Counterintuitive Spring 2024

PTSD is a psychological disorder that is neurologically centered, meaning the brain is affected, specifically in the amygdala.  Experiencing or seeing a traumatic event, which usually occurs for war veterans after they return from their stationed unit, causes this disorder.  If being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the following symptoms may be experienced: nightmares, insomnia, severe panic/anxiety, hallucinations, or flashbacks.  In Mac Mclelland’s article, “Is PTSD Contagious?” she hypothesizes that this disorder can be passed down to beloved ones or anyone surrounding the victim, as if it were the common cold of the flu, being transportable. The dreadful, yearly, common cold can be spread from person to person in numerous ways. Through physical contact, or by the infectious microbe traveling through the air can cause the common cold to be caught. While PTSD is clearly not the common cold, its ways in developing it is quite similar to the yearly runny nose sickness. Mclelland stresses how others can develop PTSD through the constant surrounding of the victim. The emotions and bipolar behaviors act as the infectious microbe traveling through the air.

Caleb Vine is an Iraq war veteran who has returned to his hometown in Alabama of 2006.  Unlike Caleb, his wife Brannan has never been to war nor has she experienced any warlike activities.  However, Mclelland mentions how Brannan has been experiencing some of, if not all, of Caleb’s symptoms of PTSD.  She states, “BRANNAN VINES HAS NEVER BEEN to war. But she’s got a warrior’s skills: hyperawareness, hypervigilance, adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning for danger, for triggers. Super stimuli-sensitive. Skills on the battlefield.”  Mclelland is suggesting that like an illness, it can be contagious can the symptoms can be passed to people who are constantly surrounding the victim with PTSD. In the article, Mclelland describes Brannan as becoming “so furious her ears literally started ringing” when she is at the local CVS waiting in line behind an elderly women who is taking more time to get her money in order than expected. She becomes furious with an inconvenient situation and her “super stimuli-sensitive” emotions start to kick in. The CVS situation does not demonstrate “adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning for danger” or “warrior-like skills,” however, it does depict who she is slowly developing this mental illness she was not responsible developing.

Brannan describes her be screaming at Caleb in efforts to awaken him from his horrific nightmares late at night.  However she does make it clear that she has never been beaten up by her husband, jumped out of bed in the middle of the night in the fear of being raped, like many other military wives have.  Both Caleb and Brannan have the fear that their six-year-old daughter, Katie, would develop the symptoms they both are experiencing and have it affect her behavior and mental state for the rest of her life. Both of Katie’s parents dread the thought that this illness can be forwarded to their daughter, like it had been for Brannan.  They do accept the fact that she is not like any other little six-year-old girl.  Mclelland mentions how little Katie would lash out or act out in class just because another student would get her angry.  Even though, PTSD is a disorder that cannot be “literally” contagious, it is possible, according to Mclelland, someone can develop these symptoms if they are around someone with them for a while.

At about 10am today, WED FEB 18, many but not all of you have posted your Critical Reading assignments, evaluations of the definition/category claims made in “Is PTSD Contagious?”

At this moment, the roster looks like this:

Got ‘Em

• MoneyTrees
• CasperTheGhost
• skyblue
• juggler
• Bglunk
• Hashmeesh
• Thegreatestpenn
• CptPooStain
• albert
• tagfcomp2
• thatdude

Need ‘Em

• betterthanyou
• brett
• cypher
• mopar
• entendu
• kidhanekoma
• madewithrealginger
• qdoba
• YouDontKnowWhoIAm
• Sall
• taddo

Some “delinquents” in the Need ‘Em list probably posted but didn’t categorize. If that describes you, please categorize your post as A06: Critical Reading, and check your username below the Author category, so that your post will appear in the feed. Thanks.

PTSD was once thought only as an illness which came about when a veteran would return home from war.  Can PTSD really branch out an infect the wives and children of the sickly veterans also as well? Mac McClelland the author of “Is PTSD Contagious?” states that this scary theory might actually be true.

This theory is visual in  the situation Katie and Caleb Vines have  with their daughter Brannan, who is  developing  the same traits as her father, whom has PTSD. I believe Brannan acquired these traits from her father returning from war while she was so young. She was learning how to be an actual human and function normally as we all do, but a solder is trained differently. From her being around Caleb and learning his mannerism she slowly began to gain the traits of PTSD.

With Caleb having outbreaks  of stimulating sensations and range he seems to be able to be seen in society as a “normal crazy veteran” but when it happens to a young girl it all changes. When you see a girl under go the same symptoms as her father does, it begins to harm  her safety and well-being. Such as for when Brannan became angry, lost control, and  attacked an elder lady.

The article, “Is PTSD Contagious?,” by Mac McClelland, advances the argument that spouses and children of returning veterans develop the same mental and emotional symptoms as the traumatized vets.

