Reviving a Greek tragedy the wrong way

One day I had an argument with an older veteran uninterested in hearing about the reality of PTSD. He grew more and more defensive then told me, "Kid, you don't know what you're talking about. I can track my family back to the Civil War." Aside from being called a kid when I was well over 40 and had been helping veterans with PTSD for a good many years, I politely pointed out, "I can track my family back to the Trojan war." Then I asked him, "What's your point?" With this, he walked away. He was still in denial about PTSD but more, he was in denial it was already in him.

He was an angry man because that was all he allowed himself to feel. Given the fact the vast majority of veterans I've talked to over the years along with their families, most of the veterans with PTSD were compassionate people, always caring about others, always loving, forgiving and most were very religious. The pain trapped all that was part of them and allowed only anger to be seen by others. It's a defense against feeling pain added onto them. It's also one of the biggest reasons they drink or use drugs. They want to feel nothing.

This Greek tragedy is one more case of the military missing the point. It is a lesson that will do much good for the mental health providers but not the veterans themselves. They already live with what the providers need to learn.

The Anguish of War for Today’s Soldiers, Explored by Sophocles

By PATRICK HEALY
Published: November 11, 2009
The ancient Greeks had a shorthand for the mental anguish of war, for post-traumatic stress disorder and even for outbursts of fratricidal bloodshed like last week’s shootings at Fort Hood. They would invoke the names of mythological military heroes who battled inner demons: Achilles, consumed by the deaths of his men; Philoctetes, hollowed out from betrayals by fellow officers; Ajax, warped with so much rage that he wanted to kill his comrades.

Now officials at the Defense Department are turning to the Greeks to explore the psychic impact of war.

The Pentagon has provided $3.7 million for an independent production company, Theater of War, to visit 50 military sites through at least next summer and stage readings from two plays by Sophocles, “Ajax” and “Philoctetes,” for service members. So far the group has performed at Fort Riley in Kansas; at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Md.; and at last week’s Warrior Resilience Conference in Norfolk, Va.
read more here
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/theater/12greeks.html?_r=1

The biggest tragedy is that they live with all of it and no ancient Greek text will give them comfort or remove the stigma when the message they are getting is the same as usual.

PTSD is only caused by trauma. It is not their fault. When they understand this, the stigma is reduced.
PTSD is caused by an outside force striking the emotions where all their compassion lives on. This is why they hurt.
PTSD is not about lack of courage because compassion will only produce tears without courage to act for the sake of someone else. The ability to care is behind the courage they need to take action in the first place. The ability to be willing to lay down their lives is fueled by their courage.

There is so much they need to hear and they will not hear it unless someone starts to tell them.