Sergeant Godsmack vs. Nazar
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
27 March 2012
PTSD is a serious problem. Suicides by veterans happen many times per day, every day. At best, PTSD can degrade the quality of life of veterans and their families. At worst, unmanaged, the human toll is incalculable.
Other problems with “military PTSD:”
1) PTSD for profit: Disability payments. Profiteers learn the symptoms, mimic, and then get paid, often for life. Most symptoms are self-reported, in response to interview questions by military or Veterans Administration (VA) professionals. Chaplains also serve as a resource. The PTSD mockingbirds, the fakes, often sing to chaplains, to establish a precedent for later favorable diagnosis.
2) Dueling Scar PTSD: Long before the recent wars, many people “suffered” from PTSD as if it were a dueling scar. “PTSD” was evidence that they had “been there.” Rambo had “PTSD,” and wannabes needed it, too.
Dueling scar
Dueling scars were fashionable early in the last century in places like Germany and Austria. Many were real, the result of genuine duels, or academic duels. The cult of the scar was so compelling that a market emerged for anti-cosmetic surgery to create them. Stuffing scars with horsehair made them even more disfiguring. Dueling scars were supposed to be seen. Everybody knows that chicks dig scars.
A psychologist at a VA facility who treats PTSD reviewed this dispatch and commented, “You can also see this in VA hospitals where some veterans seemingly embrace the PTSD diagnosis (legitimate or self-diagnosed…) like being part of an elite club. There is overlap with the service compensation seekers but there is an identity factor independent of secondary gain that seems to drive certain individuals.”
3) PTSD as justification/excuse/alibi: “Yes, your honor, I beat my wife. And I wrecked my car with a bottle of whiskey in my gut. I have PTSD.” “What did you do in the Army?” “I was a cook.” “Were you in combat?” “The sirens from the rocket attacks still ring in my head.”
4) PTSD as Negative Brand: Nobody wants this. True case: a war correspondent wrote that two generals needed to be fired. In order to squelch bad press, or to make sense of unpleasant assertions, many people said (accused, really) that the writer had “PTSD.” They said that he had “been in war zones for too long,” and that he was “crazy.” (But then both generals were fired). The false branding was a handy tool to discredit an unwelcome messenger. Unfortunately, there is a persistent negative bias against soldiers, or anyone, really, who has PTSD. This is the scar that chicks do not dig.
Veterans with authentic PTSD know about shunning. Those with legitimate diagnoses often display opposite behavior from the Dueling Scar crowd: they try to conceal their honorable wounds. Their symptoms are not what they wish to flaunt, but what many times they cannot hide. Their memories are not what they want to remember, but what they cannot forget.
Man in Bangladesh who was attacked by a tiger in late 2011. He never smiled during our conversation.
For some people, one serious bomb or firefight overfills their cup. They actually seem to crack. It is like they snap. One day they are fine, and the next, they are different. Maybe they will regroup. Maybe not.
Others who experience the same event, and sometimes dozens more, keep going. They draw current like a battery. Some are like rechargeable batteries, and they seem to lose chargeability over time. I saw an entire American platoon in Afghanistan that kept doing very dangerous missions, but you could tell that they were spent. I saw a British platoon with a similar feel.
Everybody has limits. Some crack like eggshells, and others seem hard like diamonds. All will splinter under sufficient instant pressure, or wear down over time with persistent mental abrasion.
PTSD is also a big business for “patients” on the scam, and for doctors, both honest and not. The disorder has become a “slip and fall” con for our generation, but with a hint of “Agent Orange.” One side can make a credible claim, then the swindlers pile on, and our government does not want to pay for any of it.
Troops have a motive to “get” PTSD, while the military is incentivized to diagnose a “pre-existing personality disorder.”
From our psychologist friend: “I often hear about individuals being med-boarded out for post-trauma psychiatric problems that are mislabeled Personality Disorder NOS, but I do not hear about this mislabeling as much in regards to denied service compensation claims for veterans. Usually, you see insufficient evidence for the diagnosis, the problems are better explained by a comorbid psychiatric condition or the examiner is unable to link the PTSD to a service-related incident if there are other significant traumatic events in the life of the claimant.”
Unfortunately, veterans with legitimate diagnoses of PTSD can end up excluded from treatment. There is vigorous debate in Washington on this matter. During a March 2012 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, the issue was specifically raised.
Aside from the political and economic dramas surrounding PTSD, authentic and fictional stress can have disquieting legal and social consequences. The effects of bona fide PTSD can echo through generations, when a parent is psychologically and emotionally damaged (often with substance abuse issues). Children suffer diminished parents, with adverse repercussions that can impact subsequent generations. Suicide is epidemic.
