Why Are So Many U.S. Artillery Gun Crews Who Were Deployed To Bombard The Islamic State Facing Health And Psychological Issues?

U.S. soldiers assigned to 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, fire their M777 A2 Howitzer in Syria on Sept. 30, 2021. (Cpl. Isaiah Scott/Army) 

DNYUZ/New York Times: A Secret War, Strange New Wounds, and Silence From the Pentagon 

When Javier Ortiz came home from a secret mission in Syria, the ghost of a dead girl appeared to him in his kitchen. She was pale and covered in chalky dust, as if hit by an explosion, and her eyes stared at him with a glare as dark and heavy as oil. 

The 21-year-old Marine was part of an artillery gun crew that fought against the Islamic State, and he knew that his unit’s huge cannons had killed hundreds of enemy fighters. The ghost, he was sure, was their revenge. 

A shiver went through him. He backed into another room in his apartment near Camp Pendleton in California and flicked on the lights, certain that he was imagining things. She was still there.  

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 WNU Editor: This story hits close to home. My father commanded artillery units for the Soviet Army during the Second World War. Aside from suffering hearing loss, he was haunted by nightmares from that war for the rest of his life. My father's best friend (and my Godfather) also served in such a unit, and he committed suicide 20 years after the war. Everyone blamed his war experience for his suicide.

A Cure For PTSD?

A data visualization showing different regions of brain in terms of electrical activity, gathered via EEG. Newport Brain Treatment Lab

Defense One: Zap: How Electric Therapy Is Curing Navy SEALs of PTSD … And Could Remake Brain Science

Hundreds of vets have tried out an experimental new treatment that could change how the world addresses mental disorders.

Tony didn’t know what to expect when he walked into the Brain Treatment Center in San Diego, California, last spring. The former Navy SEAL only knew that he needed help. His service in Iraq and Afghanistan was taking a heavy toll on his mental and physical wellbeing. He had trouble concentrating, remembering, and was given to explosive bursts of anger. “If somebody cut me off driving, I was ready to kill ’em at the drop of a hat,” he said. And after he got into a fistfight on the side of a California road, his son looking on from the car, he decided he was willing to try anything — even an experimental therapy that created an electromagnetic field around his brain.

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WNU Editor: This could be revolutionary.

Hat tip Rod for this link.

Are Many Military Veterans' PTSD Claims 'Fabricated Or Exaggerated'

The Guardian: Many military veterans' PTSD claims 'fabricated or exaggerated'

Former top military psychiatrist says 42% of cases had no firm link to military service, diverting resources from genuine needs.

Almost half of the service personnel assessed by military pyschiatrists had mental health issues that were not clearly linked to their career in the armed forces, or were “Walter Mitty” characters who fabricated their experience, according to a leading expert.

Ian Palmer, a former senior military psychiatrist who ran the government’s medical assessment programme (MAP), a veteran’s mental health service, found that in 42% of cases there was no definite link to military service and at least 10% appeared to be making up or significantly exaggerating their service history.

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WNU Editor: This is going to stir the pot.

A New Discovery To Conquer Fear?

New York Times: A Drug to Cure Fear

WHO among us hasn’t wanted to let go of anxiety or forget about fear? Phobias, panic attacks and disorders like post-traumatic stress are extremely common: 29 percent of American adults will suffer from anxiety at some point in their lives.

Sitting at the heart of much anxiety and fear is emotional memory — all the associations that you have between various stimuli and experiences and your emotional response to them. Whether it’s the fear of being embarrassed while talking to strangers (typical of social phobia) or the dread of being attacked while walking down a dark street after you’ve been assaulted (a symptom of PTSD), you have learned that a previously harmless situation predicts something dangerous.

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WNU Editor: The applications for the military are endless .... and I will not be surprised if we will soon these advances being applied to military personnel.

Do Soldiers Miss Being In A War Zone?

