President, of the Defence, and Police Officers’ Wives Association (DEPOWA), Barrister (Mrs.) Victoria Irabor has proposed the establishment of a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD evaluation and rehabilitation centre for the armed forces.
One of the effective ways to help women is to give them a peaceful and safe home, to do this, there must be an assurance that their husbands are sane and without any form of post-war trauma.
Irabor made disclosed this during an Exclusive interview with African Leadership Organization.
According to her, “I have found a project that I think would launch DEPOWA to greater heights and that is looking beyond ourselves, not just what we can offer to the officer’s wives but see what we can do for our husbands, because our husbands today have a huge problem that is plaguing them and that is the issue of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD.”
She added that women have watched their husbands go to the conflict zone and change and they have complained severally that their husbands cry at night, they scream in their dreams and some become very violent and take it out on their wives and children and for the past decade, Nigeria has gone through conflict and when the men come back home, they return with so many issues. At the end of the day, the women and children in their lives are the first to receive the impact of these negative outcomes.
“As a soldier or officer, you cannot go to the war zone, return and go straight back to your family. But in Nigeria, we do not have a system where these men are evaluated and if the problem of PTSD becomes existent in their lives, they don’t have a chance to be rehabilitated. We need that type of centre and that is why I am proposing that DEPOWA works towards establishing a rehab PTSD evaluation and rehabilitation centre for the armed forces. That is my big project and goal. I believe one of the effective ways to help women is to give them a peaceful and safe home, to do this we must make sure that their husbands are sane and without any form of post-war trauma,” she said.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event. It is natural to feel afraid during and after a traumatic situation with some reactions such as being easily startled or frightened, always being on guard for danger, self-destructive behaviour, such as drinking too much or driving too fast, trouble sleeping or concentrating, Overwhelming guilt or shame, irritability, angry outbursts or aggressive behaviour.
