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Other people got wounded, and all I got was a mental thing
Posted by Raven on October 14th, 2007
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!
October 14th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
[slapslapslap] What, are you people still here?? [stomps foot, sighs]
October 14th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Oh please shut the hell up and take your panties off, Brittany.
October 14th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
I’m personally recommending you to Olbermann for worst person of the week award.
October 14th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Hey Raven, maybe you can work some of that “Screw him, he volunteered! He knew what he was getting into!” into your anti-injured-vet screed.
October 14th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Pay attenshun ME!!!
October 14th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
The fact is that true Republican veterans of Iraq never experience PSTD.
I never sevred in Iraq because, like Raven, the experience of being under fire would cause embarrassing loss of bowel control, but I speak from the knowledge of my extensive reading of Republican weblogs.
October 14th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Came to this thread from Eschaton, like I suspect most of you did … and it took me about five seconds to realize this whole blog is just one big troll act.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no doubt this “Raven” person actually believes the evil tripe she writes, but that’s not the point. The point is she gets off on the attention which we are all giving her. We are feeding her.
Lets not fed her. Without us, who would pay any attention to her, or care at all about what she thinks? I say let her starve.
October 14th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Raven, if you’re going to make slanderous assumptions about a US war vet, have the gonads to take the criticism you’re going to get for it. If you can’t take the heat, don’t publish in public places.
October 14th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
“there is considerable debate among the medical profession as to reality of PTSD as a medical condition”
Actually, that’s not true. That statement is so not true, it makes me doubt you have any medical/psychological experience at all. Though the name has changed–shell shock, war strain, neuropathy, whatever–there was a consensus as far back as 1917 that there was such a thing. By 1917, the British, French, and Germans had clinics for it. The medical faculty at Manchester University was teaching physicians how to treat it in 1917. There were big psychiatric conferences on it in the 1920s. It’s not some weird thing made up by liberals.
Also, your chili recipe sound vile. Boullion cubes? Are you kidding?
October 14th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
You’re not worthy to run the add on your sidebar that reads “Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund”.
October 14th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Raven: “I give no advice here. Only my opinion.
Which I am entitled to….”
You are correct in being entitled to your opinion. But keep in mind that RESPECT for your opinion must be EARNED, and you are very far from achieving it.
October 14th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Raven, a little tip, in the old days PTSD was called shell shock. My dad and granddad (deceased) both suffered from it (WWII and WW1). Both men are against war after their experiences and they call bullshit on the glorification of the wars they fought in.
I’d like to know where you work as a nurse. Your superiors need to read this blog of yours and reconsider whether you should be anywhere near patients. I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you with any of my family members or friends. You can’t spell worth a damn and you’re profoundly ignorant. How the hell did you ever qualify to become a registered nurse. Or are you a nurse’s aide?
October 14th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Raven, what PRECISELY is your work experience? What are your credentials? What papers have you published in peer-reviewed journals? What degrees do you hold? What qualifies you to judge the mental condition of people you have never encoutered, beyond your insane need to shoehorn everything into a narrow ideologically-defined worldview? Just curious.
October 14th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Absolutely pathetic.
A little whiner tries to declare people suffer from PTSD “might be faking”. Based on less than a year of EMT work. What a “compassionate conservative”.
My uncle spent his first couple of years back from WWII in that hell. Screamed every night hiding under his bed, thinking he was still in combat. I personally know a Vietnam vet who still goes to group after two tours doing search and destroy missions.
I know one way you can find out for sure, “Raven”. You can get your chicken butt down to a recruiting office. They need EMT’s bad anyway. I have a feeling you will join your fellow right wingers and take a pass on it, however.
October 14th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Kender, have you ever signed up for duty, ever served? Are there any circumstances under which you would besides a draft?
Answer: No.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Boy, I hope none of you wingers ever has to really go to war.
It would blow your mind.
You go talk to people who served in Korea and see if they know people who had PTSD. Back in the 1950s and 1960s it wasn’t called PTSD. It was called “why did that guy become an alcoholic and a junkie when he got back from Korea?”
Go take your Prozac then shove your head back up our Draft Dodger in Chief’s buttocks.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Lesley- here’s how Raven describes Kender in her ‘friends’ link listed on the sidebar: “The one who always keeps an eye on this site when I cannot- Kender has rescued me time and time again from nasty liberal ass commentors who tried to degrade me.”
Hey Kender, it looks like Raven really put you in a bind today, huh?
October 14th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
I have a brother that served in WWII, a brother that served in Korea and I served in Vietnam. All in a combat zone. 99% of the post trumatic stress is BS for the money. It started heavy after Vietnam (great way to supplement your income and whacko doc’s to make a killing) and continues today. Funny that when no one is watching these people can perform perfectly well. I know several and they’re all faking to get the monthly check and a lot of them have excellent access to popular drugs. Some use them and some sell them on the street. Liberalism truly is a mental illness.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
I have a brother that served in WWII, a brother that served in Korea and I served in Vietnam.
