Government Can Do More to Treat Veterans with PTSD
The murder of American Sniper author Chris Kyle at a Texas gun range by a fellow vet said to be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has restarted a national conversation about PTSD and raised questions about whether the government is doing enough to identify and treat those suffering from the condition.
Kyle’s killer, Eddie Ray Routh, had only recently been diagnosed with PTSD, according to his brother in law, but had a history of mental illness over the last several years. While details remain sketchy, it is possible that Kyle, who had dedicated his life to helping returning warriors with PTSD and other problems in adjusting, made a tragic mistake in bringing Routh to the gun range. Kyle may have been trying his own version of “exposure therapy” — a treatment option for PTSD sufferers where the clinician takes the patient back to the trauma and has him relive it repeatedly and, “ideally, with each retelling of what happened, the event would seem gradually less threatening.” Psychiatrist Albert Rizzo told the CNN:
“What happened this weekend with the death of former Navy Seal sniper Chris Kyle at a gun range is exactly the opposite of the evidence-based approach to treating PTSD,” termed ‘prolonged exposure’ or ‘virtual reality exposure’ therapy, he said. “Chris Kyle, while well trained in his field, had no clinical training in conducting therapeutic exposure.”
It is never advisable to put someone with PTSD in an environment where there is likely to be uncontrolled exposure to provocative events — such as gunfire and visuals of people shooting guns — because this could stoke a flashback in the PTSD sufferer.
The use of virtual reality in therapy shows how the government and military are light years ahead of how PTSD was viewed after the Vietnam War, when the military determined that ” if the problem lasted more than six months after the soldiers returned home, then it obviously was a pre-existing condition and had nothing to do with their wartime service.” At that time, PTSD was known as “stress response syndrome,” and the military’s shameful determination that our veterans were suffering from a condition unrelated to their combat experience condemned tens of thousands of vets who desperately needed help to a nightmare existence that many still suffer from today.
The issue with the government’s response to PTSD today is that, put simply, the problem is bigger than anyone imagined a few years ago and potentially as large as the number of PTSD cases for Vietnam vets. A study in 1993 found that more than 830,000 Vietnam veterans suffered from symptoms related to PTSD to one degree or another upon returning home.
Last year, the VA reported that through September 2011, more than 247,000 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars had been treated for PTSD. But according to the PTSD Foundation of America, that number represents less than 40% of our veterans who need help. A veteran’s own personal code of conduct that refuses to allow him to acknowledge “weakness” and a military culture that stigmatizes PTSD sufferers have contributed to some startling — and worrisome — statistics.
There were a record 349 suicides of active duty personnel in 2012. Nearly two in three marriages of PTSD sufferers end in divorce. The inability of the PTSD patient to hold a job has contributed to an epidemic of homelessness among combat veterans. It is estimated that one in three returning vets will exhibit at least some of the symptoms of PTSD, with between 13-20% of vets needing psychiatric care.
A companion condition to PTSD — Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) — is also a mental health problem, given the large number of soldiers wounded in IED attacks. The condition presents itself in similar ways to PTSD and it’s estimated that between 4-9% of returning vets suffer from TBI.
Suicidal thoughts, alcoholism and drug abuse, waking nightmares, insomnia, losing contact with reality, and being transported back to the battlefield — the physical symptoms of PTSD are so debilitating that in severe cases it is possible that the victim will lash out violently. Whether Eddie Ray Routh suffered a terrifying flashback on the gun range or, as he told his sister, he simply “traded his soul for a new truck,” PTSD played a role in this tragedy, and advocates are worried that the media — ever looking to oversimplify — might stigmatize returning vets suffering from PTSD as crazed killers.
It’s happened before with vets returning from Vietnam. Several high-profile murders by mentally ill Vietnam veterans spawned a seeming frenzy in the press, with lurid stories of violent vets driven to kill by their “unique” experiences in Vietnam. Popular culture contributed mightily to the portrait of the murderous Vietnam veteran, as both films and television shows painted a picture of the moody, brooding ex-soldier who might explode into violence at any moment, and for no reason.
