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Many of us heard about it after Vietnam. Some men, we were told, returned home having flashbacks and exhibiting anti-social behavior. But, like most people back then, I shrugged it off, never realizing that it would come to effect so many that I knew and loved. I didn't know then how deeply it could wound a person, or with what lasting and horrible presence. PTSD can often have a delayed effect. One day a colleague of mine had to be taken from his office, as he was cowering behind his desk, terrified. He was a Vietnam vet who in 25 years had exhibited no negative symptoms. But then one day it all exploded. His life exploded.
And now, with the war in Iraq/Afghanistan, reports are that as many as one in five soldiers will be afflicted with this life-damning disorder. The Knoxville Voice" says:
More than 100,000 soldiers are being treated for mental health problems, according to the Veterans Administration, and half of those are for Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD). But that figure’s likely low-balled and the true numbers are far higher, as many in the military are afraid to report their flashbacks, nightmares, weight-loss and other symptoms for fear of reprisal. Others seek help but get turned away. Some are told to shut up and deal with it.
Celeste Freeman reports it that the suicide rate for vets is climbing
On Tuesday night, CBS News announced the devastating results of a five-month investigation into the incidence of suicide among American war veterans. Until the CBS folks did their own count using existing state death records (that no one had bothered to gather together and analyze), little information existed about how many suicides among veterans there were nationwide.
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The numbers CBS found are extremely disturbing. In 2005, 6256 veterans killed themselves—an average of 120 suicides each week. Furthermore, the CBS researchers found that veterans age 20-24 had the highest suicide rate of any age group. These, of course, are the Iraq and Afghani war kids. Whereas other veterans were twice as likely to commit suicide than the non-veteran populace. The new, young vets were three or four times more likely.
Here in an uneducated nutshell is what contributes to the disorder:
Take a fine young American boy. Teach him to do anything for his soldier-brothers. Then set him down in a jungle, or a desert, and blow up his best friend, spattering body parts all over him. Tell him to shoot anyone who looks dangerous. Let him be terrified of dying at the hands of a hidden enemy 24/7. Make his terror abject and total. Make lots of people die around him. Reward him for killing, an act he has been taught is wrong as a child, but an act he finds necessary to live as an adult. Let the enemy be anyone. A child. A woman. A man. Then send him home to make nice at the family picnic, surrounded by people who used to understand him, but who now may as well be speaking Turkish. The familiar has been replaced by the nightmare that threatens to break through at the next opportunity,.
The PTSD veteran often is unaware that he or she has symptoms. And if aware, they are afraid to report it because of the stigma. Most 21 year old boys do not get support for admitting that they may cry all day long.
ABC news agrees:
Indeed, stigma is a major barrier that soldiers face when seeking mental health care. In an article published in the most recent edition of Journal of Military Psychology, Litz writes that although 80 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan service members with a mental health disorder acknowledged they had a problem, only 40 percent were interested in receiving help.
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"Modern career service members are very concerned about stigma and may be ashamed of opening themselves up the mental health professionals," Litz states. "They are also concerned about appearing weak or sick and expect that it will negatively impact their careers."
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Experts agree that screening is important to identify soldiers who are affected by stigma associated with treatment, but how much screening and when to do it are still up for debate.
This is a description from
Grim, a PTSD suffererer who has been asked a question from a fellow sufferer:
What you need to know, first and last, is that so-called PTSD is not an illness. It is a normal condition for people who have been through what you have
