We have been sending our troops to fight in Afghanistan for 15 years and Iraq for 13 years and in all that tine the one thing that is the most dangerous for them are the IEDs and other assorted explosions.
Once these troops return home they often suffer from PTSD which at times leads to suicide…..mainly because they are not getting the help they need when it is needed.
Then the GOP candidate had this to say about those vets that suffer from PTSD……..
“When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat — and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and you’re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can’t handle it,” Trump said. “And they see horror stories. They see events that you couldn’t see in a movie. Nobody would believe it.”
A recent study has shown that part of the problem could be concussions from these explosive devices……
Troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are far more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder if they have suffered a concussion. The reason may be a change in the brain’s fear circuits.
There’s growing evidence that a physical injury to the brain can make people susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder.
Studies of troops who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have found that service members who have suffered a concussion or mild traumatic brain injury are far more likely to develop PTSD, a condition that can cause flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety for years after a traumatic event.
And research on both people and animals suggests the reason is that a brain injury can disrupt circuits that normally dampen the response to a frightening event. The result is like “driving a car and the brake’s not fully functioning,” says Mingxiong Huang, a biomedical physicist at the University of California, San Diego.
Source: Concussions May Increase The Risk Of PTSD : Shots – Health News : NPR
With some more research it is possible that there could be a breakthrough in treating and analyzing PTSD before the person feels it necessary to end his/her life.
I’m sad to say … that he did mean that. There’s no way he can be s sensitive to vets’ needs. I worked with the VA for almost 28 years. I lived through their experiences. Trump lacks empathy …
Yeah……I am a Viet vet and suffered from it for 5 years after I came home…it still gets me once and awhile….chuq
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Rex. Trump does not have the capability to be empathetic or diplomatic. I know the media protects themselves from lawsuits by saying – Seems, Suggests, etc., but Trump means it when he is racist, biased, lacks empathy and shows his ignorance. The whole , ‘That is not what I meant’ is over with.
I agree totally
Millions of veterans came back from WWII and nobody even heard of PTSD.
It was called “shell shocked” or something like that…I guess there is no such thing….I know some Viet vets that would disagree hardily
Good exploration of a subject most will ignore. Me, I’ve lived with all of it for about 40 years now, & can attest, it never really goes away… Hearing the new finding re: concussions, of which I’ve had many, when combined with the 11.5 years of working daily in a dangerous environment, tells me more of why it never leaves me for long. Fear, and pain, can become old friends, in their way…. until they aren’t.
Nobody who hasn’t been through near-death experiences can really grasp it. And, won’t, mostly.
gigoid
Exactly….it took me 5 years after VietNam to actually become a member of society…..it took lots of work….chuq
Whatever falls out of Trump’s pie hole is not worth deciphering because he is an absolute BUFFOON!
The research, however, is worth an evaluation. Is it not possible that as a race we have evolved enough to know the horrors of our actions? To me, it should be almost impossible to suppress the barbaric acts of war.
PTSD occurs in other areas of life. And, as a person who has dealt with PTSD, I have had the good fortune of training myself to compartmentalising others’ bad acts against me. I believe there should be more dialogue and research dollars spent on behavioural (emotional) modification as opposed to looking for brain damage.
The following is a very good read: http://bit.ly/2dE1xuE
I cannot disagree with anything said about this person…..he is repulsive.