Page 25 - Total War on PTSD

The words “Homeless Veteran,” and “Veteran who committed suicide,” tear at my heart and fill me with anger. Every single case is traceable to PTSD that was untreated or treated ineffectively. No American military Veteran should ever be homeless, and none of our people should ever feel so alone and disrespected that they eat their gun or overdose on opioids or alcohol.
Untreated PTSD can easily destroy the patient, his or her relationships with family, friends and co-workers and in rare cases, the lives of complete strangers who accidentally interact with the patient during an episode of extreme hyper-vigilance.
I’m about to share with you two stories of untreated PTSD, one institutional and the other highly personal involving a good friend who gave his country pretty much everything only to be abandoned when he needed help the most.
Until recently, a Marine suffering PTSD who dared to quietly complain to his Gunnery Sergeant of a distracting emotional problem would face severe ridicule and disrespect. The standard though unofficial response to the appeal for help was the Gunnery Sgt. handing the troubled Marine a straw and then saying these words, “Here you go, sweetheart, suck it up!”, and with that the upset Marine would have his masculinity attacked. He would also be made to feel that if he pursued treatment, he would be branded a failure and become an outcast. Well, it turns out that mindless, “Traditional” response to a plea for help only served to create even more troubled and less reliable Marines, not tougher ones. Marines aren’t stupid. Many of their top bosses are brilliant as well as tough. But they still were caught up in the macho culture of shaming troubled
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