Dont you think people who claim PTSD is just an excuse to not deploy?

Question

Is PTSD a sign of weakness?

Answer 1

Could be an excuse, it's possible.

Weakness??? NO

Answer 2

PTSD is a real and very bad disorder, and yes, there are those who claim it probably to draw disability on discharge, but there are many people who suffer every night from it, and they know the true hell it is.

And let me explain something to the first person who answered. There are only a couple possible scenarios regarding your answer:
1) You're full of it and are making that comment up about your father (this is what I believe).

2) Your father rode a desk the whole war and the most combat he saw was a bad paper cut

3) Or your father is just trying to act tough.

During The Great War (Later named WWI) PTSD was known as "Shell Shock", during the second World War, it was known as Battle Fatigue. During the Korean war it was called "Operational Exhaustion", and the Vietnam War brought about the term PTSD, now that you know exactly what it was called, I'll explain something else to you as well.

It is a proven fact that the biggest and most effective way to combat PTS is to openly discuss things seen and experienced with those you experienced it with, the sooner after the incident, the better. During WWI and WWII, there were things called "debriefs", nothing official, just the guys setting down a couple times a week and talking through what had happened to them, this let them know they weren't alone in what they were feeling and help prevent many from suffering the effects, however a great many still felt the effects of it after the war.

Now, in the modern military, there is less of the gathering and discussing, so more and more suffer from PTSD. For 4 years now i have woken up more times than I can even remember with the worst things you can imagine burned into my mind, i see things happen 1,000 time right in front of me again, I've woken up and not known why i was crouched behind the couch in the living room, and I've spent days without sleep because I was too scared to close my eyes and see those things again. So don't you dare sit there and hide behind some made up story about your father, who probably has never even held a rifle, and say that anything any of my brothers and sisters in arms suffer from is fake. PTSD is real and it is hell to live with. You would cry for a month is you had to see even 1 of the nightmares I have to see every night.

Answer 3

First of all....PTSD is not a weakness. I was Marine Corps Infantry for 5yrs. My last combat situation was in Fallujah Nov04-Jan05. When I returned home, I became a functional alcoholic.....All I wanted to do was fight, I put on so much weight that I couldn't even button my uniform....And to me, I felt that I became a disgrace to myself. I refused to claim PTSD in the beginning because I didn't want to believe it. When I got out of the Corps I kept drinking and I kept fighting. One day, some punk kid cut me off on the road, so I stepped out of the vehicle and handled the situation in my fashion(I won't go into detail so as not to incriminate myself) So, I decided to finally go to the VA after being urged by family and friends. It's been almost a year since that incident. These days I am sober, I've lost weight and I am able to control my aggressive outbursts with the assistance of medication, but I still have recurring nightmares and I suffer from insomnia, and everyday I am trying to get better, because I want to serve in the Corps again. I miss the brotherhood and camaraderie, but I needed to get treated first. So, don't you dare say that PTSD is a weakness. Try not to get offended when I ask this.....But are you a P.O.G. ? Because it seems to me that you may not have any true combat experience.

Semper Fidelis,
Mikey

Answer 4

Hardly a sign of weakness. You have to survive a deadly situation to potentially have it. A person with it is a survivor and lived to tell the tale. That could never be weak. Though we spend a long time learning it is not a failure.

Answer 5

If the person has come back from a war zone, it most likely is not an excuse. They have nightmares, flashbacks, problems in general. Regardless what Erudite says, it is a real disorder. Not everyone comes back with PTSD.

Answer 6

I would not wish to serve along side anyone who claimed that they had this affliction, or who did not wish to serve willingly. Shell shock is not something that I'm willing to think I can judge.

God bless the men and women of the US armed services. Without them, the world would immediately decay into the status of the 11th Century. Keep your Koran and your C. Manifesto in your back pockets in case the Free World loses this battle.

I'm too old for the military to take me. But I'm not too old to lock and load.I'd be hesitant to judge those who have done service and had such experiences. Better to get on with the job and leave the lost behind....and our children's future before us...

Answer 7

No PTSD is real. Question is, what about Cowardice.
Why are some people willing to allow others to fight for them.
Someone who has served in combat can hardly be judged by a ChickenHawk who has done nothing.

Answer 8

Erudite has a reputation for being a liar so don't listen to him.

PTSD is a real disorder. Even former Marine Corps Drill instructor GySgt R. Lee Ermey admits to experiencing it after flying helicopter missions during Vietnam. You might remember him from Full Metal Jacket.

Answer 9

No and No.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is real.

A sign of weakness???? only to the same extent as losing a limb is a "sign of weakness"

Answer 10

are you a total idiot?

some poor young 18 yo. PFC in the marines goes to Iraq and watches all his friends get blown to pink mist from a woman who strapped a bomb to her chest and walks her baby into a crowd of marines to not be suspected, then watches terrorists rape and torture women, use kids as shields so that poor PFC shoots and kills innocent children and sits in a hum-v that gets blown up only to survive with only scrap metal in his leg but watch helplessly as his friends die from that same blast. to come home to a wife that left him for the neighbor and immediate news of another deployment back to the sandbox???

Tell me again you moron that you wouldnt suffer from PTSD? go hug a tree.

Answer 11

I had it 3 times and came out stronger.
It is debilitating when at its peak.

there is very effective help available
not just medication