SBAND Seminar Materials 2013 Free Ethics: Echoes of War The Combat Veteran | Page 18
of
PTSD
can
lead
to
behaviors
likely
to
result
in
criminal
behavior
and/or
sudden
outbursts
of
violence.
Individuals
with
PTSD
are
often
plagued
by
memories
of
the
trauma,
chronically
anxious,
and
unable
to
sleep
without
terrifying
nightmares.
They
often
self-? medicate
with
drugs
and
alcohol
in
an
attempt
to
calm
their
nerves
and
sleep.
The
emotional
numbness
many
trauma
survivors
experience
can
lead
the
survivor
to
engage
in
sensation-?seeking
behavior
in
an
attempt
to
experience
some
type
of
emotion.
Some
combat
veterans
also
may
seek
to
recreate
the
adrenaline
rush
experienced
during
combat.
“Hypervigilance,”
feeling
the
need
to
be
always
“on
guard”
can
cause
veterans
to
misinterpret
benign
situations
as
threatening
and
cause
them
to
respond
with
self-? protective
behavior.
Increased
baseline
physiological
arousal
results
in
violent
behavior
that
is
out
of
proportion
to
the
perceived
threat.
It
is
common
for
trauma
survivors
to
feel
guilt
and
to
resort
to
self-?destructive
behaviors,
which
can
sometimes
lead
them
to
commit
crimes
that
will
likely
result
in
their
apprehension,
punishment,
serious
injury,
or
death.64
A
particular
traumatic
stressor
can
lead
an
individual
suffering
combat
trauma
to
commit
a
specific
crime
in
three
primary
ways.
First,
crimes
at
times
literally
or
symbolically
recreate
important
aspects
of
a
trauma.
The
second
way
that
traumatic
stressors
can
be
linked
to
specific
crimes
is
that
environmental
conditions
similar
to
those
existing
at
the
time
of
the
trauma
can
induce
behavior
similar
to
that
exhibited
during
the
trauma,
in
particular,
violent
responses.
The
final
way
that
traumatic
stressors
can
be
linked
to
specific
crimes
is
that
life
events
immediately
preceding
the
offense
can
realistically
or
symbolically
force
the
individual
to
face
unresolved
conflicts
related
to
the
trauma.
This
creates
a
disturbed
psychological
state
in
which
otherwise
unlikely
behaviors
emerge.65
64 65
Id.
Id.
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