Chapter 1. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: A Vietnam Combat Veteran

Short Description

This video provides an introduction to anxiety disorders and, more specifically, to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Long Description

In a flashback to the Vietnam War, Dennis describes the horror of a firefight. With dead and wounded comrades all around and your own life threatened, one has a profound sense of fear and helplessness. Dennis claims the war "took his soul" along with any goodness and happiness he once possessed. Psychiatrist J. Douglas Bremner suggests that Dennis exhibits the important symptoms of PTSD, including intrusive memories over which he has little control, nightmares of the war, jumpy anxiety, and hypervigilance. Dennis explains that currently he feels trapped by his past trauma and is at times suicidal. He carries the hopelessness of the war into his present life. Busy streets continue to elicit the fear of ambush. His disorder interferes with his ability to do his work and to maintain close interpersonal relationships. Cars backfiring or even the smell of diesel bring Dennis back to Vietnam.

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