PTSD doesn’t need a new name, it shouldn’t be called something else to confuse soldiers any more than we already are coming home. Traumatic stress is the key, and traumatic stress isn’t the same for everyone. Being a soldier means being trained to take a life to preserve and protect life. We are trained to kill, we aren’t trained to think about killing. In fact everything is so Repetitively done and taught to take thinking out of the equation. Speeding is just training, we have to get somewhere and get there fast. The roads aren’t safe! How many times do you catch yourself looking at EVERYTHING on or by the road? I get mad when my partner is driving and misses the screw I spotted in the road out there to get us a flat tire. It’s not her fault, fear also trained us during deployment. Traumatic stress will change anyone who experiences it, PTSD is a never ending nightmare.

Thank you for this great presentation LCOL Kleinreesink - I was there too and strangely enough, I too ended with various speeding violations (among other issues). Peace be with you, Ciao, L (Veteran, 3 wars)

I've relaxed in the last 17 years given how I once was for many years up until the last few years. I'm still hyper vigilant when I'm asleep, however I'm used to the normal nonsense outside as I live on the outskirts of the big city, but if something doesn't sound right or gun shots go off, I find myself [after the fact] still reacting the same way just as if the fob was being attacked. My battle rattle is very close by even though I tell myself nightly I have nothing to worry about. Over a decade of therapy, numerous pills daily and nightly years later and I'm better than I used to be, but I'm no where near the "normal" I used to be. Even my military brother's that served years after me, are still combat ready daily and it shows in our mannerisms even though we haven't been in an active combat zone in years. Traffic jams are most of our worst nightmares and those around us can't understand it, but to us, it's not a comfortable feeling. I've gotten better than my friends who've only been out a short time and can calm them down a bit, but even though we're back on "friendly soil" , the cold hard truth is we'll likely never be truly unstressed the way we should be. For anyone who says combat brotherhood is romanticized and exaggerated either one, is one of the very few that the war zone didn't or hasn't affected them yet or just wasn't brought to their maximum breaking point or two, they have no idea what an actual combat zone is like on foreign land in a foreign setting where every time you look, you have a constant bounty on your head literally. I did truly enjoy this talk though, some good info and some intuitive ways to help me look at things differently.

@Darkstar5577

5 жыл бұрын

satguy27 Thank you for commenting. One thing I don't understand about US soldiers, maybe you can explain, is why don't you see yourself as victims of a tragedy that should never be repeated? Why urge the next generation to pick up the fight where you left off? Why do you dissociate yourselves from society instead of bringing what you have learned to the table and helping us overcome societary obstacles? It feels like the people and the military are more distant than ever now. It's all been downhill since Vietnam and Afghan/Iraq is no different. Why didn't we learn?

@gailbatty1702

5 жыл бұрын

@@Darkstar5577 First, we are taught to never think of ourselves as victims. That is removed from you very early on in a military career and I believe, having done 3 tours to the Middle East, one being the first Gulf War, it is necessary to be able to function and lead in hostile areas. Your second question is more complicated and actually took me years to figure out but is actually played out in many different areas of society. You want to believe in what you were doing and you want to believe the sacrifices you and other soldiers made with their lives was important/necessary. Something that was lost to our Vietnam Vets. Your third question is even more complicated. We usually share what we have learned in our immedient socialital circles. To elevate our knowledge to say a political sphere or a debate as if we were to run for office, well, many of us are not made/trained for that. Many of us commanded men and respect, something we see a general lack of amongst many civilians. They take coward shots on social media or through the media and I can't imagine why anyone would want to go though that to try and get what will be an unpopular opinion out. Lastly, we are not certainly distant amongst ourselves, at VA's, VFW's...No matter what service a person served with, they have a brother/sister in that other Veteran. I hope this helps -22 year Veteran

@joshuaberry816

5 жыл бұрын

Fuckin pog

@cynthiacarlisi9165

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your service. I have done professional therapeutic massage for people returning from combat, in their first few days on friendly soil. No one can know what they've been through, unless they're also in combat. I am honored to have met each one, and thankful to you all. I wish you the best for continued sober impeccability among so many civilians who function without honor.

@andrewlendvay9889

Жыл бұрын

Yeah we have to just pray and hope they don't start lighting us up with radio and driving us into more precarious situations. Unfortunately we ALL KNOW what a war zone looks like we just can't see invisible!

Very good discussion in short form. This topic can be discussed in depth for days on end. As a brief synopsis this Soldier discusses her experience and defines what most men and women experience when coming home: Post Deployment Disorientation. I love that description and her "definition" if you will. Most of us veterans do not suffer from PTSD, that is an over diagnosed condition but an extremely legitimate condition many suffer from. We come home from war and have to readjust to "normal" life even though our "normal" while deployed was being shot at or bombed. It is a difficult adjustment that all veterans went through on varying levels. It takes time and a willingness for personal reflection in order for those returning from war to readjust to "normal" life in our homelands.