The stigma that attached to the Vietnam vet as a result of this media campaign prevented thousands from seeking needed treatment. Could it happen again? The media hasn’t changed much, but has society changed to the point that we can view PTSD with more understanding and perspective?
The U.S. government, after a slow start in the early part of the decade, has begun to gather and concentrate considerable resources to address the issue of PTSD-TBI in veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The latter part of the Bush administration and the entirety of the Obama administration has seen many changes in how the military identifies probable PTSD sufferers, and reforms in how benefits are dispensed have streamlined the process so that those diagnosed with PTSD can now get treatment more quickly.
In 2010, the president signed an executive order making it much easier for veterans from any war to get treatment for PTSD and claim disability benefits. Now, all the veteran needs is for a doctor to confirm a diagnosis of PTSD for the patient to receive benefits. Previously, the process was far more involved and could take years for a case to be resolved.
My 88year old fatherinlaw still has nightmares 3 times a week, 68 years since WW11 ended.
I never knew my father in law had been experiencing these nightmares until he came to live with me 3 years ago. And no he is not on disability, he doesn’t consider himself disabled.
I am doing a study on combat-related PTSD. If you are interested in learning more, please contact the email address I included.
I would love to know how many of those suffering from PTSD are on some form of SSRI drugs (prozac, Luvox, etc).
Seems like the docs distribute these drugs like candy which result in the deaths of many innocents like Chris Kyle (sniper recently killed by PTSD suffering vet).
It is not surprising that the “disability nation”, ours that is, should have so many Post Trauma Complaint “victims’. The “disorder” going on among some vets, not just combat vets who know all about trauma, but vets from mess kit repair companies and who were military aircraft mechanics can be identified by symptoms so vastly different from each other and so subjective that they don’t even rate being clustered together under the title “syndrome”. Bad dreams, fears, sweats, lack of appetite, headaches, muscle aches, inability to focus, and the indespensible flashbacks (a flashback is a bad memory, NO healthy person has any bad memories do they?) etc., etc.
Many of us have met some the few vets who try to turn their couple or few years of service into a lifelong gimme da money. It is sad to behold, but as American as apple pie.
In today’s victim-happy (and annoyingly progressive left/liberal Democrat in default therein) disability nation, there’s PTSD and traumatization (and befenits and free passes) for every little thing… but those dang veterans are either lazy shirkers faking it or “ticking timebombs” waiting to go off and machine-gun the neighborhood with evil “assault weapons” (unless, course, they confess all kinds of bad things they did in war and ask forgiveness– not to mention blame Bush– then their due all those goodies, praise by liberals and more!). Of course, any vet who isn’t sorry and served proudly deserves whatever bad things happened to him there or later– see all the nasty left/liberal comments after Kyle got killed.
You know Fred, there’s truth to what you’re saying (especially as far as non- combat vets claiming PTSD) but it is a genuine issue in lives. I just read Jake Tapper’s excellent account of Fire Base Keating getting overrun,called “The Outpost”. One of the kids that made it out committed suicide a couple years later. While there is a victim culture in the USA, unless you have been in the shoes of an infantryman in heavy combat your comments ring cheap and uncaring to me.
My credentials are I came home from Viet Nam (25th Infantry Division) with addiction and PTSD issues that grabbed 10 years of my life. The VA didn’t diagnose it such. I never claimed any benefits. All I wanted was help and they were useless. If they’re better now and they save some lives, thank God for that.
One area I’d concur is the aim with PTSD sufferers should be to get better and not a check for life. Show some compassion on these young guys. I think because its an all volunteer army most people don’t really have any connection to the guys that fight. They get stuck in these endless pointless wars with ridiculous rules of engagement poor senior leadership and feckless politicians who never served and see the troops as nothing more than photo op opportunities.
“One of the kids that made it out…”
I was in the Army a long time ago. We didn’t call soldiers ‘kids’ when I was in, they were all ‘men’. Maybe “kids” is symptomatic of a larger problem.?
“Kids” is because they’re 20 years old (I turned twenty-one in the field in Viet Nam) Obviously they’re men experience wise but they’re dealing with a pile of crap their peers know nothing about. Your argument is silly semantics, were you in combat, Fred or were you one of those REMF’s as they said back in the day?
