Troops With Stress Disorders Being Redeployed

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(CBS News) Army Staff Sgt. Bryce Syverson spent 15 months in Iraq before he was diagnosed by military doctors with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and sent to the psychiatric unit at Walter Reed Medical Center, CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi reports.

"It ended up they just took his weapon away from him and said he was non-deployable and couldn’t have a weapon," says his father, Larry Syverson. "He was on suicide watch in a lockdown."

That was last August. This August, he was deployed to Ramadi, in the heart of the Sunni triangle -- and he had a weapon.

One study estimates that about 16 percent of soldiers returning from Iraq have PTSD. But military officials say they don't keep tabs on how many troops still fighting have been diagnosed. Most soldiers are never screened, a GAO report finds.

Wilson says the danger of having someone with PTSD at the front lines is that they are at risk themselves and put their units at risk and could break down under the stresses of combat.

http://cbs5.com/national/topstories_story_292222927.html

 

[Mcluhan]

These guys are just businessmen, power brokers. greedy, lying, etc. all the bad stuff has floated to the top. Sorry but that's the way it is. When this system of goverment was envisioned, men in that position had much more integrity (I would like to believe)..these guys are no better than nazis. The problem is, when you indentify that, you can't use the words, or people brand you a nut. Call me a nut, it's fine. That's what i see happening. The guy in the media who has their number is Jack Cafferty. Every harsh word that comes from his mouth is spot on.

BTW, this is NOT a uniquely American problem. We just tossed out a government here over more or less the same crap, only not on such a grand scale. A liberal government. The voting public here is a lot less tolerant of criminals, and the main reason is because our media is not as bridled. We get the real story, the real dirt.

Elect Jack Cafferty President for one term. Your problems would be solved. Glad someone finally unmuzzled the man.

 

[Argocock]

I agree that Rumsfeld is a coniving piece of shit but soldiers are no different than other people employed in civilian jobs, that is there is a certain percentage of people who fake injuries to recieve some sort of compensation. And faking depression is much easier to do than to fake a back injury or a whiplash. All you have to do is go to your doctor and tell him your girlfriend left you and you're fucked up mentally and you can't work, and you can collect disability for 6 months or 8 months no questions asked. Its much easier than pogie.

So I'll bet some of the soldiers are faking depression also trying to fast track their military pensions.

 

[WoodPeckr]

So I'll bet some of the soldiers are faking depression also trying to fast track their military pensions.

That's only part of the problem pointed out by that CBS news report.
The other thing noted by CBS was that 'mentally unfit' (psychotics) were being 'medically treated' then ordered back into combat. Doctors in the military are complaining they are under extreme pressure by superiors to release for frontline combat duty soldiers they have deemed unfit and not to be trusted if given arms in combat again!
There are cases of soldiers who have been released, sent home, being recalled to to active duty and another tour in Iraq even though their release papers stated they were unfit, unstable and should never be sent into combat again.
This, the result of pressure by Rummy, et al., who desperately need to fill the ranks of combat units shorthanded in Iraq.
A shortage they still refuse to acknowlege or make public, for obvious political reasons.
Team 'w' failure and inability to secure even Baghdad, only highlight's this problem.
Generals in private say ......... they need more troops!

 

[LancsLad]

Just noticed this thread and its an interesting topic. Can't say that i have followed the issue much in the press but the fact of combat induced stress/mental concerns has been around for a long time. WW1 "shell shock" WW2 " battle fatigue" etc. Soldiers have had to face it as long as they have been fighting. I think that because of our pervasive media and a desire to find fault in anything to do with the admin and the military people are simply paying more attention to it. Its good press that sells papers.

the other thing to consider is the range of extremes these young men face. To take the average American now, even from a poorer demographic and put them in combat in Iraq is such a polar opposite from his prior life. Even the "poor" in the US have nice cars, colour TV, computers, cell phones, food, security and all the pleasures of life we take for granted. Put into the shithole of Iraq the soldiers "known" world ceases to exist. It is a big change already and the death factor just heightens it and this is further amplified by the fact that death is so very rare for US soldiers in Iraq that each is highlighted.

Contrast this to the WW1 "Tommy" from the poor North of England. they had a very shitty life in the mines or the mills or the factories. Sure it was better than the trenches but a lot closer to it than the wild change faced by the average American soldier today. Also death was all around them and constant so each case had less impact. While the notion of "shell shock" as a problem first became a major issue here it was not as widely known and accepted by the public as PTSD is now. the greater the acceptance of any condition by the public the more likely will be people to admit that they are afflicted and so the cycle goes.


I am not detracting in any way from the effects felt by todays soldiers I am simply commenting based on our families experiences in WW1 and WW2 and my "peacetime" service. The Cold War game with the Ruskies was a lot of bluff and power play but thankfully never went beyond that. as I have said before the "nuclear combat area" training we did for Western Europe was both scary and pathetic at the same time.