Post War Syndrome?

[Mugen]

Is there such thing? If there is, what does it do to you? And how is it different than the Gulf War Syndrome?

 

[Inch]

PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder.  Some one correct me if I'm wrong but I thought Gulf War Syndrome was due to contact with biological or chemical agents.  PTSD is a result of the stresses of war and people react differently to it, that's why they're having such a hard time finding ways of treating it.

Cheers

 

[clasper]

There are many theories as to the cause of Gulf War Syndrome, but scientific analysis suggests there was nothing special about the Gulf War in terms of the long-term symptoms of its veterans.  (That's not to say that some Gulf War veterans don't have real and debilitating symptoms, but the unique environment of chemicals, DU, oil fires, vaccines, etc. are unlikely to be the cause.)  It is a very controversial issue, with mud slinging on all sides.  For those that want to read further, there's plenty of material on the web to look at, but I found PBS's take rather informative.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/syndrome/

 

[Spr.Earl]

The Ombudsman for the Forces was just on the Radio the other day and discussed PST etc but side tracked by old Vets who were guinney pig's for mustard gas in WW2 but he does talk about stress with in the CDN Forces.

Heres the link for the Audio Vault.
Chose the date which was Aug 10. The time was   11:00 am and after the news,commercials etc his intewrview starts.
You need Windows Media Player to listen.

http://www.cknw.com/audiovault/audiovault.cfm

 

[Mugen]

thxs for helping guys

 

[Scott]

There are many theories as to the cause of Gulf War Syndrome, but scientific analysis suggests there was nothing special about the Gulf War in terms of the long-term symptoms of its veterans.   (That's not to say that some Gulf War veterans don't have real and debilitating symptoms, but the unique environment of chemicals, DU, oil fires, vaccines, etc. are unlikely to be the cause.)   It is a very controversial issue, with mud slinging on all sides.   For those that want to read further, there's plenty of material on the web to look at, but I found PBS's take rather informative.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/syndrome/

Specifically regarding the fires of Kuwait, I have worked with the company that led the way over there in 91. I got to know the President and COO very well along with several other key players in that company who were invinvolved the Kuwait Fires Project. None of them have any health problems today. None, zero. That's not to say that their risk of cancer isn't higher or god knows what, but as of today none are suffering anything related to the work there.

Just my thoughts on the fire side.

Cheers

 

[Nadebait]

Big difference with chemicals and stress, the current iraq war is really a sick thing. Depleted uranium shells have left a lot of radio active dust in a dry and arid country, most american and british soldiers in the first wave are recieving not so healthy doses of the shit. Imagine having 2 x-rays an hour for the rest of your entire life then having your benifets errode into nothing :-\. Now you don't even have to be in a war to get post war syndrome just have to take some vaccines and breathe in all the nice chemicals in the flying tankers if your american that is. And PTSD is just the abreviated name they give it so they don't have to deal with it, like an easier more politacally correct name.First shell Shock, combat fatigue, now post tramatic stress disorder......... its very screwed up and should be stoped so they can live fighting and not die slow and scared.

 

[Spr.Earl]

Heres a link about D.U.,I found it by chance while researching munitions.

http://www.prop1.org/2000/du/dulv.htm

 

[clasper]

Unfortunately, radiation is something that is poorly understood by the general public, and DU is a controversial topic with politicians yelling louder than scientists.  Spr Earl's link is slightly more on the alarmist side of the spectrum, but doesn't seem to contain any outright scientific falsehoods (which I have seen elsewhere).  For a more measured tone, see the following:
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/faq_17apr.htm

As an example of the misinformation that is out there, I took Nadebait's example of "two x-rays per hour" and did a quick calculation (using http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/rdcu.html) to see how much DU that would take.  With the assumption that the average x-ray is about 7 milliSieverts, I calculated that you would have to inhale about 500g of DU dust to get a dose equivalent to two x-rays per hour.  That's over one pound of dust, and that's only if the dust is pure DU.  If the air contains other particulates (dirt, sand, smoke, etc.) then that number goes up.  That's a lot of dust.

 

[Spc_Cameron]

Is there such thing? If there is, what does it do to you? And how is it different than the Gulf War Syndrome?

It seems other posts have focused on one part of your question , that being the physical symptoms. I'm assuming that part of your question was in regards to the mental ramification
of post deployment reintegration as well.