Some of them were 17 years old. A soldier is a man not a kid. I’m beginning to suspect your credentials. What was your MOS?
“…were you in combat, Fred or were you one of those REMF’s as they said back in the day?”
I was a 1542 and I was never in combat. There wasn’t any combat when I was in. I’ve never made a secret of the fact I’m not a combat vet.
I don’t really give a crap what you suspect but my mos was 11B20, light weapons infantry. I did AIT at Tigerland at Ft. Polk Louisiana and served in the 2/14th Infantry of the 25th Division out of Fire Support Base Keene and Fire Support Base Ayers in 1968-69.
11B20. At last. BTW I couldn’t find the 20 part. Maybe I missed it. Anyway, thanks for your service to we taxpayers whom you now seem to want to see fleeced. Aside from you and the Marine here below, I never knew a combat vet to brag so much about it .
I did meet a Marine in a bar once who told me he had personally killed 200 enemy in Iraq. I would have laughed in his face if he weren’t so big and young. You know, that discretion/valor thing.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. That adjective Traumatic lends a touch of the medical sciences, doesn’t it? If these disorders were broken down to the simplified you would have a lot more clarity. Just for example, you referred to a soldier seeing a buddy “vaporized” by an IED. A terrible sight indeed. But if this is a trauma, then all the doctors and nurses who treat the truly wounded would be traumatized as well, wouldn’t they? And every soldier who has seen a buddy wounded or killed would be traumatized, wouldn’t they?
So if this disorder were called Post Shocking Sight Disorder, a bit of the medical aura would be off the rose, now isn’t that right?
Fred it’s funny somewhere here you accuse me of making smirking comments when everything you’ve said drips with arrogance. As far as boasting about my exploits I haven’t listed a single thing I did in the military except answer your question about my MOS.
I in no way am advocating for benefit checks, I said below I want to see people get well not lifetime pensions. Your smirking (dare I use that word?) comment about people not wanting to die in wars “that have a purpose” just shows your profound ignorance of the reality of boots on the ground in these wars.
Morale and discipline went to hell in Viet Nam after the troops realized the war was lost politically. I repeat (maybe you’re a slow listener between smirks) “no one wants to die in a war that means nothing” When the cause is lost , there is no rational beyond your buddies lives for fighting. Viet Nam deteriorated into drug use, racial tension and incidents of fragging once the left and the media sold us out. The same thing would likely have happened in WWII if there was no intent of dethroning Hitler. It’s not a REMF thing so you wouldn’t understand.
In today’s therapeutic/infantile society, we’re “kids” and can commit “youthful indiscretions” we may be absolved of repsonsibility for until we’re at least 35 (currently, possible older perhaps pending upon developments related to the Baby Boomers actually growing up as a whole lately) now.
I am replying to everything you have said, in general. I thought your first post was extremely ignorant, and was going to say something, but it occurred to me while reading your next few posts that you are simply uninformed and dangerously uneducated for someone who presents themselves as intellectual authority on the subjects of PTSD and TBI. Nitpicking about who gets PTSD just by “seeing” their friends vaporized is juvenile and contrary to ample empirical evidence. Your first post made me angry, your next posts made me feel bad for you.
I am not asking you to change your opinion, because it is one of the finest rights in America to be able to voice your own, but please do not present yourself as knowledgeable about this topic, as you clearly are not. I will not preach to you about your area of expertise. Mine happens to be the brain. I think it is an organ of a bit too much complexity for you.
As a proponent of limited government, I see one of the ONLY jobs for our government to provide is national security. The government is obligated to tend to all affairs of our national security. This includes tending to the people who fought for our national security. The gov’t needs to be helping those who ensure our security before they go looking to help people who have not sacrificed their lives for our continued existence. Just my opinion.
P.S. Fred – I am a 24 yr old female, I have delayed onset, chronic PTSD that has messed up a lot of my life. My brother committed suicide when I was 13. I didn’t see him do it, nor did I find his body. Is it okay with you that I have PTSD? Or do I not have PTSD, because I didn’t find him? I’m looking at you for answers.