The author specifically selected the word “contagious” for the title of her article. However, is the term “contagious” an appropriate claim when dealing with mental illness? This terminology could be described as offensive to many people who believe mental illness shouldn’t be downgrade, and compared to a spreading cold-like sickness. Mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, and eating disorders aren’t contagious and are serious issues that shouldn’t be undermined.

The author incorporates the repeated phrase, “Brannan Vines has never been to war,” to focus on the effects of secondhand Post Traumatic Stress Disorder occurring in the family. Brannan Vines is married to Caleb Vines, a war veteran who served his time in Iraq twice, as a designated marksman. The phrase states that Brannan hasn’t physically experienced the traumatic events that her husband has from war. However, she’s adopted similar PTSD characteristics as her husband. These symptoms include: adrenaline-sharp ability to quickly scan for danger, super stimuli-sensitive, hyper vigilance, and hyperawareness. Caleb has returned home from Iraq for many years now, but still experiences detailed flashbacks, hyper vigilance, reoccurring nightmares, and chronic emotional pain. His symptoms also include: losing the ability to focus, decreased sexual desire, memory loss and severe brain damage. Caleb typically spends his days buried in his bedroom for up to 20 hours, battling his own thoughts in hopes of forgetting his disturbing past experiences. Caleb feels like a burden to his family, especially his wife, and questions why she doesn’t leave him already. The author refers back to the couple’s relationship several times to not only show how the family is struggling with Caleb’s PTSD symptoms, but with the added stress of balancing a romantic relationship too.

Brannan Vines has suffered emotionally and mentally as well, caring for her husband’s needs and raising their young daughter, Katie. The depressing, stressful environment that’s inhabited the once joyful Vine home, has affected every family member. Brannan is constantly on alert, and finds tasks that once seemed simple, to now be challenging because of these secondhand PTSD symptoms. The simple act of using a washing machine is now an adrenaline-pumping, intense task. Katie Vines looks like the typical kindergarten student to most outsiders, but the people who are close to her, acknowledge a significant change in personality. Katie has been acting naughty in school, and speaking of unusual, violent topics for her age. Brannan tries to scold her daughter for bad behavior, but how can she blame her daughter for acting out when her child’s constantly exposed to a negative atmosphere at home? Katie is experiencing secondhand PTSD symptoms.

Although Brannan maintains a complicated, busy schedule with her own family, she still reaches out to help other veteran families in need. Brannan Vines is an inspiring, selfless woman, who puts other’s needs before her own. The Department of Veteran Affairs, also where Brannan works, tries to help veterans and their families, but still lacks research and resources. Many places dedicated to helping veterans ironically aren’t able to pay for the medical resources, such as therapy, that most veterans suffering with PTSD need.

A VA nurse once said to Brannan after seeing Caleb, “I guess we’re just used to dealing with people with more severe injuries.” This quote shows the amount of knowledge the VA is lacking, considering Caleb is a severe case… and he got rejected for treatment. The author’s placement of this example is significantly useful. The whole article focuses on the family’s struggles coping with secondhand PTSD and Caleb’s firsthand symptoms. The audience has now become familiar with the family’s problems and feel sympathetic. Therefore, having an outside source tell the Vines family that Caleb isn’t a serious enough case, shows how much worse other people may be suffering from PTSD and produces stronger emotions from the audience.

The increase of veterans suffering from PTSD and their families from secondhand PTSD is prevalent in today’s society and on the rise. Brannan Vines and many others are desperately searching for help and need others’ support. However, Mac McClelland could make her viewpoint more reputable by not using the term “contagious” when describing PTSD.

In the article “Is PTSD Contagious?” by Mac McClelland, the experiences of the families with veterans with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the central topic. The author writes about the effects on the families of the veterans and how the family members end up having PTSD symptoms, but where the trauma is the diagnosed veteran.

McClelland story introduce the readers to the Vines, where the wife Branna Vines is experiencing “hyperawareness, hypervigilance, adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning for dange” (McClelland); however, Branna has never been in the battlefield as her husband Caleb Vines. Interesting points about the article is that the Vines had a enormous weeding where “there were 500 people at the ceremony” and “even the mayor was there” (McClelland), for an article about families of veterans with PSTD the weeding night of the family seems irrelevant. Nevertheless, when the author writes “103,200, or 228,875, or 336,000Americans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan and came back with PTSD” and “115,000 to 456,000 with traumatic brain injury”(McClelland), the differentiation of the numbers is so large that McClelland might be assuming that not all cases are produced by the war experience. Therefore, for the Vines the disorder might have been produced by a lost of wealth, for instance wealth which was present at the time of the wedding. Additionally, according to the author, Caleb says “somebody at the VA told me, ‘Kids in Congo and Uganda don’t have PTSD,'” making more clear the idea that PTSD is not always war related in soldiers.