The Warring States of NPF - Soldiers Say Army Ignores, Punishes Mental Anguish

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Soldiers Say Army Ignores, Punishes Mental Anguish

Soldiers Say Army Ignores, Punishes Mental Anguish
by Daniel Zwerdling
All Things Considered, December 4, 2006

Quote:

Army studies show that at least 20 percent to 25 percent of the soldiers who have served in Iraq display symptoms of serious mental-health problems, including depression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Administration officials say there are extensive programs to heal soldiers both at home and in Iraq.

But an NPR investigation at Colorado's Ft. Carson has found that even those who feel desperate can have trouble getting the help they need. In fact, evidence suggests that officers at Ft. Carson punish soldiers who need help, and even kick them out of the Army.

Soldier Tyler Jennings says that when he came home from Iraq last year, he felt so depressed and desperate that he decided to kill himself. Late one night in the middle of May, his wife was out of town, and he felt more scared than he'd felt in gunfights in Iraq. Jennings says he opened the window, tied a noose around his neck and started drinking vodka, "trying to get drunk enough to either slip or just make that decision."

Five months before, Jennings had gone to the medical center at Ft. Carson, where a staff member typed up his symptoms: "Crying spells... hopelessness... helplessness... worthlessness." Jennings says that when the sergeants who ran his platoon found out he was having a breakdown and taking drugs, they started to haze him. He decided to attempt suicide when they said that they would eject him from the Army.

"You know, there were many times I've told my wife -- in just a state of panic, and just being so upset -- that I really wished I just died over there [in Iraq]," he said. "Cause if you just die over there, everyone writes you off as a hero."

Services Out of Reach for Soldiers

Jennings isn't alone. Other soldiers who've returned to Ft. Carson from Iraq say they feel betrayed by the way officials have treated them. Army files show that these were soldiers in good standing before they went to Iraq, and that they started spinning out of control upon their return.

Since the war in Vietnam, military leaders have said that soldiers who are wounded emotionally need help, just like soldiers missing limbs.

"The goal, first and foremost, is to identify who's having a problem," says William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. "Secondly, it's to provide immediate support. And finally, our goal is to restore good mental health."

The Army boasts of having great programs to care for soldiers. The Pentagon has sent therapists to Iraq to work with soldiers in the field. And at Army bases in the United States, mental-health units offer individual and group therapy, and counseling for substance abuse. But soldiers say that in practice, the mental-health programs at Ft. Carson don�t work the way they should.

For instance, soldiers fill out questionnaires when they return from Iraq that are supposed to warn officials if they might be getting depressed, or suffering from PTSD, or abusing alcohol or drugs. But many soldiers at Ft. Carson say that even though they acknowledged on the questionnaires that they were having disturbing symptoms, nobody at the base followed up to make sure they got appropriate support. A study by the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, suggests it's a national problem: GAO found that about 80 percent of the soldiers who showed potential signs of PTSD were not referred for mental health follow-ups. The Pentagon disagrees with the GAO's findings.

Soldiers at Ft. Carson also say that even when they request support, the mental-health unit is so overwhelmed that they can't get the help they need. Corey Davis, who was a machine gunner in Iraq, says he began "freaking out" after he came back to Ft. Carson; he had constant nightmares and began using drugs. He says he finally got up the courage to go to the Army hospital to beg for help.

"They said I had to wait a month and a half before I'd be seen," Davis said. "I almost started crying right there."

Intimidated by Superiors

Almost all of the soldiers said that their worst problem is that their supervisors and friends turned them into pariahs when they learned that they were having an emotional crisis. Supervisors said it's true: They are giving some soldiers with problems a hard time, because they don't belong in the Army.

Jennings called a supervisor at Ft. Carson to say that he had almost killed himself, so he was going to skip formation to check into a psychiatric ward. The Defense Department's clinical guidelines say that when a soldier has been planning suicide, one of the main ways to help is to put him in the hospital. Instead, officers sent a team of soldiers to his house to put him in jail, saying that Jennings was AWOL for missing work.

