Female Vets Experiencing More Sexual, Mental Trauma

Christensen, who has been diagnosed with PTSD, says she doesn’t like leaving her comfort zone. She doesn’t drive more than two miles from her home.

“When I get outside my familiar safe territory, I start to feel overwhelmed,” Christensen said. “It gets foggy. Not sure where I’m really going. Something comes over me where I don’t feel like I have control over it.”

“PTSD is actually something that shows up over time, and so the natural recovery process doesn’t happen,” said Dr. Darrah Westrup, who counsels female veterans at the VA-run Women’s Health Clinic in Menlo Park, California.

“So three months out or so, you find yourself still not sleeping, still with nightmares, still having intrusive thoughts,” Westrup said.

I wasn’t going to post this, but I know few bloggers out there will give it exposure so I thought I’d at least link the story and note the issue.   Traumatic experiences aren’t rare among our troops, but it will be interesting to see how it manifests in females as opposed to men who are on the front lines.

Westrup says another factor contributing to poor mental health is the high amount of sexual trauma reported by women screened by the Veterans Administration. She says many women have trouble reporting the trauma to their superiors out of fear of retribution.

“When you are in a war zone, your survival depends on people watching your back and on unit cohesion,” Westrup said. “The same individuals who attacked you are those who will be protecting you, or you’ll be fighting alongside the next day.”

That sexual trauma and abuse is more prevalent among women in Iraq makes sense given American culture and differences in emotional needs.  When rape enters the picture, women receive the abuse almost exclusively and it’s something we should consider funneling into so we can prevent this sort of thing in the future.

Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
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