Is PTSD contagious?

It makes you question yourself is this a disease that is spreadable, contaminating everything around you.

BRANNAN VINES HAS NEVER BEEN to war.

• This is a casual claim, that she hasn’t acquired any kind of warrior skills.

But she’s got a warrior’s skills: hyperawareness, hypervigilance, adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning for danger, for triggers.

• A categorical claim is made here. These are some of the symptoms a PSTD affected person would acquire.

He’s one of 103,200, or 228,875, or 336,000 Americans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan and came back with PTSD depending on whom you ask, and one of 115,000 to 456,000 with traumatic brain injury.

• A categorical claim is made here, in which it suggests he’s part of this group of

Hypervigilance sounds innocuous, but it is in fact exhaustingly distressing, a conditioned response to life-threatening situations.

• A definition claim is made, defining what hyper vigilance sounds can do.

Caleb has been home since 2006, way more than enough time for Brannan to catch his symptoms. tell

A definition claim is made in which it provides us the time it takes for an individual to acquire this disease.

Caleb screaming at Brannan because she’s just woken him up from a nightmare, after making sure she’s at least an arm’s length away in case he wakes up swinging

This is a casual claim saying one of the causes of PTSD.

Now, he’s rounder, heavier, bearded, and long-haired, obviously tough even if he weren’t prone to wearing a COMBAT INFANTRYMAN cap, but still not the guy you picture when you see his “Disabled Veteran” license plates.

A categorical claim, describing him in positive way and different.

Some hypotheses for why PTSD only tortures some trauma victims blame it on unhappily coded proteins, or a misbehaving amygdala.

A categorical claiming, suggesting what is one of the cause of PTSD torturing trauma victims.

In one study, the incidence of secondary trauma in wives of Croatian war vets with PTSD was 30 percent

A categorical claim  that suggests 30% women acquire PTSD through secondary trauma.

1.   “Is PTSD contagious?”

• There must be some backing to this question, else it would not have been asked
• PTSD presented as a sickness, if it could be contagious
• Post-traumatic stress disorder is a real thing, as the title suggests

2. “It’s rampant among returning vets—and now their spouses and kids are starting to show the same symptoms.”

• PTSD is rampant amongst vets… do all of them have it?
• Vets are only ones that can acquire PTSD
• Used in this sense it seems to be more like a spreadable disease
• Spouses and kids starting to show the same symptoms – as a result of the vets

3. “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.”

• Brannan has never been to war.
• Warrior’s skills include hyperawareness, hypervigilance, etc.
• Brannan is a warrior despite never being to war.
• Triggers are a big factor in her symptoms, as she scans for them.

4.  “And as slippery as all that is, even less understood is the collateral damage, to families, to schools, to society—emotional and fiscal costs borne long after the war is over.”

• Collateral damage from PTSD is implied, and even less understood than the already-misunderstood disorder itself.
• There are costs after war itself ends due to this.

5. “Caleb has been home since 2006, way more than enough time for Brannan to catch his symptoms. The house, in a subdivision a little removed from one of many shopping centers in a small town in the southwest corner of Alabama, is often quiet as a morgue.”

• Caleb has not been exposed to PTSD-inducing war since 2006. This article was released in early 2013.
• Brannan “caught” the symptoms that he was displaying.
• Implies that it is in fact contagious.
• Their house is quiet, meaning it is very unlikely to have a noise issue relating to the PTSD.

An hour has expired.

Is PTSD contagious?

• This question states that something that someone gets from a tragic situation.
• PTSD is thought of as a big issue where people seem to react erratically to small things that may annoy someone normally but we do not outburst to it.
• Its stating a question due to it placing the word “is” before PTSD.

Brannan is hypervigilance and hyperaware of everything. She had never been to war and is going through difficult time. She is reacting to things in ways she shouldn’t. She has a bad temper and is very impatient.

“Brannan Vines has never been to war, but her husband, Caleb, was sent to Iraq twice, where he served in the infantry as a designated marksman.”

Brannan’s husband, Calab went to war and came back with a brain trauma.

“Calab has been home since 2006, way more than enough time for Brannan to catch these symptoms.”

• The question previously was “is this contagious?”
• They do not watch tv at home because it triggers it.
• Their house is far from the town which gives them more time are home to be spent with no neighbors to interact with and for more noises to hear in the secluded area.

“Whatever is happening to Calab, is as old as war itself.”

