Junger Thinks Society to Blame When Troops Come Home?

UPDATE
Jerusalem Post Report on PTSD


There are times when I read a headline and get really hopeful that something new will come out of it, but all too quickly, those hopes are crushed. It just happened when Sebastian Junger was interviewed about a new book and he seemed to want to blame society for the disconnect. Nothing new on that one but then again, no one can really understand what they did not live through. 

"In his book, Mr. Junger marshals history, psychology, anthropology and statistics to make his case. He suggests that in countries with a strong sense of community, such as Israel, incidence of PTSD is low even though that nation exists in a state of near-constant conflict."

Civilians cannot understand veterans but they understand emotional turmoil after surviving something something that could have killed them. Junger had a theory that pretty much summed up what type of research he did for this book.

Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have been diagnosed with PTSD after three infantrymen committed suicide after fighting in Gaza this summer. Baz Ratner/Reuters

Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) Col. Dr. Keren Ginat, who is head of the army's mental health services, told a ministerial oversight committee on Monday that the IDF had invited 1,000 soldiers known to have been wounded in combat or involved in intense firefights in Gaza to come in and talk to bosses about their experiences. Some 70% of the soldiers scored highly on the PTSD checklist and have been referred for additional treatment, Ginat said.

But it isn't just one article on how Israeli Veterans have suffered from PTSD. There are more like this one about cannabis being used to treat PTSD.

According to the study by Dr. Irit Akirav from the Department of Psychology at Haifa University, cannabinoids may relieve the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a debilitating disorder that strikes 10 to 30 percent of people who suffer from a traumatic event such as war, a car accident, rape or a terrorist attack.

And this one

Trauma is also very common in women; five out of 10 women will experience a traumatic event at some point during their lifetime. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians and soldiers, including Holocaust survivors, have developed PTSD.

There are many more articles on this and keep in mind it only took me about 15 minutes to find these since I knew what I was looking for.  After all, none of this is new. 

Here is some more of the interview.

Sebastian Junger’s Take on PTSD
The society troops return to, he says, is more to blame than combat
Wall Street Journal
By RALPH GARDNER JR.
May 22, 2016

One of the tools of journalism, and perhaps life in general, is the ability to create a bond by discovering what you and the person standing in front of you have in common.

However, that wasn’t my modus operandi when I got together with Sebastian Junger, the best-selling author of “The Perfect Storm” who also, along with the late Tim Hetherington, created the Oscar-nominated documentary “Restrepo,” on the Afghanistan War.

We met at The Half King, a pub on far West 23rd Street where Mr. Junger is a co-owner.

Actually, I was more than happy reveling in our differences. Mr. Junger has earned an excellent living chasing risk. I do my best to avoid it.

His new book, “Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging,” which comes out of decades of reporting from war zones, argues counterintuitively that the society American soldiers return to does more to cause post-traumatic stress disorder than combat does.

“PTSD is a disorder of transition,” he said.
read more here

"PTSD is a disorder of transition" Seriously? There is a reason there are support groups for all the different groups of people needing them. They are understood among their peers. It is the same with veterans.  They are understood by other veterans more than anyone else can begin to understand. Military families are understood among other military families.  That is why you see veterans groups with spouses sharing experiences with each other they do not even attempt to share with civilian spouses.  They just don't understand what it is like when they think a huge problem is hubby didn't take out the trash or notice his wife did something differently.  

I don't know what is in the rest of Junger's book and now I don't want to find out.