New road facing away from Panjwai to Kandahar City: Auto accidents are the primary cause of PTSD in America, yet we do not expect survivors to go shooting up the neighborhood.
According to our psychologist: “Many people don’t seem to get that PTSD is not a ‘thing’; it is a constellation of symptoms that exists on a continuum and in certain combinations, intensities and frequencies, surpass an arbitrary threshold to meet diagnostic criteria. PTSD means one’s symptoms are severe enough to create impairment in function and warrant the diagnosis. Those who cross the line into the diagnostic zone vary incredibly from highly functional and dealing with significant, silent internal turmoil to total, dysfunctional train wrecks.
“The train wrecks often have a complex trauma history, legitimate personality disorders (not the kind the military dishes out on DD-214s), comorbid conditions or just really severely disabling genuine PTSD.
“It is not a synonym for crazy, unstable, etc. Not to say someone swerving off the road because the dead armadillo suddenly has a bomb stuffed in it and the terrified driver in a moment confuses past with present appears to be a dangerous lunatic to others…yes, these things happen sometimes but these moments are usually very brief. Even when I hear about reactive acts of violence when trauma triggers occur, it is almost always a spontaneous, immediate response to a (mis)perceived threat, not a sequence of calculated behaviors that result in a spree of violence.”
Outpost in Panjwai
Every sane person is a psychologist. Tuning into ourselves and to others is an essential survival skill, though many of us believe that we are better psychologists, or more informed, than we really are.
To whit, less than a day after the Panjwai 17 massacre, before the suspect was named, we began debating whether or not he suffers from PTSD. The public did not know, and still does not know, whether the accused even committed the murders, or if he acted alone. An individual with PTSD will almost always not engage in a “sequence of calculated behaviors that result in a spree of violence,” as our psychologist explains above. In general, the mass media has failed to divine this attribute of PTSD, much less explain it to anyone.
Of course, from our side we will drag in PTSD, Lariam, traumatic brain injury, and no telling what else, and there may be truth to it. The bottom line is that due to the circumstances, we have a predisposition to excuse mass murder. We must wait to see what comes to trial.
Panjwai
The lawyer of the accused said that there is no forensic evidence, but if his client committed these crimes his footwear and his clothes should tell a story. A forensics laboratory is 15 minutes from the crime scene at Kandahar Air Field (KAF).
Robert Bales: charged with committing 17 murders in Panjwai
We harbor scant empathy for Afghan children who breathe interminable war, and who in many cases will see much more combat than our own troops. There were two more “green on blue” incidents yesterday (26 March, 2012) in Afghanistan. Afghans in two different provinces wearing friendly uniforms shot a total of three ISAF members to death. We will probably not wonder whether the shooters had PTSD.
US Forces in Panjwai
Weeks before the Panjwai massacre, I warned that something was coming. This is not voodoo, prognostication, or mere chance. It is more like a forest ranger who sees a hundred thousand acres of trees (or 91,000 troops), and no rain for a year. No special skill is required to note the severe and growing fire hazard.
Most Afghan Security Forces do their jobs. It is incorrect to characterize them all as traitors, but it happened again, twice, yesterday.
Our troops are becoming disgusted and angry in what has gone from a promising start in Afghanistan, to something that many believe is a lost cause for an unthankful people who treacherously murder our own. President Karzai cannot be bothered to apologize.
Comments
He is not welcome in the US as far as I am concerned
You have the requisite sense of humor for this type of situation and are able to show it without sounding like a complete wiseass. Keep up the good work wherever that may be!
I am a reader from the UK and I have followed you for years. I honestly believe this is one of the most important and revealing posts you have ever made. So much so, I am sending a small contribution, as much as I can afford, and other deserving causes must wait for this month.
I just wish, I JUST HONESTLY WISH, I could print out this detailed six page post from you, then take it down to London, then be allowed to enter No. 10 Downing Street, and there I would happily grab my Prime Minister by the scruff of the neck, sit him down, then make him read and digest this whole despatch. Every politician in every NATO country supporting this ill thought out foreign intervention by our troops should all be made to read it IN PUBLIC, on international TV, and when finished reading your report they should look the cameras (i.e. THEIR CITIZENS!) in the eye and tell them just what they plan to do about this whole sorry mess.
Thank you for the time and trouble you take. I do try to pass on your messages and particularly your URL to others. All too often I am met with a shrug and, "What can we do??? ... " kind of whine.
I truly despair for the Western World and also am truly thankful I will soon be gone from it, and my circumstances mean I leave no offspring behind to reap the whirlwind our leaders have sown as regards unlimited immigration, foreign wars, and all the rest of it.
