Returning U.S. soldiers suffering epidemic psychological disorders

[spooked]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4474715.stm

IRAQ VETERANS' UNSPOKEN EPIDEMIC

By Matt Frei
BBC News, Washington


"But it is the injuries you cannot see that are beginning to worry the Pentagon.

"My nightmares are so intense I woke up one night with my hands round my fiancee's throat," says Lt Julian Goodrum..."

Lt Goodrum is a veteran of two Gulf wars. He returned from the first a hero, from the second a suicidal wreck. He suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD) and he is not alone.

More than 10,000 returnees from the Iraq war have sought help for a condition in which the mundane becomes a menace.

"The smell of diesel takes me back to Iraq," Lt Goodrum says.

[steve2470]

1. and are they getting proper psychiatric help ? Probably...HELL NO !!!!

Our soldiers deserver first class treatment !!!! If not, this is an outrage !!!!!

[Karenina]

24. Do their health professionals

get a complete run-down on what they've been EXPOSED TO???? NO.

[orpupilofnature57]

2. Can you imagine the compassion , from an administration who's

Recruiting quota is down, morale down, along with the stock market and sense of " well being " unless you're part of Shrubs 12%.

[G_j]

3. "Almost every (VN) vet friend I have right now is totally disabled,"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3579787

PTSD: “Almost every (VN) vet friend I have right now is totally disabled,"

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder wreaks havoc on Vietnam veterans

By Barbara Blake
STAFF WRITER
published: May 1, 2005 6:00 am

ASHEVILLE —
<snip>
For John Bernard and tens of thousands of other Vietnam veterans, the war never really ended.
<snip>

“I bottled this stuff for a decade, for 10 years, before I even spoke about it. I went into therapy in 1982 and was diagnosed with PTSD at Duke,’’ Bernard said. “Then it just went back into hibernation mode again, and stayed dormant all these years until it erupted in 2001 and early 2002, and I just went absolutely ballistic.’’

<snip>
(in 2001) He was subsequently determined to be 100 percent disabled because of the PTSD, effectively ending the career he had worked so hard to achieve, leaving him unable to cope around authority figures and under certain stressors.

<snip>
“It was like the whole world became unglued,’’ he said. “Almost every vet friend I have right now is totally disabled, from the same exact thing. I worked for 26 years for the state, and never missed a beat. And all of these other guys had careers. And then we all hit the wall about the same time, the same age. And we were all independent from each other … we all just showed up independently at the VA at the same time. It was absolutely bizarre.’’

<snip>
“I really am beside myself when it comes to having these politicians who are so quick to send the troops into harm’s way, and so blind when it comes to saying, ‘Oh yes, we’ll help you if you need it,’’ Bernard said. “They just turn their backs.’’

[Vitruvius]

4. And Bu$h the chickenhawk draft-dodger doesn't give a shit.

Why should he? He's a child of privilege & entitlement, and privilege & entitlement are meant to be abused.

[mopaul]

5. our elected officials don't really give a fuck

rumsfeld has huge pharmaceutical interests that give him millions in profits every year, treating the millions of us cracking up out here.

but what they've done to the soldiers, is unspeakable.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

6. Sounds like the same thing ALL vets of wars have gone through....

...and that doesn't belittle anyting that the current vets are experiencing, not at all.

[Bluerthanblue]

12. to a degree...

i agree with you- War is damaging to any 'normal' humanbeing's psyche-
But i DO think there is something quite ....different...? about this 'war'- Something that is eating away at the 'soul' of everyone- soldiers and civilians alike- the world over- The honest 'truth' that a nation who for the most part has always 'maintained' a posture of non-agression (at least outwardly) has become the aggressor-

And the devistation that our soldiers have witnessed- something that was CHOSEN by the 'rulers' of this supposedly 'Civilized' superpower, cannot help but be 'over the top' at least sub-conciously for everyone involved-

i do NOT blame those who 'served' - they chose to honor a 'promise' they made, and 'trusted' an UN-trustworthy administration- i DO blame this 'regieme' and i pity them for what they will someday have to answer for- and carry around eternally-

Our troops need a tremendous ammount of 'room' and 'love' and help-they will NEVER be the 'same'- but they deserve all the help we can give them to come to a place where they can live a meaninful life in spite of the psychological wounds they will always carry. They are NOT 'wusses' or 'weak' or 'whiners' those labels belong to the officials that played games with the REAL LIVES of thousands upon thousands of human beings- Cheney,Bush,Rove,Rumsfeld,Rice,Powell et al.

[mopaul]

7. reagan sent the viet vets into the street, & they became a cartoon image

the crazy vietnam vet, constantly jumping at any noise, they became a cliche' long ago. i've met a few, they are very sad indeed.

and no one will give a fuck when johnny comes marching home again.

