An Epidemic of PTSD

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” ~ Plato

When I was first sent a link to this infographic and asked if I would consider sharing it on my blog I wasn’t sure what I might have to say about it. While it’s about PTSD and I have PTSD the subject matter felt alien to me. Combat and the military are completely outside of my experience.

I went to an engagement party while I really not very well where some of the guests were ex army, they recognised the symptoms I was experiencing and took me outside for a cigarette and an understanding chat, but that’s as far as it goes.

The thought of having PTSD because of having been to war just seems somehow more serious to me.

I’ve also tried to date to keep this blog politically neutral and I’m aware that I’m probably completely unaware of a lot of the politics of this image, been as how I’m not American.

But I kept coming back to that first statistic – every 80 minutes a veteran dies by suicide. And in light of what happened at Fort Hood earlier this week it seems worth reiterating that people with post traumatic stress disorder, and other mental illnesses, are far more likely to harm themselves than they are other people.

I was opposed to the war but it seems to me that if you’re going to send people out to fight in one you should have a plan before they go of how you’re going to look after them if they need it when they come home. A much better plan than having one of them die every other hour at their own hands.