Thank you for this wonderful post and especially the pictures. I will donate money into your paypal also. I don't have much but Mrs Nibbles and I can share dinners for a while.
How true!
That said, the sorry situation in Afghanistain (intentional spelling) is atypical of the f-ked up political leadership (or lack thereof) we currently must endure in our great country.
There are no more heros in politics only zeros (most in the minus column). The only heros are those that face the forces of evil and their families.
The atheists and the godless have taken over our media and are more interested in defending murderers and thugs (Sandford, FL) than in preserving the American way of life and the freedoms handed to us by great men with more foresight than any of the present sorry excuses occupying the halls of political power.
The middle east is and always has been a cauldron of ethic and tribal hostility that will never change under the present circumstances, but the military industrial complex, along with their designated political puppets, will never stop in it's thirst for blood to line their corporate bank accounts and thus feed our youth to their insatiable greed!
Keep on telling it like it is and may whatever God you hold dear protect you
Michael...stay safe. Thanks for the great insight...hope someone gives GodSmack and old fashion Texas GodSmackdown!
Don't believe the hype. The narrative on this has bothered me from the beginning. Whatever the events were; the release of "managed information" and the media's bending of the story to suit a preferred effect are what we have.
On several levels and at all points a healthy skepticism asks, "Whose agenda is being promoted?" or in short "Who benefits?"
Reminds me almost of Victor Hugo and his telling of Waterloo. Masterful.
P.S. The cookies on KAF? Awesome!!
Grisham's actions are disgusting. But obvious failure of his command should also be addressed.
Altho I have a friend who adopted a disabled Iraqi boy while serving in combat in Iraq, I never considered the war from Nazar's perspective. Very enlightening.
There is another aspect of PTSD you did not cover. I have observed many troops mis-diagnosed with PTSD who actually had residuals of Traumatic Brain Injury. TBI from IEDs, bombs, or other blasts is actually quite common. I hope you can address that issue in more detail.
Finally, your fight to eliminate the Crusader's Cross is important. The Red Cross markings are not required. They are counterproducti ve. Keep up the fight to eliminate them.
Thank you for your continued service.
You've really gone off the deep end Mike with your bizarre vendetta complex.
It's one thing to go after other milbloggers and to try and destroy their reputation and web traffic by engaging in deranged and petty squabbles with them simply because they criticized some of your opinions.
That's odd enough.
But you entered a whole new realm of Crazytown when you went on that U.S. Army Special Forces forum and created yet another needless deranged war with those guys. When you denounced your (short) time in the U.S. Army Special Forces and tried to protray ALL U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers in Iraq as sick murderers, you crossed a line that shouldn't have been crossed.
Then you REALLY lost it when you declared war on Soldiers Angels, a CHARITY, simply because they had members from the milblogger community that you've been feuding with for years. That was really, really low Mike and totally insane of you to do.
It's also really disgusting how you churn out negative defeatist story after negative defeatist story whenever you lose an embed to "damage" (punish) the military - as you love to say.
And now you've let your demented vendettea complex to escape your facebook page and to creep into your official dispatches.
We get it, Mike. You don't like CJ because he criticized your opinions in the past. You created a totally insane feud with him that you never seem willing to let go. Even though he's suffering from severe PTSD you still can't resist kicking him when he's down.
You need help, Mike. You've been displaying dangerous and deranged behavior for years now and it's just getting worse. Somebody needs to intervene before you harm yourself or others.
JOIN ME AND WE WILL CRUSH THE EMPEROR
(que in sound of respirator breathing)
Seriously.
1. You minimize the conduct of competing milbloggers, the vast majority of whom have little, if any, time downrange. Wake up, you idiot.
2. The SF guys on "that forum" do not represent all SF personnel. They were abusive, condescending, dismissive and arrogant to Yon, and they absolutely did not like it when Yon did not roll over so that he could submissively join their club.
And why would he? Yon has more time in war zones than most of the SF'ers posting on that site. Yon is a graduate of the Q Course. And unfortunately, Yon is also a member of another fraternity: Yon has killed a man in hand-to-hand combat. Have you? Of course not. So shut the fuck up. Mischaracterizi ng Yon's words on "that site" reveals your agenda. Go sell stupid somewhere else.
3.As for Soldier's Angels, Yon is not the only person who has observed that they have problems. He merely did not remain silent about them. Why should he? Silence is consent. Simply because Soldier's Angels is a "CHARITY," as you put it, does not mean that it was not wasteful with donations, or that the conduct of some of its principals was not stupid. Have you done any research on the topic whatsoever? Clearly not. So yet again: shut the fuck up.