I used to sleep in my full gear, boots loose and unblowesed, vest and top open, and helmet beside my head! lol I have all my gear beside my bed now days. lol

@AndyDaClimber

4 жыл бұрын

Bro get some help. Seriously that's not good.

@chrispeters1510

4 жыл бұрын

Me to with gas mask

You can take a soldier out of war, but you can't take the war out of the soldier.

A TedTalk well done! Both enlightening and moving. Mooi wark!

Great story teller.

you have my recognition

As a American soldier, I would much like to talk with you, I feel some of this, some has passed, and there are some other things that I don't think you said are true. Maybe just a message will get us started on a new outlook, you can have all the research glory on it. No worries. But none the less, pretty good.

I ruck marched for 4 damn years, right out of Fort Campbell. I just started walking. I was on leave for my last two months. I was a perfect soldier in everyones eyes. But I was so depressed and was using drugs while overseas. I came back and was told "alright man, your ETS date is right around the corner". I had 2 months of leave and I took em. And just started walking. I walked off the post and walked to the Atlantic Ocean. I then walked to the Pacific and back again. I learned so much. I saw my people were just like me. I had hated them so much when I first got back to the US. My strong and good friends died so they can live here and be pathetic I thought. But I learned that was not the case eventually. I was eventual arrested for stealing food while I was homeless. Those people you see hitchhiking and walking down the highway with backpacks are often veterans. I hated the army so much that I refused their help and disability. I refused to use their GI Bill. I refused to call myself a soldier. I was a man, an individual, and I felt that these weak civilians had tried to kill me somehow. I now know much better. I now know that the military industrial complex has intentionally polluted the minds of Americans, much like the government of Japan polluted the minds of everyone on it's little island to coerce them into fighting a ridiculous war against "the behemoth", my home, The USA, in WW2. There are many evils in the world. Our President Trump greeted one with a handshake. His name was Kim, and he ownes a lot of slaves in North Korea. You may notice that Trump is not talking about that, a war we should be fighting. A war I would be proud to die for.

@zimbabwe_twinnedwithanfield

4 жыл бұрын

If only young men could see that they re only fight in pH the cause of the elite. But when you young, your mind thinks totally different.

Geweldig gedaan Esmeralda, meer begrip 💖

So glad to learn war can bring benefits to people. My grandfather never told me that. Probably he was fighting the wrong war.

Excellent talk, thank you. What I would like to see, as a British Falklands War Veteran and academic researcher, is more talks by the non-officer classes (I could not afford countless speeding tickets... ;) )...I think the major (excuse the pun) differences in class and roles between the officer and non-officer class, in peacetime and in war, suggests that the officers' account (a very important and needed account), cannot reflect the account of the teeth arms soldiers; nor can it be generalised to all soldiers. My research suggests that the different ways in which individuals perceive the day to day experiences of the military's peacetime and war experiences, differ significantly between the officer and the non-officer classes...however, there does seem to be a cross over with Warrant Officers and officers... I truly believe that all research is excellent and necessary, however I question whether an individual with no experience of the class and culture of a group being researched, can effectively interpret qualitative interview data, as well as someone who has had that experience? I know that some of my colleagues have used ex-servicemen to check their research interpretations (and I have with a colleague set up such a group in partnership with the NHS research team (NIHR)), which assisted researchers in planning what to research (for the befit of the veterans) and assist in the interpretation of what data is collected. This is, in my humble opinion, a direction that requires more exploration by all researchers in all areas of research...I read lots of papers and I get the proposal, I get the data collection, however when I come to the results/interpretation of the data, and then I become confused...it doesn't reflect my, nor my colleagues, experiences of war, or of surviving war/discharge...if the results are universally accepted, then the start point of any further research may skew all further data interpretation. I say may. I am not decrying researchers, I just think we as a profession ought to look at the best ways to interpret data, especially when we research a group that has a different culture, different traditions and different ways of thinking, than our own. I would like to hear what others think? 40131946@live.napier.ac.uk Stay safe Kevin Spruce - PhD Candidate Class of 82 Academic Advisor to Lord Ashcroft's Transition Review Co-Director of Veteran To Veteran CIC.

pity is not necessary, but understanding is. if they cant give that then they need to leave us alone

My demons come come and go. I feel like the longer I’ve been out, the louder they get.

@handsomesquidward-_-

Жыл бұрын

You're not alone brother. It's been 10 years and it still feels like yesterday for us.

Fantastic! Loved it! She's extremely pretty too!

Does anyone the painting she is referencing, I am trying to find it online but I cannot seem to get the correct spelling if the artist??

