Soldiers are delivered to a nation that has been at war for over a decade yet seems almost unscathed by the terrors so many troops have encountered overseas. Combat zones are beginning to clear as more and more troops are returning from the wars in the Middle East. Yet in the years to come, the visions of terror will haunt America's veterans forever. Returning to an indifferent and apathetic home, veterans continue to relive traumatic events of war. According to recent medical and government reports, over one-quarter of the estimated 2 million American troops that have served in the wars in the Middle East are anticipated to return home tormented by severe psychological symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Litz). Unlike previous wars, such as Vietnam and WWII, America, as a community, now possesses a stronger understanding of PTSD along with means to heal its returning troops. Although the amount of veterans expected to be diagnosed with PTSD as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is inevitable, troops are still left with the added burden of returning home from war to a cynical public. As over a quarter of Americas troops are returning from war with PTSD, fellow Americans need to be more supportive and understanding of veteran's mental health, as in not doing so could result in more serious consequences.
             While PTSD in veterans is no new occurrence, the expected outcome of this disorder from recent wars in the Middle East goes far beyond the imaginable. In preceding wars, PTSD was better known as "war neurosis", "combat stress", "shell shock" and "survivor's guilt". In his book, War and the Soul, Edward Tick portrays PTSD's connection between war and a soldier: "In war, chaos overwhelms compassion, violence replaces cooperation, instinct replaces rationality, gut dominates mind. When drenched in these conditions, the soul is disfigured and can become lost for life" (Tick. 16.) By definition, PTSD is simply put ...