4. Many cannot handle uncomfortable facts. Many find it more palatable to imbibe the consensus kool-aid. It is easier to mischaracterize Yon's opinions as "negative defeatist stories." Is Yon "damaging the military?" Or is he reporting the truth as he knows it? I am telling you that you would not know the truth that Yon has experienced if it bit you in the ball sack. You have no frame of reference for even assessing it. So yet again: shut the fuck up.
5. Are you a psychiatrist? How do you know that Grisham suffers "severe PTSD?" Right. You do not.
Grisham is a jackass. And so are you.
jw
It it possible that 'classic' PTSD is more a phenomenon of first world societies - like eating disorders?
It can occur as the result of ANY trauma wheter it's physical, mental, or both
Extreme spousal abuse is just one example, vehicle crashes is another, especially motorcyclists
But to many opportunists have latched on to PTSD as a method of getting on the free lunch programs this governemt seems to love with a passion, so they, the politicians, look like they CARE
A nurse took my history. The process included several questions that were designed to discover if I had PTSD. I don't, of course. The worst experience I had was a unit commander who was a jerk, and I never heard a shot fired in anger.
But I know why some might fake PTSD. For one thing, a service-connect ed disability gets you free dental care in the VA system. That's a significant benefit over a lifetime.
Those like you and the few I have met through my interactions with veterans is something this nation needs to address with more compassion and honesty than is present
We have lowlife scumbags running around this country living in nice diggs, driving new cars, and buying steaks and shrimp platters @ Walmart on taxpayers money, while we have suffering veterans living on the street.
Is this the American dream? I think not
Heywood is particularly good at eviscerating these lame milblogger lap dogs who have probably never even been in a foreign country under REAL duress.
I have followed your harrowing accounts since before the fire-fight in which you saved a mans life by picking up his M4 and retuning fire at an enemy close.
I don't see any these arm chair losers even doing anything close to that and god only knows what you went through as a REAL SF troop!
When I was active member of the Vietnam Veterans of Brevard County FL I met and talked with many of your brethren @ their yearly reunions and they did act or talk like these supporters of Sgt Godsmack!
Many of them did not really have much to say, but you got the feeling that there was deep water running through them that would never see the light of day.
I have seen REAL PTSD up close personal through these interactions and it's really scary sometimes to think about what these folks have endured and relive on a regular basis for life.
Those that fake PTSD for free benefits are no more than human paraquat and atypical of the present free lunch programs that are being touted by the present scumbag politicians and Marxist media whores ruining our great nation
Keep on keepin' on Michael Yon
I have been involved in AA for the past 8 years and found that there are a quite a few Veterans in this particular group I attend and many have had combat experience. There is a unspoken bond between the Veterans immediately even those who are from other countries. By attending to the Alcohol and drug problems there is the ability to deal with other problems.
I really have a hard time smiling at those who are taking all the government can hand out to them and I can barely survive on SS and a meager Veterans Pension. I have seen the hustles.
Once again thanks for all that you do. Hope that you get a chance to visit Bay Pines, FL when come home...LOL
"My PTSD is NOT the cause of my anger. Writing disgusting accounts of how our Fallen Heroes die to get a few Paypal donations is what causes my anger. When I think of what will be going through the mind of that mother, sister, wife or family member having to read that, I’m physically ill. I’m not saying he doesn’t have the right to write it; I’m saying he should have had better judgment. And the fact that he’s making a living writing such things didn’t sit well with me. It still doesn’t sit well with me. My fault lies in not crafting my disgust and outrage in a manner that wouldn’t be twisted for selfish reasons. "
First apparently CJ is an expert on PTSD and all of its symptoms and manifestations. Since he is aware of all of his actions and can segregate those that are PTSD and those that are not. Secondly, he is hawking his PTSD and woe-is-me tale to...you guessed it, "get a few pay-pal dontations." Third, he is berating Mr. Yon for "making a living writing[about war], and that doesn't sit well with me." HE IS IN THE MILITARY AND HE MAKES A LIVING PARTICIPATING IN WAR AND DEFENDING OUR NATION! So, war is okay but any truthful tales and pictures about it is WRONG?!??! I hope this man does not own any war movies? That would be wrong to show how soldiers fight and die in war. Finally, it is not quoted but apparently Mr. Yon has PTSD according to CJ and many of his supporters. This is used in a NEGATIVE connotation to characterize Michael Yon as crazy, hateful, misguided, and vengeful man. Thank you Michael Yon for your Blog and Thanks to MSG Grisham for providing us with a sounding board for how not to be a MSG or a leader of troops.
We called them REMFs.