"I had them pounding on my door out there. They're saying 'Jennings, you're AWOL. The police are going to come get you. You've got 10 seconds to open up this door,'" Jennings said. "I was really scared about it. But finally, I opened the door up for them, and I was like 'I'm going to the hospital.'"

A supervisor in Jennings' platoon corroborated Jennings' account of the incident.

Disciplined, Then Purged from the Ranks

Evidence suggests that officials are kicking soldiers with PTSD out of the Army in a manner that masks the problem.

Richard Travis, formerly the Army's senior prosecutor at Ft. Carson, is now in private practice. He says that the Army has to pay special mental-health benefits to soldiers discharged due to PTSD. But soldiers discharged for breaking the rules receive fewer or even no benefits, he says.

Alex Orum's medical records showed that he had PTSD, but his officers expelled him from the Army earlier this year for "patterns of misconduct," repeatedly citing him on disciplinary grounds. In Orum's case, he was cited for such infractions as showing up late to formation, coming to work unwashed, mishandling his personal finances and lying to supervisors -- behaviors which psychiatrists say are consistent with PTSD.

Sergeant Nathan Towsley told NPR, "When I'm dealing with Alex Orum's personal problems on a daily basis, I don't have time to train soldiers to fight in Iraq. I have to get rid of him, because he is a detriment to the rest of the soldiers."

Doctors diagnosed another soldier named Jason Harvey with PTSD. At the end of May this year, Harvey slashed his wrists in a cry for help. Officials also kicked Harvey out a few months ago for "patterns of misconduct."

A therapist diagnosed Tyler Jennings with PTSD in May, but the Army's records show he is being tossed out because he used drugs and missed formations. Files on other soldiers suggest the same pattern: Those who seek mental-health help are repeatedly cited for misconduct, then purged from the ranks.

Most of these soldiers are leaving the Army with less than an "honorable discharge" -- which an Army document warns "can result in substantial prejudice in your civilian life." In other words, the Army is pushing them out in disgrace.

Not sure what to say about that just now but it seems worth talking about.

I'm not trying to pretend I have any idea what it's like being in the military but I know it can't be easy, it's a shame that people come back from that and this is how they're treated.

This seems more like a specific place where this is happening, but its goddamn pathetic. The worst part is that it said the pentagon is denying all of this, they should be helping the soldiers, not denying that they have problems and then kicking them out of the army. This whole war is supposed to be about fighting terror, but theyre not even helping the soldiers.

Naw, it's pretty widespread. I mean, as per the above:

Quote:

A study by the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, suggests it's a national problem: GAO found that about 80 percent of the soldiers who showed potential signs of PTSD were not referred for mental health follow-ups.

The real story behind all this is in this bit:

Quote:

Most of these soldiers are leaving the Army with less than an "honorable discharge"

Because a less-than-honorable discharge means you can never put in for veterans benefits. A lot of these guys will end up appealing to have their discharge status changed - but not all of 'em, and the ones who do will take five, ten years to get it, IE ten years of the bureaucracy cheating these guys out of support and resources it damn well knows that it owes them.

I have a story from a while back (will try to dig it up) about a guy who got pushed into taking a discharge on grounds that his PTSD was actually a pre-existing condition - which means he's screwed out of VA benefits, plus his chances of getting private insurance are pretty much nil.

EDIT: Here's an Army Reserve lieutenant being court-marshalled for seeking out help for his PTSD.

Also, more on that GAO report mentioned above:

Quote:

Nearly four in five service members returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who were found to be at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were never referred by government clinicians for further help, according to a Government Accountability Office report due for release today.

The report says Defense Department officials were unable to explain why only some troops were referred for help. Many veterans groups have accused the government of playing down the risk of PTSD because of concerns over skyrocketing costs.

Uncle Sam wants YOU.... unless you're a WUSS!

