There is no doubt in my mind McCain suffers from PTSD.

[dutch508]

Anyone witht he handle, Drunken Irishman, pob'ly shouldn' try to talk about stability...

Drunken Irishman  (1000+ posts)       Sun Aug-03-08 03:33 PM
Original message http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6580678
There is no doubt in my mind McCain suffers from PTSD.

My father suffers from PTSD and I've discussed his issues here before. I've seen the signs most my life and they are not pretty. I have no doubt, with all McCain went through, he, too, suffers from these damning demons.

I also know my father can, at times, lose all stability. It doesn't take much for that trigger and when he does lose it, watch out, because he becomes an entirely different person, someone you can't reason with. McCain, like my father, probably is normal most of the time, but when you're president of the United States, it only takes one retread to end it all. The older he gets, the harder it will be to fight back these demons and that could have devastating consequences when you're leading the United States.

McCain is too unstable to be president.

yeah...I'm betting you don't have a clue what PTSD is.

"After a traumatic event, such as the death of a fellow comrade, other members of the unit will often experience a wide array of different emotions and reactions in response to the event," said Ivany.

Some danger signs of Soldiers struggling with stress after a traumatic event could include: re-experiencing the event or over-reacting when faced with reminders of the event, feeling emotionally numb or disconnected from others, and "keyed up" or "jumpy," having troubles concentrating on specific tasks.

It's important for Soldiers facing a traumatic event to stick together, both in and out of theater.

"The battle buddy is going to be the most important part of the chain," said Capel.

"I encourage people to continue to talk with people from their unit, especially people who have been through the traumatic events with them," said Air Force Maj. Kellie Griffith, a psychiatrist at the Combat and Operational Stress Control Clinic at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

If Soldiers are still having problems, they need to get help from a chaplain, medical provider or behavioral-health professional.

"We [define] post-traumatic stress as issues that individuals can't deal with on their own," Capel said.

The three primary symptoms of PTSD are: re-experiencing, or reliving a traumatic event through nightmares, flashbacks or intrusive images; hyper-vigilance, which includes irritability and jumpiness; and avoidance, not wanting to think about the trauma again and doing anything to avoid it, Griffith said.

Another common symptom is a sense of foreshortened future. It's the belief that the future is not going to work out, that it's going to be cut short.

Soldiers may be reluctant, but they should try to get help instead of self-medicating with alcohol or other drugs.

"People will feel that since they're a platoon leader they should have their stuff together. They feel like they can't come in there, that it's showing that they're weak, that nobody else in their unit is seeking help. That's not true," Griffith said. "I've seen everybody from all different ranks come on in here."

Often Soldiers are hesitant to seek help fearing possible professional retribution, but of those seeking help, treatment affects the careers of less than 5 percent of servicemembers, according to Griffith.

"Nobody here is trying to fire anybody for going to see mental hygiene or get help because they're suffering from some type of post-traumatic stress - nobody," Capel said.

For Soldiers dealing with symptoms of PTSD, there is a pre-screening program in place to determine an individual's stress levels at the Army's Medical Protection System through Army Knowledge Online Web site. Soldiers must complete the screening before returning home.

Any questionnaire for future military employment divulging your mental-health history will be sent to a health care professional such as a flight surgeon for review, Griffith said.

Treatments include combinations of therapy, sleep medication and medication specifically for PTSD.

"The gold standard is exposure therapy," Griffith said. "The concept behind PTSD is that in your brain you have normal memories and you have abnormal memories - traumatic memories. The normal memories are stored in such a way that they're filed away appropriately. They don't intrude upon your day-to-day life. Traumatic memories are more like they're hanging around your neck. They can come up and intrude upon your day-to-day life at any moment.

"Exposure therapy seeks to bring up the memory, have you look at it, have you remember what you're able to tolerate ... face it, [realize] it's not going to kill you. It's not going to make it happen all over again," Griffith said. "Eventually, patients get to a point where it is better filed, it is more likely to just stay in their brain and not intrude upon their day-to-day life."

[Carl]

And then they go on about their depression after the 2004 election.
I have wandered the island a couple of times today and it seems to be that they are grasping at any story they can conjure up somehow believing it is relevant to the political scene. 

[djones520]

And then they go on about their depression after the 2004 election.
I have wandered the island a couple of times today and it seems to be that they are grasping at any story they can conjure up somehow believing it is relevant to the political scene. 

2004?  Try 2000.  I've read countless threads where people talk about how horrible life has been since then.

[Bondai]

I am sure McCain has already dealt with any "demons" he might of had.

[Airwolf]

Even if true, he's still better then 80% of the Dump.

[Chris_]

Even if true, he's still better then 80% 100% of the Dump.

fixd

[BEG]

I thought they claimed he wasn't tortured.  Which is it?

[Carl]

I thought they claimed he wasn't tortured.  Which is it?

That is the most perplexing thing about the primitives.
They can have so many contradictory beliefs and will fight to the death over the truth of any one of them then state something completely opposit a few minutes later.

[BlueStateSaint]

I thought they claimed he wasn't tortured.  Which is it?

That is the most perplexing thing about the primitives.
They can have so many contradictory beliefs and will fight to the death over the truth of any one of them then state something completely opposit a few minutes later.

Maybe they'll start killing themselves, while arguing with themselves.

[Willow]

I kinda like the idea that McCain could be a little tempermental and testy. Immadinnajacket can worry about him going "postal" on him. 

[Vagabond]

I like that too Willow, maybe it would be a good thing for the rest of the world to walk on eggshells for a bit.