Quote Originally Posted by Schmedlap View Post
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.