Brittany ManousResearch Design Proposal10th Honors World Literature/CompositionLester and HamiltonSpring 2012

PTSD Research Design Proposal

Research Paper Topic

My research topic is PTSD and the effects on veterans and soldiers of our wars. I want to learn about how our government handles these issues and even how the soldiers themselves deal with PTSD. There are many factors which play into how a soldier or veteran develops a mental illness such as PTSD and those are the main things I plan to continue researching throughout this process.

What I Know about the Topic at This Point and Why I’m Interested in This Topic

I have learned so far that PTSD is not taken as serious as it should be in the everyday world. People look down upon soldiers who are obviously sending out a cry for help. Suicide rates, murders, alcohol abuse, domestic abuse, and so many more side effects of PTSD are becoming more and more prominent with every case study released. Soldiers’ and veterans’ families of past wars are being equally affected by the war which in return will affect the relationship with the soldier, only adding to mental stress. I am intrigued by the subject of PTSD due to the fact that I would love to go into the field of Psychology someday and by studying this mental illness and the effects, it will give me a better insight into how the human mind handles certain situations. I personally know many veterans and soldiers who have returned from the war and I know how the war can have major effects on the soldier’s morale. Soldiers are such a huge part our lives whether we recognize it or not and I believe by putting this issue into the spotlight, we will be more aware of how our heroes are handling the war and what we can do to help them.

What I Want to Learn

I hope to gain closure to many of my worries for soldiers in America who suffer from PTSD as I continue my search into how this illness affects society. I also hope to learn about programs and opportunities that may be present or may be upcoming to help soldiers who return from war with PTSD-like symptoms. Looking into this issue, I wish to read the stories and recollections of veterans who have experienced PTSD and also hear from soldiers I know personally who may be suffering from even acute doses of this mental illness. I would also like to know what plans the government may have in order to help the men and women fighting for our freedom. Researching this topic, I am hoping to reveal information that the media keeps “sugar coated” from the public, which in return may give us a better understanding as to why soldiers react and feel the ways that they do.

My Initial List of Questions I Have About My Topic

1. How much does our government pay attention to the needs of its’ people?2. Why is it so important to have a “tough” mentality in our society today?3. Why are there so many PTSD prevention programs for soldiers but not nearly as many

recovery programs?

4. What barriers for treatment are being discovered?5. Why is there not being more done for reintegration of soldiers returning home from long

tours of duty?6. Why has the spending for veterans decreased so greatly while it is obvious that the

number of issues has risen tremendously?7. How are women affected by PTSD in war compared to that of men?8. Why is PTSD underdiagnosed in women and why do we hear so little about this?9. How much of the damage from war is hidden from the public view?10. Why are women treated better/worse in certain wartime situations?11. Why can’t we medically treat our soldiers better than we did over 94 years ago?12. How can we blame our soldiers for the mindless murders when we train them with that

mentality?

My Primary Research Questions

1. How can we prevent soldiers from developing PTSD?2. What factors play on soldiers developing this mental illness that may not be directly

involved with the war?3. How does PTSD affect the home lives of the men and women serving in our military?

My Research Plan

For my research project, I have found many great resources to use. The most promising resources at this moment are SweetSearch, GoogleNews, Sirs, and Gale Opposing Viewpoints. As I organize my information and time, I plan to use GoogleDocs, the new bookmarking tools, Symbaloo, and most definitely EasyBib. The only challenges I see with this project are time management and creating a visual element along with my research paper.

Content Creation Tools

I will be using GoogleDocs and Word for my project. I will be constructing a word-document based multigenre paper with many creative learning artifacts.

Final Learning Product

I will be creating a multigenre text in Word for my research project on PTSD. This medium will be an amazing way for me to represent my research because while I enjoy using technological mediums, I can express myself creatively in many forms by using Word and GoogleDocs. In my experience, I am much better at constructing information and visual artifacts in a simple document rather than thirty different places on the web. I also believe that I will keep a mindmap for my ideas as there will be many separate issues that I plan to focus on and this way of laying out my ideas will be the most visibly accessible.