Sleepless Soldiers

Hi Bloggers,

These articles about our men and women who serve our country really hit me hard.  I never stopped to think about the effect on them besides the emotional trauma.  It makes sense though that they would not want to sleep, when you have seen the most horrifying events take place in front of you why would you want to relive them again? I began to think about how nightmares prepare us for the worst to come, and I assumed that these men and women have them to help deal with what has happened to them, so maybe they could find some peace with their actions.  Maybe reliving them lets them see that they did right and had no other choice.  I also thought about the quote in Sleep May Hold Key to PTSD where it is stated that "that trauma leads to sleeplessness" and how it is parallel to stress and sleeplessness. The more trauma one has the less they sleep (just like stress), and the less sleep one has the more emotional they are and the more sensitive they are to triggers (much like how one becomes more stressed).  This cycle is the key they say to helping with PTSD.  In the article When Dreams Are the Enemy, there is a quote from a soldier that states "I gave up my tranquility, as many of the other warriors did, so the rest of America can have theirs." That quote gave me chills and really made me realize how lucky I am everyday.  I complain about only sleeping five hours, when these men and women are too afraid to sleep because they are afraid of what they will see. 

Sources:
Sleep May Hold Key to PTSD:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/APSS/52007
When Dreams Are the Enemy:
http://www.ralockhart.com/dailyfigures/When%20dreams%20are%20the%20enemy.pdf
Picture:
https://www.google.com/search?q=patriotic&biw=1536&bih=747&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIrOeK7o3QyAIVgzuICh00nQkI#tbm=isch&q=god+bless+our+soldiers&imgrc=OrCyQi1Yg5InOM%3A