This just comes to show that many people during war get PTSD. Some people do not know how to react to those that have it and aren’t very happy to know that there are people that can get affected in this way. Doctors themselves do not even know what causes this to some individuals. It is still unaware what strikes the brain to act the way it does.

Time up

Paragraph 1:

“But she’s got a warrior’s skills: hyperawareness, hypervigilance, adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning for danger, for triggers. Super stimuli-sensitive…”

-This is a categorical claim, showing readers the warrior skills that Brannan has, which is abnormal for someone who has not been to war. It makes me feel very curious in why she is so super stimuli-senstive.

“Being too cognizant of every sound—every coin dropping an echo—she explodes inwardly, fury flash-incinerating any normal tolerance for a fellow patron with a couple of dollars in quarters and dimes.”

-This is a casual claim. What it is implying is, Brannan has burst of rage because she is too cognizant of sound and has little tolerance. I love the auditory imagery in this sentence with the echo, and visual imagery when she “explodes inwardly…” with “flash incinerating any normal tolerance…” The description adds emphasis on how angry she is over a small issue. It’s just an old lady paying for soap. It makes me wonder how she acts with problems at home and at her work, it makes me wonder about her family.

Paragraph 4:

“Caleb has been home since 2006, way more than enough time for Brannan to catch his symptoms”

-Casual claim, this sentence implies that Caleb is the root of the rage and abnormal behaivor. Interestingly, the sentence says that his symptoms were caught as if it was a sickness. How can you catch PTSD? Also, this sentence also hints that it takes a long time for people to be influenced or changed by the person with PTSD. This makes me wonder how the family handled Caleb’s change.

“When a sound erupts—Caleb screaming at Brannan because she’s just woken him up from a nightmare…”

-This is a casual claim, revealing how sensitive Caleb is to sound, resulting in him screaming at his wife. If he is so sensitive to sound, it must make it hard to live in a house with him.

“Even when everyone’s in the family room watching TV, it’s only connected to Netflix and not to cable, since news is often a trigger…”

-Casual claim, showing readers that even watching Tv, the family has to be cautious because the sounds from the news could trigger Caleb. Also, the family cannot live the same as before, like simply watching the news, some adjustments were made because of Caleb, and it isn’t just how they watch TV.

“Their German shepherd, a service dog trained to help veterans with PTSD,  is ready to alert Caleb to triggers by barking, or to calm him by jumping onto his chest”

-This could be a definition claim because it is telling readers what Caleb’s service dog is, a trained dog to help veterans with PTSD. In addition, this could be a categorical claim because it is listing the task the service dog is trained to do like calming Caleb and barking. People with PTSD needs a lot of attention and reassurance. It is good that there are service dogs in this world.

Paragraph 7:

“Now, he’s rounder, heavier, bearded, and long-haired, obviously tough even if he weren’t prone to wearing a COMBAT INFANTRYMAN cap…”

-Categorical claim, describing Caleb’s appearance.

Paragraph 8:

“Caleb is so sensitive to light, why he can’t just watch the news like a regular person without feeling as if he might catch fire.”

-Casual claim, telling readers why he cannot watch the news because he will think he might catch fire. PTSD is more than just stress, it is affect people’s lives and mental health.

“Some hypotheses for why PTSD only tortures some trauma victims blame it on unhappily coded proteins, or a misbehaving amygdala. Family history, or maybe previous trauma.”

-Categorial claim, telling readers what might be the cause of Caleb’s PTSD.

Paragraph 11:

“Granted, diagnosing PTSD is a tricky thing. The result of a malfunctioning nervous system that fails to normalize after trauma and instead perpetrates memories and misfires life-or-death stress for no practical reason, it comes in a couple of varieties, various complexities, has causes ranging from one lightning-fast event to drawn-out terrors or patterns of abuse—in soldiers, the incidence of PTSD goes up with thenumber of tours and amount of combatexperienced…”

-Definition claim, this is a very detailed description of what PTSD is.

“And the fact that the science hasn’t fully caught up with the suffering, that Caleb can’t point to something provably, biologically ruining his life, just makes him feel worse.”

-I think this is a casual claim, because it tells readers that Caleb does not know the definite cause of his PTSD because science and doctors still hasn’t figured it out. It must be frustrating for Caleb to not know whats going on with him exactly, especially with today’s technology.

Paragraph 13:

he was in at least 20 explosions—IEDs, vehicle-borne IEDs, RPGs.

-Categorical, tells readers the explosions Caleb went through.

“Trauma is a contagious disease; it affects everyone that has close contact with a traumatized person” in some form or another, to varying degrees and for different lengths of time.”

