for them. THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 8 The authors conduct the study with the aim of determining the impact of the isolation and lack of attachment to others. A sample to do the research based on Portuguese war veterans. The sample included the soldiers who had participated in the war for an extended period. The responses from the veterans were used to determine the effect of the mental strategies such as perception, self-regulation skills, internal and external communication. Those who had recovered from the post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as those who had not improved, were involved in the study. The results obtained brought the conclusion of the study to identify that the PTSD affects the lives of soldiers. The condition renders it difficult for them to cope with the environment and as such, it becomes difficult to cooperate with others in the recovery process (Ferrajão, Badoud, & Oliveira, 2017). In this case, after the exposure to the war, most of these participants are already old. The old age contributes to the feelings and emotions which makes it difficult to cope with stress symptoms. Thus, they prefer to exclude themselves from society. The other study conducted by Trujillo et al. (2017), focused on the effect of exposure to the war experiences on the psychological being of the soldiers. The exposure to violence increases the risks of having mental problems. The authors focused on investigating the impact of the mental health conditions of the war veterans on their lives after the war. Exposure to the violence during war is believed to cause adverse effects on the psychological health of the soldiers. Their social lives get affected such that their response to the surrounding becomes impaired. War veterans show significant changes in their mental reaction towards the processing of the events surrounding them. In any case, each of the soldiers presented a different answer (Trujillo et al., 2017). Thus, the effect that the exposure of the violence contributes to the mental health of these individuals varies. The authors, therefore, focused on understanding if the THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 9 violence and war experiences had any connection to the psychological condition of the veterans. It would help in understanding the effect it has on their mental being after the war experiences. Trujillo et al., (2017) conducted the study using a systematic approach towards the issue. A sample of 624 individuals was used in the study to evaluate the impact that war experiences have on the mental health of veterans. The investigation revealed that at least their empathy situations are related to the war experiences. The authors conducted the study in a range of some months to ensure that enough information to obtain the conclusion achieved. War experiences contribute to some of the life deficits observed in these veterans. It explains the cognitive behaviors seen in most of the ex-soldiers. Since the participants in the study were armed, this behavior was revealed to be as a result of the effect of the violence during the war. Thus, the participants lived in fear and were less motivated to engage in societal activities. Instead, they felt aggressive and some other kinds of empathy conditions. In conclusion, the authors explained that some of the mental states experienced by ex-veterans were a result of the violent experiences they had during the war. Barr et al. (2018) highlight how there are soldiers that may experience multiple other behaviors after having been exposed to war. In this regard, they observed not only the commonly described post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but adverse, non-suicidal behaviors. Among them, the most commonly found behavior according to the data reported by Barr et al. (2018) consists of reckless driving. The evaluation of the suicidal risk in soldiers exposed to war is mainly dependent on the degree of post-traumatic stress disorder experienced by the soldier. However, the use of PTSD symptoms as an indicator of the potential risk of suicide among soldiers has a considerable disadvantage that the symptoms often appear too late. In this regard, Barr et al. suggest THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 10 evaluating any changes in the soldier's behavior, and most importantly deterioration, as an indicator of high psychological damage that poses a higher suicidal risk on the soldier. The earlier detection of such risk implies that the soldier may get psychological assistance earlier, minimizing the long-term effects and decreasing the risk of suicidal behaviors (Barr et al., 2018). Mantua et al. (2018), on the other hand, suggest the use of variables such as the sleep quality and the capability to regulate their own emotions to estimate the anxiety experienced by soldiers who have post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the extreme violence seen during a war. According to the obtained results, however, such interaction between the variables was only present if the soldier showed a poor sleep quality. In this regard, when the soldier presented an excellent sleep quality, his inability to control his own emotions did not necessarily result in a higher anxiety level as would happen if he had shown a poor sleep quality (Mantua et al., 2018). Brooks et al. (2008) evaluated the main symptoms reported by veteran soldiers from the Vietnam war. According to the data reported, the soldiers presented multiple symptoms of psychosomatic illness soon after coming back from Vietnam, such as chronic fatigue, headaches, dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath, and joint pain even if they had never injured during the war. Moreover, around 15% of Vietnam soldiers diagnosed with some degree of post-traumatic stress disorder, 4.5% showed symptoms of depression, and 4.9% showed symptoms of anxiety. It is noteworthy how these figures are significantly higher than veteran soldiers that served in other wars, which Brooks et al. (2008) attributed to the unusually harsh conditions experienced in the Vietnam war, and the long campaigns that the veteran soldiers had to do on such a long war. Brooks et al. (2008) also observed significant differences between younger and older Vietnam veterans. In this regard, younger veterans (below 60 years old), had a higher incidence rate of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions. They also presented a THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 11 higher frequency of emotional problems and limited accomplishment and took substantially less care in daily life activities. Interestingly, though, older veteran soldiers had higher difficulties to relate with the rest of people even if they reported to feel calmer and of having lots of energy when compared to younger Vietnam veteran soldiers. It is also important to consider how many veteran soldiers had turned to alcohol and substance misuse to try to overcome the stress related to the war. In this regard, Wilk et al. (2010) highlight how many veteran soldiers returning from the Iraq war had developed some degree of alcoholism. According to their results around one-fourth of the veteran soldiers screened positive for alcohol misuse even some months after their deployment from the war. Moreover, 12% of the veteran soldiers exhibited alcoholism behavioral problems. The incidence rate of alcohol misuse and alcoholism-related behavioral issues seemed to increase with the increase in the exposure to especially violent scenarios, such as fighting, killing, and atrocities. Considering the article as presented by Barr, Kintzle, Sullivan, and Castro (2018), one can conclude that the authors, in this case, conducted a different kind of research. The authors used structural equation modeling methodology to identify the link between PTSD, suicidal thoughts and the witnessed instances of high-risk behavior amongst the soldiers who participated in a war. In the analysis, the authors take a different path by including the aspect of high-risk behavior. As compared to the other pieces of research conducted in the past, the authors in this study sought to explore the areas that the previous parties failed to do. In the analysis, the authors manage to come up with