WHAT IT IS LIKE

[oldguyinTX]

When you suffer from what is now known as PTSD. Anyone who was been in combat will understand. PTSD is frightening for those of us who experience it.

http://www.wimp.com/this-is-what-she...-in-real-life/

[Bob Denman]

I honestly had no idea that it could be that tough..
Thanks for teaching me something today!

[Chupaca]

They had it rough but they did know how to help those they could....We don't do a very good job with out vets today...

[Grandpot]

Unfortunately this has gone on for many wars over many years. It is only recently that we are addressing it proactively. We take teenagers right out of high school, give them rifles, and teach them how to kill. We then send them to the worst places in the world where they do and see things they should never see. How can we expect them to come back home and be normal? We need to be aware of this and try to understand. Treat Veterans that you meet with honor and a large dose of compassion.

[Trbayth]

We don't do a very good job with out vets today...

Hopefully that will begin to change soon

[Orange Spyder Man]

Our VETERANS should be taken care of for the rest of their life... if it were not for our VETERANS we would not have the choices we have today...

thank a veteran today !!

osm

[bruiser]

Notice these were WW1 British war vets.

[Bob Denman]

I did... Do you think that the severity of their "Shell-Shock", was due to the unusually brutal horror of trench warfare?

(Not that ANY of the brutal horror of War is easy...)

[Peter Aawen]

Because of the way Trench Warfare & the Artillery battles of the time exposed so many of the troops to shelling & its effects, they learnt a lot about 'Shell Shock' during & immediately after WW1, but then that knowledge was largely forgotten (for a while anyway) until WW2, when some of it was recalled &/or rediscovered, but by no means all (because there were vastly smaller numbers of troops exposed to shelling in the same manner) While Korea & Vietnam, with even less exposure, kept some awareness of the issue & treatments alive in the medical world, altho the incidence was once again significantly less. So it wasn't really until the IED's of Iraq & Afgahnistan began causing the same effects & ongoing problems in those exposed that there was a real push to 'revive or re-learn' all of what had been known/discovered about treating this insidious problem during WW1 - & they are still re-learning!

Altho today, a lot of what was formerly called 'Shell Shock' is somewhat more correctly recognised as 'Blast Induced Traumatic Brain Injury' (altho there's growing evidence that most other internal organs are adversely effected too!) and that recognition & the growing understanding of what is actually at the root of all the many & varied issues that can result, is helping the range of possible & specific treatments to grow rapidly. But sadly (especially for those suffering from its effects) most of what they are learning (&/or re-learning) about the actual physical damage & the reasons this effects people (& not just their brain!) the way it does is only being fully revealed during Autopsies carried out on the bodies of Ex-Service Personnel who were exposed or suffered.

It's not a nice thing!

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

They had it rough but they did know how to help those they could....We don't do a very good job with out vets today...

New Years Sunday two veterans, one from Georgia and one from Montana, visited our church. They were in Idaho to get into the Veterans PTSD therapy program at the Veterans Hospital in Boise. The one from Georgia was going back home right away as the wait list to get into the treatment was on the order of 6 to 9 months. The one from Montana was sticking around as he expected to get in within two or three weeks, and he was taking no chances on missing an opening. They said the PTSD treatment program here in Idaho, which IIRC is about 9 weeks of intense therapy, is the best such program in all of the US. The wait list is long because veterans from all over the country are trying to get into it and I think they said it's limited to 9 veterans at a time. It's rather nice to know that we have something here in Idaho that is top notch in the country. I have heard many positive comments about the VA hospital here, so not all VA hospitals suffer from the problems plaguing the VA around the country.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I did... Do you think that the severity of their "Shell-Shock", was due to the unusually brutal horror of trench warfare?

(Not that ANY of the brutal horror of War is easy...)

I could, of course, be wrong but I'm thinking the severity of their shell shock may have been due largely because the soldiers were subjected to shelling and bombing while being "trapped" in a trench for months on end. They couldn't get away and just had to suffer it as the shelling just kept on coming.

[cptjam]

Only 7% of all Americans have ever served. I can assure you, having someone shoot at you, try to blow you up, have a friend die in your arms, or any other of the horrors of war will imprint on you. Usually badly. Very badly. Feel honored someone did that for you, to protect your way of life. It was an honor to serve, but the price was high.