Today's
Stories
July 24, 2006
Mark Levy
Whatever You Did in War Will Always Be With You
Robert Fisk
Israelis Bomb Fleeing Villagers
Maher Osseiran
Beirut, 1982
Paul Craig Roberts
Israel's Criminal Accomplice
Patrick Cockburn
More Than 100 Iraqis Being Killed Each Day
Website of the Day
sirnosir.com
July 22-23, 2006
Jonathan Cook
Israel's Indiscriminate Onslaughts
Paul Craig Roberts
The Shame of Being an American
Gilad Atzmon
Israel's New Math
Robert Fisk
Elegy for Beirut
Ralph Nader
Here's How to Halt This Horror
Fred Gardner
The Double Standard on Depression
Christopher Reed
The Right's Use of Sexpot Schoolgirls
Dr. Susan Block
Bush's Fecal World
Najla Said
Do People Know How Much We Hurt?
Uri Avnery
"Stop that Shit"
July 21, 2006
George Galloway
John Cornford and the Fight for the Spanish Republic
P. Sainath
Indian Prime Minister Faces the Dead Farmer Problem
Aseem Shrivastava
The Iraq War is a Huge Success
Alexander Cockburn
Hezbollah, Hamas and Israel: Everything You Need to Know
Website of the Day
FromIsraeltoLebanon
July 20, 2006
William S. Lind
Why Hezbollah is Winning
Robert Jensen
Florida Puts History on Probation
John Ross
AMLO Presidente!
Tom Hayden
I Was Israel's Dupe
Paul Craig Roberts
The Unfolding Horror Show
July 19, 2006
Patrick Cockburn
Massacres Soar in Central Iraq: Maliki Government Discredited
Trish Schuh
Israel Targets, Flattens Beirut TV Station HQ
Jonathan Cook
Is Israel Using Arab Villages As Human Shields?
Vicente Navarro
The Spanish Civil War, 70 Years On: The Deafening Silence on Franco's Genocide
July 17 / 18 2006
Mike Whitney
Israel's Shameful Attack on Gaza
Kathleen Christison Atrocities in the Promised Land
July 14 / 15,
2006
Weekend Edition
Alexander Cockburn
How
Venice is Dying
Tanya Reinhart
The IDF is Hungry for War
Robert Fisk
Beirut Waits: Is Damascus the Key?
Daniel Cassidy
How the Irish Invented Jazz
Winslow Wheeler
Pentagon Budget Gimmickry: When a Cut is Actually an Increase
Hugh O'Shaughnessy
In Amazonia: Slavery and Deforestation
M. Shahid Alam
Israel, the US and the New Orientalism
William S. Lind
Two Signposts in Iraq
Ramzy Baroud
Racism Plagues Media Coverage of Gaza Assault
Gilad Atzmon
Echoes of the Wehrmacht
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Railroading Your Rights
Samar Assad
A History of Israeli-Palestinian Prisoner Exchanges
Ron Jacobs
Japan and Pre-Emptive Strikes: Why Would They Want to Go There?
Lee Ballinger
A New Kind of Jim Crow?
Walter Brasch
A World Without Fajitas?: the Rightwing's Language Police
Dave Lindorff
The Bush Swingers?: They Broke the Law and People Died
Clifton Ross
Up from Below in Oaxaca
Tom Crumpacker
Planning for the Re-Colonization of Cuba
Ricardo Alarcon
The Mad Annexationist
William Hughes
Rev. Billy Graham: A War-Monger in the Pulpit
Susie Day
Bugging Hillary
Farrah Hassen
The Road to Gitmo: Dramatizing the Banality of Evil
Poets' Basement
Smith-Ferri, Engel and Davies
July 13, 2006
Saul Landau
Lies as Patriotism?
Youmans / Erakat
Divestment, Corporate Engagement
and IsraelDave Lindorff
Cut and Run: a Winning StrategyRon Jacobs
Dogs of War Barking at the MoonCol. Dan Smith
Iraq: Fool Me TwiceJune 22, 2006Marjorie Cohn
Friendly Fire AmbushWinslow T. Wheeler
Lockheed, the Senator and the F-22Tanya Reinhart
A Week of Israeli RestraintMike Marqusee
The Forest Gate RaidWilliam Blum
Why Bush's Iraq is Worse Than Saddam's
July 12, 2006
John Ross
Mexico
Splits in Half: the Election Hits the Streets
John Stauber
The CIA Propagandist and Former Prankster Stewart Brand: John
Rendon's Long, Strange Trip in the Terror Wars
Robert Boston
Top 10 Powerbrokers of the Religious Right
Wayne S. Smith
Bush's New Cuba Plan: Embargoes, Blacklists and Assassination
Plots
John Graham
Secrecy and the Curtain of Oz
Ed Kinane
Arrested for Failing to Obey a Lawful Order to Cease Protesting
an Unlawful War: My Statement to the US District Court
Kevin Prosen
Goodbye Mr. Zeidler, You Will Be Missed
Jonathan Cook
Israel's
Latest Bueaucratic Obscenity
Website of
the Day
Addicted
to Oil: Starring GW Bush
July 11, 2006
Dave Lindorff
Does
a State of War Give Bush the Right to Commit War Crimes?
