A person who suffers from PTSD isn't being a whiny crybaby.
Let me paint a picture:
You've just returned home after being in a situation where your life was in constant danger 24/7. You may have been injured and you may have seen buddies maimed and killed. Feeling unsafe for so many months has put you in a a state where you are hyper-alert and sleep eludes you. Graphic images keep running through your mind of blood, gore, and horrific events and you CANNOT TURN THEM OFF. You cannot relax and cannot relate to people the same way you did before because when you were in the war zone sometimes people who seemed innocent turned out not to be so you learned there not to trust anyone. The foundation of personal safety and security you had before the war has been completely destroyed and you cannot feel safe again, yet you are expected to simply return to civilian life and just pick up where you left off.
How do you turn the graphic images off? What can you do to feel safe again? How can you relax enough to be yourself around your family and friends?
Some people turn to substance abuse, and it's not because they are weak or whiny babies but because they want to shut off those horrific images and relax.
I haven't been in a war zone, but I have had PTSD. It is horrible. So I have compassion for those suffering from it. It is rightfully classified as a mental illness and it wreaks havoc in the lives of those who have it and their families. People who are mentally ill frequently turn to alcohol or drugs in a desperate attempt to try and reduce the extreme emotional pain they live with. This isn't always weakness, but desperation.
So yes, I can agree that there are many whiny crybabies here in America but it is unjust to classify someone suffering from PTSD as one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chan
Frankly, I'm tired of all this whining about "post-traumatic stress disorder." While they may not be responsible for whatever "trauma" occurred, they are responsible for how they choose to deal with it. It isn't the traumatic event (in this case, specific incidents during the Iraq War) that caused this guy's problems, it was his own choices on how to deal with the horror of those incidents that caused them.
What was it someone once said? "War is hell." Now, let me add to it: "War is hell - deal with it!"
It's no wonder so many of these guys are coming back messed up in the head: they're a result of what American society has become - a society of whiny crybabies.
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