I agree with this: “I think because its an all volunteer army most people don’t really have any connection to the guys that fight. They get stuck…with ridiculous rules of engagement poor senior leadership and feckless politicians who never served and see the troops as nothing more than photo op opportunities.”
trang: “As far as boasting about my exploits I haven’t listed a single thing I did in the military except answer your question about my MOS.”
But, trang, whose experience are you writing about with this. Isn’t this supposed to be about you?
“trangbang68
another risk is fighting up Hamburger Hill in the A Shau valley for three days, losing 100 comrades and then walking away and giving it baCck to the NVA…”
Here is some material indicating that long term vet PTSD is a rare complaint, enjoy:
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/194/6/515.full
Fred , peace out man, pretty much a futile conversation, time wasted never to be regained.
Not futile. An advancement and discussion of ideas is never completely futile. Only slurping up the Kool Aid is. See you around again I hope.
I’ll bet there are far more people milking civilian disability payouts than crooked vets milking phony PTSD claims.
As far as the “mess kit repair” types, the first few years in Iraq was one of otherwise rear area types getting mortared, rocketted, IEDed and shot at in supply convoys than there were Infantry engagements, after the initial offensive. Camp Anaconda was known as Mortarita-ville, Abu Ghraib was the most attacked place from 2003 until the 2004 Falluja offensive. Rockets, mortars and small arms attacks. The vast majority of us were MPs and intel, including the QRF. At one time, Truck Drivers were seeing more combat than some infantry units. At one time, early in the occupation; the “rear area” was actually Kuwait and it didn’t matter if you were a “fobbit”, you were most likely going to receive fire.
As far as assets to treat it, there are plenty of them and we got no less than 3 different briefings on where to get help and that was just to leave the combat theater. The idea that “vets aren’t getting enough help” is rather laughable. What is happening is vets aren’t interested in getting help until its too late, preferring to tough it out.
Amen Sarge on the civilians milking the system, largely for mood disorders and unprovable back injuries. They are hastening the implosion of the Social Security system because many of them never paid into it.
Sarge and trang, I specifically wrote this:
“The “disorder” going on among some vets, not just combat vets who know all about trauma…”
I wrote that to exclude CIB soldiers, canoneers, and tankers. I don’t want to hear about those few clerks in the rear who heard roadsides go off or trainees who went through the Combat Indoctrination Course. You worry about them if you want to. My broader point is why so many more give-mes in the current wars to match the rise of civilian give-mes to record heights. See any connection? I do.
By the way, Rick, where will the money come from to solve this, what, travesty you describe? You are a Republican, if not a conservative, aren’t you? Don’t you know we are living largely and large off borrowed money? Disability forever!
We could’ve gotten rid of the worthless and demoralizing Commander-in-Chief last November, but we didn’t. If I were a career military person, I would be in despair, too.
Hey you are so right I served while Jimmy Carter was President and this guy is worse so PTSD would be a small matter there needs to be a new term for whatever I had or might still have, but stay away from the VA on account of!
Some thing is very wrong. Millions of veterans came back from WWII, a war that killed more in a week than the ten year wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. True, some turned to drink, or were shell shocked, but most vets, the vast majority, picked up their civilian lives and led productive, peaceful lives. Why are 40+% of the current vets burdened with PTSD? Why was a border line insane person, Eddie Ray Routh, permitted to serve in the Marine Corps? Why was the Newtown killer, Lanza, taught by his mom to handle weapons, when many considered him quite unstable? Ditto the movie killer, the Arizona Congress lady assassin, the Va Tech killer, the Columbine killers? In each case, a neighbor, employer, teacher, family member, or friend, was almost certain that the person was mentally ill. Who do you call when a nut buys a gun? We have learned that almost no mentally ill people are entered into the national register, because powerful people do not want the names entered. Most states ignore the requirement. Hence the computer check never screens a gun sale to a nut.
Most gun related death are tied to drugs, either marketing or use, insane people killing others, or killing themselves. Since drug conviction data entry is also ignored by most states, the much ballyhooed federal gun control data base is worthless.