outcomes that show the relationship that exists between PTSD, suicidal thoughts and high-risk behaviors of the soldiers who are exposed to combat. According to Ferrajao, Oliveira & Badoud (2017), violence and war situations contributed to the afterlives of the veterans after the war. The authors used the study to THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 12 understand why the veterans focused on excluding themselves from society. Soldiers who have had experiences in the wars concentrate on living a quiet life away from the environment. They prefer doing things and activities on their own. The authors focused on determining if the choices to live in isolation, were in connection with the effect of violence on their mental health. Through the research, the authors revealed a significant understanding of the PTSD condition and how it impacts the lives of the veterans. The study by Trujillo et al., (2017) focused on understanding the effect of war experiences on the empathy conditions of the veterans. It shows a significant understanding of the study, instead of focusing on the overall mental health of these individuals; the study seeks to understand the impact on the living conditions of the veterans. The review based on the fact that these veterans were armed yet, they were out of the war. It is evident that the veterans experienced conditions of aggression, fear, and were not willing to participate in friendship activities in society. The impact of the violence they had gone through, led to the effects they were experiencing living under normal circumstances in the community. In the analysis, the authors ensured that they identified the types of empathy conditions related to the violence the veterans had come across. Looking at the research presented by Wilk, Quartana, Clarke‐Walper, Kok and Riviere (2015), it follows that the authors, in this case, did not focus on the evaluation of the impacts of war or combat on the soldiers but, seeks to understand the other traits witnessed in the long run such as anger and also aggression and their association with PTSD. In most cases, researchers may only engage themselves in identifying the various mental healthcare impacts that the soldiers who participate in war may exhibit. However, few to no research in the past explored the association between PTSD and the behavior that the soldiers exhibited. As a result, the soldiers THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 13 in multiple cases resulted in suicide, due to the lack of the necessary assistance. Just like in the previously identified research, the paper presented by Wilk et al. (2015) pointed to a common ground. The two documents, therefore, agreed that there exists more apart from the ordinary impacts such as general mental health problems, that the soldiers who participated in combat exhibited. These articles may play a considerable role in psychology in that they offer a firm foundation that the various experts in the field can implement in their day to day tasks, which involve dealing with soldiers who took part in a war. Without such critical findings, the relevant clinical and also psychological experts may not understand the various behavior and attribute that the soldiers who participated in the war exhibit. Furthermore, the findings provided in these papers may act as the ultimate guide for the clinical and psychological experts to approach the many cases that result in premature deaths. The primary research topic may involve the exploration of the various cultural or gender issues that can affect the studies explored. Including the aspect of gender may help the authors in the two papers to provide refined statistics and findings. Besides, soldiers from a given culture may exhibit different attributes or respond differently to their exposure to combat. Instead of focusing on a single culture and also generalizing the entire population, the researchers may need to refine their studies. In this case, the authors may need to consider the individual impacts and behavior exhibited by the soldiers from different cultures and of differing genders. Comparing the two outcomes may help in the long run to come up with a set of findings that can help the researchers, research to make the relevant conclusions with regards to the right interventions to use for each group of victims. The two main leading factors that increase the suicidal rate among soldiers exposed to violent actions during the war are the post-traumatic stress disorder and non-suicidal changes in THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 14 the individual’s behavior such as driving recklessly (Barr et al., 2018). Nonetheless, as pointed out by Barr et al. (2018) the study carried out presents several limitations. In this regard, the most relevant limitations of the study are both the non-random sampling and the existence of a high level of multicollinearity between the variables (Barr et al., 2018). As stated in the previous section, Mantua et al. (2018) used other variables to assist in the identification of PTSD at an early stage in soldiers after having come back from a war. In this regard, the obtained results suggested that difficulty in regulating the emotions would be a good predictor of a high anxiety level as long as the individual presented other symptoms, such as a poor sleep quality (Mantua, 2018). As discussed in the previous example, the use of such variables to identify a high risk of developing PTSD in soldiers is crucial, as the early treatment of the symptoms results in a substantially better prognosis in the long run. According to the conclusions derived from the study of Brooks et al. (2008), it is essential to take into account both the war in which the soldiers had participated and their age when evaluating the mental health effects that war had on the soldiers. In this regard, they observed significant differences between Vietnam veteran soldiers and the rest of the veteran soldiers that participated in other wars. They also found a substantially different incidence rate of the different physical and psychological health effects of war on veteran soldiers depending on their age. From the above, it is necessary to consider the influence that these two variables (war and age) have on the obtained results to accurately estimate the health effects of war on veteran soldiers. Wilk et al. (2010) highlight another significant health effect of the exposure of veteran soldiers to the atrocities and threatening situations experienced while they were in the war. In this regard, they observed how a very high proportion of soldiers presented an excessive alcohol THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 15 consumption even months after returning from the war. From this point of view, the clinical assessment of veteran soldiers needs to take alcohol and substance misuse into account when treating these soldiers to help better them overcome the mental and health effects that the war had had on them (Wilk et al., 2010). Polusny, et al. (2014) conducted a study aimed at evaluating the possible impacts that the women who served in the military exhibited after their terms, with regards to PTSD among other factors in relation to their counterparts. The researchers, in this case, focused on fulfilling a single objective aimed at evaluating the possible connection or behavior that the pre-deployment factors as well as combat that the women who serve in the military may exhibit, as compared to the men from the development of PTSD symptoms perspective. The study found out that men in most cases exhibited high rates of exposure to combat as compared to the women. However, from another perspective, the study found out that women from their end, reported a high rate of sexual stressors while on duty as compared to the men. In the article by Marchesani, (2003), the author tries to explore the role that trauma plays in PTSD. The author, in this case, examines the role of trauma in PTSD considering the events as narrated by a war veteran named George. The author claims that George, at first, claimed that he killed a Vietnamese boy. However, although George at that time acted in accordance with the set directives by the superiors, he suffered from the guilt of killing the young one. After attending