Other people got wounded, and all I got was a mental thing
Posted by Raven on October 14th, 2007 / ADJUST TEXT SIZE 
UUgh. I smell the ugly scent of exploitation here:
As thousands of war-wounded lug their discharge papers and pill bottles home, more than a quarter are returning with PTSD and brain trauma. Compensation for these invisible injuries is more difficult and the social isolation more profound, especially in rural communities where pastures outnumber mental health providers.
[...]
Michelle thinks Troy’s anxiety and depression are worsening, and she tells anyone who will listen — her pastor, doctors and counselors at VA. His speech is sometimes soupy from mood stabilizers. The meds give him tremors. He used to cut the grass and bring home a paycheck, but now he stays inside like a perpetual patient. His memory is shot, and he relies on Michelle for everything.
[...]
She comes to a page that lists Troy’s problems.Hearing loss.
Tremors.
Obesity.
PTSD.
Depressive disorder.
[...]VA concludes that Troy’s worsening condition merits an increase of his disability rating to 70 percent, raising his monthly check to $1,352 a month. According to VA, he doesn’t meet the criteria for 100 percent because his impairment is not “persistent,” with “persistent delusions” or a “persistent danger of hurting himself or others.” He is still able to perform his own hygiene.
From Michelle’s point of view, Troy can hold a toothbrush, but he can’t hold a job. “Even at 70 percent, you can’t raise a family,” she says. She has a year to appeal the rating.
But there is good news: The VA hospital in Martinsburg finds a bed for Troy in the PTSD residential rehab program.
[...]
Troy is allowed to come home on weekends, so Michelle makes the four-hour round trip to pick him up on the first Friday night. On Sunday, he refuses to go back. He says he has been through it before. Michelle pleads with him to get in the truck but he won’t, and he loses his spot in the program.
[...]
“I have a husband with PTSD,” she says.“Other people got wounded, and all I got was a mental thing,” he says.
Michelle raises an eyebrow. “It’s still an injury.”
“I think about that doctor down there,” Troy says, referring to a psychologist at Fort Stewart who suggested he was faking it. “Plus, the fact that guys are missing arms and have bullet holes and everything else. Ain’t a scratch on me.”
How does one decipher whether a person is truly mentally ill, or is exploiting their battle experiences to their fullest advantage?
How do we know if Troy is the person he is because of the battlefield experiences, or if he is choosing to be this person because others are enabling him? Since we’re not hearing from Troy’s pre-war family and friends it is difficult to really know what he was life prior to his tour in Iraq.
I’m very skeptical of Troy’s “problems”.
He is capable of some rational thought and he is making choices. He choses to swallow pills and watch TV in the dark- to shut himself in…to refuse medical/psych care and, I really wonder- the required services that would make him a better person.
When we enable some people to be the worst they can be, they take advantage and do just that.
To be clear, I have written many posts here about the true brain injuries and the havoc they create on the lives of those involved. I have professional work experience as well- and I think I’m in a good position to speak on Troy’s “issues”. I do have empathy, but it only goes so far when I really believe the hearts
and minds of loved ones are being taken advantage of. SO all you Sadly No suckers readers, don’t question my compassion. I have far
more than most of you will ever begin to understand or know.
October 14th, 2007 at 11:42 am
I have far
more [compassion] than most of you will ever begin to understand or know.
Self-love don’t count, missy.
October 14th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Other people got compasssion and all I got is this overinflated self-regard.
October 14th, 2007 at 11:53 am
You are a serious pig. How depraved will you people get before the rest of the country realizes what a disease you are?
October 14th, 2007 at 11:54 am
You’re a nurse and your first reaction is How do we know if Troy is the person he is because of the battlefield experiences, or if he is choosing to be this person because others are enabling him?
To answer your question, apart from previous medical history, you could read up on the effects and causes of PTSD. I recommend speaking to someone in the medical profession who’s read up on PTSD - or failing that, read up on it yourself. I’m sure the hospital you work at has a library of sorts. Perhaps your local municipality has a Public Library.
Deciding to end one’s life is not a rational action. PTSD isn’t brainwashing, nor is it cowardice nor “taking advantage of the system.” That sort of thinking, medically speaking, went out in the 1940s. Along with shock treatment for all psych patients. Educate yourself.
