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Sunday, December 02, 2007 |
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PTSD |
Over the past few weeks NPR interviewed a few soldiers about their experiences since coming back from Iraq. To cut to the chase both soldiers said they have been plagued by PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder) and act differently as a result. They also found a way to blame their problems on the administration, as it was they who got us into Iraq upon faulty pretenses in the first place.
I always listen to these types of interviews with interest because I want to see if my experiences in Iraq compare to the people being interviewed. What I have realized is that they do more often than not, and when they don’t they really aren’t that far off. I say that because I wonder what causes PTSD in some and not in others.
Before I get into the reasons why I believe what I do about PTSD I’ll tell you what it is I think about the disorder to begin with. I think it is a real disorder that can afflict anyone given the right circumstances, but I believe some are more susceptible to it than others. Those who are more susceptible to the disorder seem to me to be so because of the expectations and coddling of our society upon its soldiers. Because of popular movies, literature, and B.S. stories told by past soldiers today’s soldiers are expected to come home “messed up” from war.
Both times I returned home people found ways to poke and prod me about my experiences and question me on just how the deployment had changed me. Questions like “So did you see any one get killed?”, “How many of your friends were killed?”, “What were the worst things you saw?” etc. ad infinitum. After a while I began to wonder why people wanted to know the answers to these types of questions. Were they all obsessed with morbid thoughts? Is that what they expected of returned soldiers? Who put these thoughts into their minds to begin with?
One of the NPR interviews concluded with a soldier getting “violently” sick. When asked about his sickness the soldier said it was probably because of the medicine he was taking, but his friends said it was undoubtedly because of the terrible things he saw while in Iraq. Why were his friends making excuses for him? Were they encouraging this type of behavior from their friend?
Before we even go to war we hear about PTSD at our mobilization sites. We have classes about PTSD and we discuss it at the company level. We are inundated with examples of PTSD from Hollywood. PTSD seems to be expected of all soldiers these days.
As I watched part of Ken Burns’ WWII documentary “The War” the other day I realized that those guys went through so much more than soldiers do today and yet came home and seemingly got on with life. They didn’t complain about what they had to do, they did their job and then moved on. Today it seems that most soldiers claim PTSD even though a very small number of them have even seen combat up close. Heck I have even heard Air Force guys claim it when they miles away from even leaving their base. When I think about why this is the case I can only come up with the answer that we coddle our soldiers and teach them that it is only a matter of time overseas before they are mentally screwed.
I know plenty of guys who have killed numbers of bad guys and seen their friends killed and yet returned home and got on with life. Of course they have some bad memories but they don’t let it get them down day after day. Bad things happen, people die, and life goes on. If we all let those bad things control our lives and make us violently sick every time we thought of them we would have a large section of society that was not only unproductive but needed taken care of.
While I don’t discredit PTSD altogether I believe it is way over diagnosed. All soldiers don’t get PTSD. Some soldiers claim it as an easy way to account for other problems in their lives while others claim it in order to get out of future deployments. As a society we need to quit teaching our soldiers that it is a likely result of being deployed. By doing so we would help soldiers “man up” and deal with tough experiences in ways other than discussing them with a professional in a safe and comfortable office.
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Sunday, December 09, 2007 |
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Clarification |
I am sure that some people misunderstood my true intention with my last post about PTSD. I know that because I myself was confused as certain points upon rereading it. So with this post I hope to clear up my views and I am going to do so with one story that comes from my last deployment.
On a convoy one day a bomb went off on one of our security vehicles. The shrapnel from the bomb hit all around our gunner but he was lucky and wasn’t hurt. When we got back to base we were all joking with him and all was fine. No harm no foul. I never heard any mention of the incident much long after it happened especially because incidents like it happened to several more of the guys in my unit.
A couple months later I was hanging out with the gunner from that day and heard him mention that he was sure he would have PTSD in the future. I thought that sounded funny because there really wasn’t much traumatic stress involved in what happened to him. As I continued to think about what he said I realized just how dumb it was. PTSD isn’t something you know that you are going to get in the future. It is almost as if someone were to say “I just know I am going to be bipolar in the future.”
The reason I think this kid said something like he did is because we are inundated with warnings about PTSD in today’s society. Soldiers are expected to have mental problems upon coming home from war. Sure there are adjustment problems fitting back into society, especially for Guard and Reserve soldiers, but those aren’t the same as having PTSD. The problem is that most people don’t realize that. They think that if there is anything different about the soldier then they have been “messed up”.
