Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - Soldiers and Suicide

Despair

It has recently been reported that 6,500 American veterans commit suicide every year, more than are killed in combat.

Only God knows what the yearly total of soldier suicides is for the entire world. 

It is reported that in the U.S.A., mental health services for veterans is lacking and many troubled men go on a waiting list for help. They didn't have to go on a waiting list when they signed up. They were "looked after" right away and on their way to battle. 

We are not clones.  We don't all
react the same to stress.

Human beings are not clones. We are not all alike. Some of us can endure horrific stress and bury it and carry on or at least appear to carry on. Others are overwhelmed and have a meltdown. Alcohol and drug abuse and episodes of violence are often common among returned soldiers who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. 

One woman reported that when her soldier son returned home from Iraq in 2007, he was so jittery and anxious that he couldn't even stand to be next to anyone because he could hear them breathe. He slept with a gun by his bed. He abused drugs and alcohol and died of a drug overdose in 2010, but the family feels that it was suicide. 

Angelo, who died of
P.T.S.D. in 1864.
Pray for him and all
like him. 

In 1861, 18-year-old Angelo Crapsey enlisted in the Union Army. His commanding officer called him the “ideal of a youthful patriot.” In letters sent over the course of two years, Angelo's attitude toward the Civil War darkened after he experienced combat and witnessed the deaths of countless soldiers, including several by suicide. By 1863, Angelo was hospitalized, feverish and delirious; eventually he was sent home to Roulette, Pennsylvania. Becoming paranoid and violent, he killed himself in 1864 at age 21. 

His father John stated, “If ever a man’s mental disorder was caused by hardships endured in the service of his country, this was the case with my son.” 

In the 1800's, a soldier's meltdown was called "hysteria" or "battle fatigue"; in the 1900's, this was called "shell shock", and now we call it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Whatever the name, the condition is the same. 

Father, lead us to Peace.

Post traumatic stress disorder has been going on forever and will continue as long as men and women are placed in the line of fire, are under attack, are separated from the support of their loved ones, and as long as they witness the deaths of their comrades. 

Governments who engage men and women in warfare are obligated to provide help for these same men and women when they return home - and speedy help, not an appointment for counselling six months from now. It can be too late then. The urgency is now.

God help all returned soldiers. God help them to find peace. Amen.