The Very Obvious Reason Why War Must Disappear (Lee Jin-kyung's Health Tips)

The Impact of War on Our Lives and Health

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-kyung Lee] Russia and Ukraine are currently at war. Due to the sudden outbreak of war, many Ukrainians are fleeing and also fighting back. This unexpected war has caused numerous people to be injured, lose their lives, and lose their families. War affects various aspects such as the economy, society, and politics. But what kind of negative impact does it have on our health? War leaves not only physical injuries but also mental damage to both soldiers and civilians, continuously affecting their lives. Although it is hard to even imagine the pain they endure, let’s explore what aftereffects exist.

● Do the health effects of war last a long time?

The health effects of war include not only death but also physical disabilities caused by injuries and physical damage, as well as mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These negative effects can last for decades after the war and can be passed down genetically or environmentally, affecting not just one generation but several generations.

● Mental damage caused by shock? Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

In fact, many soldiers deployed to battlefields suffer from combat stress and depression. Most soldiers find it difficult to continue their daily lives even after the war ends due to the shock and fear they experienced during the war, and the diagnosis given to them is post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD refers to symptoms such as intrusion, avoidance, hyperarousal, and changes in cognition and mood that appear after experiencing traumatic events like war, sexual violence, or serious injury, which were not present before the trauma. This disorder can also affect civilians who have experienced war. It can occur regardless of age or gender and can affect not only the victims but also family members, friends, and acquaintances who closely witness the trauma.

● What are the main symptoms?

▶ Intrusion symptoms

These refer to trauma-related thoughts and images that continuously intrude into the mind even when one does not want to recall the event or images, manifesting as nightmares, distressing recollections, and flashbacks. Nightmares involve painful experiences intruding through dreams at night, recollections refer to trauma-related images and thoughts intruding during the day, and flashbacks are symptoms where traumatic scenes unfold as if dreaming even without sleep, making daily life difficult.

▶ Hyperarousal

This means being nervously alert, easily startled by trivial matters, and prone to anger. Additionally, individuals have difficulty focusing on their internal state and experience attention difficulties due to worries about other traumas, as well as insomnia, which is a major symptom.

▶ Avoidance

This refers to behaviors aimed at avoiding trauma-related thoughts or conversations, avoiding people related to the trauma, or avoiding places associated with it. Avoidance appears as a way to distance oneself from arousal because arousal itself becomes painful, leading to avoidance of trauma-related matters.

▶ Emotional responses such as grief and sorrow related to trauma

The main emotional responses in PTSD are grief and sorrow. People who have experienced major trauma such as war cannot return to their pre-trauma state, thus experiencing loss. Since what is lost cannot be regained, the experience of loss causes feelings of grief and can lead to hopelessness. They may also feel helpless, believing they lack the ability to recover what was lost due to trauma. Besides grief, hopelessness, and helplessness caused by loss, individuals may experience guilt, fear, anger, shame, and symptoms of major depression may also accompany these emotions.

● How can it be treated?

PTSD symptoms can be painful and last from several months to a lifetime even after a single accident or shock, so active treatment is important to reduce suffering. Emotional support and encouraging the courage to talk about the event together are crucial, and education about PTSD and its treatment is necessary to help overcome the situation. Medication and psychotherapy are mainly used, and other treatments such as behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy, and hypnotherapy may also be utilized.

● Physical disabilities and genetic damage ? Agent Orange damage, etc.

An example is the damage caused by Agent Orange during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s, sprayed by the U.S. military under a mission called Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a biochemical weapon sprayed by the U.S. military to remove ambush sites and suppress food resources by applying herbicides to forest areas and rural lands occupied by guerrilla forces. However, the Agent Orange sprayed at that time caused indiscriminate harm to both enemy and friendly forces and continues to be a serious issue causing genetic disabilities passed down through generations. Soldiers from various countries who participated in the war, residents of sprayed areas, and residents near storage warehouses were all exposed to chemicals and continue to suffer significant health damage. Around the Agent Orange sprayed areas, there have been occurrences of birth defects, genetic mutation diseases, and other illnesses with unclear causes. According to one survey, the recent estimated number of Agent Orange victims is about 3 million. In addition, many people suffer from various diseases and aftereffects caused by biochemical weapons used during war and various infectious diseases, requiring lifelong treatment or dying without knowing the exact cause or treatment method.

Landmines buried long ago continue to cause injuries, and biochemical weapons used in war cause unrelated people to live with genetic diseases. War not only destroys the living environment of many people but also leaves mental damage and physical harm that persist to this day. The ongoing war will also leave great wounds, damage, and aftereffects for someone. Experts say this is not the pain of one person alone, and although the damage caused cannot be prevented, active education and treatment for the aftereffects and symptoms caused by war are necessary so that the suffering does not last long, requiring active efforts from society.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.