While I admit that PTSD is a real disorder I also believe it to be over diagnosed. Like I said before there are guys who take advantage of government handouts at every opportunity. Saying you have PTSD is a good way to get disability so if you can convince a doctor that you have problems you’ll get a check in the mail once a month. I also believe that some guys just don’t know how to handle readjustment and try to blame their problems on something completely unrelated.
I hope no one misunderstands me as someone who couldn’t possibly relate, or just an unsympathetic punk because I don’t think that is who I am. I just think that we need to leave soldiers alone and deal with their problems only after they are recognized, not before they occur.
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Tuesday, December 11, 2007 |
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Changing Minds |
My friends over at Vets For Freedom are continuing to do big things. Follow the hyperlink to read an article written by VFF director Pete Hegseth and former (apparently) anti-war stalwart Maj. General Batiste of Votevets.org. It seems if as of late Murtha isn`t the only one changing his mind about the war in Iraq.
Pay attention to these guys in the future to see what else they are up to.
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Monday, December 17, 2007 |
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New Links |
So some family members of mine have decided to jump into the blogging arena and I think everyone should check them out, blogroll them, and return every day with giddy anticipation of their next post.
The first comes from my father and can be found at Steve 4 Prez. I would say he gets his wittiness from me but then I came second in the timeline that is life.
The second comes from my uncle who will write about all things the he sees fit to post. Find his blog here.
Check out their sites and welcome them to the blogosphere.
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Wednesday, December 19, 2007 |
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So What Now? |
If you have read my blog over the past few years you already know that I am not the biggest fan of the mainstream media. For those few new readers my dislike for the MSM started when I returned home from my first tour and saw Dan Rather misrepresent the military at Abu Gharib. I had been at Abu Gharib and had many friends there and knew that the first "breaking" report about the prison was way overblown.
Moving forward three years, a friend of mine and new reader of my blog, asked me to read a portion of Anderson Cooper`s autobiography "Dispatches From The Edge". As an anchor for CNN Anderson has been pretty much everywhere and seen pretty much everything, or at least that is what the jacket cover says. Skipping all the crap that I didn`t read in order to get to the stuff that I`ll discuss let`s move to page 60.
On pages 60-62 Anderson writes about being in Iraq on a patrol where nothing happened. He was bummed but in the midst of his bummed outness he realized that he may have learned something.
-"Then I realized that there was a lesson to be learned about what gets covered, what we see about Iraq at home. Not all of Iraq had exploded that day, at least not the part of Baghdad I was in. The headline could just as easily have been `200 Gallons of Water Delivered to Neighborhood Near Baghdad Airport.` It would have been just as accurate, though arguably not as important. Perhaps the soldier I spoke to earlier was right: sometimes Iraq is not like what you see on TV."
While I agree somewhat with what Anderson wrote I think that he completely misses the point about his experience. It wasn`t that what happened on that patrol that is the story, it is the fact that the MSM doesn`t find what happened (or didn`t happen) newsworthy. The MSM only wants to put the shocking stories as headlines. What is shocking about delievering water to a neighborhood? Lots actually. The fact that the convoy didn`t get blown up. The fact that Americans brought water to a neighborhood that probably needed it badly. The fact that not everything in Iraq is bad news etc.
The MSM should try running some headlines like the ones Anderson talks about to see how people respond. Not all Americans want to hear about dead soldiers day in and day out. Some of us want to hear about the boring days, the progress being made, and the lives of the soldiers.
The MSM has a hankering for bad news. They are an entertainment based business bent on entertaining. Not exactly the people I want telling the country about what really matters. I am sure there are people like Anderson Cooper who really believe they are doing good, I just think they miss the point most of the time.
I`m not alone on this one am I?
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Sunday, December 23, 2007 |
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Happy Holidays |
I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy whatever you celebrate. For me it is Christmas so Merry Christmas everyone. In the odd chance that there are some actual deployed troops that read my blog just remember that being away from home for the holidays sucks, but it is only a matter of time before you`ll be back home and everything will be back to normal.
I know that isn`t the most comforting thing to say but hey, I was never that good at sensitive type stuff. |
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Wednesday, December 26, 2007 |
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That`s What I`ve Been Saying |
Thanks goes to my father for pointing out this article on the American Thinker that echoes what I wrote the other day, and have been writing for some time now, about the MSM. If you want to know why I don`t believe half of what the media says read the article and you will.
The MSM should be ashamed at their biased coverage of the Iraq war. Imagine what our country would think if the real picture of Iraq was making the headlines. If the masses knew what soldiers on the ground now then this war would have the support of the nation. From me to you believe that.
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