October 14th, 2007 at 11:59 am
NC you’re site takes too long to load from here…I will check it out if I can get to it.
You’re comment adds much to this debate. I write an opinion and that’s all you have to say? Typical leftard…assumptions and name calling and sarcastic remarks= is how the left works.
October 14th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Johnny- you’re comment reflects of the mindset of the left as well. So substance. < <--I meant SUCH substance Johnny-->>and I suspect you know that.
Just insult.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Michah- yet another example of thoughtful…discussion.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
“you’re comment reflects of the mindset of the left as well. So substance”
My apologies. I thought English was your first language.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Propane you give me hope for mankind by means of your words…
I never claimed to be THE ONE WHO KNOWS IT ALL. Hardly. I have worked with many patients who have PTSD and my experiences show me a very different picture of what these people are like; what they do, how they act. The man written about in the WAPO article just doesn’t fit my experiences. The suicide attempts did catch my eye- I admit that- but added up with the other examples- something isn’t right.
I stand by my opinion on this man. I’m not saying he’s a bad person. I think he needs help- but he refuses it and therefore I believe he is taking advantage of his wife (who obviously loves him so much). That is a rationale choice he is making.
I think the man is exploiting his own DX and using it as an excuse for his lack of motivation.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Oh Johnny…get a grip.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
My point, which I think you missed, is that your experiences and a journalist’s article is not a good basis of a medical opinion (which you’ve posted above).
Additionally, suicides often refuse treatment. How long have you been an EMT?
October 14th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Edit: Attempted suicides often refuse treatment.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
I’m not asking for a discussion, I’m telling you that I think you are a pig, a disease. There are 22,000 soldiers back from this war with PTSD - about 10 a day. You war cheerleaders actually have the gall to deny them the medical services due them. That’s because war is a game to you. It’s a television show. It’s replaced the tired concept of God for thoughtless loudmouths who nevertheless feel obligated to be “in awe” of something.
One day, guys like Troy might find peace. Judging by some I’ve met, he may or he may not. God forbid that peace come at your expense - no matter how paltry the sum or frigid the helping hand.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Propane I’ve been an EMT for just over a yr and haven’t seen any suicide attempts. But at one time in my life I tried to kill myself and ended up using that experience to get a hold of myself. I hit rock bottom and realized it and worked very hard to build myself up. But thats not relevant here.
I have a right to post my opinion. You disagree. That’s your right. We both come from different perspectives and we bring different thoughts to it.
Thats ok.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Micha — I NEVER SAID A THING here about denying vets medical care. Not at all. In fact if you read some of the links I added at the end, you would see I find much fault with the VA system and government “help” for the vets. You’re way off base here.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
“Exploating” his PTSD? For what? That doesn’t make sense.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Propane you must know that there is considerable debate among the medical profession as to reality of PTSD as a medical condition. As many believe in such a DX as do not. I fall in the middle- I see what is to me, some really clear cases. And I’ve seen some that are just not.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
I am way off base? How about where you said, “I’m very skeptical of Troy’s “problems” and so should others who read this article.”
Guess who else is “skeptical”? The people at the DoD who “skeptify” them right out of any medical treatment at all.
You know what, I think you were faking your heroin addiction.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Juggs, OBVIOUSLY, he was exploiting his PTSD in order to get free… umm… treatment for PTSD at the finest VA field hospital in 300 miles! Who WOULDN’T want that?
October 14th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Micha you’re a tool. *I* never said I was against medical care for these people. That is why you called me a pig. You add much to this.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Actually, I know that debate to be on the conditions under which a person may “get” PTSD is still under way.
The debate of which you speak ended in the 1980s after a more studious undertaking was made of Vietnam War vets. Note that the National Institute of Mental Health acknowledges PTSD as a real disorder and that there is a National Centre for PTSD.