the clinic, the expert sought to evaluate the driving force that led George to attend the therapy sessions. Throughout the sessions, the expert finds out that trauma plays a considerable role in PTSD for the soldiers who participated in combat based on the behavior of George. The experiences presented by George, show that he among other soldiers who participated in the war in different areas such as Afghanistan among others suffered from trauma before the onset of THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 16 PTSD. Therefore, the author, in this case, concludes that trauma contributes a considerable part towards the witnessed cases of PTSD amongst soldiers and also war veterans. Analysis Marchesani, (2003) in this case, utilizes a different approach in collecting data about the underlying topic. Throughout the research process, the author acts as a therapist who evaluates the role that trauma plays with regards to PTSD amongst soldiers who participated in the war. In this case, the expert utilizes direct engagement with the client. The client acts as a direct source of information about the role that trauma plays in PTSD based on the behavior and also the level of mental health of the soldiers. Based on the evaluated information, one of the most common issues that arose from this article revolves around the fact that the author collects information directly from the victim. Gathering information from the victim directly makes it easy to produce a high-level analysis of the final results with regards to the needs of the underlying topic. This method of collecting data allows the expert to document valid results and conclusions based on the evaluation of the real but past events and also the behavior of the affected victim. On the other hand, the study conducted by Polusny, et al. (2017) examined data from both the men and women who participated in combat in Iraq and also Afghanistan. The study looked at the records of a total of 801 soldiers consisting of 712 men and the rest women. This study observed the behavior of the affected soldiers with the aim of gathering information about the impacts of their respective stressors among other factors contributing towards the witnessed PTSD symptoms by the soldiers after their service. The study, in the end, manages to come up with conclusive results that show the differences between the behavior exhibited by both women and also men who served in the military with regards to PTSD. THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 17 On the final thought, the study presented by Polusny et al. (2017) considers the cultural issues and aspects of the underlying topic. In the research, the experts consider the affairs of both women and men signifying the analysis of the possible role that gender differences may bring to the final results, with regards to the development of PTSD amongst soldiers who participated in war especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. The study conducted by Marchesani (2003) does not consider any cultural issues. For example, the study only considers a single gender and the role of trauma with regards to PTSD based on the evidence given by a given soldier. This study generalizes the conclusions by assuming that all the soldiers exhibit similar characteristics. This research may need more analysis to come up with concrete and also inclusive evidence with regards to the underlying topic. Research hypothesis The research hypothesis is taking the main conclusions obtained from the analysis of the literature which states that war has a profound psychological impact on the soldiers, resulting in a higher incidence rate of psychological disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. The null and alternative hypotheses will thus be: • Null hypothesis: The incidence rate of the psychological disorder x is not substantially higher in US Veterans than in the general population, implying that the war does not represent a risk of developing such psychological disorder • Alternative hypothesis: The incidence rate of the psychological disorder x is substantially higher for a US Veteran than for the general population, indicating that the war may be a cause for such higher risk. Methodology THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 18 The methodology used to test such a research hypothesis involves the collection of data from the incidence rate of the different psychological disorders in both US Veterans and the general population. The collected data will be compared using one-tailed t-tests for the comparison of the sample means of independent samples. The selected significance level is of 5%. The selected significance level implies that the null hypothesis will reject whenever the calculated p-value is lower than 0.05 and accepted as long as the calculated p-value is higher than 0.05. Discussion and conclusion THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 19 References Acosta, G. (2018). The Impact of War: Mental Health of Veterans and Their Families. The University of Southern California. Retrieved 19 June 2018. From https://msw.usc.edu/mswusc-blog/veteran-mental-health/ Barr, N., Kintzle, S., Sullivan, K., & Castro, C. (2018). Suicidality and nonsuicidal high-risk behavior in military veterans: How does PTSD symptom presentation relate to behavioral risk? Traumatology, 24(1), 55-61. doi:10.1037/trm0000133 Brooks, M. S., Laditka, S. B., & Laditka, J. N. (2008). Long-Term Effects of Military Service on Mental Health among Veterans of the Vietnam War Era. Military Medicine, 173(6), 570575. doi:10.7205/milmed.173.6.570 Ferrajão, P. C., Badoud, D., & Oliveira, R. A. (2017). Mental Strategies as Mediators of the Link Between Attachment and PTSD. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 9(6), 731–740. Hoge, C. W., Grossman, S. H., Auchterlonie, J. L., Riviere, L. A., Milliken, C. S., & Wilk, J. E. (2014). PTSD treatment for soldiers after combat deployment: low utilization of mental health care and reasons for dropout. Psychiatric Services, 65(8), 997-1004. Mantua, J., Helms, S. M., Weymann, K. B., Capaldi, V. F., & Lim, M. M. (2018). Sleep Quality and Emotion Regulation Interact to Predict Anxiety in Veterans with PTSD. Behavioral Neurology, 2018, 1-10. doi:10.1155/2018/7940832 Marchesani, R. B. (2003). The Role of Pre-Trauma in Post Traumatic Stress: The Case of a Vietnam War Vet. The Psychotherapy Patient, 12(1-2), 175-186. THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS 20 Tian, S. (2010). The Emotional Effects of War on Soldiers. Health guidance. Retrieved 19 June 2018. From http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/11261/1/the-emotional-effects-of-waron-soldiers.html Trujillo, S. P., Ugarriza, J. E., Pineda, D. A., Ibáñez, A., Trujillo, N., Uribe, L. H., . . . GarciaBarrera, M. A. (2017). How Empathic Are War Veterans? An Examination of the Psychological Impacts of Combat Exposure. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 23(4), 422– 426. Polusny, M. A., Kumpula, M. J., Meis, L. A., Erbes, C. R., Arbisi, P. A., Murdoch, M., ... & Johnson, A. K. (2014). Gender differences in the effects of deployment-related stressors and pre-deployment risk factors on the development of PTSD symptoms in National Guard Soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Journal of psychiatric research, 49, 19. Vinokur, A. D., Pierce, P. F., Lewandowski-Romps, L., Hobfoll, S. E., & Galea, S. (2011). Effects of war exposure on air force personnel's mental health, job burnout, and other organizational related outcomes. Journal of occupational health psychology, 16(1), 3. Wilk, J. E., Bliese, P. D., Kim, P. Y., Thomas, J. L., Mcgurk, D., & Hoge, C. W. (2010). Relationship of combat experiences to alcohol misuse among U.S. soldiers returning from the Iraq war. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 108(1-2), 115-121. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.12.003 Wilk, J. E., Quartana, P. J., Clarke‐Walper, K., Kok, B. C., & Riviere, L. A. (2015). Aggression in US soldiers post‐deployment: Associations with combat exposure and PTSD and the moderating role of trait anger. Aggressive behavior, 41(6), 556-565.
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Running Head: THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