Dave Zirin
Why
I Wear My Zidane Jersey
Mokhiber / Weissman
Boeing's Criminal Agreement: Odd and Unusual
Amira Hass
A War on Families
Clare Hanrahan
The Last Free Fourth of July?
Brian Cloughey
Stop Blaming Pakistan
Felice Pace
The US Media and the World Cup
Raed Jarrar
Iraq:
Raped
Website of the Day
Bad Boy of Gitmo
July 10, 2006
Paul Craig
Roberts
Courting
Doom with North Korea
Uri Avnery
A
One-Sided War
Roger Burbach
Democracy
Betrayed: Electoral Fraud and Rebellion in Mexico
Ron Jacobs
The New SDS: Toward a Radical Youth Movement
Joshua Frank
Sectarian Flames in Iraq
Missy Comley Beattie
Bush's Stunning Admission to Larry King
Alexander Cockburn
The
War in Iraq: a Dreadful Mistake
July 8 / 9, 2006
Weekend Edition
Stephen Green
When
War Criminals Retire
Paul Craig
Roberts
Republic or Empire?: Lessons from Stanford
Greg Moses
Boots Down on the Rio Grande
Ralph Nader
The
Wail of the Oceans
Laura Carlsen
Mexico's Election Lacks Credibility
Conn Hallinan
Dumping Musharraf: Is Pakistan Expendable?
John Chuckman
Afghanistan is No One's War
Fred Gardner
Big Pharma's Strange Holy Grail: Cannabis Without Euphoria?
Dr. Tod Mikuriya
Cannabis as a Frontline Treatment for Childhood Mental Disorders
Pierre Tristam
Missile Envy: Is N. Korea Bush's Most Reliable Ally?
Lucinda Marshall
Deep Sexing the News: the Rape of Iraq
David Swanson
Command Rape: the Ordeal of Suzanne Swift
Heather Gray
The Spiral of Violence: What the Dead Might Tell Us
Dave Zirin
/ John Cox
French Soccer and the Future of Europe: Le Pen's Racists vs.
Zindane and Henry
Mark Engler
Mexico's Fear of Democracy: Elites, Fraud and the Status Quo
Michael Lettieri
Mexico: Don't Discount a Recount
Ron Jacobs
2008 Might Be Too Late: the Case for Impeachment Now
Jamal Juma'
Globalizing the Occupation
Jeffrey St. Clair
Playlist: What I'm Listening to This Week
Poets' Basement
Engel and Kirbach
July 7, 2006
John Ross
Anatomy
of a Fraud Foretold: Mexico's Surreal Elections
July 6, 2006
Nick Dearden
Profiting from the Occupation: the Corporate Interests Behind
the War on Palestine
John Stanton
Nationalize
the Defense Industry
Ralph Nader
The Politics of the Minimum Wage
Laray Polk
Cambodia Then; Gaza Now
Saul Landau
Who Mourned the Victims of the US Covert War on Chile?
Joshua Frank
Sweet Angst, Power Chords and Politics: Farewell Sleater-Kinney
William S. Lind
To Be or Not to Be a State? Hamas and 4th Generation War
Adelman / Lindorff
Impeachment Comes to Main Street, USA
Jonathan Cook
An
Experiment in Human Despair
Website of
the Day
Adulterers in Chief?
July 5, 2006
Mike Whitney
Is
Cheney Betting on Economic Collapse?: the Veep's Curious Investment
Portfolio
Saul Landau
False
Axioms: Star Democrats and Iraq Massacres
Ramzy Baroud
And
Israel Shall Be Safe Again
Missy Comley Beattie
An Axis of Nuts: Ready, Aim, Fear
Arthur Neslen
A Way Out of the Gaza Crisis?