A group of Royal Marines reservists and colleagues from 40 Commando Royal Marines took part in Exercise Black Alligator 13 in the Mojave Desert in California at the US Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Centre in Twentynine Palms. Source: gov.uk

Nolan Peterson, Daily Signal: Why Soldiers Miss War

Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Martin parked the truck outside the concrete slabs arranged in a defensive perimeter around the tactical operations center at Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan.

A layer of fine brown dust hung in the air. Out in the distance, high, snow-capped mountains ringed the combined U.S.-Afghan base. C-130 transport planes and Apache helicopter gunships roared overhead at regular intervals.

“You wanna see where the rocket landed?” he asked me.

“Yeah, of course,” I replied.

“How you doing?” he asked, knowing what was in store for me later.

“I’m fine,” I replied automatically, not knowing if it was a lie. “I’m sure it’ll sink in later.”

He said nothing.

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WNU Editor: This is a fascinating read of a soldiers experience from being embedded in a war zone. And yes .... anyone and everyone who has experienced a high-stressed situation will identify with this author's observations.

Trained Dogs Can Help In Treating Veterans With PTSD

NPR: Veterans Say Trained Dogs Help With PTSD, But The VA Won't Pay

At a warehouse near Dallas, a black Lab named Papi tugs on a rope to open a fridge and passes his trainer a plastic water bottle with his mouth.

Service dogs are often trained to help veterans with physical disabilities. Now, a growing number are being trained to meet the demand from vets with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues.

Those dogs learn extra tricks — how to sweep a house for intruders, for example, so a veteran feels safe.

"We teach them something called perimeter, where they go into the house and they check, they just touch all the doors and all the windows," says Cheryl Woolnough, training director at Patriot PAWS, a nonprofit in Rockwall, Texas, that provides service dogs.

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WNU Editor: Everyone who has had a dog in his or her life knows how much of a support they can be during difficult times. But for veterans who are suffering PTSD .... their needs are different, and this is where a trained dog can provide a valuable service. Unfortunately .... dollars and cents are the priority here, and not taking of care of the patient.

Has A Cure For PTSD Been Found?

DEA

PsyPost: PTSD-related study finds a single dose of MDMA helps conditioned fear go extinct

Researchers have discovered that MDMA — commonly known as ecstasy or molly — speeds up the extinction of the conditioned fear response in mice. The findings help explain why the psychedelic drug is of benefit to people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Clinical studies have found that using MDMA as an aid during psychotherapy resulted in long-lasting improvements in PTSD symptoms. But Matthew Young of Emory University and his colleagues wanted to understand the psychological mechanism behind these results.

WNU Editor: A reader of this blog sent me this link a few days ago. I forgot his name (sorry about that), but I kept the link and I have only gotten the chance to read it now. Wow .... I hope this works. I know a lot of people who are suffering from PTSD, and it will be Godsend to the many soldiers and families who are suffering because of it. For those who follow this blog and who are suffering from PTSD, I will be following this story continuously, and when there is additional news and information, I will be posting this news right away.

British 'World-Record Sniper' Talks About PTSD

A British sniper team in Afghanistan (Credit: ABC)

ABC News (Australia): Craig Harrison: World-record-holding British sniper haunted by visions of men he killed

The former British army marksman who holds the record for the longest range sniper kill in combat says he has lost all trust in the armed forces because of the way he has been treated.

Craig Harrison, who served as a sergeant in the Blues and Royals cavalry regiment, killed a Taliban machine gunner with a shot over a distance of 2.5 kilometres - the length of 25 football fields, and almost twice as long as his rifle's listed effective range

The seemingly impossible shot saved his comrades and saw him commended for extraordinary gallantry.

"I just believed that I had to do something to get 12 men that were stuck in vehicles out of the situation," he recalls.

Update: British 'world-record sniper' says he can still see and smell the people he killed in his nightmares -- The Independent

WNU Editor: Sadly .... these visions will probably stay with him for the rest of his life. My father served in the Second World War on the Russian front .... his nightmares stayed with him till the day that he passed away.