-Definition claim, this describes PTSD that it is a contagious disease, which is probably just an analogy. The point is, when one person is affected by trauma, it affects the people around them.

Paragraph 22:

“Holocaust survivors ‘had more resources and networks, wider family members and community to support them to adapt to their new circumstances after a war.’They were not, in other words, expected to man up and get over it.”

-This is casual claim, because it shows that the holocaust survivors did well after war because they had more resources and better circumstances that helped them get over the trauma. This reveals that most people from war don’t have to be victims of PTSD, they just need a lot of support like the holocaust survivors did. There is an attitude towards PTSD that it is shell shock or irritable heart, but people need to take it more seriously and give much support to soldiers coming from war.

Paragraph 25:

“…for the vast majority of people with the secondary traumatization model, the most important way to help the family deal with things is to ensure that the veteran gets effective treatment…”

-Casual claim, saying what is best is to get effective treatment.

Paragraph 27:

“Brannan is a force of keeping her family together. She sleeps a maximum of five hours a night, keeps herself going with fast food and energy drinks, gets Katie to and from school and to tap dance and art, where Katie produces some startlingly impressive canvases, bright swirling shapes bisected by and intersected with other swaths of color, bold, intricate.”

-Categorical, She has to keep herself going with fast food and energy drinks, how exhausting! This shows the extra work Brannan has to endure because of her husband’s condition. She has to work harder for to keep her family together.

“That’s typical parent stuff, but Brannan also keeps Caleb on his regimen of 12 pills—antidepressants, anti-anxiety, sleep aids, pain meds, nerve meds, stomach meds—plus weekly therapy, and sometimes weekly physical therapy for a cartilage-lacking knee…”

-Categorical, not only does Brannan has to care for her daughter, Katie, she has to care for her husband also. She has to be very prepared with many medications for her husband, this shows how much Brannan’s life has changed from a normal life to having many responsibilities for her family.

Paragraph 28

“Family of a Vet, a nonprofit created “to help you find your way, find the information you need, and find a way not only to cope with life after combat…but to survive and thrive!”

-Definition claim, it is defining what the organization of Family of a Vet is.

“But she’s got a warrior’s skills: hyperawareness, hypervigilance, adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning for danger, for triggers. “

This is a definition claim defining hyperawareness, hypervigilance, adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning for danger as warrior skill.

This is also a categorical claim because it categorizes these traits as things that Brannan has.

where he served in the infantry as a designated marksman

Categorical claim categorizing Caleb in the military

He’s one of 103,200, or 228,875, or 336,000 Americans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan and came back with PTSD, depending on whom you ask, and one of 115,000 to 456,000 with traumatic brain injury.

Categorical claim categorizing the disabilities Caleb has

Hypervigilance sounds innocuous, but it is in fact exhaustingly distressing, a conditioned response to life-threatening situations

Definition claim defining hypervigilance as conditioned as well as only to life threatening situations

Caleb has been home since 2006, way more than enough time for Brannan to catch his symptoms

Definition claim defining how much time is needed to catch symptoms of PTSD

news is often a trigger

Definition claim defining news as a trigger for PTSD episodes

Their German shepherd, a service dog trained to help veterans with PTSD

Categorical claim categorizing their dog as a service dog and as a german shepherd

“She has not, unlike military wives she advises…”

Categorical claim categorizing Brannan from other military wives

plunging the living room back into its usual necessary darkness.

Definition claim defining the darkness as necessary

Brannan is 32 now, but in her portraits with the big white dress and lacy veil she’s not even old enough to drink

Categorical claim categorizing Brannan by age

Now, he’s rounder, heavier, bearded, and long-haired, obviously tough even if he weren’t prone to wearing a COMBAT INFANTRYMAN cap, but still not the guy you picture when you see his “Disabled Veteran” license plates. Not the old ‘Nam guy with a limp, or maybe the young legless Iraq survivor, that you’d expect.

Categorical claim categorizing Caleb as he’s rounder, heavier, bearded, and long-haired, obviously tough.

Definition claim defining disabled veteran

Definition claim defining what we’d expect

Some hypotheses for why PTSD only tortures some trauma victims blame it on unhappily coded proteins, or a misbehaving amygdala, family history, or maybe previous trauma.

Categorical claim categorizing these things as possible causes of PTSD

Whatever is happening to Caleb, it’s as old as war itself.