Vincent Maruffi
Party Politics in Connecticut: Lieberman, Lamont and the Greens
Paul Cantor
Aberrations:
Hell, High Water and the Moral High Ground
Paul D. Johnson
Mystery Meat: Let's Be Honest About Food's Origin
David Price
Shouting
Down Nazis in Olympia
July 4, 2006
Col. Dan Smith
Iraq
and Independence Day: Lessons from the War of 1812
Chris Floyd
American
Power in Mahmudiyah
Marjorie Cohn
Israel's
Collective Punishment of Gaza
James Brooks
Israel 9,000 Palestine 1: Destroying the Gaza Strip
Medea Benjamin
"Dictatress
of the World:" Has America Become JQ Adams' Worst Nightmare?
Matt Reichel
An Independence Day Lesson for the American Left from France
Elisa Salasin
Why I am Fasting Today
Rick Wilhelm
Will Lieberman Apologize to Ralph Nader?
Paul Craig
Roberts
Rape,
Lies and Murder
Website of the Day
A Mighty Handsome Family
July 3, 2006
Robert Bryce
Gaza
in the Dark: Poor, Frustrated and Powerless
Dr. Bouthaina Shaban
"I Hope You're Not Here to Talk About the Palestinians"
Julia Olmstead
The Biofuel Illusion: Running on Top Soil
Dave Lindorff
The Real Meaning of the Hamdan Ruling: Bush Adm. Has Committed
War Crimes
Andres Gomez
A Mockery of Justice
Alan Singer
Another Encounter with Chuck Schumer: Just as Hawkish as Hillary,
But Nastier
Alexander Cockburn
Temple
of Mammon, Planet of Doom
July 1/2, 2006
Weekend Edition
Paul Craig
Roberts
Bush's
Assaults on Freedom: What's to Stop Him?
Stephen T.
Banko
Echoes
from Vietnam; Nightmares in Iraq
Daniel Cassidy
How the Irish Invented Slang: the Bunkum of Bunkum (for Dizzy
Gillespie)
Fawzia Afzal-Khan
The Class Behind the Muslim
Jeff Taylor
The Sandy Foundation of the White House: a Bible-Believing Christian's
View of Bush
John Ross
Mexico: There's a Riot Going On
Greg Moses
Psycho-Management Hits Mexico's Maquiladoras
Laura Carlsen
Mexico's Elections: a Choice for Change
Justin E.H.
Smith
Lethal Injection and Other Fashion Trends
Brian Cloughley
Different Worlds: When Liberation is Worse Than Oppression
Anthony Papa
Punishing Addiction: No Walk in the Park for Dwight Gooden
Mike Ferner
Getting Busted for Wearing a Peace T-Shirt
Jerry Tucker
Liberalism's Long Goodbye: McGovern Hoists the White Flag
Jane Goodall / Rick Asselta
Remembering the Marshall Islands
Phyllis Pollack
Roll Over Beethoven: Chuck Berry is Back in Town
Poets' Basement
Salasin, Swindell, Ferri-Smith and Engel
June 30, 2006
Marjorie Cohn
Supreme
Rebuke: Bush Loses Gitmo Case
Heather Williams
Will
Mexicans Ignore What Bolivians Learned?
Burbach / Cantor
Yellowback
Democrats: the Party of Cut-and-Run (from Principle)
Nick Dearden
Crime in the Valley: Life on the Other Side of Palestine
Michael J.
Smith
Under the Broadcast Flag: Intellectual Property as Intellectual
Theft
Brian Concannon
The Return to Haiti: a Homecoming for Aristide?
Virginia Tilley
Israel's Appalling Act: Starving in the Dark
June 29, 2006
Bill Quigley
Gutting
New Orleans
Ron Jacobs
Killing a Nation to Rescue a Soldier
Paul Craig
Roberts
The High Price of American Gullibility
June 28, 2006
Jorge Mariscal
Mexican-American
Soldiers, Iraq and the Politics of Immigrant Bashing
Greg Moses
Down
in Pinal County: Where the Pun's on Us
Mark Weisbrot
Mexico: Their Brand is Crisis
Ramzy Baroud
Re-Interpreting
Iraq: the Latest Propaganda Campaign
Dave Lindorff
Redacting the Constitution: Why Signing Statements Matter
William S.