Did Ancient Warriors Suffer From PTSD?

A Canadian Army crewman stands inside a CH-47 Chinook helicopter flying over Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, July 5, 2011. (BAZ RATNER/BAZ RATNER/REUTERS)

Daily Mail: Did ancient warriors suffer PTSD too? Texts reveal that battles 3,000 years ago left soldiers traumatised by what they saw

* UK researchers have found signs of PTSD up to 3,000 years ago
* They say soldiers experiencing horrors of the battlefield is not just a phenomenon of modern warfare
* The earliest reference had been from the Battle of Marathon in 490BC
* But scientists traced mention of 'shell shock' back to 1,300 BC

WNU Editor: The human condition has not changed .... and wars have been with us since recorded time. So yes .... PTSD has been around for a very long time.

The U.S. Military Is Not The Only Military That Has PTSD Problems

A Canadian Army crewman stands inside a CH-47 Chinook helicopter flying over Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, July 5, 2011. (BAZ RATNER/BAZ RATNER/REUTERS)

14% Of Afghanistan Veterans Diagnosed With Mental Disorder -- CBC

Canadian Forces researchers says PTSD is the most common problem

Nearly 14 per cent of Canadian Forces personnel who were deployed to Afghanistan have been diagnosed with a mental disorder such as post-traumatic stress, a new study suggests.

Since 2001, more than 40,000 Canadian Forces members have been deployed in support of the Afghanistan mission. While research from other countries has found mental health problems among those returning from missions in Southwest Asia such as Iraq, researchers in Ottawa set out to understand the psychological impact among Canadians.

"An important minority of Canadian Forces personnel received a diagnosis of a mental disorder related to deployment in support of the Afghanistan mission," David Boulos and Dr. Mark Zamorski, directorate of mental health, Canadian Forces Health Services Group Headquarters, concluded in Monday’s issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

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My Comment: I know a few Canadian soldiers (I live in Canada) .... and they tell me that this number (14.5%) is probably a low-ball number.

725,000 U.S. Afghan-Iraq Vets Have PTSD

From Battleland: — The latest Rand Corp. estimate of how many of the 2.4 million U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq may have come home with a traumatic brain injury or PTSD. It surfaces in a new report, here, that estimates between 275,000 and 1 million Americans have, or are, spending time as caregivers for loved ones wounded in the wars. Nearly all such caregivers – 96% -- are women. Definitely gives a new meaning to the phase “women in combat.”

My Comment: This is a staggering number.

Falkland War Hero Commits Suicide Hours After Argentina Reignited Hostilities

Ex Para Stephen Hood, pictured here drinking after the battle of Goose Green, has been found dead in his car

Iconic Hero Of Goose Green Kills Himself Hours After Argentina Reignites Hostilities: 'Sabre-Rattling' May Have Triggered Para's Post-Traumatic Stress -- Daily Mail

* Ex-Para who featured Goose Green victory footage found dead in car
* Stephen Hood died just hours after row over islands reignited
* His widow has now urged politicians to stop their sabre-rattling

A Falklands War hero distressed by recent flare-ups in hostilities between Britain and Argentina has been found dead in his car.

Ex-Para Stephen Hood – who featured in iconic film footage celebrating victory at the battle of Goose Green – died just hours after Argentine president Cristina de Kirchner reignited the sovereignty row over the islands. Yesterday, his distraught widow Carol urged politicians to stop their sabre-rattling for the sake of traumatised veterans.

She told The Mail on Sunday: ‘What do the politicians achieve with their to-ing and fro-ing? Nothing. They should let it lie and leave it to the people of the Falkland Islands to determine their future.

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My Comment: Our prayers are with his family and loved ones.

PTSD Knows No Rank

Photo: Maj. Gen. John Cantwell. Wikipedia

Australian Army General's Secret Battle With PTSD Leads Him From War Zone To Psych Ward -- FOX News

SYDNEY – In the exploding hell of battle, a single hand poked through the earth.

