Jeffrey Scott wrote: "I am a Navy vet, I was a happy person before I served, now I am broke apart, can't even work a full 30 days due to anxiety and depression, i have Fibromyalgia and nobody understands because I am a guy. I am in constant pain everyday. And I think about killing myself daily........"
Sean P. answered:
"The “Combat Cocktail”: PTSD, severe depression, anxiety. Isolation. Suicide attempts. Never ending rage. It cost me my relationship with my eldest son and my grandson. It cost some of my men so much more.
How did serving impact me? Ask my family."
Karen replied:
"I lost my virginity by being raped in front of my peers at 19. Got married to a nice guy who was part of my unit. He was in the invasion of Iraq. Came home a changed man who beat the shit out of me. He’s convinced y’all are stalking him and he’s homeless so great job there!"
I'll give you my response, having done a couple of operational tours, nothing as intense as the soldiers that we're talking about.
The first, is that we do adapt to our environment, whether it be high stress combat or high stress civilian life. We have them, but I think that it's the swing between the 2 realities that causes some of the biggest dislocation.
Second, in the high stress situation as a soldier, you have an in-built support group, your section/platoon/troop. They can help you to normalise and internalise. That unit cohesion isn't as strong outside of the operational theatre. Not because of lack of care or concern within the team, but they each now have more external drivers, wives, family, 'other friends' who want their attention.
There is a lack of common language, which adds to the dislocation, add to this, 'normal opreational' actions / reactions / methods, you are literally learning to be another person - again!
I could go on, but I would like to say, that it is tough coming from one environment to another, but we, as humans have to, and can do this. How do we make it easier for those under stress? Space, time, understanding, a handshake, a smile. Remember that the families are under stress too.
PS This is not just about Soldiers, Sailors, and sigh, Airmen, but also about the first responders in our communities. Offer a helping hand, but don't be surprised when they in turn offer theirs to you, in order to lift you up.
I'll shut up now.
For the moment
I am sure that ancient greek soldiers came home from battle with PTSD, just as we do now ...and as a species we still have not found that peace is the best way forward.
If the whole world ended military spending on research, purchasing equipment and staff - and directed the funding to research directed at benefitting mankind, perhaps the world would become a better place.
The military has one way theirs. They can't seem to figure out that after they break people for life that the responsibility they have for them is multi disaplinary(sp) for life. When people come back they have to account for every piece of property the receive except one thing the people and their minds...
When we began the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, there were fairly accurate estimates of the fatalities and injuries our military would incur. Congress allocated money for the war itself, but did nothing to fund the VA for the increased numbers that would need to be dealt with.
If our national budget is a reflection of our values and morals, we need to do better in making sure that the people who make these decisions actually represent our values and morals.
I’ve read many articles on the responses the army received. Apparently they expected to get feel-good, proud-to-have-served stories to serve up on the Memorial Day weekend. The responses reflect the damage serving in the military does to people. It should be a caution to all of us that when we scrutinize candidates for elected office, we pay attention to their foreign policy positions. With a presidential election and a new House of Representatives on the ticket in 2020, we have a responsibility—not only to people serving in the military, but to the tens of millions around the world killed or displaced due to our instigation and interference in foreign lands, our sale of weapons of war to allies like Saudi Arabia—to elect politicians who have not in the past and promise not to in the future sanction arms sales and overthrow of democratically elected governments. It is our moral duty to do as we have failed to do for too long and stop electing these war mongers, Republicans and Democrats alike.
All to keep the world safe for Exxon........
And Halliburton