I did a quick search of recent diaries and I did not see one that dealt with this issue in recent days.
We have gone past the point where we are sewing them up and sending them back to the line. Now we drug them and send them out. Too numb to be sad anymore. This is going to haunt us all if we do not prepare for the eventual harvest of anger, depression and frustration.
I found this on Crooks and Liars earlier this morning and since I can't find a diary dealing with it I will put one up.
America's Medicated Army
Thursday, Jun. 05, 2008 By MARK THOMPSON
"The trickle of new drugs became a flood after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Details of America's medicated wars come from the mental-health surveys the Army has conducted each year since the war began. If the surveys are right, many U.S. soldiers experience a common but haunting mismatch in combat life: while nearly two-thirds of the soldiers surveyed in Iraq in 2006 knew someone who had been killed or wounded, fewer than 15% knew for certain that they had actually killed a member of the enemy in return. That imbalance between seeing the price of war up close and yet not feeling able to do much about it, the survey suggests, contributes to feelings of "intense fear, helplessness or horror" that plant the seeds of mental distress. "A friend was liquefied in the driver's position on a tank, and I saw everything," was a typical comment. Another: "A huge f______ bomb blew my friend's head off like 50 meters from me." Such indelible scenes — and wondering when and where the next one will happen — are driving thousands of soldiers to take antidepressants, military psychiatrists say. It's not hard to imagine why."
"And just as more troops are taking these drugs, there are new doubts about the drugs' effectiveness. A pair of recent reports from Rand and the federal Institute of Medicine (iom) raise doubts about just how much the new medicines can do to alleviate PTSD. The Rand study, released in April, says the "overall effects for SSRIs, even in the largest clinical trials, are modest." Last October the iom concluded, "The evidence is inadequate to determine the efficacy of SSRIs in the treatment of PTSD."
Chris LeJeune could have told them that. When he returned home in May 2004, he remained on clonazepam and other drugs. He became one of 300,000 Americans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and suffer from PTSD or depression. "But PTSD isn't fixed by taking pills — it's just numbed," he claims now. "And I felt like I was drugged all the time." So a year ago, he simply stopped taking them. "I just started trying to fight my demons myself," he says, with help from VA counseling. He laughs when asked how he's doing. "I'd like to think," he says, "that I'm really damn close back to normal."
Ok, it is three paragraphs, but the middle one is necessary. I hope that isn't too far over the line for the copyright lawyers.
The idea that this election is going to be about things as silly as lapel flag-pins or loose cannon preachers/pastors/priests is stupid. It is about this ongoing quagmire in Iraq. It is about 5.5% unemployment and 4 dollar gas. The economy and the war are going to be THE two issues and on those two the R's are in the weakest of positions. McCain can change his opinions daily if he wants, but the facts of his voting record are apparent. The voting records of Senators, Representatives and the actions of this present Administration are going to be paramount in this election. Throughout the history of our nation, of any nation, unpopular wars are damaging to the party in the Executive. No matter how the R's try to spin this election it is going to come back to the war and the economy.
I don't give a shit if Tom DeLay calls Obama a pinko commie bastard. That dog won't hunt anymore. The bottom line is that McCain is, was and will be for this damnable farce in Iraq and he cannot hide from it.
"They treat us like oranges. Squeeze the juice out of us and throw away the skin."
I can't remember who said that to me so many years back, but it still rings true today.
Facts like the medication of the military to keep them deployed is just another example of the sentiments of this Administration and those who gave us this war.
It will not be forgotten by the military families, the soldiers or the veterans when it comes time to vote. I hope it is not forgotten among the progressives. I doubt it will with people like Greg Mitchell reminding us of the hidden and overlooked human costs.
Update:
It got left out of the diary, due to a malfunction between the keyboard and the screen, but I meant to include the continuing studies about the varying efficacy of medication vs cognitive therapy. The fact is that the "right" methods are very much a case by case basis. There is no magic bullet that is one size fits all. I know this medication policy is nothing more than a band-aid solution. My concerns are not only the present but the long-term impact of this postponement of actually talking out the inner demons, whatever forms they take.