War's mental wounds command new attention

[icymist]

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 AM




War's mental wounds command new attention

By Hal Bernton

Seattle Times staff reporter

Staff Sgt. Mark MacPherson spent a year with the Washington National Guard patrolling the treacherous turf surrounding a military base near Balad, Iraq. He said his scout platoon acted as bait, deliberately drawing fire so they could counterattack insurgents.

MacPherson returned from Iraq in March but still is not back to his civilian job as an environmental consultant. Instead, the 37-year-old soldier struggles with a debilitating combination of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and concussion-caused brain injury.

MacPherson takes pills to sleep, fight anxiety and dull the ceaseless headaches. While he sometimes can't recall mundane details of life, he is haunted by memories of soldiers who died, insurgents he killed and the Iraqi family that made the fatal mistake of driving up to a security checkpoint.

"The doctors hope I will get better," said MacPherson, who was awarded two Bronze Stars for his service with the Washington Guard's 81st Brigade. "I should get better than I am. But what does that mean? I used to be a person who consulted on multimillion-dollar projects. ... I don't know if I ever will get back to who I was."

(More)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002402228_ptsd26m.html

[icymist]

1. What is this treating mental wounds 'on the field' ?

Does this 'early intervention' really help these guys or is it just another excuse to keep the soldiers in the theater because of the low recruitment numbers?

more from the story:

<snip>
During the Vietnam War, soldiers who hit an emotional wall were often removed from the front lines for a few days or weeks of rest before being sent back to combat.

During the Iraq war, such soldiers may stay engaged in combat as military medical staff increasingly try to treat their psychic wounds in the field.


<snip>
"I think the knowledge about traumatic brain injury is really going to grow," said Harold Kundler, co-chair of a VA committee on PTSD. "This will be the signature mental-health illness of this war."

Traumatic brain injury....the signature mental-health illness of the Iraq war. So now we are seeing the effects on our returning soldiers that we all will have to deal with for the next few decades!

[Jo March]

2. There's not enough money to treat these soliders

Most of them will not get the treatment they deserve. Where they'll end up is questionable.

I feel horribly for these troops. Their lives will forever be ruined.