Irresponsible selling of BattleMind continues

BattleMind is not new or is it worth supporting. Facts are facts. Consider this. If BattleMind worked, you'd see a reduced suicide and attempted suicide rate. You would not see both increase! You would not see the Montana National Guard come up with their own program because one of their own, Spc. Chris Dana, committed suicide. You would not see a BBC report uncovering the truth about how the troops are exposed to BattleMind. Did you know that when the troops arrive in Afghanistan and Iraq they spend two days in a meeting hall getting all kinds of information crammed into their brains and within those two days, there is 11 1/2 minutes of BattleMind presentations going on. That's all they get. Not that it would be worthless time if the program worked at all, but it doesn't. Look at the facts and when you read any kind of report like this, keep those facts in mind. I have no idea who wrote the below article but they really need to know what the hell they are talking about before they support anything that is detrimental to the troops. This program is full of holes!

I wanted to believe in this as much as anyone. I posted about this program when it first came out because it seemed so hopeful. The years ticked away and the troops continued to commit suicide and try to commit suicide out of desperation. It became obvious that BattleMind is not only not worth the hype, it's bad and worse than a waste of time. One more thing to think about. When I talked to someone working at the VA and brought up the numbers going up instead of down, this was the response, "It's better than nothing." but the truth is, it's worse than nothing.

Preventing Combat Fatigue


January 9, 2009: While the U.S. Army has done much to detect, and treat PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), it has also made a determined effort to prevent it in the first place. From the beginning of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the army took many measures to ease the impact of combat stress. That's why combat troops in Iraq and Afghanistan often sleep in air conditioned quarters, have Internet access, lots of amenities, and a two week vacation (anywhere) in the middle of their combat tour.


But now there's now a more direct program to help troops avoid PTSD. It's called Battlemind, and it involves telling the troops all the army knows about the things that cause combat stress, and how to avoid them. This is all based on information obtained from thousands of combat veterans. click link for more