PTSD

The tragic shootings at a stress center at Camp Liberty, Iraq have once against put Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the news. Details have not emerged yet as to whether the shooter was suffering from PTSD, but a significant number of service members do struggle with PTSD. As the years that the United States has been in Iraq and Afghanistan have gone by, more and more clients that I have represented have had PTSD. Some of these clients have found themselves at a court martial; others have been the subject of negative administrative action.
So the question becomes, why do so many military members with PTSD find themselves in trouble? Certainly part of it is due to the increase in the total number of PTSD cases in the military. A certain percentage of the military is always going to be in trouble and the higher the percentage of the military has PTSD it stands to reason that there will be more service members in trouble with PTSD.
However, just the increase in the total number of PTSD cases in the military does not adequately explain the reason so many service members with PTSD are being sent to a court martial. PTSD can make people irritable and impulsive. Certainly if those in the military act on those impulses or are getting in fights or being disrespectful because they are irritable, that can cause them to be sent to a court martial. But the single biggest reason, in my opinion, is that these individuals tend to try to self medicate themselves. They turn to alcohol or drugs to try to make them feel better, to try to sleep, and to try to forget the horrors of what they saw. Of course, if the service member then tests positive for drugs on a urinalysis, he will be sent to a court martial or be processed for administrative separation. The worse problem, thought, is that many of them when under the effects of the alcohol or drugs will do things that they would not ordinarily do. PTSD and drugs or alcohol is a combination that has ruined many a service member’s career and even life. The drugs and alcohol can make the irritability and impulsiveness worse and they find themselves committing serious criminal acts that they never would have committed if sober.
So what can a service member with PTSD do? The most important thing is to get professional help. Unfortunately, many see this as a sign of weakness. It is not. Others fear that it will impact their career. It is not supposed to, but if you are concerned that it may, talk to an attorney about it. When someone breaks a bone, they get professional help and they don’t feel bad about needing it. Mental injuries should be handled no differently.