American Soldiers in Iraq
Veterans Day 2010-11-11
The war on Drugs is now in Iraq too.
Society continues to declare war even though we have known for so long that everybody looses in war. Wounded U.S. soldiers are being patched up and returned to battle before they are healed. The wounds in this case are to the psyche, caused by the trauma and horror that are as integral to war as guns and death.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, when “suck it up” fails to snap a soldier out of depression or panic, the Army turns to drugs. “Soldiers I talked to were receiving bags of antidepressants and sleeping meds in Iraq, but not the trauma care they needed.
In many cases, their problem is labeled stress. “Army docs have told me that commanders pressured them not to diagnose PTSD because it would cut into combat power—the ability to project men and women into war.“ The docs admit that the decision [to misdiagnose] is unethical, but are unwilling to take the huge career risk of becoming a whistle blower.”
Other soldiers self-medicate. “We were so junked out on Valium, we had no emotions anymore. We have American soldiers in Iraq who have become addicted to Valium.
They were prepared for war. They were prepared to die for their country. But soldiers say they weren’t prepared to come home and fight a different battle — addiction to illegal drugs.
Many of this country’s bravest men and women who volunteered to defend America in a time of war have come home wounded — physically and mentally — and are turning to illicit drugs as they adjust to normal life, according to soldiers, health experts and advocates. Having regularly ferried the bodies of American soldiers killed in combat — with
The stress is not to be contained
The nightmares were too bad, he said.
“(Soldiers are) coming back, drinking, fighting, putting thousand dollar tabs down at a bar and drinking four to five hours, getting to the point where you don’t give a crap about anything anymore (or) anybody, don’t care if you live or die…the point where you do drugs.”
Army doctors prescribed anti-depressants and painkillers for him — two-type written pages worth since he’s been back — but he didn’t like how the drugs made him feel. So he said he turned to self-medication with methamphetamines.
“The nightmares were killing me from being over there. The pain was so bad I didn’t want to deal with it. Well, amphetamines is a real quick way to get rid of it,” the soldier said. “I was snorting it, and I was smoking it, and then I was hot railing it, and then I got to the point where I was actually injecting it in my arms,” said this young vet, who eventually checked himself into rehab and is now clean.
If you are dealing with a vet who is having problems coping and turning to drugs and alcohol to treat his post traumatic stress maybe we can help.
Wits End Interventions are available to talk with the families of vets. Educate and organize them to be able to formulate a plan for the vet to receive the rehab they need to put them back together. Then our highly skilled interventionist will lead the family in a love and respect intervention presentation that gets the vet ready and willing, and then transports and admits them into a drug treatment center with the VA or private.
Call Wits End Interventions
949-292-2000
info@wirecovery.com
US solders in Iraq
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