According to the National Institute of Mental Health, in a given year, about 7.7 million American adults suffer from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)). There are many effects that are caused by war but the most notorious effect is PTSD. PTSD is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is an anxiety disorder that can occur after a person has been through a traumatic event. War also causes many other effects such as the effects that it has on children and the effects that it has on the environment and also on the economy. War in general, is just an unfortunate event that takes place in this world which causes destruction throughout the world and the after effects could be said to be more detrimental than the war itself. That could be said since the war is very detrimental itself but what occurs after the war is over is even more detrimental because the effects could be something that someone could have to live with for the rest of their life. With all that being said, war serves as a major impact on the soldiers and has an even bigger impact on their families. 

To start things off, I would like to present an opposing view. There a few medical professionals that seem to believe that PTSD doesn't exist. They argue that the diagnosis of the disorder has become too common. Because of that they "suggest revamping the definition and diagnosis criteria to help separate true cases of PTSD from other, less serious anxiety disorders related to stress" (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)). I can agree with them on part of what they said, I do believe that the diagnosis has become too common but at the same time I believe that PTSD exists. The reason that I agree with them on that particular statement is because I don't believe everyone has the same definition of traumatic event since something that someone would consider being traumatic, that same thing might not be traumatic to someone else. Like I was saying though, I still believe that PTSD exists because I have personally seen the change in someone before they went to war and then after they got back home. 

First, let's talk about the soldiers. Their struggle affects everyone around them and they usually put all the blame on themselves when things go wrong. There is this video on YouTube titled, Effects of Combat Stress on Soldiers -- Screening for Mental Health, and the video gets actual soldiers or veterans to talk about what they personally have to deal with once they get home from war. One of the soldiers in the video said that he has a problem with trusting people and that it is so bad that when he goes to a restaurant that he asks for a seat in the back of restaurant and that's because he wants his back to the wall so that he can see everyone. It is things like this that they have to deal with each and every day. They cannot even feel safe when they are back home because they are used to combat. One of the soldiers said that when oversees that you could tell when something bad was about to happen if you saw a traffic light out so he said when he is driving back at home and he sees a traffic light out that it makes him nervous. It is kind of a shame that the men and women who fight to protect our country are not even able to feel safe when they are back home. 

There are some effects that are caused by war that affects both the soldiers and their families, and actually everyone in general. One of the major effects that affects everyone is the economic aspect of war. In the article, The Economic Effects of War, it says that "war increases the incidence of poverty by about 30 percent" (Civan). There is another article, War and Stock Markets: The Effect of World War Two On the British Stock Market, that states "as 55% of the British labor force had been employed in war production, Britain faced huge unemployment issues and austerity in the post-war years" (Hudson and Urquhart). Both of the examples show everyone the economic impact that a war has on a country as a whole. There are actually a lot of people out there that believe war is good for the economy. In the article, Are Wars Good for the Economy, it says that "a war gives the economy a boost" because many people gain job security while they work through a war so they spend more money than they would before the war since they are less worried about losing their job. There is also another article that discusses the economic effects that come with war. The article is Fanning the Flames? Flow Media Coverage of a Price War Affects Retailers, Consumers, And Investors. Now this particular article discusses the effects on retailers, consumers and investors. Throughout the article it says that war effects the investors through abnormal stock returns, as well as the consumers being affected from market share and then how the retailers are affected because of price changes. There is another article that is titled, Will America Go to War for the Philippines, that also talks about the economic effects. The author, Richard Heydarian, which is an assistant Professor at De La Salle University, says that the economy would take a huge hit since we would be going to war with China. It could be said that the economic effect is one of the most overlooked effects that are caused by war and it should not be it is just as important than any other effect. 

Many people probably do not know all of the effects that war has on the environment. In fact, NASA released a new study stating that a drought that began in 1998 is probably the worst in 900 years in the Middle East. In the article, Mideast Drought Worst in 900 Years, NASA Says, which was written by Don Melvin, it says the "drought contributed to the conflict in Syria" (Melvin). Another example of the effects that war causes on the environment is clearly stated in another article, which is titled The Effects of Modern War and Military Activities On Biodiversity and The Environment, as it talks more about the effects on animals. In the article it says that "aquatic organisms are particularly sensitive to the effects of a blast" (Lawrence). Michael Lawrence, the author, says "manifestation of conflict in direct combat and military engagements has continuously plagued the world throughout the 20th century leading to more than 100 million human deaths across a number of major and minor wars". This last example is especially important because it talks about how the animals can be effected as well as us humans, which is why it is important since it shows that everything and everyone is affected because of what takes place during a war. Just like the economic effect that was mentioned earlier, the environmental effect that is caused by a war could also be said to be overlooked for whatever reason. Personally, I believe that this particular effect would be the most obvious effect that is caused by war. I say that because all of the explosions and the smoke and everything else that occurs because of a war cannot be good for our environment. 

