Combat PTSD - Disorder or Sane Response?

It's well known I'm an advocate for the treatment of PTSD and TBI. I have been since it became obvious the Bush administration would start the illegal and immoral wars.

I've continued with preaching, ranting and obnoxious nagging about this issue both publicly and behind the scenes. I've sent letters to local mental health centers asking they start programs for veterans, family and community members impacted by PTSD and TBI. Even sent one to the Governor.

After a while it reaches an absurd point of studying the studies and redundant and obvious conclusions. There's a problem that has reached a crisis. It really doesn't take the expertise of the mental health professionals of this nation to reach that conclusion. Just ask a parent, spouse or kid of one of the returned vets. Just ask a vet.

It does seem the time and money spent studying this problem might now be better spent on treating the veterans and those who are affected. Prevention has always been an afterthought in the American healthcare system. A visit to the emergency room of most hospitals will expose the wasted potential of preventative care.
And still, I can't help but wonder if Americans aren't the lucky and pampered ones when it comes to PTSD and all the other emotional and physical wounds of war. I can't help but wonder if any studies have been done on the larger group of victims in war; the 90% who become casualties of war.....the innocent civilians. The 40% of that larger group who are children. Where are the studies of their PTSD?

Where are the studies of the Palestinian youth who throw rocks and get back automatic rifle fire, tank rounds and artillery? I wonder if the ongoing trauma of all these humans has anything to do with their hatred of the American-Israeli masters of war. I wonder if the symptoms of rage, depression and hyper-vigilance create the makings of suicide bombers or insurgents.

As usual the narcissistic Americans and their allies take precedence in their grief and their losses. We continue to only see a small portion of the huge trauma that is going on in our world. In one violent storm the Burmese have lost more souls than Americans will likely lose in ten years of war. Already the Iraqi people have lost 650,000-1.5 million in this senseless war. Americans need to become true citizens of this world and recognize we've been blessed in comparison to others in their losses.

I wonder sometimes if PTSD isn't just an American and European thing because the rest of the world is too damn occupied with daily traumas. I think of my time in New Orleans and the surrounding areas hit by Hurricane Katrina and remember the enduring spirit of the survivors. Many that I interacted with were black and had known hard times much of their lives. They were much better equipped to endure and to adapt to the bad things that happened than the middle class and wealthy of the area. PTSD was often a foreign concept because there was never any treatment offered in the past and none was expected after the shameful events of Katrina.

I wonder what we did before there was PTSD. Really, I know because I spent 12 years after being a combat Marine in Vietnam without the diagnosis being in existence. I knew something was wrong and I correctly connected it to my time in combat. When the diagnosis came about I suddenly had a label for it.

Then came treatment and drugs and psychobabble. I became the diagnosis. Instead of Terry, the pipefitter, the father, the RN or the grandfather I was a vet with PTSD. And I became immersed in the cause of preventative care for others who followed.

I've come to see I'm more than just PTSD and I've been lucky to have had treatment. I've also come to see most of the world doesn't have the luxury to have treatment or even recognition for the traumas they endure in their lives. I've come to see so much of that trauma has been a result of my government's failure to embrace peace and justice. I think of the resources we've used to kill and maim in this nation and I'm embarrassed and ashamed. How can I love my country if we continue on such a shameful path?

Yes, we do need to intervene when the troops come home to prevent the drastic effects of PTSD and TBI but we also need to remember it isn't just about us. We are not alone in this world in our grief and our trauma. I grieve the loss of my brothers in Vietnam and my brothers and sisters in Iraq and Afghanistan but I have to grieve my brothers and sisters lost by the bombs of my nation. I have to remember the lives lost because food and resources used in wars denied help the impoverished needed to survive.

I've come to realize PTSD isn't a disease. It's a sane response to an insane condition of war. Those who have the symptoms of PTSD are responding normally to such insanity. I worry more about those who see the carnage and the violence and are unaffected than those with PTSD symptoms. And apparently there are too many unaffected because we continue to engage in war after war without end.

We can take all the Effexor, Paxil and Ambien in the world but it will never cure PTSD. We can drink ourselves into blackouts or smoke crack and pot but it won't erase the memories until we've damaged our brains beyond repair. I believe the only true cure for the American troops' PTSD is peace with justice.

Our memories of the insanity are important to remind people war won 't bring us peace or justice. Enough of the parades, the heroes and the weapon displays! Enough of the saber rattling immaturity! Enough of the baby killing bombs! How stupid is it to send a human to such insanity and then decide they have a mental disorder on their return?

The true mentally ill are the self-centered, egocentric bastards that have sold their souls to the devils of corporate greed and power. They reside in Washington D.C. living in the White House and doing business in the chambers of Congress. They are responsible for the lives ruined. We are responsible for allowing it to happen.