PTSD

[Captain Jin]

The Russian Army suicide thread made me think about this.

It's a common thing that we complain about in our unit but I think many people would be surprised about how a lot of feel about PTSD and how I believe it's being taken advantage of. The question is simple, should requirements be more stringent to be considered to have PTSD and thus reap the benefits this is associated with?

As it stands right now in the military you can simply go in and see a pyschiatrist and tell them you are having bad dreams and they will immediately begin to process you out of Marines if you so choose to do. And you can receive disability compensation for it.

I know for a fact that if you ever think you have it in the Army, and you are in country they will send you back State side. My problem with this is that because of delicate nature of questioning a 'veteran' can cause no one challenges these people for doing these things. I believe PTSD is real, BUT I think eighty percent of the people claiming it from Iraq are full of bs.

An example would be a young man I went to High school with. He joined the National Guard went to Iraq and was a truck driver. An explosion went off in front of his truck from an IED but did no damage to his truck and wounded no one. Not a person or animal. Since he's been home he's claimed PTSD and has been telling everyone about his inability to re-adjust to life at home. I don't know if he's getting compensated, but to me this is complete crap. Anyone can say an explosion in front of your ARMORED truck is traumatic. Ok yes. But to be compensated is absurd.

I don't think the war in Iraq has the capacity to produce the kind of shell shocked veterans that we saw after Vietnam, Korea, WWII, or WWI for gods sakes. We are talking about a conflict that's lasted longer then WWII but hasn't cost us even a quarter of as many lives.

Some try and say it's the stressful spectre of going outside the wire each day and having to cope with the reality that someone may very well try and kill you. Yeah, this is stressful but the difference is you don't attacked daily. Or even weekly in most places, unless it's an IED. In Vietnam those guys had to cope with the very real threat that they'd be attacked and possibly killed. It's not the case in Iraq. I'm sorry but the enemy is not as good, and the threat level is not as high as any previous major conflict. But these people try and come back and elevate it.

When I was in Germany I saw well over a hundred men there as well on there way back to the States. I talked with some. Many were claiming PTSD, yet when questioned about where they were or the job they did it was obvious these men had never been in anything traumatic. One of them was a freaking Bradley mechanic stationed in the green zone. This was 05 mind you so the green zone was still very much green. He said he couldn't handle the stress of someone trying to kill him and I almost ripped his head off. The man had never left the wire, he had never had anything more than a mortar be fired into his base which isn't a big deal when you live on a massive base.

This issue is made worse by movies like Home of the Brave and Stop-Loss. Where Vets come home and treated poorly by the Government and then they cry about it. This generation of Americans, in my opinion is the ME generation. What can I get for myself. Unfortunately some of these pricks have infiltrated into the Military and now take advantage of a program for men that really do need it. I won't doubt there are people that are indeed having problems. There should be adequate funding, good benefits, etc. BUT the man's service records should be researched. His job should be scrutinized, he should be asked what problems he's having and how they relate to any real life event that occurred in his life. To me because that's not being done. The support the populace has given us has had an almost backlash effect allowing many so called troubled vets to take advantage of a system that already struggles enough for funding. God bless the support, but it shouldn't stop us from questioning these vets and making damn sure they're not trying to take advantage, which is what I see more of than someone that is legitimately having problems. Sorry for the rant.

[Exarch]

while i've never been in war, and can never imagine how horrible it'd be, i support a system which looks after war vets, and it me seeign ppl taking advantage of somethign which is meant to be for real sufferers of PTSD.ppl who actually need it.

[Senno]

PTSD is a legitimate disease that these soldiers suffer from.

But like any disease, they must be diagnosed and investigated using reliable criteria. Here is a study, not strictly on point, but discussing the use MMPI in diagnosing disease. This is for the US. Not sure what criteria is used, internationally. But testing for malingering is part of the process. Here is the VA policy.

Otherwise, I am disappointed in the overall level of care shown by the VA and active duty long-term treatment here in the US. Our trauma and critical care for the soldiers is world-class. But once they get here further into the system, it seems we don't have enough resources.

I thought we had learned from the Vietnam War that resources needed to be made available at all levels of treatment to ensure good outcomes.

[Captain Jin]

I'd agree with you on the level of treatment available once you're back, or even moreso once you get out if you have a wound that gives you issues down the road. The VA has been plagued with funding issues and I think while we may have learned the lesson of Vietnam, there hasn't been a major conflict since. At least not one requiring the kind of funding this war.

[christof139]

The Gulf War 1 required major funding and there are major health problems amongst the Vets of that war and the VA is giving many of them a hard time. The VA still stinks.

Chris