John Cantwell could see the ridges and calluses of the skin, and the pile of desert sand that had swallowed the rest of the Iraqi soldier. The troops Cantwell was fighting alongside in the Gulf War had used bulldozing tanks to bury the man alive.

This hand — so jarringly human amid the cold mechanics of bombs and anonymous enemies — was about to wedge itself, the Australian man would write decades later, "like a splinter under the skin of my soul." It would lead, along with other battlefield horrors, to the splintering of his mind and to a locked psychiatric ward. And it would lead to the abrupt end of a 38-year military career that saw him ascend to remarkable heights as the commander of Australia's 1,500 troops in Afghanistan.

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My Comment: A moving story .... read it all.

Is Guilt A Contributing Factor To PTSD?

A New Theory of PTSD and Veterans: Moral Injury -- Tony Dokoupil, Time

Soldiers are supposed to be tough, cool, and ethically confident. But what happens when they have seen and done things that haunt their consciences? New studies suggest that the pain of guilt may be a key factor in the rise of PTSD.

They called themselves the Saints and the Sinners, a company of Marine reservists from the Mormon land of Salt Lake City and the casino shadows of Las Vegas. They arrived in Baghdad a day before Iraqis danced on a fallen statue of Saddam Hussein, and as they walked deeper into the city, they accepted flowers from women and patted children on the crown. Then their radio operator fell backward, shot in the head.

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My Comment: This is what got my attention ....

.... Self-harm is now the leading cause of death for members of the Army, which has seen its suicide rate double since 2004, peaking this past summer with 38 in July alone. But the risk to discharged veterans may be even greater. Every month nearly 1,000 of them attempt to take their own lives. That’s more than three attempts every 90 minutes, at least one of them successful. Every time the credits roll in a movie, or the postgame show begins, another veteran is dead. “It’s an epidemic,” Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta admitted to Congress this summer. “Something is wrong.”

Yes .... something is terribly wrong.

The Psychological Toll Of The Iraq And Afghan Wars

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Psychological Toll Of Wars In Afghanistan And Iraq Mounts As Veterans Return Home -- NBC 

Sergeant Louis Loftus first noticed something was wrong when a simple picture brought him to tears. “I came home on mid-tour leave and I was showing some family members pictures of my deployment,” said the veteran, 24, who served in Afghanistan. “And just from seeing a picture that reminded me of something where someone had been killed...right there I just started crying.” By the time he was home from his second deployment he was plagued by a sleep disorder and nightmares, followed by anxiety and the impulse to isolate himself from his loved ones. Eventually he was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

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My Comment:  I call this the "hidden cost" of war. Unfortunately .... these emotional and psychological scars are going to be with us for a lifetime.

Terrible Legacy Of A Decade Of War

Taking its toll: Earlier this year, Lance Sergeant Dan Collins (right) committed suicide over the guilt of surviving an incident in Afghanistan that killed two comrades, including Lance Corporal Dane Elson (left)

Terrible Legacy Of A Decade Of War: 500 Troops A Month Seek Mental Help As Endless Fighting In Afghanistan And Iraq Takes Its Toll -- Daily Mail

* New study reveals impact of conflicts on UK's hard-pressed Armed Forces
* 1,472 new cases of troops needing treatment in first three months of 2012
* Female personnel twice as likely to suffer ill-health than male counterparts
* First figures compiled since launch of MoD's 'Don't Bottle It Up' campaign

Nearly 500 military personnel a month are asking to be treated for traumatic disorders after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The impact of a decade of conflict on Britain’s hard-pressed Armed Forces is revealed in new Ministry of Defence figures.

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My Comment: I suspect that this is just the tip of the iceberg .... with many unwilling to receive the care that they are entitled to.

Is A Vet Committing Suicide A Selfish Act?

Major General Dana Pittard

Can a General Call Suicide ‘Selfish’? -- Dennis Prager, NRO

We should not transform our military leaders into therapists.