The problem is us. We do not empathize with people who are extremely ill. A basic kindness, separating them from their gun, is rarely done. We do not demand that our government(s) function in creating accurate data bases, for the insane and drug related crimes. These groups cause about 90% of US gun murders.
There is an abandoned mental hospital, near Newtown, which once held over 4,000 patients. They were kicked out. About 1/3 subsequently was sent to penitentiaries because they broke laws, typically after not taking their meds. These sleep under bridges, have no community support.
We could do better, in war and peace.
The one data base there is interestingly that the ATF has access to is from the VA. Anyone who ever was treated by a VA psychiatric facility is on the ATF no buy list while the jacked up young crazies on Paxil and Prozac are on no list. Jarod Loughner who shot Gabby Giffords was expelled from Pima College in Tucson for making violent threats. The word on the streets is that his mom a county employee got his record sealed.
The Korean kid in Virginia wasn’t under psychiatric care but never made an ATF list. Maybe this is a convenient crisis for the left to seize guns by letting the crazies buy them.
Your comment on WWII is not comparable as every war is different. WWII vets were celebrated and lauded with parades. Korean vets were ignored and were implied as defeated. Viet Nam vets were reviled and sometimes spit on by their worst peers. The new vets aren’t getting that but they’re ignored and victims of fighting meaningless wars.
Excellent comments. I think your insights about the differing wars, and the effects on the combatants has bearing on the PTSD impact on our returning warriors, who stand in unemployment lines instead of victory parades.
make that, the Korean kid was under psychiatric care
Two factors come to mind. First after WW II, the soldiers and sailors returning were hailed as heroes and were repeatedly told by friends and family that their service was good and needed and honorable. In Vietnam and Korea, the returning military received little help dealing with the guilt and horror of combat.
Second, the methods of training were changed between WW II and Vietnam to get more soldiers to engage the enemy when ordered. In previous wars, a significant percentage of soldiers failed to fire, intentionally missed, or fired wildly without aim. Being psychologically conditioned to kill when you are unable to rationalize the necessity or morality of the order creates lots of mental stress. In WW II there was a general sense that what was being done was good and noble, although the methods distasteful.
ATF went outta there way to get that VA database… figures, gummint “revenuers” taking away people’s booze, guns and tobacco and ejoying it (mighty Democrat to me), no wonder they make sure those “dangerous veterans” are immediately disarmed but other mentally-ill folk can wait for them to get around to ‘em.
“Eddie Ray Routh, permitted to serve in the Marine Corps?”
I don’t think Eddie Routh was insane when he was in the Marine Corp. He did suffer PTSD. That much is known since Chris Kyle was trying to help him. Scuttlebutt says he was on SSRI (prozac, luvox, et) for the depression and PTSD. I despise doctors giving out these drugs while the people who are on them are walking around free.
If they are severe enough to be on these drugs, they should be hospitalized and under strict media restrictions (not able to watch violent movies, games, etc). The known side effects of these drugs is suicidal and homicidal ideation. Why on earth would doctors give drugs like these to people who are depressed and suicidal and think anything good will come of it?
The popular culture’s cartoon image of a person having PTSD really is unfortunate. One can acquire PTSD from surviving a major automobile accident, or any dramatic and traumatic accident. Many survivors of rape and of childhood sexual abuse experience PTSD. Many police officers are, or have been, PTSD sufferors. No doubt, survivors of muggings on our city streets experience PTSD.
My point is that PTSD is not limited to combat veterans. Chances are very good that you know someone who has, or has had, PTSD. Chances are also very good that you do not view that person as some half shaven, hair in disarray, maniac, ala Jack Nicholson in the movie, The Shining.
My second point is that you can be cured of PTSD. Sometimes you will simply outgrow it; time healing your wounds. Other times, you will need the guidance of a competent therapist.
As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, for years I, unknowingly, struggled with PTSD. Various therapists diagnosed my troubles as dysthymia, depression, and career dissatisfaction—-all of which were true, but were wide of the mark. About ten years ago, I was nearly killed while witnessing some gangland street violence. As a result, I was diagnosed with PTSD. But, the therapist from whom I sought help explained to me that the PTSD originating from this violence was very similar or parallel to the symptoms I described originating from my childhood sexual abuse. With his help over several years, I have recovered. Where I used to obsessively ruminate about the events causing my PTSD, I no longer do so.
