Saturday, November 29, 2008
Consquences of Serving our Country
About time people are noticing that our soldiers are being harmed mentally. 15,000 soldiers are said to be coming back home in January, after many psychologist agreeing that soldiers are being unhealthy. Based on an article in Yahoo it stated that out of every 10 soldiers 4 have been deployed more than once. That is almost 50%. The significance is can we imagine seeing death and being in tension because you feel that someone is going to kill you at any moment. This is what are soldiers are facing, on top of sleep desperations. Psychologists are now trying to seek a time line where our soldiers should come home for their insanity. Some suggestion for help is to have psychologist to come to the bases and talk and interact with the soldiers. Now, we are improving for the first time every soldier that comes back is going to therapy for 90-120 days. Some effects that the soldiers might face when returning in January is headaches sleep disorders, memory loss, irritability, relationship strains, and other forms of stress disorders. I don’t care who you are, but people are not made to be in that stress environment for long. We are human beings and seeing people die in our faces and be in so much tension is detrimental to a person health and insanity. About 85% of soldiers will get better from these problems with help of psychologist help, but those 15% are going to need more help. I hope we can get our soldiers the proper help they deserve and need. My friend just got left to the army and one thing I am afraid of is never seeing him again. However, now that I know about the effects of going to war I am afraid that he will never be the same person I once met.
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5 comments:
PTSD is nothing new for soldiers Dr. H.W. R. Rivers was treating patients suffering from war related stress disorders during and after World War One by analyzing dreams and using other Freudian techniques. His contemporaries were, as a point of reference that really has nothing to do with the article or current united states position, using shock therapy, and not the gently kind think of things that don’t even happen at Guantanamo Bay to convince soldiers that they weren’t scared and wanted to keep fighting, needles to say it didn’t work for long. What makes America, America is that the army is doing something about it that is reasonable and trying to learn as much as they can from the return of soldiers, as the article that you referenced states, “For the first time, Thomas said, every soldier returning home will have an individual meeting with a behavioral health specialist and then go through a second such session 90 days to 120 days later.” And “Each returning soldier is evaluated through a seven-day reintegration program. It includes medical checkups, tests, lectures on suicide prevention and relationships, and other sessions to help them transition back into life at the base and with their families.” While it is not good that soldiers end up with posttraumatic stress disorder, the reason that they get t is because they go to war for a long time, and the army is trying to reduce the amount of time they spend there, but don’t have enough personnel. So until Americas line up in droves to fight the war or don’t demand that every politician demonstrate that they will decrease taxes so the army has the funds to hire thousands of psychiatrists, I think that the army’s response is reasonable.
Actually, I'm kinda surprised that psychologists are already trying to diagnose and treat Iraq War Veterans. If you've ever listened to a Vietnam War veteran truly recount his deeply personal stories, especially the ones about his treatment back in the U.S., it seems like the government likes to call the soldiers heroes and then forget 'em. Remember the scandal about Walter Reed Hospital?
I'm glad that your surprised by the American Army trying to help solders. That makes you a good person.
I think that most people do not think about the mental problems the soldiers come back with. If a solider comes home alive then people are thankful, but that may not be enough they need help to get these people back to their normal state. They should be able to live their lives normally and not be affected by the war for the rest of their lives. I think psychologists are a great idea and i personally never thought about this being a problem and so dramatic but it really is.
Soldiers can suffer from post traumatic stress and all kinds of psychological issues. What I think should be offered is a psychiatrist who is willing to heal and help soldiers heal and live their lives normally. What is extremely sad is that soldiers get to see their friends die in front of their eyes and are expected to deal with it without outside help.
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