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Veterans Day: The Misunderstood Mental Health Consequences of War

Veterans Day: The Misunderstood Mental Health Consequences of War by
Barbara Van Dahlen, Ph.D.

Quote:

On Veterans Day our nation honors the men and women who have served our country. Cities host parades, department stores have sales, schools and the Federal Government close. Most of us are thankful for a day off. Rarely do we stop to think about the tremendous sacrifices made by those in the military community -- the risks they take and the burdens they carry. Rarely do we reflect on how families and lives are forever changed as a result of war. .....

to read more please go to:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbar..._b_781900.html

My husband brought home such huge tragic baggage from Vietnam. We were totally unprepared for it.

Back then there was drug abuse (mostly MJ) and alcohol freely available to men over there. He was very ill, gray, and throwing up when he came home. (antimalarial drugs and who knows what else in toxins). After a year to recover physically, he could not cope with life in general, so I really had to push for therapy which he did accept, and helped. (military help was nil then).

He still won't talk about it, and he did overcome the alcohol finally, but it was a long hard road, and required tremendous patience from family.

Today he seems settled, but still some topics are forbidden here. He really hated the military, and does not think highly of how it is run.(one job he had was to connect upper officers to transportation via the signal corps, and he saw so much abuse and bad behavior there) He refuses a Vietnam license plate, that we can get in our state for free. He "lost' his wedding ring there and won't talk about that either. :rolleyes: Where he was near the DMZ, they were rocketed endlessly.

The Vietnam war was very different from this new "terrorist" offensive. At least with terrorism, our military can have a goal, a positive goal. The Vietnam war seemed like a garbage can (wasteful)and had no connection to US safety, as far as my husband saw.

I have great respect for all the volunteers who choose to protect our country, now, in this painful time of terrorism. The situation today is so much different than what my husband endured!

Not only that, but the veterans who returned from the Viet Nam war were treated so SHABBILY when they returned --- by US. I've never seen such horrible treatment in my life!!! The United States was a shameful place back then - these Veterans were drafted and HAD to go - and when they came back, they were called every nasty name in the book because of actions of a very few. They were spit on, tormented, taunted, paint thrown on them, you name it. That isn't supposed to be what we're about. I was never so ashamed in my life, even tho I never took part in it. I was a conservative teenager back then and was horrified.

No wonder some Vets don't talk about alot of things.