Lind
Neither Shall the Sword: War in a Fouth Generation World
Mike Ferner
50 Years Down the Wrong Direction: Taken for a Ride on the Interstate
Highway System
Zoltan Grossman
Military Resistance: a Brief History
June 27, 2006
Marjorie Cohn
Playing
Politics with Timetables
Benjamin /
Jarrar
Leading
Dems Froth Over Amnesty Plan
William Hughes
Roadmap to Starvation
Doug Giebel
Showdown in Montana: Burns vs. Testor
Uri Avnery
The World Cup and Middle East Peace
Alexander Cockburn
Hitchens Hails the "Glorious War"
June 26, 2006
Don Santina
American
Rituals: Massacres, Baseball and Apple Pies
Ralph Nader
Beyond Binary Politics
Dave Lindorff
CounterPunch v. CounterPunch: Taking Impeachment on the Road
Rafael Rodriguez-Cruz
An Interview with Mumia Abu-Jamal on Hispanics and Latin America
Evelyn Pringle
Big
Pharma's Big Graveyard: Drug Profits, Fraud and Death
Jonathan Cook
Israeli
"Retaliation" and Double Standards
June 23, 2006
Youmans / Erakat
Divestment, Corporate Engagement
and Israel
Dave Lindorff
Cut
and Run: a Winning Strategy
Ron Jacobs
Dogs of War Barking at the Moon
Col. Dan Smith
Iraq:
Fool Me Twice
June 22, 2006
Marjorie Cohn
Friendly Fire Ambush
Winslow T.
Wheeler
Lockheed,
the Senator and the F-22
Tanya Reinhart
A Week of Israeli Restraint
Mike Marqusee
The
Forest Gate Raid
William Blum
Why Bush's Iraq is Worse Than Saddam's
June 21, 2006Ramzy Baroud
Zarqawi's Death: Myth vs. RealityPatrick Cockburn
Embassy Work as Death SentenceGary Leupp
Making the Case for ImpeachmentGreg Moses
Elite Logic at the BorderJune 20, 2006Fred Gardner
The Long War on AspirinOmar Waraich
Ode to Joy: Watching Blair SinkChristopher Reed
Japan Nixes Payments to Its Wartime
SlavesCP Newswire
Coca Cola Takes a HitJonathan Cook
Israel Engineers Another Cover-UpJune 19, 2006Bill Quigley
HUD's Bulldozers and the Poor of
New OrleansJohn Walsh
Tears of a Clown: Al Franken's WarMike Whitney
The Zoom Lens War: Bush's Baghdad
Photo OpAlexander Cockburn
The Left and the BlathersphereJune 16 / 18, 2006
Weekend EditionKathy / Bill Christision
The
Power of the Israel LobbyJoseph Nevins
On the Migrant Trail: No More Walls, No More DeathsFarrah Hassen
An Interview with Syria's Ambassador to the US, Dr. Imad MoustaphaGreg Moses
The Real Mission of the Uniformed Ghost at the BorderNicole Colson
"There's No Hope at Gitmo"John Scagliotti
How MoveOn Wastes Its Donors' MoneyMokhiber / Weissmann
Corporate DemocratsJune 15, 2006Kathy Kelly
Look
Them in the Eye: Honest Abe and the Residents of RamadiNorman Solomon
Premature Triangulation: Hillary's Big ProblemRon Jacobs
Publicity
Stunts as Public PolicySam Bahour
Cover Up on Gaza BeachRamzy Baroud
Palestine on the BrinkCounterPunch Wire
Death Squads at Colombia's UniversitiesGabriel Kolko
Why
a Global Economic Deluge LoomsWebsite of the Day
Antje Duvekot: Music You've Been Waiting Years to HearJune 14, 2006Nicole Colson
"They
Want the Fear Level at a High Pitch": An Interview with Lawyer
Lynne StewartJonathan Cook
Israeli
Law and OrderJoseph Schechla
Bulldozing Palestine: an Open Letter to Caterpillar, Inc.Michael Carmichael
Bolton at Oxford: Jeered and TauntedEvelyn Pringle
Karl and George, the Teflon PartnershipWard Churchill
My Trial By Media: Turning Quibbles Over Footnotes into FeloniesRev. William E. Alberts
Decoding the Coders of Christ: Jesus the Political Insurgent?Website of the Day
Marines Iraq Snuff FilmJune 13, 2006Medea Benjamin
Take
Back America Suppresses Anti-War Dissenters at HRC SpeechAnthony Alessandrini
The
Evil of Banality: the General, the New York Times and the Gitmo
SuicidesPaul D'Amato
The
Meaning of HadithaDave Lindorff
The Strange Death of Zarqawi: Was He Killed So He Wouldn't Talk?John Ross
Elections and the World Cup: If Team Mexico Advances, Will Anyone
Show Up to Vote for Lopez Obrador?Gabriel Garcia
Venezuela and Drug Trafficking: Bush Bashes Chavez Despite Positive
ResultsHilton Obenzinger
DIvestment is a Stand for Equality in IsraelYitzhak Laor
The Secret of AuthorityJuan Antonio Ocasio
Rivera
Puerto Rico at the UNJennifer Van Bergen
The
Story Behind Zarqawi's Death: What's the Legality of the Assassination?Website of the Day
