Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for December 22, 2008

I would hope the latter.

Doing one so he can do the other.

Perhaps the only good thing to come from the Vietnam War was the identification of post-traumatic stress syndrome. Once it became obvious that soldiers could suffer from it, psychotherapists started to recognize it in other patients, whether after accidents, crimes, or other traumatic events. This was especially valuable to victims of childhood abuse whose symptoms sometimes took decades to emerge from under layers of psychological defense mechanisms.

This reminds me of a George Carlin bit. How those in power try to soften the language by adding more syllables to the term. We started with “shell shock”, went to “battle fatigue”, and now have “post traumatic stress syndrome”.

By any other name … it’s still painful and finally, relatively treatable … just not as initially obvious as say what Toggle is going through.

found this on soldiersmind.com

Army Major General David Blackledge was a commander of a civil affairs unit on two different tours in Iraq and now works in the Pentagon as Army assistant deputy chief of staff for mobilization and reserve issues. In February 2004, while on a mission during his first deployment, his convoy was ambushed. Since that time, he has suffered from flashbacks and nightmares. His interpreter was shot through the head, the vehicle he was in rolled over numerous times and when he crawled out of the wreckage, he was suffering from a crushed vertebrae and broken ribs. As he crawled from the vehicle, he found himself in the middle of a firefight. Blackledge and the other survivors took cover in a nearby ditch.

Will anyone ever notice that the acronym is “PTSD” not “PTSS”? Disorder not syndrome.

DesultoryPhillipic says:

Will anyone ever notice that the acronym is “PTSD” not “PTSS”? Disorder not syndrome.

Phillipic, on the scope of the broad reaching effects of the topic, I hardly think that matters much. We all know what we are discussing, some, sadly more 1st hand than others. The term started life as a syndrome, then when it became clearly recognized became a disorder, so the VA could process it. Minor hair-splitting of medical/psychological terms.

Interstingly enough, the General’s experience sounds like the setup scene for the movie Ironman.

I think Elias is trying to coax B.D. into following suit…

I Corp, RVN 68-70. Please don’t presume to chastise me on matters of medical/psychological terms.

One would hope that military leaders would not act lightly in sending troops into battle, and that the death of a young man or woman on the field of battle would elicit an emotional/psychological response strong enough to elicit flashbacks and nightmares. One would hope that military leaders, even if they did not participate in firefights, would be capable of suffering from PTSD.

I say that not to cheapen PTSD, to minimize its symptomotology, nor to marginalize legitimate sufferers; rather, I say all that in the hopes that our leaders recognize the psychological trauma of sending young men and women to their death. I hope beyond hope that it is as bad to be a leader as it is to be a soldier when loss of life hangs in the balance.

Pre Traumatic Stress Disorder….Leads To Post Traumatic Stress Disorder…Less now of the later with a voulenteer military….Both do Exist…

When did Elias get a bleach job? Does the new colorist not know that Elias was a black man last year?

A lot of people missed Elias’ point, leadership. Too many of America’s leadership today is reactive, rather than proactive.Case in point, Hilary not giving a hoot about Florida until it mattered to her. active leadership would have been shouting about it in November 07, rather than waiting until May 05, when her nomination was on the line. A military example. It wasnt until after a large number of Drill Sergeants got caught red-handed abusing female recruits did TRADOC, the Armys primary training organization, emphasize training NCO’s and officers on how to lead women without abusing them. A final point, Geo. Bush. What has he ever done to prevent ANY issue from becoming a disaster? No leadership there.

DesultoryPhillipic; RVN 67-69 here, no “chastisment” intended. I stand with my statement. This is not a clinic, but people do understand what is being discussed either way. If you choose to find offense in that, be my guest.

I was merely making a statement of fact as is evidenced by the second panel. You appear to be the one taking offense. That being said, peace brother!