Will DOD give up on making unbreakable soldiers?

by
Chaplain Kathie

The more I think about the programs the DOD has been doing trying to prevent PTSD, the more I think about this movie Unbreakable.

Unbreakable (2000) More at IMDbPro »
This suspense thriller unfolds as the audience is introduced to David Dunn. Not only is he the sole survivor of a horrific train-crash that killed 131 people he doesn't have a scratch on him. Elijah Price is an obscure character who approaches Dunn with a seemingly far fetched theory behind it all. Written by Filmtwob {webmaster@filmfreak.co.za}

Security Guard David Dunn miraculously survives a catastrophic train crash outside Philadelphia. Not only is he the sole survivor out of 132 passengers, he also is completely unharmed. A little later, comic book specialist Elijah Price contacts him to confront David with an incredible theory: Elijah, who has been nicknamed "Mr. Glass" due to his more than fragile bones, thinks that David has got all which he himself lacks. The two of them "seem to be linked by a curve, but sitting on opposite ends". First, David does not believe the strange man, but every single thing he had said proves to be true: David has never ever been hurt or sick in his life, his physical strength is larger than normal and he has a skill which others don't. Slowly, David begins to discover the shocking truth behind Mr. Price's assumptions. But after all, David's fate is not only to find his real place in the world. It also is about proving Elijah's theory of his own existence. Written by Julian Reischl {julianreischl@mac.com}
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0217869/plotsummary

Bruce Willis couldn't figure out why he never got sick or why he managed to survive events that killed other people. It just never occurred to him there was something really strange about all of this until he met his opposite.

To this day, I still search for reasons why with all the traumatic events in my own life I have not suffered the ravages of PTSD. I've been reading about it, talking to veterans and others since 1982, but the more I learn about it, the more I struggle to understand the difference between me and other trauma survivors.

All the training I've taken has pointed to one factor in my life and that's talking. I never really stop talking. Each event was followed by being surrounded by family and friends for me to talk to and lean on their shoulders. The only time I couldn't talk to them was when it had to do with my husband and PTSD. They just couldn't understand it. Back then, well, not many people understood it at all, including psychologists. I knew I had to talk to someone with a full knowledge of it if they would be able to help me at all. I found a psychologist with a family practice and she was very aware of PTSD as well as what went with it. I had been feeling angry, snapping, having mood swings, nightmares and depression was setting in. I knew I needed help to just vent with someone that would be able to understand. Up until then, it was talking to my circle of support coupled with a deep faith.

I know that faith plays a huge roll in healing from what happens in our lives. I also know that talking about these events helps more than anything else to prevent deeper emotional damage. Experts agree with this and that's why they offer training in responding to traumatic events to help the responders as well as the survivors. The problem is, people are not unbreakable and we cannot make them stop being caring, feeling humans. We cannot prevent traumatic events from happing in anyone's life, especially the members of the armed forces. What we can do is address them when they happen just as we do with all other humans.

The DOD has come out with programs with the goal of "toughening" their minds and making them "resilient" as if they can train to not be human anymore. They are not "unbreakable" even though some go thru the rest of their lives never suffering from what they lived through. Still I have to wonder if they are just not admitting to suffering or they are really so able to be shut off from it.

I've seen police officers acting as if nothing bothers them at all until they end up suffering from the one traumatic event they cannot escape from. They try to mask the symptoms and then lash out or drink to cover up the hurt they feel inside. Heck. when you think how tough they are supposed to be it's better for them if others think they are just mean instead of soft enough to feel anything. The difference is most police departments have either a Chaplain to be there to listen or a psychologist for them to see for when the last straw hitting the mountain of others sets off a fire.

So why is the DOD treating soldiers as if they were not simply humans asked to do abnormal things when they are sent into combat? Being a warrior is not normal, as a matter of fact, it's pretty rare. Look at the population of the world and then look at the number of soldiers in this world and you see the difference. Here in the USA, we have over 300 million people but under 30 million veterans. Then there are the police officers, also should be considered warriors, because part of their job also involves being asked to kill as well as protect. Police officers are allowed time to emotionally debrief within hours or a day of a traumatic event but the soldiers are not. Why is that? Why can't the military see what the rest of the world sees?

The group of Chaplains I'm with respond to police departments, fire departments, natural disasters, crimes and accidents helping the responders and the survivors. Why can't the military do the same instead of trying to prevent it the wrong way? I went through training on different programs including the new DEEP, Disaster and Extreme Event Preparedness and each of them deal with being there at the time of the events to listen to people and be there for them, much like my family and friends were there to listen to me after a long list of events. Or the psychologist helping me deal with anger and frustration. Who is there for the troops right away?

If they really want to do something about PTSD then they should do what the rest of the other humans have done. Have someone there to talk to right away before PTSD can take hold and do damage. It's hard enough to get them to talk when PTSD is already raging inside of them so heading it off as much as possible seems only logical. The way they are trying to do it only adds to the stigma because the way they are going about it tells the soldiers if they do not make their brains tough enough, PTSD is their fault. It's not their fault they are human and just as breakable as the rest of us.