mTBI, PTSD and Stress (Catch All)
Meanwhile....back home.
Some who have served are back from Iraq, and feeling bitter
Quote:
Bad stuff happened in Iraq, stuff Adam Reuter doesn't want to talk about.
His wife worries because he leaps out of bed at night.
But when he does talk about the war, he goes right to how the insurgent crumpled after he pulled the trigger. How later, during the firefight, he ended up just a few feet from the corpse. Bullets buzzed by, and he was supposed to watch the alley, but he couldn't help but glance over.
"He just lay there," Reuter said. His eyes and mouth open. His whiskers a few days old. The bullet had gone in his neck cleanly, just to the right of his Adam's apple, but had come out ugly from the back of his head. He was maybe 25, a little older than Reuter.
How can you describe what that was like? Who would understand it?
Nobody. So Reuter keeps his mouth shut. His Army uniform is packed in a box in the garage. He kisses his baby boy every night. He gets on with his life.
At home in Newnan, Ga., there is no war. "It doesn't cross their minds. To them, everything is fine," Reuter said.
After three years, there are at least 550,000 veterans of the Iraq war. The Washington Post interviewed several who were still in the service, and others who weren't — to hear what their war was like and how the transition home has been.
A constant theme was that the public is largely unaffected by the war, and, despite media exposure, doesn't understand what it's like.
The United States that Iraq veterans are returning to is indifferent, many said. One that, without fear of a draft, seems more interested in American Idol than the bombings in Baghdad. Sure, there are the homecoming parades and yellow-ribbon bumper stickers.
But for many vets, those moments of gratitude were short-lived. Soon they were joined by bitter impressions of a society that seems to forget that it is living through the country's largest combat operation in more than 30 years.
Virtual war helps US soldiers deal with trauma
Quote:
A "virtual Iraq" simulation that allows soldiers to re-live and confront psychological trauma has produced promising results for the initial handful of patients treated using the system.
The trial of the software, which recreates the sights, smells, sounds and jolts of the battlefield, has now been extended to a few dozen US service personnel who have suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since returning from war in Iraq.
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/new...016519,00.html
Study Ties Soldiers' Maladies to Stress
This is out of my league to explain, but is the provocative nature of this study b/c soldier's don't want to admit that they can't handle the stress of combat...? Wondering what those who can comment would say?
Quote:
-- Traumatic brain injury, described as the signature wound of the Iraq war, may be less to blame for soldiers' symptoms than doctors once thought, contends a provocative military study that suggests post-traumatic stress and depression often play a role.
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 30, 2008; 8:54 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...013001058.html
GEN Ham story on combat stress
General's story puts focus on stress stemming from combat
-Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY
Quote:
Gen. Carter Ham was among the best of the best — tough, smart and strong — an elite soldier in a battle-hardened Army. At the Pentagon, his star was rising.
In Iraq, he was in command in the north during the early part of the war, when the insurgency became more aggressive. Shortly before he was to return home, on Dec. 21, 2004, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mess hall at a U.S. military base near Mosul and killed 22 people, including 14 U.S. troops. Ham arrived at the scene 20 minutes later to find the devastation.
When Ham returned from Mosul to Fort Lewis, Wash., in February 2005, something in the affable officer was missing. Loud noises startled him. Sleep didn't come easily.
"When he came back, all of him didn't come back. … Pieces of him the way he used to be were perhaps left back there," says his wife, Christi. "I didn't get the whole guy I'd sent away."
Today, Ham, 56, is one of only 12 four-star generals in the Army. He commands all U.S. soldiers in Europe. The stress of his combat service could have derailed his career, but Ham says he realized that he needed help transitioning from life on the battlefields of Iraq to the halls of power at the Pentagon. So he sought screening for post-traumatic stress and got counseling from a chaplain. That helped him "get realigned," he says.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/militar...l_N.htm?csp=34
GEN Ham story on combat stress
PTSD is almost forced on all the personnel coming back from the box. Questions like, "DId you shoot your weapon?" or, "Did you encounter sand?" were viable criterium for a full PTSD check. I am not of the opinion that PTSD is a fallacy, rather I believe the military IS doing what it can to treat this on a grand scheme. The TROOPS generally have a stigma attached to this. It was taught in basic that "profile rangers" were lacking METL to complete their tasks. We all know the why's of this (to keep trainees in training) but the result is the lack of admittance when something is wrong for fear of reprocussions. The VA does have problems to work out (as with any government agency because of the sheer size and required red tape) but it assists MANY troops. The AD military agencies tasked with the assistance and aid of AD troops can only help, if the troop asks.