Categorical claim categorizing PTSD as old as war

The ancient historian Herodotus told of Greeks being honorably dismissed for being “out of heart” and “unwilling to encounter danger.” Civil War doctors, who couldn’t think of any other thing that might be unpleasant about fighting the Civil War but homesickness, diagnosed thousands with “nostalgia.” Later, it was deemed “irritable heart.” In World War I it was called “shell shock.” In World War II, “battle fatigue.”

Definition claim defining old terms for PTSD

Granted, diagnosing PTSD is a tricky thing. The result of a malfunctioning nervous system that fails to normalize after trauma and instead perpetrates memories and misfires life-or-death stress for no practical reason, it comes in a couple of varieties, various complexities, has causes ranging from one lightning-fast event to drawn-out terrors or patterns of abuse

Definition claim defining PTSD

1. Brannan Vines has warrior skills, although she has never been to war or trained in anyway. How is this possible?
2. Caleb, her husband has been to iraq, it would make sense for him to have warrior skills
3. Caleb is a victim of PTSD. He suffers but oddly so does his wife.
4. Is PTSD contagious? It’s asking a question because of the word ‘is’.
5. PTSD is contagious as is secondhand smoke. This makes sense and could be why the entire family suffers from this.
6. Whatever is happening to Caleb is as old as war itself. This is stating how far it goes back and using war as comparison.
7. Diagnosing PTSD is a tricky thing. Not only a general statement but shows how tricky this whole situation is with his family being as effected as they are.
8. Secondary traumatic stress has been documented in the spouses of veterans with PTSD from Vietnam. This shows backup information on how Calebs wife is showing many symptoms.
9. Suppose there is a second generation effect in veterans. Another valid piece of back up information that is suggesting that PTSD can be contagious.

“But she’s got a warrior’s skills: hyperawareness, hypervigilance, adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning for danger, for triggers.”

– a categorical claim that describer Brannan’s constant condition. She’s got skills that are not normal for an ordinary person in her surrounding. This claim makes you assume that her skills come from the PTSD, but there’s no proof for it. These symptoms could be caused by hard work and tiredness, because she gets just about 5 hours of sleep and she’s busy all the time and has no time to rest.

“She was recently standing behind a sweet old lady counting out change when she suddenly became so furious her ears literally started ringing”.

There are a lot of people out there that just were raised to be spoiled and inpatient, they act the same way and they have no PTSD on their clinical record. Reader is being manipulated and forced to feel compassion for the sweet old lady. First of all, elderly people are most likely to be helpless and suffer from a memory slips and feebleness. For those reasons, many people have sympathy to the older people, especially if they are sweet, even though Brannan most likely doesn’t know that lady, so it’s just assumed by author to get to the reader’s feelings.

“Her nose starts running she’s so pissed, and there she is standing in a CVS, snotty and deaf with rage, like some kind of maniac, because a tiny elderly woman needs an extra minute”.

This kind of impatience is most likely exaggerated with expressions and comparisons. Yes, she turns into a furious woman, but nothing happens, she keeps her emotions inside. The descriptions conflict with the warrior’s skills – being pissed, snotty and deaf with rage has nothing to do with it just because of an old lady, unless she provides any potential danger. One more characteristic is being added to the elderly lady description -she’s tiny and old and sweet, so she looks even more helpless comparing to the “kind of maniac”, pissed, healthy middle aged woman.

“Brannan Vines has never been to war, but her husband, Caleb, was sent to Iraq twice, where he served in the infantry as a designated marksman.”

The statement about Brannan seems to be unnecessary, it’s the second time it appears and there are other ways of starting this sentence, if author wanted to talk just about Brannan’s husband. However, she makes a connection between the woman’s mental problems, and her husband being to war at some point of his life.

1. The title says is PTSD Contaigous? Claiming it could be contained.
2. Brannan Vines has warrior skills.
3. Hes one of the Americans who came back from war and suffers with PTSD.
4.  PTSD is not fully understood by society.
5. Hypervigiliance is exhaustingly depressing.
6. Caleb being home since 2006 gives Brannan enough time to catch the symptoms.
7. Caleb and Brannan can get very tense with agitation.
8. PTSD could be worse than a drug addiction.
9. She sounds like she might start crying
10. Author describes Caleb as a heavier, rounder, larger man.
11. Its hard to understand Caleb’s injuries.
12. He often times doesnt remember what happens later on.
13. PTSD wasnt an official diagnosis until 1980.
14. People do not respect or grasp PTSD.
15. PTSD is tricky.
16. Vets from Vietnam suffer from PTSD.