Oddly, I am grateful for witnessing the gangland street violence. It lead to my recovery from my childhood sexual abuse mental health issues. Life is now quite beautiful!
Good story brother. I started getting better when I got off dope and became a Christian. In the 1980′s I took my wife to see “Platoon” and unloaded about my experiences for about an hour and felt those demons in the hedgerow fly away. Now I’ve been back for 40 years and its just an interesting old memory, but combat is something that always stays with you to some degree.
What is an interesting thought is how many people are turning away from Christianity and seem to suffer more [psychologically] as a result. Maybe something in reading and following Christ’s teachings allows people to relieve themeselves of these burdens to a degree they can live normal lives. This would explain why many WWII vets didn’t seem to suffer extreme PTSD.
I’m not one to rally people and encourage them to follow Christianity since I am not a huge follower of any organized religion myself. But I do believe that whatever religious construct you live your life by, it *does* help you deal with things that many people have already faced.
If you have never read Joseph Campbell’ “Power of the Myths” book, please take time to do so.
What is important, but unsaid here and most places that PTSD and other trauma-derived disorders are discussed, is that there is evidence that susceptibility to PTSD is biologically based, probably genetic. Note that I did not say proven.
It’s been something like 30 years since some psychologist stood up at a conference and bleated that the “last thing [his] patient’s needed was to be told they had smaller brains”, but the “caring” professions have managed to keep a lid on the information pretty well as they did for decades (starting with Harlow in ’55) with the mountains of data that showed trauma had permanent effects on the brain.
Besides the fact that some people find comfort in the fact that biology may play a role, if sufficient resources had been brought to bear we might already be able to pre-screen susceptible people and reduce their exposure. A lot is being learned about this stuff, but unless you really read a lot of obscure sources you aren’t going to know about it.
perhaps if we sent our soldiers to kill the enemy and not police an area (IOW unleash them to fight) this would not be an issue.
its always seemed to me that from korea onwards we saw more of this.
when a soldier taking fire can’t fire back unless certain parameters are met its got to play hell on their minds.
Guilt can play a huge part in PTSD. Its not hard to imagine that someone who was so proud of killing wouldnt get along with someone struggling wifh guilt. Im not making judgements here, but motive is something to think about in cases of murder.
PTSD is real, and it is an anxiety disorder.
Mine is not combat related, but a combination of childhood physical abuse, thyroid disorder (noted since WW1 as a factor), and repeated betrayals of trust, which went fullblown in a cruel corporate situation where I had a recurring nightmare for months. Five years later, on 9/11/2001, my PTSD nightmare came back for three weeks, yes, I was in NYC, but zero linkage to my PTSD.
Thing is, no one knows how to treat this when it gets complex, except to avoid ‘trauma triggers’.
I thought about Routh in this context, and still wonder if he was on meds with bad side effects (Ativan made me get violent for the two days I took it via a doctor’s mistake), and also made me think of some , as in the film “The Unforgiven” who might think it makes them a hero if they kill someone considered un-killable.
Suicide ideation can be one of PTSD symptoms, and the worst symptom to cognitively trick away.
I just wish I had known that spending time with the right dog and maybe a horse can help.
NCIS recently had a two part “Shell Shock” about PTSD, and that Navy doctor was correct in noting the two most important objectives are 1) Rediscover sense of purpose, and 2) Rebuild trust.
Impossible for me because my PTSD is now triggered when anyone lies to me about anything important, which means most doctors, lawyers, realtors, and politicians.
and, America is no place to ‘rediscover sense of purpose’ when you have PTSD, are over 50, and roadkill for private equity LBOs.
“Most?”
A friend of mine, who does not have PTSD, was given a prescription for a psychological condition. He was a school teacher and had no legal issues but after being on those meds for a week, he tried to fight a bunch of police officers and broke his leg in the process. He wasn’t charged, changed meds and is fine now.
