In my estimation, there are probably thousands more soldiers, like Victor, returning from Iraq with mental conditions that are too subtle to detect without long-term evaluation. I know that when the brain takes a hit ..the first thing to go is attention. The second is impulse-control. It looks to me like these two things are causing Victor’s problems. Much of the surface area of the brain is dedicated to reducing ‘out-of-scope’ activity ..allowing us to focus, and act, on what’s relevant. Anything that impairs this action can leave us open to signals that disrupt conscious experience. This may account for the way Victor misperceives his parents, cars and carbonation. Symptoms like these may not appear for months after a soldier returns home. What often brings them to the attention of health care providers are complaints from family and friends who say they are no longer following the ‘script’ of the wholesome teenager they once knew ..growing up in the sheltered community of Santa Barbara. Or, worse ..they’re not following the script of the ‘noble young man’ returning from war ..which is complete bullshit because there’s nothing in the background of a teenager growing up in Santa Barbara ..or Nebraska for that matter ..that will ever prepare them to counter the horrors of war and it’s aftermath. The long-term consequences of our policies in Iraq ..and the ‘stop-gap’ policy of recruitment ..will be felt by this generation of Americans for a long time to come.
5 comments:
I am glad my son is autistc, for he will never go to war. My heart goes to these men/women and thier families.
It is very unfortunate, indeed, that we don't stop the insanity of this freaking war. Even worse, I watched a special on Darfur last night.
It is very unfortunate indeed ..the only reason we don't see more demonstrations is because the Bush Adm is smart enough to avoid implementing the draft ..instead, they’ve implemented a stop-gap policy, which prolongs a soldier’s stay ..waaayyy beyond the terms of their enlistment (sometimes 3 years longer) ..which ensures we’ll see more severe trauma cases than ever before.
I hear ya. Having just left a 5 year stint at Transportation, on a military installation, I saw these young men and women come and go. Everyone, and then some, leaving that particular Ft. came through us. It's sad. They rotate them in and out, over and over again, and yes, keep them in beyond their contract, and bring in the reservists and guardsmen in, too. Who needs the draft, when you can run them all around and around?
You got to see them coming and going ..I get to see them arriving at student services.
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