The Hurt Locker's Mark Boal talks about PTSD

Mark Boal seems to get it when it comes to PTSD but above that, he knows how we have failed in coming up with healing as fast as the VA and DOD and can hand out pills.

That is the biggest problem of all. Pills, drugs and alcohol are chemicals working with or against the brain. If medication is prescribed for the wrong diagnosis, it can mask the symptoms but it does not cure them. Just as street drugs and alcohol cover up what is there, it does more damage than good.

To this day the servicemen and women are redeployed with medications to help them get through their day, help them sleep and help them wake up, but they are not given any therapy. What good does this do when every expert states clearly PTSD is an emotional wound coming after trauma? Do they really think medication alone will solve anything or is it more they want the boots in action at any price?

We also do a lousy job of helping them when they come home and let them suffer for months or years fighting the government to have their claims approved, which means, no income in most cases when a combat veteran cannot work because of their wound. How would you feel after serving your county, being sent into combat until you are at the point where you can give no more, then finding yourself without income to pay your own bills because of your willingness to be of service?

Scene Dissection: Screenwriter Mark Boal breaks down one of 'The Hurt Locker's' most pivotal moments
Boal's script, like the film itself, has received considerable praise from critics and audiences alike. It's currently among the nominees for original screenplay at the 82nd Academy Awards.

By Paul Gaita

February 20, 2010


Mark Boal's experience as a journalist in Iraq yielded "Death and Dishonor," a 2004 feature for "Playboy" about a veteran who was murdered by fellow soldiers after his deployment, and the effects of war-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on returning military personnel. The story was later adapted by Paul Haggis for the Oscar-nominated feature "In the Valley of Elah."

Q: Can you talk a bit about how the scene was personal to you?

A: I was only in Baghdad for about five seconds, but I felt enough of the sense of dislocation that it was meaningful to me. And I also thought it represented the guys that I knew and the statement that I wanted to make with the film, which is that people pay a price, and it's a very grave one. Not to be didactic about it, but it bears repeating that war is hell. If it's a cliché, it's still true. And some of the deepest scars are psychological ones.

I've been writing about this conflict since it started in Afghanistan in 2001 and I did a lot of coverage of PTSD as an investigative reporter. And the great tragedy that has yet to be fully absorbed into the culture of this war is the psychological toll taken on these guys who keep having repeated combat exposure. To me, it's unprecedented in the history of warfare that you have a small group that continually goes in, year and year after year. And it's going to be a mental health disaster -- the Veterans Affairs Administration has no idea of how to deal with it, the DoD (Department of Defense) has no idea, and the psychiatric community really doesn't know, because the disease, or trauma isn't easily managed. It's not something that psychologists and psychiatrists really know how to fix. And there isn't even a good pharmacological fix for it -- it's not like depression, which is also hard to fix, but at least they can medicate you to put a smile on your face. Not to get on my soapbox, but it's really an important point that I wanted to make with this film.
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Scene Dissection Hurt Locker