On his army blog of January 19, the commanding general of Fort Bliss (Texas), Major General Dana Pittard, wrote regarding members of the military who commit suicide: “I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act. I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us.”

According to the National Journal, “Pittard’s blunt comments about suicide have raised eyebrows throughout the military. . . . Suicide-prevention experts believe that Pittard’s blog posting has already conveyed precisely the wrong message to emotionally fragile troops.

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My Comment: My Godfather was a war veteran who suffered greatly from depression and memories of the Second World War. He committed suicide in 1963 leaving a wife and two young children .... and yes .... his wife (my Godmother) still strongly believes that his war time experiences and how they shaped his behavior is what drove him to suicide .... 18 years after the war had ended. My father also had problems with PTSD, but what made him not go down the same path was his workload (he was always working), his family, and his determination to have a better life. And while he did have his melancholic moments .... I know that suicide was never an option for him.

So .... is suicide a selfish act? My father and my Godmother both said yes when I inquired about my Godfather's death a few years ago .... but they always qualified it .... saying that he was ill and by drinking (he was an alcoholic) only made his situation worse and more susceptible to depression and suicidal thoughts. As to what is my take .... a friend of mine who tried to commit suicide when she was young gave me the best education on this topic. As she said .... (I am quoting her as best as I can remember) .... when you are suicidal you no longer care .... all you is see black .... and your only goal is to have that tsunami of personal pain all come to an end.

For many of our vets .... I suspect that this "tsunami of pain" is what they are going through everyday.

Scientists Are Now Beginning To Have An Understand Of The Full Impact Bomb Blasts Have On A Soldier's Brain

Safe detonation of IED, Afghanistan 2012. Wikipedia

Study Measures Impact Of Bomb Blasts On Soldiers' Brains -- ABC News (Australia)

Scientists have begun to understand the full impact bomb blasts have on the brains of those who live through them.

Over the past decade, scores have been killed and maimed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and now new US research compares the survivors to concussed athletes.

Unfortunately the symptoms mimic and often overlap with those of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - and that is now a big problem for the Australian Defence Force.

Boston University neuroscientist Dr Lee Goldstein has replicated a typical IED blast and examined the effects on mice.

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My Comment: More research and faster results please.

Is Caring For The US Military's Traumatized Soldiers Broken?

Some 20 percent of US troops return from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some experts in the field say that they are not getting the kind of psychological care they need when in the war zone. Here, US Marines carry a wounded comrade to a medevac helicopter in Afghanistan last December. AFP

Caring For The US Military's Traumatized Soldiers -- Spiegel Online

Once again, disturbing images from Afghanistan -- this time showing US soldiers posing with body parts of slain enemy fighters -- have surfaced. Are the perpetrators psychologically ill or has there been an increase in the number of violence-prone recruits finding their way into the American military?

Janice Haaken specializes in people with mental challenges. She's studied them at hospitals, in refugee camps and in prisons. A professor at Portland State University in Oregon, she has carried out research for 35 years on ways for therapists to help the mentally ill.

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My Comment: A disturbing report .... read it all.

Soldier Who Killed His Landlady Cleared Of Murder Because He Was Suffering From PTSD

War veteran Aaron Wilkinson said the events played out like a movie and how he 'wasn't in full control'

Soldier Who Shot Dead His Landlady Cleared Of Murder Because He Was Suffering From Post-Traumatic Stress After Serving In Afghanistan -- Daily Mail

A former soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder has been cleared today of murdering his landlady.

Aaron Wilkinson, 24, of Alma Street, Woodlesford, Leeds, was found not guilty of murdering 52-year-old Judith Garnett by shooting her in the chest and head.

Wilkinson, who was also diagnosed with a form of Asperger’s Syndrome, told Bradford Crown Court he was not in control of his actions when he shot Mrs Garnett.

He has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

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My Comment: Any predictions that Sgt. Bales' attorneys are going to use the same reasoning to explain their client's rational for killing 17 Afghan civilians.