Why do some suffer PTSD, others don’t

This is partly right but mostly misses the point. The fact that PTSD is caused by an outside force, a traumatic event, to even consider it is linked in anyway to genetics or "predisposition" totally misses what is real.

When researchers look at PTSD and then families, they miss the factor of living with PTSD in the household. If they understood how hard it is, how traumatic it is to live with a ticking time bomb, calm one minute and exploding the next, they'd understand genetics has nothing to do with this but it is secondary PTSD from living with them and the constant stress. This happened in veterans' families since the beginning of time. It happened even more when Vietnam veterans came home and they had no where to turn for help or support. With that in mind, what they accomplished despite the lack of care for them is truly remarkable. Had it not been for them fighting to have PTSD treated, nothing would be available for today's veterans. Trauma is not genetic, it's human.

What opens the door to PTSD is the ability to care. The deeper they feel, the deeper they are wounded. They mistake being sensitive as something limiting them from being courageous. Once they understand that being sensitive/compassionate, does no good without the courage to act, they then begin to understand themselves. Take a compassionate person on the sidewalk with a child in the middle of the street. If they cared but had no courage, they would stand there and fear for the child. With courage, they would rush into the street to save the child. If they had courage but no compassion, they would not care enough to even think of saving the child. The deeper their soul feels, the deeper the wound.

If they understood this to begin with, you'd see a lot less damage done by PTSD produced from combat or law enforcement. This type of PTSD is brought on by numerous times putting their lives on the line and being participants in the traumatic event itself. Age is also a factor. We know the human mind is not truly "grown" until the age of 25. Ask a Vietnam vet how old they were when they were in Vietnam and the answer is usually way under 25 beginning with the age of 18. So we have age and compassion that needs to be addressed and considered when they begin to look at preventing PTSD. Until they understand the difference they will not be able to treat it properly either.

There are different levels of PTSD, different types of trauma as well, so until they acknowledge the differences between traumatic events brought on by acts of God, response by man or created by the hands of man, they will not treat it properly. There is a difference between being a victim of the traumatic event and being a participant in the event itself. Combat veterans are exposed to traumatic events more often than law enforcement during the year, but the law enforcement officers usually risk their lives for longer spans. What is even more crucial to acknowledge is that when the National Guards and Reservists are sent into combat, they return to jobs as cops and firefighters, continuing to put their lives on the line for the sake of others. Their traumatic cycle never really ends. This is why the rate of PTSD for them was over 50% a few years ago.

They also have to factor in the fact the Army did a study that warned the risk for PTSD went up by 50% for each redeployment. How many times have many of them been sent back into combat? Some are on their 6th tour. There are so many things the "researchers" need to understand that they are still missing, but most of this comes with years of talking to them and living with them and talking to their families as well as being one. It's all personal to me. The best therapists for PTSD to find either have it or live with it. Their inside world helps them know what is real and what someone wrote in a clinical book.

Why do some suffer PTSD, others don’t?
By Gretel C. Kovach, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 12:04 a.m.



The National Center for PTSD identified six factors essential to building resilience against those sources of stress:

• Positive outlook

• Spirituality

• Active coping

• Self-confidence

• Learning and making meaning

• Acceptance of limits

When Sgt. Michael Blair awoke from a drug-induced coma four years ago, doctors gave him a choice.

Blair’s legs had been blasted by a roadside bomb in Iraq. The physicians could amputate both limbs, or they could try to save them through a series of grueling medical procedures. More than 60 surgeries later, the Marine, formerly stationed at Twentynine Palms, still struggles with chronic pain as he continues his care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

With the help of a cane, though, Blair walked amid the cherry blossoms at the White House this week with his wife and 4-year-old daughter. He has piloted his first solo flight, kayaked through the Grand Canyon, used a hand cycle to finish several marathons and dreamed of opening a therapeutic recreation center for wounded troops.

Blair relies on a strong support network that includes his family, sports organizations and the Marine Corps. But he also may be genetically predisposed to withstand physical and mental trauma.

“I am just so freakin’ grateful to be alive,” said Blair, 35, who will be a featured speaker next month at the Naval Center for Combat & Operational Stress Control’s conference in San Diego.

Researchers are just starting to understand what gives some service members the mental hardiness, or resilience, to fend off post-traumatic stress disorder. Is it innate, a matter of training or a complex interaction between the two?

The answers could help inoculate both combat veterans and civilians against potentially debilitating bouts of trauma-induced stress.
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Why do some suffer PTSD