Psychological problems among troops
Is the military ignoring post traumatic stress and depression among our troops? This article raises questions regarding the handling of psychological problems among those deployed to Iraq.
Twenty-two U.S. troops committed suicide in Iraq last year, accounting for nearly one in five of all non-combat deaths and the highest suicide rate since the war started, the newspaper said.
Some service members who committed suicide in 2004 and 2005 were kept on duty despite clear signs of mental distress, sometimes after being prescribed antidepressants with little or no mental health counseling or monitoring, the Courant reported. Those findings conflict with regulations adopted last year by the Army that caution against the use of antidepressants for “extended deployments.”
“I can’t imagine something more irresponsible than putting a soldier suffering from stress on (antidepressants), when you know these drugs can cause people to become suicidal and homicidal,” said Vera Sharav, president of the Alliance for Human Research Protection, a New York-based advocacy group. “You’re creating chemically activated time bombs.”
Although Defense Department standards for enlistment disqualify recruits who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, the military also is redeploying service members to Iraq who fit that criteria, the newspaper said.
May 14th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
Is the military ignoring PTSD among the troops? I really don’t think so. I’ve heard and read a few stories this year that cast a more optimistic light on the PTSD/healthcare issue among soldiers and returning vets. With protracted engagement and so many redeployments, however, it is an issue that could get out of hand. I thought this recent NPR story was a fair assessment of military mental healthcare…
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5238092
May 14th, 2006 at 1:24 pm
I speak as a “combat” veteran with PTSD. (Does it count as combat when two men and a boat blow a hole in the side of your ship in Aden, Yemen) The military is doing a lot more than meets the eye in the treatment of PTSD. Ultimately though in a combat environment many of the things that should be done are simply impossible. You probably can’t take the trooper off the line for counselling without risking every other trooper in the squad.
I’m sure that the doctors are no happier with the “Paint it with iodine and mark him fit for duty,” treatment they are giving.
I credit my own survival to a loving wife who sings me back to sleep when the demons disturb my sleep, a great church family that is very supportive, and strong Christian faith, not necessarlily in the order listed.
The Navy provided chaplains (our squadron chaplain, Protestant; the 2 Senior chaplains from Bahrain 1 Catholic, 1 Protestant); and the ship’s chaplain from USS Camden, Catholic. In addition we had the chrisis councelling team from NAS Sigonella providing grief counselling for those of us who survived. Even so with in a year we had lost one of our number to suicide. Ultimately each service member needs to determine the adequacy of care recieved. Sadly for most mental illness, while in the throws of depression, or other problems, the ability to correctly assess options is poor.
Any depressed person relying solely on their own competence is in the same boat as someone acting as their own legal counsel, they have a fool for a client.
May 14th, 2006 at 5:27 pm
Some milblog I can’t remember claims the male US suicide rate for those aged 20-34 is 22.4 per 100,000. So you’re less likely to commit suicide if sent to Iraq for a year and given a gun.
May 14th, 2006 at 6:21 pm
I have two former students who went to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Germany to serve as Army Medics with their Guard units.
They healed and comforted kids their own age who were blown up, burned, and shot.
Both of them came back with emotional difficulties, depression, nightmares and problems re-assimilating back into “normal” society.
Little to nothing has been done to help them. They’ve been suffering, and the Army hasn’t helped.
May 14th, 2006 at 7:17 pm
Part of the problem is that PTSD, like all psychology, is slippery. Psychology isn’t a real science, with actual falsifiability of theories. It’s ability to help is in question — studies show that psychological analysis (i.e., attempted “cures” without medicines) is no better than a placebo for curing identified problems. But also, its ability to even identify the problems in the first place is in question.
Just one example: If you give someone a standard psychological test, and they don’t want to admit that they’re troubled, the test can recognize that they’re attempting to present a positive image of themselves; but it can’t tell you anything else. The fact that they aren’t cooperating with it fully makes the tests worthless as medical instruments; and this is true even if they themselves think they are being honest, but are resisting subconsciously. Thus, in the case of soldiers, if they feel (even subconsciously) that they shouldn’t show psychological weakness — the tests can’t diagnose them.
War is hard, and people often come back with troubles. They do need our help. Psychology, though, may not be the answer — certainly not always, and maybe only rarely. We may need to look at other ways of helping them recover and return home. What those are probably differ from soldier to soldier more than is convenient to admit, and may not therefore be easy to handle through government action. It depends a lot on the family, their friends and fellow veterans, and — in many cases — the chaplain corps.
May 14th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
Dave,
My question would be whether the Army even knew. Have those two actually gone to the Army for help? It’s simply impossible for the military to meticulously track the mental health of each and every vet once he has rotated out. If they don’t tell the Army what’s going on, there’s simply no way anybody would know. I imagine most vets just try to work through that stuff themselves. At least, for the last, oh, ten thousand years that’s how it has generally worked.
I have no idea what kind of help is available to them, of course. But I’d be interested to know if the Army even knew the facts as you’ve described them. If not, I would not be at all scandalized if the Army wasn’t doing anything about it.
May 14th, 2006 at 8:32 pm
Anti-depressants help people. Since many in this drug’s target audience are already suicidal, to say that the drug is the primary cause of their ultimate suicide, is poor logic and bad use of data. This is like saying “I just went to the dentist for a root canal and now my mouth hurts, so dentists are the primary cause for mouth pain.”
May 14th, 2006 at 8:36 pm
I agree w/ #7. As someone who has benefited from anti-depressants I’d imagine that some of those soldiers really need them.
May 14th, 2006 at 8:47 pm
I had a bad nervous spell in the service and the “mental health” specialists gave me Xanax. I’d never heard of it before. It worked. I consider them compassionate professionals.
May 15th, 2006 at 8:07 am
i know “crazy guys” from vietnam who get big checks from the government..have they stopped doing this? true i have never gotten a clear answer on what is really wrong with these guys but i have seen the checks.
May 15th, 2006 at 9:43 pm
Sage:
In one case, an Army psychologist has been consulted, but I would call the help ‘cursory’ at best. This young medic was so desperate for someone to talk to that she looked me up, some 10 years after I was her teacher. There was just no one else.
In the other case, I do not know.
Both are up for possible redeployment in the near future. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. Both of them want to go back. Perhaps that’s the best medicine. I don’t know.