An Ungrateful Nation & The Combat PTSD Monster 😢🇺🇸
Today I had something interesting happen on Twitter. I had a follower tell me that PTSD is pretty much a farce. She even went as far as to tell me that Warriors of recent wars "fake it" to get benefits.
Now I find this pretty astonishing. And disheartening. If you're reading this blog, then you probably know a lil bit about me. In the least, you know that I write books about Combat PTSD. If you have paid attention at least a small amount to my posts and writings, you also know that my partner is a Marine that served in Fallujah.
Maybe you also know that there's a Monster that is under our bed as well. His name is (yep, you guessed it) PTSD. Apparently he snuck in his C bag in Iraq.
The old saying goes "If the Marine Corp wanted you to have a wife, they would have issued you one." However, they didn't officially issue Combat PTSD but EVERY Warrior that's been in Combat seems to have it. At least the ones I talk to anyways. They aren't legion but they are many. In other words, it's a significant enough amount that makes me believe that almost 100% of Warriors that have seen action have some aspects of it.
Which leads me to my next point, why would ANYONE doubt the existence of it? I mean, COME ON, it doesn't take a Rhodes Scholar to figure out that KILLING PEOPLE because THEY WANT TO KILL YOU might mess a guy or gal up in the head a little. Not to mention, who do people think collects the bodies (or body parts) from the battle fields? It's not like they call the Coroner and he rolls up in the "meat wagon" to collect the dead while in Combat.
It's our service members that collect the fallen so they may have a decent burial at home. And yes, friends are collecting friends. Battle buddies, if you will. If that's not enough to give you PTSD, I don't know what is.
So what was my original point? Oh yeah, that Combat PTSD apparently has a stigma attached to it. Those of us that have seen the Monster are not like Mulder and Scully. We don't WANT TO BELIEVE because we know that it's real! We don't hush our Warriors in the middle of the night and tell them "It's ok...there's no Monster in the closet or under the bed" because he gives us nightmares too. Or should I say "daymares" because Combat PTSD isn't something that gets better soon as the lights turn on.
Combat PTSD is a trauma that is very real. Anyone who doubts it is only fooling themselves. But isn't that what this nation is turning into? A nation of fools - and ungrateful ones at that!