Now, I would like to talk about the families of the soldiers and how they are affected. The article, The Effects of Combat Exposure, Abusive Violence, And Sense of Coherence On PTSD and Depression in Portuguese Colonial War Veterans, states that "research found a strong relationship between PTSD and depression" (Ferrajao and Oliveira). As hard as it is for the soldiers to deal with their PTSD, it is just as or if not harder on the family to deal with it. It cannot be easy seeing your loved one depressed or hurt. It also cannot be easy dealing with the change in the person because usually when someone returns home from war, they are not the same person mentally or emotionally or even physically. In the article, Terror management in times of war: Mortality salience effects on self-esteem and governmental and army support, it says "previous research has identified economic and political factors that can contribute to the outbreak and the duration of armed conflicts" but "the psychological factors that may play a role in conflict escalation and duration have received less attention" (Chatard). What this example is saying is that the psychological effects do not get as much attention as they deserve. There's a piece in the article, PTSD Affects the Whole Family, that says "for most, family involves intimacy, security, and comfort. When the world turns ugly, many people turn to their family for reassurance and emotional support. But when the ugliness of society invades the minds of a family member, as the symptoms of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) do, the entire family can suffer." (PTSD Affects the Whole Family). In the same article it says "One great challenge of having PTSD is for the person to successfully manage their illness while staying emotionally connected to their family" (PTSD Affects the Whole Family). That can be hard on the family because they may lose patience if they don't fully understand the symptoms of the disease or simply if they do not know how to help their loved one recover. That is why the family should educate themselves about PTSD so that they can be there for their loved ones when they need their love and support the most. In the same article as above it says "Research has shown how PTSD in one family member can affect family dynamics and other individual family members. Those with PTSD have more marital problems than those without. The children of those with PTSD have more anxiety, depression, and behavioral problems than other children" (PTSD Affects the Whole Family). When you hear about how the children can be affected it is saddening because they are usually so young at the time that they do not fully understand what is going on and for them to have to go through depression or have behavioral problems is just not fair to them or even their parents. 

Out of everyone, it could probably be said that children have the worst effects when it comes to a war. That is because of what I said earlier about them being so young that they do not fully understand why everything is happening. In the article, Effects of War, Terrorism and Armed Conflict on Young Children: A Syst., it discusses the ways that children are affected by what happens during and after a war. It says "some of the effects that children could possibly face is PTSD, behavioral and emotional symptoms, sleep problems, disturbed play and psychosomatic symptoms" (Slone and Mann). There is an article which is titled, Effects of War on Children, that says "as a consequence of conflict, children and young people can lose their confidence, their trust in others and their trust in the future. They often become anxious, depressed and withdrawn, or rebellious and aggressive" (Romenzi). It is unfortunate that children could possibly have these lifelong effects because of something that is out of their hands. The fact that even children can be diagnosed with PTSD is heartbreaking because that could be something that they have to live with for the rest of their lives. There is another article that is titled, The Effects of War on Children, that is talking about the effects of PTSD and it says that "it adversely affects adults who are sent to fight in conflicts, and the effects on vulnerable and impressionable children can be worse. Particularly as many don't really understand what the conflict is about or why it is happening. It can affect their ability to forge healthy relationships with adults or with their peers (The Effects of War on Children). It then goes on to say that "some turn to alcohol or drug misuse as a coping mechanism  --  this behavior is particularly common among street children and child soldiers" (The Effects of War on Children). I believe that children experience the worst of all the effects that are caused by war simply because they are the ones who have to deal with the effects the longest. 

The effects that are caused by war have a major impact on the lives of the soldiers and also on the lives of their families. Anything and everything can be affected by war. The major effects that I discussed were the psychological effects on the soldiers which includes PTSD, I also discussed the economic effects, then the environmental effects of war, and finally the effect that it has on the families of someone who is dealing with PTSD and that also includes the effects it has on children. When talking about the psychological effects that it has on the soldiers that have been to war, I talked mostly about how hard it is for them to cope with their PTSD and how they feel that cannot even be safe when back home because of all the things they seen in war. Then when talking about the economic effects, I brought up how the years after a war ends tends to be detrimental to the economy. Moving on to the environmental effects, it is scary to even think about this because everything and everyone is affected by war when talking about the environment. Us humans are probably affected the worst but the way that a war affects the animals is pretty heartbreaking because in the article, The Effects of Modern War and Military Activities On Biodiversity and The Environment, it says that "aquatic organisms are particularly sensitive to the effects of a blast" (Lawrence). When you really think about it, humans basically use just about everything in the environment to survive so if everything starts dying off in the near future then that could be very detrimental to humans. Lastly, I talked about the families of the soldiers and how they are also affected because of war. The families are not directly exposed to the effects like PTSD but at the end of the day it is still difficult on them seeing their loved ones not being themselves. Also being related to that is the fact that even children are affected from war because as previously stated "some of the effects that children could possibly face is PTSD, behavioral and emotional symptoms, sleep problems, disturbed play and psychosomatic symptoms" (Slone and Mann). All of that tends to lead to things like "some turn[ing] to alcohol or drug misuse as a coping mechanism (The Effects of War on Children). Overall, the effects that are caused by war effect everyone but with that being said they effect the soldiers who have been to war and their families the most since the soldiers are directly impacted and that leads to the families being affected once their loved one returns home. 