[mopaul]

8. ......

........

[MadHound]

9. Vietnam vetrans redeaux

And once again, with a corporate conservative puppet in office, VA budgets are being slashed, social services are being cut, medical benefits are disappearing, and these poor men and women are going to be swept under the rug. Many will become mentally ill, homeless, addicts, and worse. But the rich will make money off of their blood and sacrifice, laughing all the way to the bank, and then accuse these valiant people of being leeches on society because they are so broken that they can't funtion in normal society anymore.

Compassionate conservatism at its finest:eyes: Support the troops, until they come home and really need help:eyes: Goddamn Bush and his chickenshit, chickenhawk minions, damn them all to hell:grr:

[Hubert Flottz]

10. Wait until the LT. wakes up to hear his child crying in the night...

Warning...not for the faint of heart!


http://www.web-light.nl/VISIE/extremedeformities.html

[DrDebug]

13. The odds of this ever appearing in a newspaper or on TV

are zero, right?

[Hubert Flottz]

14. Right!

Some of Poppy's handywork!

[Hubert Flottz]

15. Your question still has me thinking!

The truth is that those photos should be on the front page of every newspaper in America and the UK! That is one of the very real faces of that war in Iraq, that Mr. Bush ELECTED to start with his pack of lies! That type of ammo(DU)is still in use now in Iraq and Afghanistan, as far as I know! Our tax dollars are paying for this kind of "DEMOCRACY" in Iraq today! People should by all means see what kind of bang we are getting for our bucks with Bush and Rumbo in the driver's seat! That is some REAL SHOCK AND AWE for your dollars!

The people who voted for Bush a second time should be forced to look at those kids, the way the Germans were forced to go and look at Hitler's death camps! I don't think the Father, the Son, or the Holy Ghost are on anyone's side, that goes on doing things like that, to the unborn! Even the unborn in America, because our sons and daughters fighting Bush's war in Iraq are being exposed to this NOW! The Bush family really has created some MONSTERS!

Maybe the crazy bastards who voted for Bush, need a little shock treatment to repair their apparent insanity! Those babies are just a small fraction of the suffering this administration has caused in the middle east and probably even in the future families of some of our own American service men and women...

[Karenina]

17. Tell it, HF!

:cry:

[Hubert Flottz]

19. Makes me very sad too Karenina.

We could do so much good around the world, but yet we use our great power and wealth to do foolish, selfish, immoral things, like WARS and more WARS! Always GUNS instead of BUTTER! A lot of countries have fallen into total ruin over the history of mankind, because they chose Guns over butter and greed over good.

Republican "MORALITY"? "Bush won because the democrats were immoral" wasn't that what every news service said the day after the election? What a cruel JOKE this immoral, twisted and bogus Compassionate Conservatism is!

[DemonFighterLives]

18. Those are disturbing pictures

Of course depleted uranium is still poo pooed by most people.
Dirty sick bastards who have done this should already be locked up.
:mad:

[mopaul]

11. .....

.....

[Karenina]

20. When da "Boyz & Gurls" come home

the reality of the VIOLENCE the U.S. *MIC has been exporting will also. THAT is one of the reasons the gub'mint won't let 'em go. They wanna get 'em KILLED before they come down enough to TALK.

[mopaul]

16. ....

.....

[G_j]

21. kick

[earth mom]

22. Alot of the Iraq Vets are ending up Homeless

because they can't cope with it all.

So where are the people with the "I support the troops" ribbons on their cars when these people need em? No doubt running in the opposite direction... :eyes:

[bigtree]

23. some stuff I collected and use

Readjustment Counseling Services Vet Centers
http://www.va.gov/rcs /

Military Veterans PTSD Reference Manual
http://www.ptsdmanual.com /

National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
http://www.ncptsd.org /

Information on the War in Iraq
http://www.ncptsd.org/topics/war.html

How Terroristic Acts May Affect Veterans
http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/disasters/fs_veterans_disaster.html

Help for Veterans with PTSD and Their Families
http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/veterans/fs_help_for_vets.html

Managing Stress and Recovering from Trauma: Facts and Resources for Veterans and Families
http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/veterans/fs_managing_stress.html

PTSD and Older Veterans
http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/veterans/fs_older_veterans.html

The Legacy of Psychological Trauma from the Vietnam War for American Indian Military Personnel
http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/veterans/fs_native_vets.html

Traumatic Stress in Female Veterans
http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/veterans/fs_women_vets.html

National Military Family Association (NMFA)
http://www.nmfa.org /

The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, Inc. (TAPS)
http://www.taps.org/