Those of us who’ve dealt with PTSD all their lives, either with family and friends members in the military or post-service, or even those of us who have served or DO serve, know this is condition is real. Absolutely, you’ll get hypochondriacs or drug addicts looking for “treatment” for PTSD. That doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Just like people who falsely check themselves into clinics for treatment of their heroin addiction, for example, are not proof that heroin addiction is real.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
edit: …are not proof that heroin addiction is not real.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
I’ve seen those sites…and like I said I am in the middle on it all.
As I said in the post, we don’t have the benefit of knowing Troy’s past before his time in Iraq. That makes this difficult- but I am quite suspect that it wasn’t “investigated* as part of this article.
I really hope the comment about heroin addiction isn’t meant as a dig Propane, because I’ve never checked into one of those places.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Gotcha Propane. Thanks on that.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
The downfall of our civilization can be directly traced to liberal ideals, and PTSD is just one symptom of the disease.
Liberal ideologies, such as the culture of victimhood, the destruction of the nuclear family, and this incessant drive to feminize our young boys is what drives PTSD.
Our brave boys or WW1, WW2, indeed, all the way up to Viet Nam showed great courage under fire and came home to lead productive lives. The myths of the traumatized Nam vet are just that, a myth, and can be found easily enough on your own, so I am not going to bother with a bunch of links to those tales.
The liberal mindset is what causes PTSD. Boys being raised to men without a strong male role model, and having a false sense of what life is about is causing our young men to go to war and come home freaked out.
Add in the drive to exterminate personal responsibility, and what do you get?
People that will sit on their asses and whine instead of manning up and going out, dealing with their demons and being productive members of society.
I have known many vets, from WW2 to the current wars, and seen PTSD up close and personal, and even the worst afflicted just shut his mouth and worked his ass off, trying to be a good citizen.
You dumbasses that preach compassion are the problem. You have this false sense of the world, and I’d bet most of you are probably those people that thinking hunting is bad, multiculturalism is good and that people have a right to not be offended.
For God’s sake people, shut up and realize that life isn’t fair, pretty or nice, and all one can do is the best they can, and coddling people that sit and whine and refuse to try to better themselves while sitting in a dark room watching TV and refusing to take their meds is not compassion, it is hurtful, evil and ultimately destructive.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
No, of course not! You only “suspect” that this guy you haven’t met is “faking it” - all on the basis of your vast year of experience as an EMT. So what were you actually saying, because your mouth has obviously gotten away from you. Put you in the DoD and you have vets without medical insurance and treatment for injuries sustained fighting your little pet war.
You’re a pig because you judge without knowing. You speak without thinking. You are without feeling. You write without spelling…
October 14th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Michah once again you haven’t read it all here. Even within these comments. You’re going off on assumptions that haven’t been made.
You’re right. I’m a pig. Based on what, I don’t know.
Oh well. I give up with YOU.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Kender, there is a lot of truth to what you’ve said.
When we consider that the past wars were much gorier and bloodier. My own father saw a lot of gore; he lost many friends. Yet he managed to move on without letting it get to him; he chose to live his life as he wanted and not to succumb to his ghosts, as I call them.
The men of the past are a lost breed.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Ding ding ding! We have a winner!!
Kender says
The liberal mindset is what causes PTSD. Boys being raised to men without a strong male role model, and having a false sense of what life is about is causing our young men to go to war and come home freaked out.
Kender might now have edged out Doug Feith as the stupidest #$%^ing guy on the face of the planet.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
No personal dig intended - just giving you a frame of reference. I know what you stated in your post and I think we’re talking past each other.
I’m not only saying PTSD is a real disease and not a symptom of liberal ideals after the liberal reformation due to a stable democracy being founded in the United States, as Kender is suggesting, but that you’re opening yourself to a malpractice suit by stating your medical opinion openly on a blog.
Hypothetical: Were that family to take your advice that he’s just taking advantage of the system, and thus stop treatment for PTSD and he were to terminate his own life, that family has grounds for a malpractice suit against you.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Well send Kender. Nothing illustrates the point better than our AWOL Drunk Commander-in-Chief cowering in a bunker on 9/11/2001 with a picture of Jeff Gannon to keep him company and our illustrious VEEP going into hiding everytime some Arab says ‘Boo’.
