TN National Guard Has 4 Suicides in 3 Weeks

Submitted by WhitesCreek on October 13, 2012 - 9:05pm.

"It's really sad that a soldier who has been to combat and conquered the enemy comes back home and feels like he can't conquer the enemy within," said the 278th's Deputy Commander Col. Jeff Archer.

Collateral damage of the worst kind...
Link...


Sad Facts

This is a sad situation, how do you combat or try to figure out the root of problem.

WhitesCreek's picture
Post traumatic Syndrome

Post traumatic Syndrome actually alters the brain chemistry. Studies do show that the chemistry reverts to normal over the next year and a half. Close monitoring and therapy for the warrior and the family are required during that time frame, lessening in intensity after that. This is one of the costs of war that we as a nation have failed to account for. I think it's time we did.

Excellent Piece on This Subject: 60 Minutes

I saw an excellent piece on this subject on 60 Minutes last night. A spreading phenomenon has happened in Harris County, TX (Houston). A judge there started a special court for vets with PTSD. The judge is a vet himself. This court has strict and varied programs to which it can send veteran offenders whose behavioraal issues and scrapes with the law issue out of PTSD. The success rate is high after 2 years, and only 9 of about 140 vets that have gone through the program have failed by recidivism.

The piece said there were about 200 such courts now set up throughout the country. They should be everywhere - but change is slow, and it takes judges who will recognize the issues and handle them correctly.

This judge sees it as taking care of our warriors. They didn't go into great detail about the filtering process, but it seems they take only people who were noy "bad guys" before their time as a warrior, but who were changed by their experience.

It was a very moving piece.

RB

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