Tuesday, February 5, 2013

NBC feeding the myth of PTSD veterans being dangerous

Hundreds of thousands of veterans are treated at the VA for PTSD. That should have been the lead in this story. It wasn't and we should be asking why not. Veterans are more likely to hurt or kill themselves than someone else. This is a fact and is supported by the high number of suicides along with attempted suicides (another subject not discussed) which is what the accused shooter of Chris Kyle had sought help for.

Suffering military and veteran is not something they are interested in. They get a lot more attention out of covering the gun murder of a decorated sniper as if it was the Wild West and this was a shootout with the fastest gun.

Will slaying of ex-SEAL Chris Kyle mar veteran job market?
By Bill Briggs
NBC News contributor

The weekend homicides of ex-Navy SEAL and “American Sniper” author Chris Kyle and a friend in Texas have stoked fresh concerns among mental-health experts and veteran advocates that the crime’s PTSD theme will further stigmatize and dampen an already-soggy job market for men and women home from war.

“What worries me about this story is it will frighten potential employers away from hiring veterans who have been in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Dr. Harry Croft, a San Antonio-based psychiatrist who has talked with more than 7,000 veterans diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

“The myth is all of them have PTSD — not true, only 20 percent. Another myth is that all of them who have a severe case of it — not true; it goes from very mild to severe. The third myth is that everybody with PTSD is aggressive, unreliable, or trouble in the workplace, and none of that is (true) either. It scares me,” Croft said.
read more here

No comments:

Post a Comment

If it is not helpful, do not be hurtful. Spam removed so do not try putting up free ad.