Fortunately, their audiences were in cheap bars and EM/NCO clubs. This ass Grisham has the internet to broadcast his cowardice. He is a disgrace to his uniform, his subordinates and his country.
I spent 35 years working for the MSM Michael and it is refreshing to find someone who reports rather than fabricates the news. Thank you.
Regarding Bales, do you think he might be taking all the blame for others, like Steven Green after Mahmudiyah?
Afghanistan has become our Vietnam. We are going to leave and there will be a blood bath among those who worked with us. War is not a game to be played as if it didn't matter if we throw in the towel and bug out. Unfortunately, for those who died and were wounded the scarifices have been in vain. And for the Afghanis who want peace and a non-sharia ruled life, their lives are about to be turned into hell. War, when it comes to that, must be fought to win At least that's my opinion.
To be fair, my asking to quantify a psychological problem smacks of the old managerial school of warfare (and its comcommitant censorship and arse covering) that served us so poorly in Vietnam, but I still think it an interesting question.
I am relieved to hear that there is at least one person who sees this massacre of humans as something more than what our LSM is promoting it as. I cannot believe that it is within one of our soldiers to do something so heinous that it would endanger his fellow Soldiers. I am a former helicopter Air Crewman and Army Scout who knows better and this goes beyond the pale.
I wish your dispatches could be taken and shouted from the rooftops, and were required reading for all of our lovely elected officials. It saddens me to know that most Americans will never even have a clue what goes on in war, and our politicians go on blathering about the Geneva Conventions while our soldiers are slaughtered in a hellhole for the sake of political expediency.
MSG G is very negligent considering he is Intel and definitely not for his soldiers. I was shot in combat in Iraq back in 2004, went to Italy, recovered 7 weeks and begged my command to send me back to the field to be with my soldiers… And this guy just up and leaves, brags about living well and then attempts to steal valor and honor from those who actually earned and deserve it!!! Strip this guy of his rank and put him the grinder.. Roman Rule.. Thumbs down for MSG Grisham. RIP Chazray.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/us/stolen-valor-act-argued-before-supreme-court.html
Also, from just the critical standpoint of the above article, I am not sure what the authors point even was. Yes PTSD is misunderstood by many, yes its faked by many for multiple reasons, yes its a legitimate wound for many authentic soldiers who have to deal with it, and yes it is twisted in ways to excuse crimes. what is the point? you make arguments but to what end? do you want it labeled something else? do you not want soldiers to get disability for it? What was the point in all the above statements?
http://militarygear.com/asp/asp-in-the-news/
CJ's Legal battle was settled out of court but it didnt stop Soldiers Angels from Hustling moneyh for his Legal defense fund... IM VERY curious where did the money from this fund go, How much was collected and where did the cash go... with SA's Fund raising and dammed near every millblogger hustling for old cj im sure a ton of money poured in for this guy... whats his connection to SA besides being theyre cheerleader and being sponsored by them and his other sponsors doiung business with SA as well... the whole dammed think stinks to high hell...
http://soldiersangelsgermany.blogspot.com/2009/12/milblogs-go-silent.html
If his PTSD is so damm bad why does the army Keep him in let alone ANY LEADERSHIP POSTION OF ANYKIND... me thinks he got into a jam In Afghanistan for having his bullies threaten Mike Yon in his tent, and decided to use PTSD once again as an excuse for his conduct... HE IS a bully and a coward... A disgrace to his uniform.. he thinks hes a damm rock star like all the board over at SA... I feel bad for the hundreds of good, well meaning volunteers at SA.... youre being played...
http://militarygear.com/asp/2009/09/18/the-power-of-seeking-help/
here is CJ back in 09 Crying about ptsd to cover his ass.. notice whenever hes in a jam its PTSD related... and to those Real vets suffering from Ptsd it isnt my intention to belittle youre suffering in any way...
As for Godsmack, this guy seems like a joke, but what he is doing has serious consequences. I'm far from the type of person who would step on another's first amendment rights but when you're in that uniform you accept a slightly different set of rules.
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/01/in-the-military-the-drinking-can-start-on-day-1/?src=recg
The US, and other armed forces have tremendous traditions of boozing before, during and after action.
The notorious 'PTSD killer', described above, is also supposed to have gotten a snootful of 'illegal booze' at the base before he went on his midnight wilding.
Booze, pre-existing mental conditions and overmedication for little or no reason, the 'warrior ethos' needs a culture change.
Here's hoping the dipstick ends up doing some greybar hotel time for his latest screw up, despite the opportunity it'll give him to cry even louder. He's well earned any misfortune that befalls his widdle head. So reap it, jerk.
RSS