Gulf War Syndrome

663 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Causes and consequences of the gulf wars

Gulf War Syndrome

One part of being an American, is giving yourself to your country when deemed necessary. In 1991, the United States took action in the Gulf War, where many US solders were sent. In fact, a total of 697,000 solders took part in the Gulf War. And of that amount, 6% (about 45,000) veterans have reported an ailment related to this war. Much chaos arose from these sicknesses, and from this a syndrome was born. The syndrome is called the Gulf War Syndrome. Wether this is myth or not has been throughly researched, but how can one claim 45,000 veterans to be falsely accusing an ailment they believe to be at fault of the Gulf War?

There are many different sides of these syndrome, and much hype about who's right and wrong. Many believe that the government is trying to hide information away from those who are suffering from Gulf War Syndrome. In fact in one report a man claims that the evidence of the GULF WAR SYNDROME was transferred to the Murra Building in Oklahoma. Which by chance is the same building which was bombed, and now all evidence has been destroyed. There are many more outrageous stories people say to use as the reason that there is no evidence supporting this syndrome.

Because there have been over 45,000 cases claimed to have GULF WAR SYNDROME, there have been many symptoms as well. Some of them include:

*Chronic Fatigue

*Skin Rashes

*Unusual Hair Loss

*Headache

*Muscle Pain

*Neurologic Signs or Symptoms

*Neuropsychological Signs or Symptoms

*Signs or Symptoms involving upper or lower respiratory system

*Sleep Disturbance

*Gastrointestinal Signs or symptoms

*Cardiovascular Signs or Symptoms

*Menstrual Disorders

These are the normal symptoms in which people have claime...

... middle of paper ...

...se who have claimed to have GULF WAR SYNDROME cannot, because there is no such syndrome. Even though the syndrome does not exist, the government has given money to those who need it.

In closing, I am not one who can determine if someone is truly as sick as they say. And I really don't think there are many people out there who can claim if GULF WAR SYNDROME does exist or not. Although there are always those people in the world who will do whatever it takes to earn a few dishonest dollars. But then there are those who really are being honest, but no one will listen to them. I do feel that those people who feel they do have GULF WAR SYNDROME, should be listened to. They spent their time serving our country. And now they have been pushed aside. I do not see how this can be fair. Why can't we serve them?

Bibliography:

WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA

Show More
Related

  • In What Year, Did Pete Carlos Kill Joe Espinosa

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    They fought for their country because they thought they would gain first class citizenship when they returned, but that didn’t happen. When they returned home, nothing had changed. They were still discriminated. They felt a lot of resentment over that.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Struggling Back From War's Once Deadly Wounds

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    It’s hard for civilians to see what veterans had to face and still do even after all is said and done. The rhetorical strategies that contribute to Grady’s success in this article is appealing to the reader’s emotions through the story of Jason Poole. Denise Grady’s “Struggling Back From War’s Once Deadly Wounds” acts as an admonition for the American public and government to find a better way to assist troops to land on their feet post-war. Grady informs the reader on the recent problems risen through advancements in medical technology and how it affected the futures of all the troops sent into the Iraq war.

    Read More

  • W.E.B. DuBois: Hall of Fame

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d., pp. 113-117. Web. The Web.

    Read More

  • Struggling Back From War’s Once-Deadly Wounds

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story of Jason Poole as presented by Grady is a clear picture of the ravage of the potentials of soldiers in the face of war, and the wrong priorities of the American government in spending billions of dollars for the war that have no clear advantage for them or the American people, that is worth dying for. The sending of potential young men and women in Iraq to sustain its war lacked the basic objective that warrant their sacrifices, as well as the billions of dollars spend in pursuing such unclear purpose that is wrongly labeled “war on terror.” As per records, American fatalities in Iraq as of January 20 stood at two thousand two hundred twenty five (2, 225), while casualties numbered at 16, 472 (The New York Times, par. 8). Grady cited that medical treatments for brain injuries in Iraq alone would cost fourteen billion dollars.

    Read More

  • The Treatment and Lives of the Mentally Handicapped During the Great Depression

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fetzer, Scott. The World Book Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. Chicago, IL: World Book, 2009. Print. G

    Read More

  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder In U.S. Vietnam War Soldiers

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Vietnam War veteran experienced many gruesome and horrifying events during their time of serving the army. Seeing such horrifying things affected their mental and emotional thinking “PTSD is defined as a re-experience of a traumatic event, for example, flashbacks. Anything can trigger a flashback a click, a movement, anything associated with the past event” (Cruz). Seeing such horrifying things affected their mental and emotional thinking. A soldier was told to forget what they saw and basically move on from it, but it only made it worse. Having everything “bottled up” makes it even harder to treat PTSD. U.S. soldiers had to live with the disorder on their own without any help. “The veterans experience combat related nightmares, anxiety, anger, depression, alcohol and/or drug dependency, all are symptoms of PTSD” (Begg). The symptoms occurred over long periods of time when that person has been in certain situations that he or she was not ready to be in. Some of these situations including the Vietnam veterans not feeling like their unit was together or united. “Soldiers were sent into replace other soldiers, which caused the other members of the group to make fun or haze them. The unit never developed as much loyalty to each other as they should have” (Paulson and Krippner). “Many of...

