Purple Hearts for psychological wounds

[dread]

But with an increasing number of troops being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, the modern military is debating an idea Gen. Washington never considered -- awarding one of the nation's top military citations to veterans with psychological wounds, not just physical ones.


http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121063207588086509-JCODxaBcdADwD4dtqaLv8KcIMtQ_20080611.html?mod=tff_ main_tff_top





Maybe we should just hand them out with the MRE's....

[82Marine89]

Every military member that sees combat is psychologically different when he gets back to the world. Some handle it better than others. I disagree with the idea.

[dread]

yup!

[Gaffer]

The purple heart is for physical wounds received in combat. PTSD is an after the fact mental condition. It can be faked. Physical wounds can't.

[Dilloduck]

The purple heart is for physical wounds received in combat. PTSD is an after the fact mental condition. It can be faked. Physical wounds can't.

So honor those who were mentally injured with a different medal. Most will probably be too ashamed to accept one anyway even though PTSD is real as hell and far more disabling than a few grains of rice imbedded in your ass.

[glockmail]

The purple heart is for physical wounds received in combat. PTSD is an after the fact mental condition. It can be faked. Physical wounds can't.
John Kerry proved that false.

[Gaffer]

John Kerry proved that false.

And he was shown to be fake too.

PTSD is way over used. I have only known one guy who really had it. Most are on guilt trips because they have been told they should be, or they are trying to get sympathy or money.

[Dilloduck]

The purple heart is for physical wounds received in combat. PTSD is an after the fact mental condition. It can be faked. Physical wounds can't.

So you are worried that someone would fake PSTD to get a medal for psychiatric damage ?

[dread]

So you are worried that someone would fake PSTD to get a medal for psychiatric damage ?



Yup. In this day and age it is VERY acceptable to have some kind of disorder. It is called the sympathy card. People wear their problems on their sleeves to shirk responsibility in their lives.

Society once rolled with the "suck it up and deal" phase and before that it was the "lets keep everything a secret and pretend everything is alright" phase.

[Dilloduck]

Yup. In this day and age it is VERY acceptable to have some kind of disorder. It is called the sympathy card. People wear their problems on their sleeves to shirk responsibility in their lives.

Society once rolled with the "suck it up and deal" phase and before that it was the "lets keep everything a secret and pretend everything is alright" phase.

I'm having a hard time following you here. How would acknowledging psychiatric trauma encourage people to shirk responsibility ?

[82Marine89]

So you are worried that someone would fake PSTD to get a medal for psychiatric damage ?

Once, a very long time ago, the Purple Heart was this Nations highest honor. Guys that get hit with friendly fire don't rate a Purple Heart. They are given for injuries sustained in combat with the enemy. I have been to a few PH ceremonies for friends and after it is over you hug the guy and shake his hand if he has one. It is a very touching thing that has brought tears to my eyes every time. What do you do for a PTSD winner? Hug him and say you're sorry his bad dreams are worse than yours and it's a shame he can't hold a job?

[Dilloduck]

Once, a very long time ago, the Purple Heart was this Nations highest honor. Guys that get hit with friendly fire don't rate a Purple Heart. They are given for injuries sustained in combat with the enemy. I have been to a few PH ceremonies for friends and after it is over you hug the guy and shake his hand if he has one. It is a very touching thing that has brought tears to my eyes every time. What do you do for a PTSD winner? Hug him and say you're sorry his bad dreams are worse than yours and it's a shame he can't hold a job?

ya--sorta like that except you also tell him he can improve with treatment --and heal just like a physical wound.

[dread]

ya--sorta like that except you also tell him he can improve with treatment --and heal just like a physical wound.


Popping a pill is in no way the same as regrowing your arm back.

[rppearso]

Maybe when MRI technology is better and they can prove someone is not faking it they will be able to give out purple hearts for it. PTSD can lead to all sorts of destructive things in you life, substance abuse prostitution etc.

[ranger]

Maybe they should issue the medals right out of boot camp like they do the beret. That way everyone in the Army can look good and be a hero from day 1. They could set up a serving line, like at the chow hall, and let the guys come through and pick the medals they want.

[Dilloduck]

Popping a pill is in no way the same as regrowing your arm back.

and being psychotic is no more fun a piece of shrapnel in your ass.

[Abbey Marie]

Perhaps they could make everyone happy by making up a new award for mental problems/PTSD: The Purple Brain.

[Dilloduck]

Perhaps they could make everyone happy by making up a new award for mental problems/PTSD: The Purple Brain.

Naaaaa---lets continue to pretend there is no such thing as psychiatric trauma caused by combat situations.You can't see it so it must not exist.

[glockmail]

Maybe they should issue the medals right out of boot camp like they do the beret. That way everyone in the Army can look good and be a hero from day 1. They could set up a serving line, like at the chow hall, and let the guys come through and pick the medals they want. I like it. Let's call it the "John Kerry Medal Line". :clap:

[glockmail]

Perhaps they could make everyone happy by making up a new award for mental problems/PTSD: The Purple Brain.
:lol: Good one.

[Dilloduck]

Anyone who can't take the stress of battle is a pussy anyway---Slap em around like MacArthur did.

[glockmail]

Anyone who can't take the stress of battle is a pussy anyway---Slap em around like MacArthur did.
Wasn't that Patton? :poke:

[Gaffer]

Anyone who can't take the stress of battle is a pussy anyway---Slap em around like MacArthur did.

That was Patton. And a lot of guys don't carry around the stress of battle as much as the stress of the guilt trip placed on them by the liberals after they got back.

There is PTSD, it's just not as extensive as it's made out to be.

[Abbey Marie]

Naaaaa---lets continue to pretend there is no such thing as psychiatric trauma caused by combat situations.You can't see it so it must not exist.

I don't think anyone here is saying that these psychological effects are imaginary, though you seem to be saying we are. I am certainly not.

But you really don't see a difference in terms of medal recognition, between a severe wound/amputation caused directly by the enemy you are fighting, and a psychological problem caused by your reaction to the situation?

[Roomy]

Grow up you thick cowardly bastards.It is very real and very serious.Taking cheap shots like you've been doing pisses me off.

[Dilloduck]

That was Patton. And a lot of guys don't carry around the stress of battle as much as the stress of the guilt trip placed on them by the liberals after they got back.

There is PTSD, it's just not as extensive as it's made out to be.

Indeed there is PSTD. Maybe not as extensive yet far more debilitating than most realize. Far more debilitating than MANY physical wounds. I see no reason at all to not honor those who have it instead of telling them to just buck up and be a man.

[Gaffer]

Indeed there is PSTD. Maybe not as extensive yet far more debilitating than most realize. Far more debilitating than MANY physical wounds. I see no reason at all to not honor those who have it instead of telling them to just buck up and be a man.

I have never said they should not be honored. As I said before it is real, there is just a lot more people claiming to have it than really do. Any extreme conditions can cause PTSD, not just combat. But I don't think a medal for the condition is right, because it can't be proven. And a medal isn't going to make them better.

[Yurt]

I have never said they should not be honored. As I said before it is real, there is just a lot more people claiming to have it than really do. Any extreme conditions can cause PTSD, not just combat. But I don't think a medal for the condition is right, because it can't be proven. And a medal isn't going to make them better.

interesting. it is true that a medal will not make them better, then again, neither will it change a physical wound. if PTSD cannot be proven, how do we know it exists? and why is the military considering it?