Paul Wright: a Real American Freedom FighterJune 12, 2006Paul Craig Roberts
Bush's
Armageddon Wish: a Final End to History?Patrick Cockburn
The
US Already Misses ZarqawiMike Marqusee
Rebranding
a Team: English Nationalism and the World CupLee Sustar
"I
Never Had the American Dream:" Left with No Future by GM and
DelphiRobert Fisk
Has
Racism Invaded Canada?Michael J. Smith
Enter Sandman; Exit KoslandFelice Pace
NPR's Warped Covereage of the MIddle EastJennifer Loewenstein
Setting
the Record Straight on HamasWebsite of the Day
Our Way HomeJune 10 / 11, 2006
Weekend EditionRobert Fisk
Zarqawi's
End is not a Famous VictoryDiane Christian
Zarqawi's FaceJoe Allen
The American Way of Atrocities: Marine Corps' Killer VirtuesRalph Nader
Let Us All Praise the Dixie ChicksFred Gardner
Tylenol Toxicity TerrorDave Lindorff
Nothing New About HadithaDave Zirin / John
Cox
Will Racism Spoil the World Cup?Dennis Perrin
Death is Patriotic: Necro-Porn, Live on CNNGreg Moses
Militarizing the Border: Why Operation Jump Start Worries MeJohn Chuckman
Terror in Toronto or Tempest in a Teapot?Michael J. Smith
Babes in Kosland: Dem Blogfest, Day TwoRoger Burbach
Bachelet in DC: Chilean President Refuses to Back Down to BushIra Moskowitz
Israeli Court Finds Mad-Dog US Prof Libeled CounterPuncher Neve
GordonSam Bahour
The Gaza Air Strikes: Begging for a ResponseSeth Sandronsky
Grocery Chains and Bush's Ownership Society: Profits Fall, Stores
CloseMichael Berg
A Father's Day Message: Both Parties Have Betrayed AmericaKirsten Roberts
Desmond Dekker and the Music of the ShantytownsRon Jacobs
Who's Fooling Who?Jeffrey St. Clair
Playlist: What I'm Listening to This WeekPoets' Basement
Jones, Davies, Engel and Louise
Website of the Weekend
Miles and Trane, So What?
| July 24, 2006
A Primer on the Whys and Wherefores of PTSD
Whatever You Did in War Will Always Be With You
By MARC LEVY
VA Shrink: Were you in Vietnam?
Vietnam Vet: Yes.
VA Shrink: When were you there?
Vietnam vet: Last night.
I'm kneeling. Tears streak my face, drip down, fall to earth. It's only my second time in combat. Soon I'll be different. Soon revenge for our dead and wounded will meld with fear, and I will help with the killing and the killing will help me. We're just regular grunts: We make too much noise, we have no special skills, we're not elite. But after a time we get the hang of this war, the rhythm of it. Wait. Engage. Disengage. We call it contact, or movement. We psych ourselves up. "Time to kick ass and take names," we say. And between contact and kicking ass or having our asses kicked there is tension that starts small, then builds and builds until we secretly pray it will happen. That we walk into them or them into us, or we mortar them or they rocket us, then the tension explodes like perfect sex, and afterwards... we're spent. There are days, weeks nothing happens, then terror, instant and deep, then relief, like paradise, since the killing is done and we have buried away the wounded and dead. Until it starts all over again.
That was thirty-seven years ago. Or was it last night? A day, a year, twenty years home from war you may begin to act strange. The shrinks, social workers, group therapists, clinical researchers, each has a different take on what causes PTSD. "It's neurolinguistic . It's cognitive. It's biochemical", they chime and chatter. Who cares? Just stop the pain. Just stop it. But where does that pain come from? What's going down? Here is what I know: what you learn in combat you do not easily forget. You drop at the first hint of an ambush falling so fast your helmet still spins in the air. You shoot first and ask questions later. The enemy is an unfeeling slippery bug to be stomped out. You live like an animal. You learn to like killing. Learn to fear and hate the enemy. Hate civilians. Can't trust the bastards. You hate taking prisoners. You'd rather kill them. Why? Because the enemy wants to fuck you up. Kill you, your pals, some new guy doesn't know jack shit, wants to waste your Lieutenant, the whole damn platoon.
