The Wounded Platoon

[MikeF]

I'm not sure what to say about this documentary. Tommy Lee Jones's In the Valley of Elah was based on an mech-infantry platoon cross-attached to my tank company during the initial invasion back when I was a young PL. This documentary is something you should watch. It both saddened and angered me in ways that I cannot neither control nor understand. I simply wish that I had a solution.


The Wounded Platoon
PBS Frontline

v/r

Mike

[Schmedlap]

Mike,

Can you take a look at this video? (only 3 minutes). Neat story about a psychiatric assistance dog that helps a veteran with PTSD. But check out how many bottles of pills this guy has in his cabinet. Is that normal? Reasonable?

[MikeF]

Mike,

Can you take a look at this video? (only 3 minutes). Neat story about a psychiatric assistance dog that helps a veteran with PTSD. But check out how many bottles of pills this guy has in his cabinet. Is that normal? Reasonable?

The modern day story of Philoctetes. Starbucks did a recent blog about this dilemma in Wings over Iraq.

I’ve started viewing PTSD, TBI, and substance abuse as an internal insurgency, a struggle within one’s mind. I’m applying the same counter-insurgency principles as an alternative means of prescription or better self-governance to borrow from COL Jones. The dude in the video is one of the target audiences for a project that I’m working on with some of the caregivers at Bragg. We want to do it off-post, holistically, with limited drugs that confuse or suppress the mind.

In the “old” days, we’d tell him to get a haircut, come down to formation for PT and run 5 miles, and suck it up. "Dude, you’re an officer. You’re highly decorated. You’re 3rd ACR. Suck it up.”

But, that’s not the issue. He’s stuck. His heart is broke. He’s isolated himself. The question is how to undo?

It reminds me of George Strait’s Living for the Night. Specifically, “Friends stop by to check in because I’ve checked out.”

It's similar to Foreign Internal Defense. How can we help/assist someone to help themselves? That's my current study. That and Solomon's Ecclesiastes.

[MikeF]

I watched the video again a couple of times. Louis is very thoughtful, sincere, and probably has quite a bit of wisdom. Can you imagine what impact that he could have teaching in our public school systems or volunteering with others?

But, again, he's stuck. He is trapped in his tent.

I want to figure out a way to assist guys like that to walk away from their own struggles.

[Schmedlap]

I was just shocked by the amount of medications he was on. I don't see how that helps him.

Regarding "getting people out of the tent" - I'd try to find a way to give that guy a bunch of responsibility so that people are relying upon him, forcing him to forget about his current issues. How specifically to do that, I don't know. Maybe start him off, first, with pets. Put him in charge of a giant kennel of 100 dogs who rely upon him for food, water, and shelter. Something like that. I suspect he'd be so focused on their needs that he'd forget about his problems.

I know when I was in the Army - particularly while deployed - it was easy to forget about simple things like eating and sleeping because I was so focused on making sure my Soldiers ate and slept. When I got out, it was a bit disorienting. Nobody relied on me. It took quite a while for me to figure out what I was supposed to do when nobody was relying on me for anything and I was not accountable to anyone. If I had PTSD, I could see that leading to me just closing myself off from the world and focusing on the condition.

[MikeF]

I was just shocked by the amount of medications he was on. I don't see how that helps him.

Guys take uppers (Redbulls, WildTigers, Monsters) during the day to keep themselves awake. They take Ambien and other downers to force themselves to sleep. It is a vicious cycle that counters the natural adrenaline forced to the brain, but we do not yet understand the unintended consequences.

I'm leary of the drugs prescribed to soldiers. I've refused anything stronger than Motrin even to counter the migraines, dizzyness, and vertigo. I just dealt with it and allowed my body to heal naturally.

Regarding "getting people out of the tent" - I'd try to find a way to give that guy a bunch of responsibility so that people are relying upon him, forcing him to forget about his current issues. How specifically to do that, I don't know. Maybe start him off, first, with pets. Put him in charge of a giant kennel of 100 dogs who rely upon him for food, water, and shelter. Something like that. I suspect he'd be so focused on their needs that he'd forget about his problems.

Concur

I know when I was in the Army - particularly while deployed - it was easy to forget about simple things like eating and sleeping because I was so focused on making sure my Soldiers ate and slept. When I got out, it was a bit disorienting. Nobody relied on me. It took quite a while for me to figure out what I was supposed to do when nobody was relying on me for anything and I was not accountable to anyone. If I had PTSD, I could see that leading to me just closing myself off from the world and focusing on the condition.

One trend that we're seeing in the overused term of resiliancy is the family support structure. No man is an island, and when a spouse or family leaves them, then they hit a break point that leads to being stuck or worse.

Eventually, I want to find a means of preventive medicine- a point of intervention prior to the officer retreating to his tent or the soldier commiting manslaughter/murder.

[Uboat509]

I was just shocked by the amount of medications he was on. I don't see how that helps him.

Regarding "getting people out of the tent" - I'd try to find a way to give that guy a bunch of responsibility so that people are relying upon him, forcing him to forget about his current issues. How specifically to do that, I don't know. Maybe start him off, first, with pets. Put him in charge of a giant kennel of 100 dogs who rely upon him for food, water, and shelter. Something like that. I suspect he'd be so focused on their needs that he'd forget about his problems.

I know when I was in the Army - particularly while deployed - it was easy to forget about simple things like eating and sleeping because I was so focused on making sure my Soldiers ate and slept. When I got out, it was a bit disorienting. Nobody relied on me. It took quite a while for me to figure out what I was supposed to do when nobody was relying on me for anything and I was not accountable to anyone. If I had PTSD, I could see that leading to me just closing myself off from the world and focusing on the condition.

There are no one size fits all answers for any of this. What works for one person may not work for another and may even exacerbate the problem. Some people certainly would thrive under the responsibility of having others depend on them, others would become deeply resentful not wanting to worry about someone else's problems when they significant one'e of their own.

I would also be careful with making judgements about the use of drugs to treat these problems. Just as there are those who think that we can fix anything with just a pill or two, which leads to the over-prescription of drugs, there are also those who automatically distrust the use of any drugs, which leads to under-prescription or patient non-compliance. Both are unhealthy and invariably lead to more problems down the road. The brain is essentially a highly advanced biological computer. Physical problems can and do have emotional and/or cognitive manifestations. Therapy and determination to get better are not always enough by themselves. Some people need to be on those drugs and some do not. Either way, it should be a decision for a health care provider to make along with the patient based on the patient's needs rather than on preconceived notions or media-inflicted bias.