If PTSD is a real, how come there is no syndrome as in other conditions. From Merriam Webster a definition of SYNDROME:
1: a group of signs and symptoms that occur together and characterize a particular abnormality or condition
2: a set of concurrent things (as emotions or actions) that usually form an identifiable pattern
See syndrome defined for English-language learners »
See syndrome defined for kids »
Origin of SYNDROME
New Latin, from Greek syndromē combination, syndrome, from syn- + dramein to run — more at dromedary
First Known Use: 1541TSD
btw, I heard about a special Yoga program for veterans with PTSD, and emailed them to ask if I could buy a copy of their yoga postures for my PTSD.
They refused, solely because I am not a veteran.
which triggered a new PTSD episode for me.
“They refused, solely because I am not a veteran.
which triggered a new PTSD episode for me.”
You forgot to add the /s.
K2K, keep on keeping on. Your not alone. Just take care of yourself, and if anyone has a problem
with that, thats thier problem.
The thing is, PTSD should be attacked from angles other than that of conventional treatment. Not only should alternative treatmemts not be regulated out of existence or made illegal, but alternative medicines need to be available and accessable. Yes Im talking about psychadellic therapies and relief. The ballooning cost of living is a problem for just about everyone, but imagine how it is for PTSD sufferers, especially if they need time off work or a lighter work load. All the paper work, regulations, hoops, and BS that is a stress for everyone is that much more stressful for people with PTSD, who have other stuff to worry about. Stressed out, over worked Americans arent always friendly or considerate, and that sure doesnt help you if your feeling agoraphobic, angry or paranoid. Fireworks and noise pollution can make it that much harder to rest. So can lawn nazi culture that gets you dirty looks and fines if you need to stay indoors rather than making sure your lawns short enough to putt on. But the biggest problem is the stigma, especialy the stigma you get for taking care of yourself or talking about it.
We need a culture that doesnt pile on the expectations year after year, but that keeps things simple, understandable, and doable. We need a culture that fixes, or rather controls everything. We just need a culture that doesnt make things harder.
I mean to say we DO NOT need a culture that “fixes” and controls everything
Left/liberals consider that “racist”… you’re refuting everything they desire.
Before he died, my grandfather felt he needed to tell me something about his experiences as a paratrooper in France and Germany. When he began to talk about liberating a concentration camp, he got this really odd and eerie look on his face. That look was almost enough to give me nightmares.
I read that US Army psychologists, at West Point I think, have made studies that show that of soldiers continuously exposed to combat situations for 60 days, 100% of the soldiers develop some sort of psychological problems, unless they already had such problems. For those exposed intermittently or for less time, the percentages are proportionately less. No one is too tough to be immune. In combat, people are asked to cope with horrific situations—situations that they may find impossible to process emotionally or morally and then their mind goes out of sync with reality. It shows they are still human and they still care. We should respond by caring too.
PTSD – a convenient excuse to get on ‘disability’????
Interesting how my parents’ WW II generation never seemed to catch this disease……..and yes…some were ‘shell shocked’…..but I’ve never met a single one who had this condition chronically…and that includes about every one of my peers’ Dads.
You’re extrapolating your father’s resiliency with millions of men who served in WWII. The reality of being traumatized by the war is something you and I have no idea of without talking to those men, many of whom have gone to the grave without talking about their war. An Academy Award winning movie in 1946 called “The Best years of our Lives” dealt with combat psychological trauma.
The kid I mentioned above who committed suicide after Afghanistan never sought help. He was consumed by survivors guilt and overdosed.
Talks cheap when you’re sitting on your butt in Aspen when these young men are watching their buddies being vaporized by IED’s in Ramadi and the Korengal valley.
You know that calling a soldier a kid is a librul statement and calling one a man is a conservative statement. You do know that, right?
What’s your point Fred with the man and boys argument? It’s illogical as you’re the one calling into question these young warrior’s manhood not me. If being a “conservative” means being some overweight sunshine patriot selling wolf tickets on the internet because you have a couple AR’s in the closet, count me out of that group. For God’s sake have some respect for these young men getting shafted by inept leaders in wars that were mindlessly trumpeted by tools like Sean Hannity.