The Party of the Wide Stance needs more men like Ann Coulter and less woman like the Obese Draft Dodger
October 14th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Ok, I’m certain Kender is writing a satirical parody of “Compassionate Conservatism.” Raven’s lauding his post is even funnier (remember, good satire is seldom labeled “this is satire.”). I checked to see if Kender had plagiarized THE ONION and, nope, Kender’s clean (good job!).
However, I think Raven’s inflating the old resume’ about being an ex-heroin addict because everyone knows that real heroin addicts always die from overdoses. Kind a like real suiciders; since this soldier failed in killing himself, he’s an obvious faker. Since Raven isn’t a degenerate overdosing on heroin, all that BS about ‘pulled mah self up by mah bootstraps’ is just that, BS.
I quit smoking at the age of 8. Really.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Sadly No links to you, but you don’t link back while criticizing the response (no wonder, it’s quite a take-down…) Typical behavior of whining, immature and insecure conservatives. Shows your class and your standards. Along with the rest of your post, it’s just another little bit of evidence to show that the whole movement now consists of a morally malformed and emotionally stunted wasteland (for more proof see Foley, Craig, Vitter, Haggard, Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Giulliani, DeLay, Bush…)
October 14th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Propane thats stretching things just a bit and you know it. I give no advice here. Only my opinion.
Which I am entitled to and I am quite sure Troy and his wife have heard it and probably **more**.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Another wingnut idiot.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Oh man, Kender is like a real-life but much crueler, Jon Swift. Had to go to their blog to confirm that wasn’t a parody. I can’t believe anyone could find “a lot of truth” in that swill.
Hey Raven, go watch another John Wayne war movie and imagine that’s how things really were then. It’s common knowledge that that ALL of the men of the “Greatest Generation” were too tough to get PTSD. Unlike these weak GenXers who can’t even pull a second overextended stay in the Iraqi meat grinder without getting becoming suicidal. I mean, what wimps.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Actually, no it isn’t stretching things at all.
You are certainly entitled to your opinions. But public opinion can be construed as advice which is the basis of a malpractice suit. Take your free legal advice and run with it.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
“Liberal ideologies, such as the culture of victimhood, the destruction of the nuclear family, and this incessant drive to feminize our young boys is what drives PTSD.”
And conservative ideologies, such as blaming the victim, the desire to oppress women and gays, and this incessant drive to turn our young boys into war-loving eunuchs is what has f**ked this country up.
Of course “Kender” thinks “feminization” is bad…because anything having to do with the feminine is bad.
Haters of women, of sex, of life, of peace…..that’s how screwed up the rightards really are.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Raven, I sincerely recommend that you watch Ken Burns’ new documentary about World War II, “The War”. You seem to have this impression that the “real men” who fought in the past weren’t really human but were some sort of supermen.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
“Had to go to their blog to confirm that wasn’t a parody.” -ManOnBlog
How do you know that Kender’s entier blog isn’t a parody? I genuinely get confused because it’s apparent that there’s really no difference any more between parodies from wingnuttia, and their own “real” screeds.
Who’s a humorist and who’s a conservative? I can’t tell any more.
A: Knock knock.
Q: Who’s there?
A: Boo.
Q: Boo Hoo?
A: Boo Hoo Smith.
Just not funny.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Quality stuff from serious thinkers:
“The downfall of our civilization can be directly traced to liberal ideals, and PTSD is just one symptom of the disease”
…and, even better:
“The myths of the traumatized Nam vet are just that, a myth”
Not sure what world it is that you’re living in Kender, but if you honestly don’t believe that PTSD is real, and that there were an awful lot of badly messed up vets from Vietnam, it’s obviously not one where you come into contact with veterans very often.
Sure hope you’re never forced to find out for yourself how real this condition is.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
I like this part:
He choses to swallow pills and watch TV in the dark
As opposed to America’s Favorite Anal Cyst, who swallows pills and then yammers on the radio.
Who, I ask you, is the truer patriotic American? A question that answers itself.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Raven writes: “I write an opinion and that’s all you have to say? Typical leftard…assumptions and name calling and sarcastic remarks= is how the left works.”
This after a post consisting of nothing but assumptions and sarcastic remarks. The name calling comes later, as in “typical leftards.”