@EsmeraldaKleinreesink

5 жыл бұрын

The painter is Stef Fridael.

I totally agree

I urge you All listening to her speech, which b.t.w is Very Good, to also look up Sebastian Junger on his speech on why modern day soldiers find it Hard to go back home and society!!! I'm a 35 year Veteran and to this day I still Know that modern society doesn't Welcome Soldiers back!!! Because they have no clue about anything about war!!!!

Lt Col Air Force? huh? What happened exactly?

I don't sleep under covers at night....14 years after returning from a year in Iraq. If you got caught up in covers in your cot, you might not have the split second you need to roll out onto the floor to avoid the daily and nightly mortaring. My husband (yes, I'm female) thinks I'm nuts.

LUV YOU XX

Johnny Rico? He was fighting the Bugs!

You are a child of God and are blessed..Gods little lioness...🦁 rah...

Damaged. We all react differently!

All of those symptoms sound like ptsd. Why do you need to divide a diagnosis that has the same symptoms. Sounds like what most soldiers go thru is traumatic, and there are different levels of mental trauma (like a spectum). This seems like it will only serve to polarize soldiers who already have enough reasons to divide themselves from civilians and other soldiers.

We put warnings in front of cigarette boxes we should do the same for military commercials

I felt the same way as just by returning from 6 months boot camp and basic training

How can someone that out of shape be an officer in a deploy zone? Looks like she'd struggle to run a 5k let alone pull a 200 pound man with 80 pounds of gear 100 yards to safety during a fire fight.

@TheEbreton1

4 жыл бұрын

vivi44 wouldn't be so sure about that. Besides it was in 06.

It’s been my experience that they weren’t changed. They just lost any concept of proper behavior. They are quick to anger and slow to calm down. They hold grudges forever and aren’t worth making friends with anybody. Before anyone asks. I grew up raised by WWII and Vietnam Veterans, and was in the military myself. This idea that they need special consideration for their behavior when they leave the military needs to end. At the point of their benefits and medical, they don’t deserve extraordinary attention or Liberty. They definitely don’t deserve special privileges. They made that choice.

been there done that. Not fun.

She has flash backs from reading stories... She never left the wire... Yes, I'm not looking pitty, she's right about that, but I also don't need any recognition. Or crave it at all. She's wrong there in saying soldiers crave their appreciation. She can't generalize the term "soldiers" in that statement; - a soldier not looking for a pat on the back

@Briselance

4 жыл бұрын

So what should we do? Not showing any appreciation to any servicemember? That would be ungrateful.

Civil society not worthy

Did you work at Abu Dhabi prison, you look familiar.

Fuckin pog's

I have lost two close friends that became girlfriends cause of my terrors

LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes. The only way to change any of their minds now is with SECONDARY wireless input to the brain. If you'll excuse me this is not what I was looking for. I'm leaving now

Everytime air force admin warfare pers talking about their "war story" in good old Kabul.. 🤣

You seen no combat, lmao!

@oyeahjustcomenting

5 жыл бұрын

She felt her life being threatened by the shelling of her base in Afganistan. Of course, she was not fighting back but its very much the same sort of issue that children in Israel and Gaza experience due to rockets and airstrikes, and that too is a serious threat

@MsPakir

3 жыл бұрын

Spoken like a grunt/ jarhead... never assume the plight of another soldiers suffering based on your own experiences..some soldiers never left the wire and were bombarded with mortar attacks daily and for months at end if not hourly while QRF could never catch the bastards. Even I would not assume they would not be affected by the war. As my ER medic battle said she never once stepped out but she saw even worked on the continuous flow of injured soldiers who were dragged in and she has every right to say war did affect her too maybe not physically but mentally being in a camp that would receive constant attacks does mess with ones mental state

I'm glad she is not participated in real war

She is full of BS. This is coming from an actual combat veteran. I'm sure she is traumatized just because she showed up in country

@frankhartman323

4 жыл бұрын

Lol!

@capitanulalex5829

2 жыл бұрын

She got deployed to ISAF Hq...... she saw a lot of combat....in the papers..

Oh no. The fobbit had it so hard. Give me a break

Sorry, I can't take women seriously on this topic. Once they join the ranks of combat arms IE infantry, then they can speak.

@Briselance

4 жыл бұрын

Because you think only infantry and combat arms are endangered in a combat zone? To the enemy, whether you are a logistician, a radio operator, or an infantry(wo)man makes no difference. You are an enemy.

@gregorybustos8213

4 жыл бұрын

Get off your high horse

She wouldn't and will never know what soldiers go through. Yes I see her gear and heard what she was talking about ,but she never should've been placed where she was in the first place. Woman aren't suited for military, police, firefighter actions and many more things that require strength and abstract thinking.