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While we hear accounts of more than 4000 US soldiers killed in the Iraq war to date, the number of returning veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) numbers in the tens of thousands. A result of the constant conflict, anxiety, and daily threats of death PTSD has been referred to in many ways: Shell shock, combat fatigue, and battle fatigue. Post-Vietnam syndrome is the expression that was used as a result of the Vietnam conflict.

The US National Institutes of Mental Health alert us to the characteristics of PTSD. These include a sustained and disruptive set of feelings that occur after a particularly traumatic event. These unpleasant episodes recur at frequent intervals.

One feature is constant video replays, that is, remembering and replaying the event for months after. This repeated and recurring stress means we have trouble sleeping. Some people have very dramatic and violent nightmares, and most wake feeling that their sleep did not refresh or re-energize them.

When we are stressed, one of the best solutions is to seek social support from our loved ones. The sad part about PTSD is that we often have personality changes that interfere dramatically with the quality of our relationships. Instead of being able to approach our loved ones, our irritability and bad temper causes people to move away from us.

Most of these victims have attentional problems and find it hard to stay on task and be productive at work. There is a constant theme of remembering and agonizing. Even the notion of having these recurrences and being unable to concentrate can cause people to worry even more.

Unfortunately, around one in 12 people in the US will experience PTSD – though the degree of stress varies significantly from person to person and even from race to race.

Despite the high figures of stress and PTSD, many people are able to cope with their daily lives and manage stress effectively. They have learned effective strategies to reduce stress by identifying the stressors and finding ways to understand and alleviate the tension and anxiety. The problem is, of course, if people cannot manage stress effectively it will impact negatively many areas of their life.

We have to accept in our fast society that being tense and anxious is a normal part of life. We all have complex lives that present us with daily challenges to our emotional equilibrium. The real issue is to be able to manage stress and tension so that we do not become tense and irritable and lose the social support from our loved ones that are so central in having a stable and happy life.

Managing stress is one of the most important things we need to learn in a modern complex life. Understanding tension, anxiety, stressors and a range of emotional pressures gives us the tools to be able to unlock and deal with stress disorders. And when we have sound information and know effective stress management strategies we can maintain a steady and stable personality and keep the support of our loved ones.

Information is the key to being able to manage stress and reduce tension. Regardless of whether it is just mild stress, severe distress, or even worse, PTSD, the initial way to deal with stress is to understand this disorder as well as you can. Of course, being able to use effective stress management strategies doubles our effectiveness in dealing with tension and anxiety.

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