Gentlemen, I don't think it can be said too frequently, thank you for your service. Two good friends of mine have about 18 years each in and have been back and forth from Iraq over the years. They always come back a little off despite their obvious previous experience.
I think it's worse than just the Psychiatrists, it goes all the way to the top of the chain of command. The Military is the last bastion of machismo in the United States. Mental Health is second only to homosexuality as a taboo. Rather than view the brain as another organ in the body that needs to be treated properly in order to function, they take the view that anything other than stoic detachment is weakness; Mental health should never be discussed and those that have problems aren't fit for duty. Bull Shit!
I wonder if you can teach compartmentalization? That's the only way I can deal with stressful shit like seeing people die is to block it off and then later let it out a little at a time. Can't let it all out at once, that's not good.
I don't know for sure. Seems like a smart approach. One of the guys that worked for us in the past joined the Army and did a couple of tours in Iraq. He suffers from post traumatic stress disorder or whatever they call it now. He rarely shows signs but it occasionally happens. He said mostly it happens when he's sleeping and gets woke up suddenly. His issues come from seeing 3 friends wasted by an IED two vehicles ahead of him. He never really talked much about the treatment. His normal personality didn't really change. He said it wasn't a huge issue for him. It wasn't that hard to control for him.
Compartmentalization can ultimately result in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, especially when combined with the suck it up and move on soldier repression that the military recommends. I don't think the soldiers have any effective means to let it out, once they've got it bottled up. The military likes to leave that for the VA to sort out after the fact.
Good point. It does need to come out at some point. Okay, so on to better subjects - I love the rules for the hat - http://www.1cda.org/cav_hat_moi.htm I think since Gramps was in a tank destroyer unit I should do a yellow cord.
I don't think conventional/normal approaches work with ground troups. What those guys do is just not natural. Normal people will not volunteer to go into situations that will likely kill them. Storming the beaches of Normandy was not something that the average person would do. This country earned its freedom on the backs of men that put themselves into completely insane situations and has continued to do so throughout it's history and all wars and conflicts. We have Navy SEALS that will go on near suicide missions just to retrieve their dead teammates body. Pretty sure it takes a special psychiatrist to work through stress issues with a guy that dedicated. The human psychie(sp) is amazing.
You are incorrect Gigantic. You are going off heresay from older vets and whiney crap from liberal media. The Army actually spends a lot of time and money on counciling and mental health screening post deployment and immediately after tramatic events. More so than most servicemembers recieveing it want. It was a little slow on the uptick because the army had been on peace time, garrison mentality for 20+ years. But now they have battalions of shrinks and experts who run around trying to make sure everyone is in touch with thier feelings etc. As has been mentioned already, going to war, just like any traumatic experiance, changes you. Not much really you can do about it unless you turn them into medicated zombies. It really does come down to just sucking it up and finding a way to live with it.
I'm very happy to be wrong! I'm going off of my own experience and that of friends who were veterans of the 1st gulf war. I'm glad that they've turned things around somewhat, but I think they could do better yet.
They have been working hard to rectify those past issues! It is still hard to get soldiers to get assistance if they need it!
