Psyche, Science, and Society

Email in response to “Sending mentally ill soldiers back to Iraq”

March 28th, 2006

I have received the following email from a disbled Vietnam vet who goes by 91Charlie (posted here with permission) in response to my recent article regarding the military’s sending “mentally ill” GIs back to Iraq:

Sir,

I am a disabled (mostly mental health issues) Vietnam vet. As medics our motto was “to conserve the fighting strength.” That always rankled, but that is the deal. The military is it’s own society/world with it’s own norms, ethics, goals, etc.

You seem to have a couple of blind spots that could only occur in a person who has not been a soldier in a war. And one that is very common in thinking of Mr. Bush’s wars these days.

Some mentally ill troops in combat (the distinction is entirely subjective) will get themselves and their cohorts killed. Therefore, the really screwed up guy will sometimes die from “friendly fire”, “suicide” or “OD”. And the death will be reported as a battle casualty. When I say that what is considered mentally ill is subjective I mean that the behaviors that endanger cohorts are the ones that are considered. Some dissociations, like the ones you noted, are functional ego defenses. Some of the troops with the highest degree of mental illness are ready made for killing folks. Being declared unfit for duty is a generator of shame and loss of self esteem.

You also seem to have only one side of the depersonalization deal in hand. I envision you shuddering at what troops call each other. The enemy can not be human. Your peers can not be human. Your buddies can’t really be human. Therefore, you yourself obviously can not human either. I notice these symptoms more and more in the civilian members of society in the USA. Depersonalization seems to be government/social policy these day. Human life here certainly does not have the intrinsic value that it seemed to be accorded when I was growing up after WWII. Cognitive dissonance as a societal norm, perhaps as the only way to succeed? “Retail Christians” on the rise? Maybe we will end up in the same detention camp and can talk about this more.

Mentally ill troops are being returned to Afghanistan, too. And as combatants in South America and elsewhere.

How different do you think it is:
sending mentally ill troops back in with the other mentally ill troops in combat
sending mentally ill patients back to their mentally ill families, and sick city streets?

Sincerely,

Entry Filed under: Iraq, Psychology, War and Peace