After a time you learn what war is: the fish like iridescent gleam inside a brainless head; the sleek white caterpillar of pulsing human gut; the grotesque tableau of charred bodies frozen stiff; the impossible music made by voices howling beyond human form; pure white bones piercing ruby ripped flesh; the strange oily feel of blood; the sudden slump of the man next to you. The business of flies on the mouths of the dead.
After a time, to a supernatural degree you learn to live with terror, rage, struck down sorrow, blocked out guilt or dumb-struck grief. Yes, the supernatural threat of catastrophe and the ways to survive it become preternaturally normal, second nature, a fully formed part of you.
Then one day you get shot, or if you are lucky, complete the tour, return home intact. But for those who have seen their share the equation might go like this: Johnny got his gun + Johnny marches home = HEEEREE'S JOHNNNNY!!!!
And the good soldier John or the good troop Jane, who under fire never once thought of your civil rights, your silly flag, your doofus politics, Good Johnny or Jane, I say, feel and act a tad differently when the locked down feelings, bottled up memories, instinctive behaviors of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder fervently, unexpectedly kick in. The symptoms of PTSD, in plain bloody English, are as follows:
Flashbacks: seeing and feeling a combat event as if it were happening right now.
Hyper vigilance: being always on guard, always looking for where the next shot, next grenade, next rocket, ambush or IED will come next.
Survivor guilt: feeling bad, feeling real shitty for having survived, where others in the platoon or squad didn't.
Moral Guilt: wrestling with actions one did or did not take on one or more than one occasions.
Startle Reflex: dropping, flinching, turning fast at a sudden noise or unexpected touch.
Suicidal Ideation: thinking of killing oneself.
Homicidal Ideation: thinking of killing people. Friends or complete strangers.
Homicidal Rage: anger way out of proportion to an everyday event. It comes quick, down and dirty.
Sadness, depression, anxiety, crying spells. Staring into space, saying nothing.
Nightmares: violent dreams related to combat. Sometimes it's the same dream. Some vets make strange noises. Thrash in bed. Wake up scared, or sweaty.
Ritual Behavior: at night checking the lights, locking the doors, maybe keeping a weapon at hand.
Alienation: a vet feels as if no one understands him, doesn't fit in, feels as if he or she should have never returned.
Panic Attacks: for a short time the combat vet becomes suddenly and intensely afraid. He or she sweats breathe hard, has a pounding heart, might get dizzy, choke.
Social Isolation: staying alone for long periods of time. Or in public saying very little. To the point of being noticeably very quiet.
Drug and alcohol abuse: whatever works to dull the pain glowing inside one's head.
Fear of Emotional Intimacy: combats often won't let anyone get close to them. If someone gets too close, the vet backs off or pushes them away.
Employment: a lot of vets can't keep a job. Every couple of months quit or get fired.
Psychic Numbing: not have the ability to feel emotions. Vets talk about feeling hollow, blank, empty.
Denial: Problems? What problem? I don't have a fuckin' problem.
High Risk Behavior: doing daredevil stuff to re-live the rush of combat.
These symptoms are normal responses to extraordinary events outside the range of normal human experience. Most civilians are clueless about combat and its aftermath.
Some types of treatment.
The talking cure: a vet talks to a therapist who is skilled in treating war stress and is not a paid bullshitter. Group therapy: seven to ten vets meet once a week for an hour or two. A good group leader is essential. That person knows when to talk, when to listen, how to keep the vets focused. Otherwise group therapy can get lame fast. EMDR: a form of hypnosis in which the vet is fully awake. Exercise. Meditation. Meds. A friend who will just listen. An artistic endeavor. One other thing. This is real important: a lot of vets fear talking about war. They fear losing control. Breaking down. Crying. My advice to those who have seen combat: face yourself. Chances are good you will learn to live less in the past, more in the present, but you will never be the same. WW II, Korea, Panama, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Central America, wherever you were, whatever you did in war will always be with you. Always.
Marc Levy served with Delta Company 1/7 First Cavalry as an infantry medic in Vietnam and Cambodia in 1970. His decorations include the Combat Medic Badge, Silver Star, two Bronze Stars for Valor, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal. He was courtmartialed twice and received a General Discharge. He can be reached at landmarc@mindspring.com
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