Uh, your mother must have been 60 or 70 when you were born bro. I guess that explains your intellectual shortcomings.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
That’s really interesting, Scrapiron. I’m glad you backed up your comment with well researched studies and not assertions.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
scrapiron is, of course, lying about his service, but that’s what neoconservatives do. They make erroneous assumptions and outlandish generalizations about everything with no stats or evidence to back up their claims and when they are held to account for it they invent fairy tale life stories as anonymous poseurs thinking they’ll have the last word.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
….my nephew showed no signs of PTSD after he was shot by the Redcoats.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Ma’am, you’re as bad as Mr. Frist was in diagnosing Terry Schaivo from a vido tape. You really should be ashamed of yourself.
But then, your side has ALL the right answers and solutions to the problem. Yeah, right. Just look at Iraq.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Kender’s a fan of Alex Rawl’s “9-11 Memorial is a really a jihadist Mosque” consiracy theory.
I think that about says it all.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Apparently, Raven is sifting through the thread deleting all comments that challenge her assumptions about the war vet.
In addition to deleting the comments Raven might also want to turn her mirrors to face the wall. (Prevents cracking)
Raven’s ladeling bacon chili down her throat. Later today she’ll be blogging her farts.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Kender Says
Like most men I do a little contemplating each and every day, usually while sitting in traffic or on the can. Men think best when they are either under pressure or sitting alone, and I have never known a man to get a good idea while a woman was around unless that idea involved said woman becoming nude at the earliest possible moment, but that is a post for another day.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
kender’s troll user profile
Blogs:
Stop The ACLU
TestingTestes123
Anti-Castratti
deaf people suck
Welcome to Deaf People Suck Ass!!!
I started this blog because with all of the groups out there that scream about being marginalized and discriminated against there is still one group of people that feel they can take out there frustrations on a large segment of society and so far nobody has said one thing to them about it, probably for fear of being labeled something or other.
Troll Turds
Kenders’ Musings
TROLL DROPPINGS
Ravings of a Mad Tech
So much for Kender’s crediblity.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Note: Kender has no readers, and before this thread neither did the self-admitted junky whore (who probably steals meds from the hospital she works in).
October 14th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Not my words, but the below says it better than I could.
“I love this new version of conservatism. There is nothing too base, too venal, too cold-blooded for them to say. There is no one they won’t smear, no reputation they won’t seek to tarnish, no depth to which they will not sink in order to destroy anything that interferes with their pet narratives about how they think the world works, whether it be ‘government insurance is socialism’ or ‘the Iraq war is a war for civilization and therefore worth any sacrifice (as long as it’s not mine).’ Anything — absolutely anything at all — is acceptable, except for even the barest hint of the thought that they might actually be wrong about something in even the slightest measure.
The only good thing for us is that, as reality becomes ever more obviously divergent from the bizarre pictures of it painted in the minds of people like this, the ranting that comes from them becomes ever more obviously foul and disgusting. It showed in the howling brigades’ smears of Graeme Frost, and it shows here. There is hope that, if most people really are not baying monsters at heart, but decent individuals, the increasing levels of bile coming from those who actually are baying monsters will start to drive the decent people away from them.”
October 14th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Kender see great flaws with most of the insults directed at them (“Thief” and “Cutpurse” aside) and take delight in showing people what a real insult is like. Kender seem to have a wide repertoire of insults for any race and any occasion, and have no clue when is the right time to stop insulting someone.
October 14th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Wow. What a cesspool.
I thought I’d stop by and see what the conversation was about, but it’s nothing but a bunch of people calling Raven names for daring to ask the question, “Could this person be a fake?”
Raven, Kender, you’re very much wasting your time responding to these folks, as they’re only interested in calling you names. Heck, one freely admitted that they didn’t want conversation. What a waste.
October 14th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Raven, you say you “work in nursing”. What exactly does that mean? What are your credentials, and where did you get your training?
Here’s an example of what an answer might look like:
I work in the field of mental health. I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I have a Masters in Social Work from an accredited university, San Diego State. After getting my master’s degree (which included 2 years of 20 hours a week field work) I spent two years working under a licensed supervisor in direct patient care. After the required 2 years, I took a written and oral licensing exam to prove my competence in assessing, diagnosing and treating mental illness. Since then, I have worked for ten years in direct patient care in the psychiatry department of one of the largest health care providers in California. In order to keep my license, I am required to take continuing education coursework, which has included assessment and treatment of anxiety disorders, including PTSD. I happen to disagree with every single word of your “opinion” about PTSD.
OK, now it is your turn.
October 14th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Ogre, please note I did not call
Raven a name. Do you think that will help her respond to me honestly?
October 14th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
“I stand by my opinion on this man.”
-Raven.
Did you attend the same college as Dr. Frist?
You people sure do have a way of divining a person’s mind.
Frist does it thru a video. You accomplish it thru a newspaper column.
What’s next? Psycic Hotline?