    Read More

  • A Review of Barry Glassner's Culture of Fear

    407 Words  | 1 Pages

    Metaphoric Illness also contributes to our fears. One huge issue of the 1990's was GWS, Gulf War Syndrome. The media depicted sick veterans in wheel chairs or beside their deformed children (pg.156) to show us what effect GWS has on its victims. The New England Journal of Medicine did a study comparing 33,998 infants born to Gulf War veterans and 41,463 babies of other military personnel and finding no evidence of an increase in the risk of birth effects for children of Gulf War veterans (pg.157). This has been such an over exaggerated problem and because of this thousands of Gulf War veterans have undergone countless medical exams, rather than going to get the much needed counseling. The real illness is the fear, anxiety and hopelessness of the veterans; these may explain their "health" problems.

    Read More

  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Veterans

    1656 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...to gain economically (combined with veterans’ pride and distrust) accounts for the fact that of 830,000 Vietnam veterans with full-blown or partial PTSD, only 55,119 have filed claims, and the medical boards have only believed 28,411 (Triangle Institute study, July 1990) (Bentley, 2005)!

    Read More

  • PTSD in Stephen Chbosky's 'Perks of Being a Wallflower'

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    Post traumatic stress disorder to most people is a soldier that has just come back from

    Read More

  • PTSD In Vietnam Veterans

    1786 Words  | 4 Pages

    Imagine living in despair after coming back home, dismayed from a war that got no appreciation. Robert Kroger once said in his quote, “The brave men and women, who serve their country and as a result, live constantly with the war inside them, exist in a world of chaos. But the turmoil they experience isn’t who they are, the PTSD invades their minds and bodies.” Eleven percent of Vietnam Veterans still suffer with symptoms of the terrifying disorder of PTSD (Handwerk). Vietnam Veterans struggle with the physiological effects of PTSD after war, which leads to despair and many deaths.

    Read More

  • Shell Shock

    1402 Words  | 3 Pages

    Soldiers that are experiencing Shell Shock report having a wide variety of symptoms. It has been discovered that the symptoms that soldiers report experiencing are more mental than physical. Symptoms that we are looking for in Shell Shock victims include, amnesia, poor concentration, headaches, hypersensitivity to noise, dizziness, tremors, fatigue, memory loss, nervousness, reduced visual field, loss of smell and taste, and trouble sleeping. These symptoms are due to the stress that soldiers experienced while fighting on the war front. Other symptoms that soldiers are experiencing with Shell Shock are more emotional symptoms such as, general excitement, anxiety, remorse, anger, depression, irritability, and fear of frightful events. Soldiers are also experiencing symptoms when they experience events that remind them of trench welfare conditions. When soldiers are put in a situation that reminds them of trench welfare they start to experience symptoms of pain, distress, disgust or nausea. The emotional symptoms create a distressed mental state, and...

    Read More

  • A Brief Look at the Persian Gulf War

    2220 Words  | 5 Pages

    Soldiers falling, bullets flying, tensions rising, the Persian Gulf War was a significant war in terms of modern American history. The Cold War was a time of unease throughout the nation, from the end of World War Two in 1945 to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. After the Vietnam War ended poorly in the early 1970s, the United States remained out of war for another 20 years. When Iraq was threatening to invade Saudi Arabia in late 1990, the United States knew it had to intervene. After roughly two decades without war, America did not know how it’s military ranked up on an international level, especially against an Iraqi military that was the second largest in the world (Smith 2013). Soon after the stockpiling of coalition forces in the Middle East, the invasion of Iraq began. Weakening targets first with naval strikes, the ground forces invaded the Iraqi forces and liberated Kuwait. As soon as it started, the war ended in favor of the coalition forces. Due to the excellent preparations prior to the war, the United States led a swift battle against Iraq, which led to a successful outcome and restored faith in American citizens.

    Read More

  • marine life

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...They have studied members of 4 US combat infantry units 3 Army units and a Marine Corps unit using an anonymous survey that was administered to the subjects either before their deployment to Iraq or 3 to 4 months after their return from combat duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. The outcomes included major depression, generalized anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder PTSD, which were evaluated on the basis of standardized self-administered screening instruments. But studies showed that they people that where deployed to iraq was dealing with the mental weaknesses much more than troops deployed anywhere else.

    Read More

  • Soldiers and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    Post-Traumatic stress disorder is a psychiatric disorder that may develop after one has been a victim or witness of a traumatic event (What is PTSD). Men and women who served in the Vietnam War were vulnerable to many acts of violence and death such as guerilla warfare. After being discharged from the Armed Forces, they may experience flashbacks when a trigger brings back a memory or they may also suffer from nightmares or insomnia due to specific rattling experiences (Riley, Julie). Not being able to sleep can have some deteriorating effects on the body which can make life after war very hard to adjust to. The transfer of the Armed Forces back home life can be somewhat of a culture shock. However, anyone can develop PTSD. A person who has been a victim of abuse, an unexpected death/accident, or even a survivor of a natural disaster is at risk of being diagnosed with this disorder (Mental Health America). They may experience some symptoms of; depression, irritability, insomnia, flashbacks, they may complain of headaches or stomach pain, and may become reserved (Riley, Julie). These indicatio...

    Read More

  • PTSD In Veterans

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the September 11, 2001, 2.7 million soldiers have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Over 970,000 of these veterans currently suffer from the aftermath of this conflict. Soldiers who have faced combat have higher rates of suicides, mild to severe forms of psychosis, addiction to drugs and alcohol, automobile accidents, and deprivation of suitably safe and secure living places (Watson Institute International & Public Affairs Brown University, 2017). Although combat veterans have tried to overcome the effects of PTSD through various treatment programs, they still face extraordinary challenges, relational issues, and aggressiveness.

    Read More

More about Gulf War Syndrome

Open Document