Again, your MOS was?
One of the risk factors in PTSD is the length of exposure on the front lines. IIRC in WWII times under actual fire were limited in duration and when a man was away from the front he was away from action. In modern assymetrical war a man at a FOB can be under the threat of fire pretty much 24/7/??. I don’t know what the length of the ?? is, but it is generally longer and the chronic stress is higher.
another risk is fighting up Hamburger Hill in the A Shau valley for three days, losing 100 comrades and then walking away and giving it baCck to the NVA or fighting house to house in Ramadi or Fallujah and turning it over to jihad sympathizers. Nobody wants to die, be maimed or watch their friends die in wars that mean nothing.
The fall from the high horse of the faux righteous is a long one. Calm reasoning is better.
“Nobody wants to die, be maimed or watch their friends die in wars that mean nothing.”
They aren’t crazy about these things in a war that means something either. Do you really have to bring this smirking and self-congratulatory lecturing style with you?
I had a brief PTSD episode that was caused by my car’s loss of steering linkage on a mountain road in Montana. The car went off the road into the ditch–the damage was very minor and was repaired in a few days.
Nevertheless, I had about a week of sweaty, sleepless nights, and distracted days. After about a two weeks, I was back to normal.
The event that caused by PTSD lasted about 15 seconds. It took me two weeks to get over it. What about those who experience hours, days, and weeks of combat stress?
PTSD is real. In World War II, it was called “combat fatigue.” In World War I, it was called “shell shock.”
Everything is not know about PTSD, but another factor is intensity of experience. I don’t think they call it PTSD unless the symptoms are prolonged – more than 30 days. Also early experience of trauma can prime people for PTSD.
Not everyone gets PTSD. Perhaps some resources should get devoted to develop pre-induction screening to spot those at risk for PTSD and steer them into non-combat roles.
Good thought and there are studies that guys who are already unstable are better candidates for PTSD than well balanced guys, but no one knows how anyone will react in certain situations.
Life Isn’t Fair
“A Reason To Win” is the title of a letter that Matthew Jeffers, a senior acting major at Towson University wrote to the Baltimore Ravens, his favorite NFL team, in December 2012. “Life is not fair, it doesn’t care about feeling sorry for yourself or self-pity. The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” In case you missed that part: The only disability in life is a bad attitude. Thank You Matthew for such an inspirational message and I’m happy that your team won the Super Bowl.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO86ZufM-Xg&feature=player_embedded
When 50% of troops involved in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are lining up for disabililty claims and a majority of them PTSD one has to wonder about abuse of the system for some financial gain.
The government wants to take guns away from all Veterans, if it can…and you enable them, Mr. Moran? Great. Well done… I wasted several years in the service just so people like you could screw me over. Thanks a lot, maggot.
Think, for once in your lives. You give your ideological opponent more ammo to defeat you. You always do this sort of thing, and then you cannot understand why you keep losing the big elections and the big policy decisions.
Changes in endocannabinoid levels and/or CB2 receptor expressions have been reported in almost all diseases affecting humans,[34] ranging from cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, liver, kidney, neurodegenerative, psychiatric, bone, skin, autoimmune, lung disorders to pain and cancer. The prevalence of this trend suggests that modulating CB2 receptor activity by either selective CB2 receptor agonists or inverse agonists/antagonists depending on the disease and its progression holds unique therapeutic potential for these pathologies [34]
http://classicalvalues.com/2013/02/cb2/
Medical Marijuana prohibition is a crime against humanity and a violation of the religious precept – heal the sick.
Pass it on.
Rick Moran cares. He really, really cares, so, like all Progressives, he advocates the government sticking more of its fat fingers into other people’s wallets.
Of course, like all Progressives, Rick Moran does not frame it that way. No, instead he shrouds his desire for more government under the latest ailment.
How does one know this? If Rick Moran, in his deeply caring state, wanted better treatment for soldiers, he would advocate getting rid of the VA, which is a microcosm of the failures socialized medicine. But Rick Moran cares too much to be bothered by logic or fact or principle.
Why does PJM publish Moran? To generate lots of comments…on what a militant moron Moran is?