ptsd

Hell Comes Home

There's no armor, it turns out, for conscience.

So our men and women are coming home from the killing fields wounded in their heads, used up, greeted only by the military's own meat grinder of inadequate health care and intolerance for "weakness."

Posted in ptsd, veteran suicide, veterans

Echo Platoon: Warehousing Soldiers in the Homeland

Echo Platoon is part of the 82nd Replacement Detachment of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Soldiers in the platoon are relegated to living quarters in a set of dimly lit concrete rooms. Pipes peep out of missing ceiling tiles and a musty smell permeates beds placed on cracked linoleum floors.

For soldiers who have gone AWOL (Absent Without Leave) and then voluntarily turned themselves in or were forcibly returned, the detention conditions here in Echo Platoon only serve to reinforce the inescapability of their situation.

Posted in ptsd, war resistance

Carson Soldiers Say Iraq Horrors Led to Crimes

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Soldiers from an Army unit that had 10 infantrymen accused of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter after returning to civilian life described a breakdown in discipline during their Iraq deployment in which troops murdered civilians, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Posted in ptsd, War/Empire

The (Unsurprising) Psychic Toll of the War in Iraq

By this point, we should not be surprised to realize that the media, after a brief flurry of coverage, quickly dropped the story of John Russell, the Army sergeant being treated for mental issues, who gunned down five colleagues at a stress clinic in Baghdad earlier this month. That's why I was startled to see that Bob Herbert highlighted this episode in his New York Times column today, under the title, "War's Psychic Toll." It was the first mention I'd seen in quite a few days.

Posted in iraq occupation, ptsd, veterans

Horror and Stresses of Iraq Duty led US Sergeant to Kill Comrades

Everyone - the father, the son, the army - agrees that three tours of Iraq drove Sergeant John Russell to the edge.

But what pushed him over, into shooting dead five of his comrades in an army that was his life for 16 years, is a matter of bitter dispute.

The military has suggested that Russell's work cannibalising and rebuilding robots used to set off roadside bombs brought him into regular contact with gruesome casualties, and that took a toll that exploded at Camp Liberty in Baghdad this week.

Posted in iraq occupation, ptsd, veterans

Ghost of Haditha Haunts American Shooting Spree in Iraq

New American Media Editor's Note: When a US Army Sergeant went on a shooting spree in Iraq, killing five fellow soldiers, his targets were different from the victims of previous rampages like Haditha. But NAM contributor Aaron Glantz says the source of the trauma and the rage is the same. Aaron Glantz reported extensively from Iraq from 2003 to 2005 and is author of The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle Against America's Veterans.

Posted in civilians dead, haditha, ptsd, veterans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2009
2:23 PM

CONTACT: CREW
Naomi Seligman (CREW) 202.408.5565

Eric Schmeltzer (VoteVets.org) 646.290.8586

CREW and Votevets.org Ask House Armed Service to Investigate Army Misdiagnoses of Service Members and Veterans With PTSD

WASHINGTON - May 5 - In light of news reports that the Army has instituted the cost-cutting practice of ordering doctors to misdiagnose soldiers returning from battle with anxiety disorder rather than post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and VoteVets.org today asked the chair of the House Armed Services Committee to investigate the extent of this outrageous practice.

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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials -- regardless of party affiliation -- who sacrifice the common good to special interests. CREW advances its mission using a combination of research, litigation and media outreach.

CREW Links:

Posted in ptsd

Female Vets Struggling to Get Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The war in Iraq has been now been raging for six years.

It's the first war where women in the U.S. military are in combat roles.

Even years after serving in Iraq, female veterans are still adjusting to civilian life.

At a women's veterans art show in San Francisco vets say the six year anniversary of the war brings back painful memories.

"The 6 year anniversary has me thinking about the friends that I lost. And the friends that I still have who have been forever scared by the war," said Iraq war veteran Lindsey Rousseau-Burnett.

Posted in healthcare, ptsd, veterans

Israeli Airstrikes Continue to Haunt Gaza Children

Steve Matthews, an aid worker with World Vision Canada, has been to some of the world's most violent and troubled regions, including Darfur, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

But even after years in the field, Matthews still has difficulty comprehending the devastating affects of war on children. In February, he returned from Gaza, where he had spent a month listening to Palestinian children describe in graphic detail what they saw, heard and felt during this winter's Israeli airstrikes.

Posted in children, Human Rights, ptsd, free gaza, Israel/Palestine

Iraqis Resilient but Mental Health Care Lacking: UN

BAGHDAD - Iraqis have displayed surprising resilience to years of bloodshed but mental health problems often go untreated in Iraq, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a study released on Saturday.

A mental health survey published in the journal World Psychiatry found mental disorders amongst Iraqis are no more prevalent than in peaceful countries, contrary to what might be expected given the violence unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and years of war before that.

Posted in iraq occupation, ptsd, Iraq