The Mental Effects of War on Soldiers
Gabrielle Earle
PSY2061
June 20, 2018

1

THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

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The Mental Effects of War on Soldiers
Introduction
Just as the topic suggests, this research will focus on the explanation of the possible
impacts that war has on soldiers. In most cases, scholars and also researchers only engage in the
other pieces of work while neglecting the affairs of the soldiers who participate in war. These
soldiers most of the times end up suffering various forms of illnesses and conditions, which
affect their abilities to interact and live together with the community where they come from after
their retirement. Numerous cases in the past showed that soldiers sometimes exhibit different
behavior, due to the impacts or events that they witnessed in war. War involves large-scale
murders/deaths, injuries and also blood. As a result, the soldiers when at war may not get the
time to perceive or internalize the events as they occur. However, after retirement, some of the
events may haunt them back. These events come as flashbacks that may happen in the long run.
If not treated, these flashbacks may result in the realization of mental health problems.
The primary motivation behind the selection of this topic comes from the need to identify
the various issues of concern faced by the soldiers who participate in war; which in the end lead
to mental health challenges. Regardless of the duration of the war, soldiers sometimes find it
hard to access the necessary help which may offer the best interventions and also therapies to
enable them to cope with the challenges faced (Tian, 2010). Based on the previously collected
pieces of evidence, it follows that soldiers often face significant problems after they retire from
war. Some may turn to drugs among other behaviors in case they fail to get the required
assistance early enough. This topic carried multiple issues often overseen by the researchers.
These research areas would enable the scholars to collect as many pieces of evidence as possible,
which help them understand the short and long-term mental effects that war has on the soldiers.

THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

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Hypothesis
Soldiers who usually get exposed to war face numerous problems after serving. The
veterans in most cases end up in mental hospitals because of the psychological challenges and
encounters that they face while serving in diverse areas. However, numerous pieces of research
explain the possible impacts that the various soldiers who served in war suffer from while
considering the health conditions. However, not many pieces of work tend to evaluate the mental
health effects of soldiers who served in multiple areas.
Further, the past pieces of research do not evaluate the possible impacts that the soldiers
who served in different areas suffer from. This research will not only help to analyze the mental
effects of war or combat on soldiers but also will highlight the degree of the impacts with regards
to the area under which these people operated or performed their missions. For example, this
research will focus on the development of an analysis that matches the mental health effects of
the war on the selected soldiers based on the areas that they served. With this kind of data, the
research will offer the relevant recommendations that the health care among other stakeholders
can adopt thereby developing an effective approach to the underlying impacts.
The continued exposure to war may, in the long run, result in various challenges to the
affected soldiers. For instance, the soldiers deployed in diverse fields of operation who encounter
different incidences such as murder and demise of their colleagues may exhibit numerous
challenges that arise from the mental perspective. For example, some of the most common issues
that arise in the long run may include post-traumatic disorder, work, and family conflicts and
also reduced health and normal functioning of the affected soldiers (Vinokur, Pierce,
Lewandowski-Romps, Hobfoll & Galea, 2011). Further, soldiers exposed to war for an extended
period may exhibit other conditions such as cardiac, nervous and also the gastrointestinal

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illnesses which significantly affect their mental health. In most cases, the trauma or mental health
challenges that the soldiers face come from the past experiences and also the prevalence of the
underlying illnesses as the ones mentioned above. Most soldiers may fail to seek the appropriate
assistance from the medical teams which increases the chances of suffering from more severe
conditions in the future.
Looking at the past experiences and the kind of lives that the soldiers who participated in
war lead, it raises various issues of concern. The following section on literature will show that a
large number of soldiers who participated in the war, in the long run, suffer from different
mental health conditions which includes PTSD among others. Therefore, one may wonder the
probable cause of these conditions based on the nature of missions that the soldiers perform
when serving. Therefore, the development of this research must focus primarily on evaluating
the most likely issues of concern that affect the mental health perspective of the soldiers who get
exposed to combat. Therefore, this research will use the past literature among other pieces of
data as the ultimate evidence to create a final report that relates the mental impacts that soldiers
who participated in combat to the experiences that they encounter while serving.
The continued exposure to combat action plays a huge role in bringing about mental
health conditions such as PTSD among others as exhibited by veterans among other soldiers after
serving. Therefore, the past experiences that soldiers encounter while at service contribute a
large part towards the witnessed conditions that the soldiers exhibit such as mental health
challenges among other risky behavior and also suicidal incidents. This hypothesis forms the
starting point where the research will base its arguments. Therefore, the proposed research seeks
to evaluate the possible effects that war and combat bring about to the various soldiers by

THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

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addressing many variables such as age, gender and also the area of services such as Iraq, Iran or
even Afghanistan.
The research carried out will primarily focus on the mental health issues that the soldiers
suffer. Secondly, the researcher will look at the short and long-term effects of war on the soldiers
from an emotional perspective. Further, the scholar will highlight the results of mental health
challenges to the soldiers. Other than addressing just the problems faced by the soldiers, the
paper will, on the final section, highlight the most likely and most effective interventions that the
medical teams, as well as their families, may implement to reduce the witnessed problems
(Acosta, 2013). This paper will primarily focus on the mental health impacts that war brings onto
the soldiers, their families and also the environment that they reside.
Literature review
After considering the basics of the selected topic which revolves around the evaluation of
the various impacts that the soldiers who participate in war suffer from, this section looks at the
past pieces of literature with regards to supplementing the provided thesis statement. The
identified thesis claimed that soldiers who take part in a war, suffer from several mental health
problems (Hoge et al., 2014). The research of Wilk, Quartana, Clarke‐Walper, Kok, and Riviere
(2015) focused on explaining the aggression usually exhibited by the various soldiers who
participated in war after their deployment. The authors, in this case, claim that in most cases, the
soldiers who retire from their service, their deployment tasks may exhibit numerous attributes
that do not go in line with those of the ordinary population (Wilk et al., 2015). The most
common traits witnessed hence include anger, agitation and also but not limited to, aggression.
The authors, however, claim that although a large number of soldiers exhibit these attributes after

THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

6

their service to their countries, researchers and experts yet do not provide a clear association
between the characteristics and exposure to war (Wilk et al., 2015).
In their study, Wilk et al. (2015) outline the possible link between exposure to war and
combat and the witnessed characteristics such as anger and aggression. The study selected 2,420
soldiers who served in various areas. The selection of the soldiers who would act as the ultimate
research subjects, happened randomly where the experts subjected the participants to
questionnaires. These questionnaires sought to collect information about the levels of exposure
in war, their rates of PTSD, aggression, and anger, three months after returning from their
mission in Afghanistan. The study concluded that the soldiers who participated in the war
exhibited varying levels of anger traits among other attributes. Those soldiers who exhibited
higher levels of anger also carried the characteristics of PTSD and hence, aggression. However,
the soldiers with low anger traits did not show high levels of PTSD and aggression
simultaneously.
It is also important to consider how many veteran soldiers had turned to alcohol and
substance misuse to try to overcome the stress related to the war. In this regard, Wilk et al.
(2010) highlight how many veteran soldiers returning from the Iraq war had developed some
degree of alcoholism. According to their results around one-fourth of the veteran soldiers
screened positive for alcohol misuse even some months after their deployment from the war.
Moreover, 12% of the veteran soldiers exhibited alcoholism behavioral problems. The incidence
rate of alcohol misuse and alcoholism-related behavioral issues seemed to increase with the
increase in the exposure to especially violent scenarios, such as fighting, killing, and atrocities.

THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

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Another study carried out by Barr, Kintzle, Sullivan & Castro (2017) focused on the
evaluation of the underlying impacts that PTSD brought to the soldiers who participated in a war,
with regards to suicide among other risky mental health-related behavior. In the study, the
authors claim that in most cases, the respective research teams engage themselves in evaluating
the impacts that continued exposure to the combat of soldiers brings to them in the long run
(Barr et al., 2017). However, according to the authors, few to no experts devote their time to
explore the other non-suicidal related behavior that the soldiers may exhibit. In the long run,
soldiers who participated in combat may exhibit other high-risk behaviors such as reckless
driving among others, which in most cases go unnoticed. This research attempts to evaluate the
possible impacts that exposure to war brings to the soldiers, without considering the suicidal
behavior because the area receives much attention from the various parties.
The authors, in this case, implemented the structural equation modeling strategy in
determining the possible link that exists in the various behavior that the soldiers after war
exhibited (Barr et al., 2017). Some of this behavior and attributes include PTSD, HRB and also
suicidal cases. After conducting the experiment and data analysis, the experts, in the end,
concluded that soldiers who participated in war might exhibit various attributes such as PTSD,
suicidal thoughts and also but not limited to, the other negative high-risk behaviors. In the end,
these effects in most cases may lead to premature deaths among the affected soldiers. The
obtained results form a firm foundation to the clinical practitioners, to develop the right
procedures and mechanisms to act as the ultimate interventions to the witnessed challenges on
the overall scale to prevent the possibility of premature deaths.
Barr et al. (2018) highlight how there are soldiers that may experience multiple other
behaviors after having been exposed to war. In this regard, they observed not only the commonly

THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

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described post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but adverse, non-suicidal behaviors. Among
them, the most commonly found behavior according to the data reported by Barr et al. (2018)
consists of reckless driving.
The evaluation of the suicidal risk in soldiers exposed to war is mainly dependent on the
degree of post-traumatic stress disorder experienced by the soldier. However, the use of PTSD
symptoms as an indicator of the potential risk of suicide among soldiers has a considerable
disadvantage that the symptoms often appear too late. In this regard, Barr et al. suggest
evaluating any changes in the soldier's behavior, and most importantly deterioration, as an
indicator of high psychological damage that poses a higher suicidal risk on the soldier. The
earlier detection of such risk implies that the soldier may get psychological assistance earlier,
minimizing the long-term effects and decreasing the risk of suicidal behaviors (Barr et al., 2018).
The two main leading factors that increase the suicidal rate among soldiers exposed to
violent actions during the war are the post-traumatic stress disorder and non-suicidal changes in
the individual’s behavior such as driving recklessly (Barr et al., 2018). Nonetheless, as pointed
out by Barr et al. (2018) the study carried out presents several limitations. In this regard, the most
relevant limitations of the study are both the non-random sampling and the existence of a high
level of multicollinearity between the variables (Barr et al., 2018).
Considering the article as presented by Barr, Kintzle, Sullivan, and Castro (2018), one
can conclude that the authors, in this case, conducted a different kind of research. The authors
used structural equation modeling methodology to identify the link between PTSD, suicidal
thoughts and the witnessed instances of high-risk behavior amongst the soldiers who participated
in a war. In the analysis, the authors take a different path by including the aspect of high-risk
behavior. As compared to the other pieces of research conducted in the past, the authors in this

THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

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study sought to explore the areas that the previous parties failed to do. In the analysis, the authors
manage to come up with outcomes that show the relationship that exists between PTSD, suicidal
thoughts and high-risk behaviors of the soldiers who are exposed to combat.
Ferrajao, Oliveira & Badoud (2017) focused on determining the effect of attachment
dimensions on the mental health of those fought in the wars. The study involved understanding
the avoidance and anxiety conditions of soldiers and the impact this had on their behaviors later
on in life. The authors developed their analysis by researching some individuals. It was evident
that the prolonged exposure to war activities led to some significant changes in the health
conditions of the soldiers. They avoid family members and friends due to the fear of influencing
them, due to their mental health conditions (Ferrajão, Badoud, & Oliveira, 2017). The authors
identified those that were getting post-traumatic stress disorders, impacts the way soldiers live
their lives. They get the feeling that they need to live in isolation. The authors, therefore, sought
to develop the idea that the exposure to wars affects on the afterlife of the soldiers since they live
in fear and tend to distance themselves from others as well as refuse the help that provided for
them.
The authors conduct the study with the aim of determining the impact of the isolation and
lack of attachment to others. A sample to do the research based on Portuguese war veterans. The
sample included the soldiers who had participated in the war for an extended period. The
responses from the veterans were used to determine the effect of the mental strategies such as
perception, self-regulation skills, internal and external communication. Those who had recovered
from the post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as those who had not improved, were involved in
the study. The results obtained brought the conclusion of the study to identify that the PTSD
affects the lives of soldiers. The condition renders it difficult for them to cope with the

THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

10

environment and as such, it becomes difficult to cooperate with others in the recovery
process(Ferrajão, Badoud, & Oliveira, 2017). In this case, after the exposure to the war, most of
these participants are already old. The old age contributes to the feelings and emotions which
makes it difficult to cope with stress symptoms. Thus, they prefer to exclude themselves from
society.
According to Farrago, Oliveira & Badoud (2017), violence and war situations contributed
to the afterlives of the veterans after the war. Soldiers who have had experiences in the wars
concentrate on living a quiet life away from the environment. They prefer doing things and
activities on their own. The authors focused on determining if the choices to live in isolation
were in connection with the effect of violence on their mental health. Through the research, the
authors revealed a significant understanding of the PTSD condition and how it impacts the lives
of the veterans.
The other study conducted by Trujillo et al. (2017) focused on the effect of exposure to
the war experiences on the psychological being of the soldiers. The exposure to violence
increases the risks of having mental problems. The authors focused on investigating the impact
of the mental health conditions of the war veterans on their lives after the war. Exposure to the
violence during war is believed to cause adverse effects on the psychological health of the
soldiers. Their social lives get affected such that their response to the surrounding becomes
impaired. War veterans show significant changes in their mental reaction towards the processing
of the events surrounding them. In any case, each of the soldiers presented a different answer
(Trujillo et al., 2017). Thus, the effect that the exposure of the violence contributes to the mental
health of these individuals varies. The authors, therefore, focused on understanding if the

THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

11

violence and war experiences had any connection to the psychological condition of the veterans.
It would help in understanding the effect it has on their mental being after the war experiences.
Trujillo et al., (2017) conducted the study using a systematic approach towards the issue.
A sample of 624 individuals was used in the study to evaluate the impact that war experiences
have on the mental health of veterans. The investigation revealed that at least their empathy
situations are related to the war experiences. The authors conducted the study in a range of some
months to ensure that enough information to obtain the conclusion achieved. War experiences
contribute to some of the life deficits observed in these veterans. It explains the cognitive
behaviors seen in most of the ex-soldiers. Since the participants in the study were armed, this
behavior was revealed to be as a result of the effect of the violence during the war. Thus, the
participants lived in fear and were less motivated to engage in societal activities. Instead, they
felt aggressive and some other kinds of empathy conditions. In conclusion, the authors explained
that some of the mental states experienced by ex-veterans were a result of the violent experiences
they had during the war.
The study by Trujillo et al., (2017) focused on understanding the effect of war
experiences on the empathy conditions of the veterans. It shows a significant understanding of
the study, instead of focusing on the overall mental health of these individuals; the study seeks to
understand the impact on the living conditions of the veterans. The review based on the fact that
these veterans were armed yet, they were out of the war. It is evident that the veterans
experienced conditions of aggression, fear, and were not willing to participate in friendship
activities in society. The impact of the violence they had gone through, led to the effects they
were experiencing living under normal circumstances in the community. In the analysis, the

THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

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authors ensured that they identified the types of empathy conditions related to the violence the
veterans had come across.
Looking at the research presented by Wilk, Quartana, Clarke‐Walper, Kok and Riviere
(2015), it follows that the authors, in this case, did not focus on the evaluation of the impacts of
war or combat on the soldiers but, seeks to understand the other traits witnessed in the long run
such as anger and also aggression and their association with PTSD. In most cases, researchers
may only engage themselves in identifying the various mental healthcare impacts that the
soldiers who participate in war may exhibit. However, few to no research in the past explored the
association between PTSD and the behavior that the soldiers exhibited. As a result, the soldiers
in multiple cases resulted in suicide, due to the lack of the necessary assistance. Just like in the
previously identified research, the paper presented by Wilk et al. (2015) pointed to a common
ground. The two documents, therefore, agreed that there exists more apart from the ordinary
impacts such as general mental health problems, that the soldiers who participated in combat
exhibited. These articles may play a considerable role in psychology in that they offer a firm
foundation that the various experts in the field can implement in their day to day tasks, which
involve dealing with soldiers who took part in a war. Without such critical findings, the relevant
clinical and also psychological experts may not understand the various behavior and attribute
that the soldiers who participated in the war exhibit. Furthermore, the findings provided in these
papers may act as the ultimate guide for the clinical and psychological experts to approach the
many cases that result in premature deaths.
The primary research topic may involve the exploration of the various cultural or gender
issues that can affect the studies explored. Including the aspect of gender may help the authors in
the two papers to provide refined statistics and findings. Besides, soldiers from a given culture

THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

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may exhibit different attributes or respond differently to their exposure to combat. Instead of
focusing on a single culture and also generalizing the entire population, the researchers may need
to refine their studies. In this case, the authors may need to consider the individual impacts and
behavior exhibited by the soldiers from different cultures and of differing genders. Comparing
the two outcomes may help in the long run to come up with a set of findings that can help the
researchers, research to make the relevant conclusions with regards to the right interventions to
use for each group of victims.
Wilk et al. (2010) highlight another significant health effect of the exposure of veteran
soldiers to the atrocities and threatening situations experienced while they were in the war. In
this regard, they observed how a very high proportion of soldiers presented an excessive alcohol
consumption even month after returning from the war. From this point of view, the clinical
assessment of veteran soldiers needs to take alcohol and substance misuse into account when
treating these soldiers to help better them overcome the mental and health effects that the war
had had on them (Wilk et al., 2010).

Mantua et al. (2018), on the other hand, suggest the use of variables such as the sleep
quality and the capability to regulate their own emotions to estimate the anxiety experienced by
soldiers who have post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the extreme violence seen during a
war. According to the obtained results, however, such interaction between the variables was only
present if the soldier showed a poor sleep quality. In this regard, when the soldier presented an
excellent sleep quality, his inability to control his own emotions did not necessarily result in a
higher anxiety level as would happen if he had shown a poor sleep quality (Mantua et al., 2018).

THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

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Brooks et al. (2008) evaluated the main symptoms reported by veteran soldiers from the
Vietnam war. According to the data reported, the soldiers presented multiple symptoms of
psychosomatic illness soon after coming back from Vietnam, such as chronic fatigue, headaches,
dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath, and joint pain even if they had never injured during the
war. Moreover, around 15% of Vietnam soldiers diagnosed with some degree of post-traumatic
stress disorder, 4.5% showed symptoms of depression, and 4.9% showed symptoms of anxiety. It
is noteworthy how these figures are significantly higher than veteran soldiers that served in other
wars, which Brooks et al. (2008) attributed to the unusually harsh conditions experienced in the
Vietnam war, and the long campaigns that the veteran soldiers had to do on such a long war.
Brooks et al. (2008) also observed significant differences between younger and older
Vietnam veterans. In this regard, younger veterans (below 60 years old), had a higher incidence
rate of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions. They also presented a
higher frequency of emotional problems and limited accomplishment and took substantially less
care in daily life activities. Interestingly, though, older veteran soldiers had higher difficulties to
relate with the rest of people even if they reported to feel calmer and of having lots of energy
when compared to younger Vietnam veteran soldiers.
According to the conclusions derived from the study of Brooks et al. (2008), it is
essential to consider both the war in which the soldiers had participated and their age when
evaluating the mental health effects that war had on the soldiers. In this regard, they observed
significant differences between Vietnam veteran soldiers and the rest of the veteran soldiers that
participated in other wars. They also found a substantially different incidence rate of the different
physical and psychological health effects of war on veteran soldiers depending on their age.

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From the above, it is necessary to consider the influence that these two variables (war and age)
have on the obtained results to accurately estimate the health effects of war on veteran soldiers.

As stated in the previous section, Mantua et al. (2018) used other variables to assist in the
identification of PTSD at an early stage in soldiers after having come back from a war. In this
regard, the obtained results suggested that difficulty in regulating the emotions would be a good
predictor of a high anxiety level as long as the individual presented other symptoms, such as a
poor sleep quality (Mantua, 2018). As discussed in the previous example, the use of such
variables to identify a high risk of developing PTSD in soldiers is crucial, as the early treatment
of the symptoms results in a substantially better prognosis in the long run.

Polusny, et al. (2014) conducted a study aimed at evaluating the possible impacts that the
women who served in the military exhibited after their terms, with regards to PTSD among other
factors in relation to their counterparts. The researchers, in this case, focused on fulfilling a
single objective aimed at evaluating the possible connection or behavior that the pre-deployment
factors as well as combat that the women who serve in the military may exhibit, as compared to
the men from the development of PTSD symptoms perspective. The study found out that man in
most cases exhibited high rates of exposure to combat as compared to the women. However,
from another perspective, the study found out that women from their end, reported a high rate of
sexual stressors while on duty as compared to the men.

THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF WAR ON SOLDIERS

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On the other hand, the study conducted by Polusny, et al. (20...


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