Living With a Military Injury

What are the most common military injuries?

Traumatic Brain injury is one of the most common injuries reported, accounting for up to 50 percent of combat related casualties. This injury is very difficult as it is a “silent injury” that can have long lasting effects. Symptoms include feelings of dizziness, feeling tired all the time, having a hard time concentrating, being sensitive to sounds or lights, slowed thinking, changes in sex drive or behavior and difficulty organizing daily tasks.

PTSD- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a psychiatric disorder that can occur after witnessing or experiencing a life threatening event. These traumatic events can include anything from military combat, being homeless, serious accidents, abuse, physical or sexual assault, or witnessing the death of another person. Living with PTSD or trauma is real. It is exhausting and without treatment often leads to severe depression and/or addiction. Survivors sometimes describe themselves as symptom free immediately following an event of this nature. However, closer examination often uncovers unresolved problems including nightmares, intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, difficulty finding pleasure in life, relationship problems and feeling numb. Over a period of time these symptoms may escalate, sometimes leading to avoidance of crowded areas, inability to venture outside or participate in once pleasurable activities and scanning rooms for signs of danger.

Anxiety Disorder is characterized by six or more months of excessive worrying that significantly affects your life. Anxiety can leave you feeling hopeless, fearful and full of fright. Your life may be filled with stress and tension that you feel powerless to control. Living with heightened anxiety can be detrimental to long-term health. You may recognize that the things your worries are illogical, but can’t make yourself stop thinking about them or relax long enough to experience the peace needed to move on. As stress increases along with fear, you may experience panic attacks, which make it difficult to breathe, increases heart rate and cause excessive sweating. Heightened anxiety can affect your relationships, social interactions and even make it feel impossible to leave the house. Anxiety can also cause to depression and lead to substance abuse.

Depression hurts. Severe depression kills. Activities and people that you used to bring you joy don’t seem to matter anymore. You may feel isolated from friends and family, feel that nobody understands you and fear that there is no way out. It is common to feel fatigued, struggle to sleep well and not want to get out of bed in the morning. Motivation can be affected, and even simple tasks like getting dressed in the morning may be just one more thing you don’t want to do. Over time, it’s not uncommon to lose hope, and when depression is severe you may be willing to do anything to take away the pain. In desperate moments, the only solution you may feel is to end things or try to drown out pain with a substance.

Amputees may find that fragments of weapons and debris are left in their extremities. Battlefield wounds are left open because of high risk of infection to allow healing and then amputation followed by reconstruction often months or years after the initial injury. Phantom pain, the sensation of pain in the lost limb, can often occur. Service members may find themselves coping with the intense realization that they may never be able to function the way they once did as well as adjusting to a lifestyle without as much freedom, increased limitations and even job loss.

Spinal cord injuries can disrupt sensation, feelings and function. Sometimes it can result in paralysis, which may leave an individual incontinent. Severe quality of life can be affected.

Loss of vision or hearing is common and can leave everyday activities previously taken for granted a frustrating experience. Service members may find that they have lost their independence. Individuals may find themselves under a high amount of stress and struggling with self-esteem and self-worth issues.

Burns make up approximately 5 to 20 percent of combat casualties, which are common in combat in armored vehicles. Severe burns can be decapitating and require many operations and skin grafts. Many individuals go through a process of grieving that can include shock, depression, anger and finally acceptance. They may battle self-esteem issues, depression and question their own self-worth. Military injury counseling can be effective in helping burn victims process how to cope with how they view themselves and how others react to them.