What can be done about this?
GEN Ham has made the first (large) step. He has shed some light on the issue. If a GENERAL can get promoted and prosper after having been through this, then it is viable that ANY troop, enlisted or officer can be helped. Good show, GEN Ham.
White Paper: PTSD and mTBI
UNDERSTANDING PTSD AND MTBI: INITIAL OBSERVATIONS
MICHAEL FEW
Currently, the combined frequency, intensity and duration of multiple combat deployments on a small volunteer force are showing some disturbing trends that befuddle commanders and mental experts. They include: 1. Suicide, 2. Divorce, 3 Substance Abuse, 4. Retention. Personally, I believe these are symptoms of a greater problem. Call it PTSD, mTBI, or whatever term best suits, it is simply a horrid combination of stress and anger. Life is hard; life is not fair, but there is endurance, acceptance, and perseverance within faith, hope and love.
After a traumatic event, whether it be a buddy dying, a rape, or a genocide, people react under different ways pursuant to one’s individual formula of life lessons, coping skills, community support, and environment. Two extremes of coping include the reaction of the citizens of Oklahoma City to the terrorist bombing versus the citizens of New Orleans to Katrina. Dr. Jon labels these as victim versus strivers. I fall into the third category: survivor. Everything is attitude as it relates to how one chooses to manage life’s events.
Understanding and accepting what one cannot control.
For the past two months, I prayed, fasted, and sought wisdom on how to share where I have been and what I have seen to possibly help everyone else. I thought to myself, “Self, how do you explain the unexplainable?” The answer was so apparent- honest, brutal conversation. It is so humorous how you can have a private conversation with someone and generate truth, yet, we refuse to express the same truth in public in fear of how it will be perceived. So, I spent a week sending you the thoughts in my head as they raced out.
I took action. I let go of control to regain control. I did it my way conquering every fear with blunt trauma and mindless repetition.
As a survivor, I have a tendency to try to right every wrong, seeking justice for every transgression. In moderation, my voice can be brilliant. Unregulated, it is the definition of insanity. Think about it. If one tries to take on the role of stopping every stupid driver on the road, one will just die from anger. Stupid drivers exist because there are cars. It just is. We are all interconnected and intertwined. That is why Antartica bleeds right now in hurt of our own anger. You call it global warming just as you don’t understand why non-religious women martyr themselves in despair in Zaganiyah.
Emerson spoke of this as self-reliance. It is life. Darwin, Jesus, Kant, Mohammed, Hobbes, Keynes, Locke, and Smith explained it in their own ways trying to apply life to business, religion, and politics. Warren Buffet capitalized on his acceptance and understanding of the applications of fear and greed. My heart bleeds in deep introspection as we skew truth in generalization and specialization. I only understood this by reading their words on my own not to be lost in someone else’s misinterpretation. Easterners simply call it Tao and spitituality.
It is time for me to take some rest and heal. You can call it a sabbatical, medical retirement, or whatever works for you. I don’t particularly care for labels anymore as words are important yet we constantly mislabel. I’m simply going to pursue the difference of carrot pancakes and purple ice-cream from a young girl that I love more than jellybeans. I finally looked in the mirror and understood my truth.
My only recommendation for you is to visit Topeka Kansas VA and let the staff share their understanding.
So what is PTSD? Maybe it is best understood with how I shared it with Taylor- there is something powerful in the innocence of a four year old. It works with me. Now, you can find your own truth.
“Daddy, are you mad at me?”
“No dear. When Daddy was in Iraq, Daddy bumped his head. I tried to use a band-aid, but it did not work. I even tried to use a Sponge Bob band-aid. My head still hurt so I had to go to the hospital and see the doctor.”
“I love you Daddy.”
“I love you too.”
“Daddy, I love you three.”
“I love you more than jellybeans.”
Words mean things. Knowledge is power. Ultimately, it is the only form of treatment.
Happy Easter.