This sucks, but I personally know three people who have served overseas. Two are fine, and looked at it as a sort of vacation where the motorpool was occaisionally bombed, and one is emotionally F********ED UP, and will probably never be in an adult relationship ever again. He was kicked out, had a nervous breakdown halfway through college (with me), and just got his insurance salesmans license.

Uhm.... well, to stay on topic, I guess I agree that, perhaps, things aren't working so well in the Army anymore.

That shows how much the Army cares about the people who was not able to cope with PTSD. Now I'm not saying the Marine Corps doesn't kick out PTSD sufferors, but at least they try to help them. But punishing them? Hell, I'm surprised that they don't go to their superior's superior, Officer in Charge, or, from their unit's chaplin or medical officer.

You see, there's this process known as "Request Mast" which is a process where one can request time with the Commading Officer, and it's often used as a method to report hazing, and whatnot. Hell, imagine how many thousands of dollors went into training these guys, and when they come seeking help, they just get a boot shoved up their ass. If I found my unit was doing that, I'd just leave the first chance I got. [/slightMarinebias]

This is exactly how it is. During my entire time in the military, for the males, it was "be a man, man up, tough guy". If you have mental difficulties, emotional troubles, etc, you're "not a man". Then they try to discharge obligations because with physical injuries, it's simple enough to tell when it's healed or at least patched up. With emotional ones, it could possibly never end. They don't want to be responsible for that, so they try to get rid of you rather than actually help.

What are you going to do, sue the military? They have your signature on a contract that basically says "whatever happens, happens".

I think if it's more well known to the civilian population that the awareness of what's going on will help some of the soldiers that have been disgraced. People will have a better understanding of what's going on and hopefully be able to recognize that it's not the soldier's fault but the military's, leading to more benefits for the soldiers. I don't like the military, I don't like the way they handle people, treat people and run their operations. I particularly don't like that the guy who's running the whole show gets voted in and can have almost no experience in the military, but he gets to run the gambit? Atleast Washinton was a general. It should be possible to sue the military, the judicial branch is supposed to be a separate branch, to be there when the other parts of the government are f**king up. But that's a lot of power and money you're running up against. But with so many people coming out of the war, I a lot of civilians are going to see the results up close and personal, and then I think, hopefully, some of these men will get the justice they deserve.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shiney

One of the more awful things about this is at least from my anecdotal reading of it, a lot of the people most affected by PTSD are the most capable and the most dedicated, as those are the people who end up taking upon themselves the greatest burdens. As with the story I linked earlier, I mean, you're looking at a guy who pretty much dedicated his entire life to the military.

I mean in the vein of what flare was saying, you'd think even the most coldhearted calculus would acknowledge this sort of thing is if nothing else, a stunning waste of resources.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shiney

What are you going to do, sue the military?

For what it's worth, a lot of these people probably will end up suing the military, even win in some cases; it'll just take them ten years to get there, with far more than that throwing in the towel before they ever get their due.

This is indeed sad. For the military to not help these fellows weakens itself, and when words breask out, the military is further weakened. Bueracracy chokes things, and nothing gets done. The Army is only hurting itself.

Wait, Shiney was in the military?

Anyways, my thoughts on this are rather complicated. I have some control issues (anger, frustration, generally related), and when getting yelled at for no reason, typically tend to do not nice things (or, in happy coincidences, not nice things happen to that person, such as falling into pool cleaning acid (true story)).

Seems like the Army would hate that, huh?

Anyways, as for what should be done about it, I think they're operating on the old ways, in which men were expected to be MEN, and not have any emotional problems or anything.

Plus, it doesn't help to have a soldier break down in the middle of the battlefield...

Edit: Y'know what sucks about being on pain medication? Your thought process turns to shit if you don't pay attention

They need to realize that not everybody is a killer without remorse, and that many people tend to have sever trauma when they see themselves responsible for deaths and mayhem. Maybe get a few psychologists to help those who can't deal with it well?