October 14th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
Ogre- please read the comments again. Besides someone referring to Raven as a “pig” the other comments are justifiably questioning her credentials and assertions. Nice try with with the “angry left” talking point though.
October 14th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Two things to add here.
1) I’ve been visiting Raven’s blog for about two years, and have read numerous posts herein on medical issues. From this and from correspondence, I know her to be a highly compassionate person.
2) What I see here is a typical lefty attack formation. One person sees a post he/she thinks would make a good target, then goes back to whatever liberal blog he/she lives at and says, “Hey, Raven left herself vulnerable to a lefty attack! Lets all go over to her blog and gang-bang it!”
Next thing you know, a whole armada of “progressives” arrives to smother her comment section. Lovely.
What’s worse is that folks like yourselves only “support” the troops when it’s politically expedient to do so, as in some of the above comments.
Finally, liberals have a nasty habit of being abusive, as is also evidenced above. When the left gathers for a demonstration, for example, even a peace demonstration,it is usually anything but peaceful. Property, both public and private, gets vandalized or trashed, groups of people loudly chant obscenities, bags of feces are thrown, etc.
I would say something like, “You should be ashamed of yourselves”, but that would be dumb, because in order to be ashamed of onesself, one has to possess a sense of shame, and there is little or none of that on the left.
October 14th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Hey, Raven, it’s really neat that you’ve got such extensive experience in this area that you can say that the “man written about in the WAPO article just doesn’t fit my experiences…something isn’t right.” Oddly enough, though, the description of Troy’s PTSD symptoms do seem to dovetail with the clinical description of the disorder, found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, being all sorts of an expert and so compassionate and all?
“The essential feature of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is the development of characteristic symptoms following exposure to an extreme traumatic stressor involving direct personal experience of an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury, or other threat to one’s physical integrity; or witnessing an event that involves death, injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of another person; or learning about unexpected or violent death, serious harm, or threat of death or injury experienced by a family member or other close associate (Criterion A1). The person’s response to the event must involve intense fear, helplessness, or horror (or in children, the response must involve disorganized or agitated behavior) (Criterion A2). The characteristic symptoms resulting from the exposure to the extreme trauma include persistent reexperiencing of the traumatic event (Criterion B), persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness (Criterion C), and persistent symptoms of increased arousal (Criterion D). The full symptom picture must be present for more than 1 month (Criterion E), and the disturbance must cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (Criterion F).
October 14th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Raven is entitled to her opinion; this is a prime example of nazi-like leftist or should I say stormtrooper-like shouting down of someone who dare asks “is this fake”?
Dare not to call journalists for what they are; leftists who lie…do not question the religion of moral relativism and the lovers of socialist policies.
This is why my son was ‘advised’ to go on meds; for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome; it’s something that people have made up in order to collect benefits; which is what lefties love so much; government bennies.
It’s not like they could consider WORKING…WORK is a word that is foreign to them…but who is it that pays those government benefits?
People like Raven and I, who WORK….
My son is not on his meds anymore and he is working his way back out from under his dining room table on the 4th of July when cretins like you are out there partying like the grasshopper with no thoughts about the morrow…
Too funny…I’m not sure if commenting here is going to help; lefties don’t know anything about debate or making a point, just insults.
Ask Jake and Michelle…they’ve not only been yelled at, but their cameras thrown onto the ground, their tires slashed, and they’ve been physically assaulted in the streets; for having a different opinion than the International ANSWER crowd.
And that is what this country has come to – shouting down Minutemen and calling them the Minuteklan.
And trolling blogs hurling insults because you have nothing better to do than sit behind a computer screen in your underwear acting tough.
I’ve noticed, though, that people like you don’t act so tough in person…
October 14th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Seth is Raven’s brother who fought in the war of 1812. Like Raven, he calls bullshit on all war vets who lost only one limb and/or have PTSD as losing a limb is no-big-deal-get-over-it and PTSD-aka-Shell-Shock-doesn’t-exist.
Like Raven, Seth has never enlisted and will never enlist and if a draft ever came to pass would shit his pants.
He may or may not be “horny for jarheads” like Raven but could never admit it because Raven hates teh gay even more than she hates vets who cry when they lose limbs.
October 14th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Maybe you ought to just close comments on this post….there is nothing instructive here except watching idiots make fools of themselves…
October 14th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
And I don’t mean Raven…
October 14th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Looks like you all went to school with that woman that was harrassing Jeff at Protein Wisdom. heh
October 14th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Hey this has been educational folks.
Thank you Sadly No readers: You have proven to me, once again by the tone of the comments here, that I made the right choice by changing my politics. I used to be just like you all. Rightfully I changed my mindset when I saw too many people taking advantage of your liberal views; too many government programs enabling the able to not take care of their own.
I am so content I am no longer a Democrat. But I am totally ashamed at how you all just come over and attack like this- but alas, you’re Democrats and thats what they do. Attack. Accuse. Make assumptions. And nothing else.
You’re all losers as far as I’m concerned and I am proud to no longer be politically associated with your lot.