Amusing.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Dear Mrs. Raven, Therefore, may Troy’s obviously faked “‘problems’” soon be visited upon all of those you hold nearest and dearest.
Your sister in Christ, Lulu Pickle
October 14th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Propane says: “My point, which I think you missed, is that your experiences and a journalist’s article is not a good basis of a medical opinion (which you’ve posted above).”
Raven answers: “I’ve been an EMT for just over a yr and haven’t seen any suicide attempts. But at one time in my life I tried to kill myself and ended up using that experience to get a hold of myself. I hit rock bottom and realized it and worked very hard to build myself up. But thats not relevant here.”
So what you’re saying, Raven, is that you have absolutely nothing to base your medical opinion on.
Reinforces Propane’s point.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Star-Spangled retards.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
“Leftard” is very insensitive to retards. Perhaps, with all her experience in the mental thing, Raven has not had the opportunity to practice her compassion in the retard community. It may have been an innocent slip, but apologies seem to be in order.
October 14th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Raven says: “As I said in the post, we don’t have the benefit of knowing Troy’s past before his time in Iraq. That makes this difficult- but I am quite suspect that it wasn’t “investigated* as part of this article.”
Raven’s defintion of “investigation” - read and article, sit alone at your breakfast table, turn away in denial at the horrifying thought that this could be happening to another human being; reach deep down into the bitter, stunted thing that used to be your soul, and come up with: “I bet that guy’s a big fat fake. He deserves it!”
October 14th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Would you PLEASE stop insulting pigs?
That’s all I have to say.
October 14th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Our brave boys or WW1, WW2, indeed, all the way up to Viet Nam showed great courage under fire and came home to lead productive lives.
That’s right, because nobody came home shell-shocked from World War I and II.
That’s why they invented the term “shell-shocked,” because they wanted to come up with a term for a totally imaginary thing that never actually happened to anybody.
October 14th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
SO all you Sadly No suckers readers, don’t question my compassion. I have far more than most of you will ever begin to understand or know.
Your statement is a variation of “I’m doing this for your own good”, aka “This hurts me more than hurts you”. Lots of abusive people claim to be “compassionate”. There’s a big disconnect between your words and your actions, as is often the case with borderline sociopaths.
October 14th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
How do we know you’re an illiterate, douchebag, cheeto eating neoconservative too gutless to sign up for military duty but courageous enough to sit in your basement eating cheetos and typing assumptions about soldiers returning home with PTSD, about which you know precisely nothing? This entry of yours, that’s how.
October 14th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Raven, please tell us the extent of your training in the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric illnesses. I am a LCSW with ten years of experience in treating the mentally ill, and I can tell you there is NO debate in the medical community about the reality of PTSD. NONE. ZERO. If you can prove different with a peer reviewed published study in a respected medical journal from the last 10 years that differs with that, I’ll listen. Otherwise, what I conclude is that you are using your website to propagate dangerous and hateful lies that attack human beings that have sacrificed their lives and their well being for this mistake of a war. You should be ashamed of yourself.
October 14th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Raven: “I do have empathy, but it only goes so far when I really believe the hearts and minds of loved ones are being taken advantage of.”
OK, so you’ll definitely go out of your way to smear an injured vet if there is the slightest possibility he’s taking advantage of those closest to him. What I don’t get is this personal stake you have with his relatives.
Raven: “SO all you Sadly No suckers readers, don’t question my compassion. I have far more than most of you will ever begin to understand or know.”
And said compassion is so clearly on display here.
What happened to Raven anyway? She was replying to every post there for a while.
October 14th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
But at one time in my life I tried to kill myself and ended up using that experience to get a hold of myself.
Well you certainly seem to have managed to kill off your soul, so it wasn’t a totally wasted day.
October 14th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
There is no such thing as mental illness and those hundreds of millions of people who have been diagnosed with some form of it are just fakers or babies trying to get a free hand out or drugs. And the estimated 800,000 plus people who commit suicide each year worldwide were just bummed that they didn’t live up to the standards of a wonderful woman like Raven.
October 14th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Raven’s position is:
Send young people to be killed or wounded in Iraq? Booyah!
Care for them when they come back? F–k that!