I'm addressing this as someone who has had first hand knowledge.

my first problem was dealing with the heightened sense of alertness. The way loud sounds would cause me to jump out of my skin. I'll relate to you a story about a days festivities celebrating my DIVs return home.  Some joker thought it would be a great idea to have a gun salute during welcome home ceremonies. A buddy and my self were at the donut concession stand grabbing a mid-morning coffee when with out warning not more than 150 m away the loud concussion from the ceremonial guns cause about 2500 military personell to hit the deck. Funny in retrospect, not so funny at the moment, specially since for the rest of the day I had to walk around with coffee stains on my uniform. Any sound that remotely resembled the concussion of anything from small arms fire to large ordinance would send even the most seasoned soldier to the prone position , or something closely related to that..It's rather disconcerting to see a 6.0 foot plus 250 lbs Platoon Sgt with a CIB and combat star ( meaning this was his second official combat action in 10 years - this does not include the Balkans )  duck at the sound of a car backfiring.

Relating to Civilians-  the biggest problem i had was releating to civilians who couldn't seem to get the idea that I wasn't prepared to answer the question " so what was it like over there " how do you explain to someone who has never been in uniform. Do I tell them about the time I had to police up 4 1/2 bodies of a blackhawk crew after it was shot down?... or do I tell them about the time I watched a small child die in the arms of a young Pvt, after having been hit by a truck ( some hadji decided that our barriers meant to slow down traffic were a great way to show off his Mario Andretti racing skills, Or do I tell them about the time that the Southern ASP caught fire and how an errant piece of an artillery shell severed a locals arm and nearly took off his right leg. you don't.., when I was in BASIC I had a drill SGT berate a young soldier for asking questions about the Bradley , his response was

" what's the basic combat load of an M2/A2, whats the top speed, how many types of ammunition are there for the 25mm?  "
" If you can't answer these questions then how can you expect me to hold a conversation with you "

Bottom line... if you haven't been there.. how can you expect to understand what it was like?

Physical problems... boy oh boy... 6 guys from my company are getting medically separated for one reason or another everything from degenerative disk disorder to mental discharge.

Gulf War Syndrome?... don't believe it exists.. actually let me rephrase that.. I don't believe that it's  limited to the first Gulf War. I've been exposed to Du, vehicles shot up by DU ( even more dangerous ) suspect UXO that may or maynot have contained Chemicals.  Some of those that served in Kosovo , Bosnia , Somalia have exhibited the same symptoms.

in conclusion ...
a lil blurb about PTSD .. it's something that is judged on  case by case... is the stress presented by  medical personnel, or a PAC clerk in the rear , the same as the stress presented by someone involved in combat operations?. probally not... but it is PTSD non-the less. In my case it came down to dealing with it , picking up and driving on. maybe that makes me a stronger person, perhaps life experience has taught me to be more resilient I dunno.

I hope this answers some of you questions. Should you have anymore you may feel free to contact me via PM.

cheers.
 

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Thank you for sharing your experiences with us Spc_Cameron.

 

[rednecktink]

I'm a ExMarine's wife.   I don't know if I should be on this site, but I was in need of advise.   My husband was in Iraq for 4 months last year.   When he came home, he seemed alright.   He and his buddies were joking about it(being in Iraq, and yes, killing people) at a B B Q that we had the weekend after they got home, I figured it was their way of coping.   I have been able to learn more and more about what he did there.   Now, he is angry all the time and he says that he hates himself, and what he did there.   He has no one to talk to about his expereiences, and doesn't want to talk to me for fear that I'll think him a bad man.   I could never think that about him.   No matter what he did there.   Anyway, he has also lost touch with his military friends he served with.   So, if there is anyone out there who wouldn't mind e mailing him, especially if you have been in combat, and talking with him, I would really appreciate it.   For example, on the 4th of July, he was really jittery during the fireworks.   He kept   whispering to himslef "its okay, its okay, I'm home, its okay", he can't look at ground beef because the sight of it makes him think about the people he saw that had been run over by a tank convoy(not his), the smell of an outhouse makes him think about Iraq, and he did have a breakdown shortly after getting home, asking me over and over "am I a good man?".   He has been really affected by his time there, and I know he needs someone who has been there to help him through this tough patch, hopefully, with the right support form others who have been there, he will cope better.   I don't know much bout post war syndrome, but I beleive that my husband is suffering from combat related post-traumatic stress syndrome.  
Thank you for your time.

Sincerely

Kimbirliee   Weathersbee

 

[Spc_Cameron]

mrs. weathersbee.. check your pm's

 

[Infanteer]

Ms. Weathersbee, I've sent you some information over the PM as well.  Hope it helps.

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Mrs Weatherbee I pmed Major Baker who is a serving US Army officer who might be able to help you as well.