Reply #40

In the discussion thread: Soldier Held in Afghan Massacre Had Brain Injury, Marital Problems [View all]

Mon Mar 12, 2012, 10:39 PM

PavePusher (15,374 posts)

40. Before you jump all over people who might actually be entirely innocent....

It is quite common for military personnel to hide injuries and mental/emotional problems for a variety of reasons.

1. Feelings of obligation to fulfill their duties.
2. As a corrollary to item 1, a desire to avoid placing an additional burden on their comrades. ("If I don't do this some other poor bastard is going to have to do it.")
3. Wanting to avoid any possibility of being seen as shirking or "slacking". (This can be driven internally by both 1 and 2, and externally by peer pressure or other factors.
4. Promotion/career opportunities.
5. Ignorance (or sometimes, self-denial) of the actual or possible severity of their problems.

Anybody familiar with the military can attest to this. I've probably been guilty of all five at various points of my career.

Reply to this post

Back to OP Alert abuse Link to post in-thread

Always highlight: 10 newest replies | Replies posted after I mark a forum

Replies to this discussion thread

61 replies	Author	Time	Post
Soldier Held in Afghan Massacre Had Brain Injury, Marital Problems [View all]	denbot	Mar 2012	OP
This speaks volumes about how we are caring for our injured soldiers,	cbayer	Mar 2012	#1
There is no "we" in this	atreides1	Mar 2012	#5
Jeez, I just meant we as a country.	cbayer	Mar 2012	#10
Horseshit	pscot	Mar 2012	#16
Sorry, count me out of that.	caseymoz	Mar 2012	#27
have to agree with you	Voice for Peace	Mar 2012	#31
The people of Syria, are PUTTING THEIR FUCKING LIVES ON THE LINE...	TheMadMonk	Mar 2012	#32
We're the generation Ben Franklin warned against	pscot	Mar 2012	#37
Preach it, Comrade Monk.	PavePusher	Mar 2012	#42
For a long time they didn't try to "oust their bastard(s)"	caseymoz	Mar 2012	#49
Do the citizens of Syria "own" what their country is doing? Yes, actually, they do.	PavePusher	Mar 2012	#41
"We" are the government says nothing about facts.	caseymoz	Mar 2012	#50
Hear, hear.	Doc Holliday	Mar 2012	#34
(?) I have no butchers in my family.	caseymoz	Mar 2012	#61
WE gave them our kin for this abomination against humanity. Yes there were lies & mistakes, but	patrice	Mar 2012	#23
You act like you've never heard the idiomatic use before.	caseymoz	Mar 2012	#26
Yes there is a "we" Pontius.	TheMadMonk	Mar 2012	#30
Before you jump all over people who might actually be entirely innocent....	PavePusher	Mar 2012	#40
Who do you think is going down for this?	atreides1	Mar 2012	#2
It would not surprise me if his fitness for duty documentation went under close review, even before	MADem	Mar 2012	#18
Please see #40. n/t	PavePusher	Mar 2012	#43
Nope I knew we had screwed this guy up. This is on us.	dkf	Mar 2012	#3
That's what struck me as well. This guy was on his 4th Tour of Duty....	Moonwalk	Mar 2012	#8
As far as I can tell...	sendero	Mar 2012	#55
Actually, I think...	redgreenandblue	Mar 2012	#12
My dad was one of those	Alcibiades	Mar 2012	#47
absolutely right	pacificman	Mar 2012	#19
Sane and stable people are not known for their mass murders.	immoderate	Mar 2012	#4
A death penalty thread??? Aw hell, I would alert whatever I could all over THAT crap!	patrice	Mar 2012	#24
Somebody was going on about an exception for child killers.	immoderate	Mar 2012	#44
Not that there should be NO consequences, just something more constructive than the DP.	patrice	Mar 2012	#60
'Murderers'???	Mimosa	Mar 2012	#52
We are in agreement.	immoderate	Mar 2012	#56
What worries me is how many others are deployed when they should be getting care.	NRaleighLiberal	Mar 2012	#6
A few years ago my neighbor's son did one tour of Iraq, came home and tried to kill himself..	whathehell	Mar 2012	#22
^ Amen! Agree! ^ n/t	Mimosa	Mar 2012	#53
We will see more of this in the U.S. as well in the next decade.	nobodyspecial	Mar 2012	#7
So true - "Human beings aren't built for this."	Raksha	Mar 2012	#14
If you look at the days-in-combat figures, these are the highest ever, higher even than WWII. nt	patrice	Mar 2012	#25
Therein lies the rub, the dirty little secret about those who have sustained serious	indepat	Mar 2012	#9
This truly is a horrible situation.	hamsterjill	Mar 2012	#11
Will that be defence for shooting 2 year olds.	dipsydoodle	Mar 2012	#13
After the Haditha massacre trial any defense is plausible	Blue_Tires	Mar 2012	#57
A Product Of Endless War	DallasNE	Mar 2012	#15
I can imagine the mental suffering that Afghan people go through living in a constant	lumpy	Mar 2012	#17
Yes, I read years ago that the PTSD incidence and mental illness among children in Iraq and	polly7	Mar 2012	#21
IVAW has been waging a campaign to stop deployment of traumatized troops	pinboy3niner	Mar 2012	#20
Damned straight	frazzled	Mar 2012	#45
There is no evidence that the brain injury was a factor in his killing spree.	Vattel	Mar 2012	#28
No, but impulse control is a result of TBI, coupled with PTSD, there is good reason to suspect it.	denbot	Mar 2012	#33
not yet n/t	Enrique	Mar 2012	#48
brain injury or not,he should spend the rest of his life in prison.	bowens43	Mar 2012	#29
Spam deleted by Morning Dew (MIR Team)	safrthjt	Mar 2012	#35
Blackwater, uh Xe, uh Academi is at it again, those no good kettle stirrers	Dont call me Shirley	Mar 2012	#36
i wouldn't be surprised	certainot	Mar 2012	#39
the headline was cut- the third phrase was "...,listened to Limbaugh"	certainot	Mar 2012	#38
How does someone with a brain inhury get reassigned to a war zone???	excuse not to write	Mar 2012	#46
He killed 9 little kids while they slept.	AtomicKitten	Mar 2012	#51
We don't even know if he acted alone.	Mimosa	Mar 2012	#54
Do you mean	dipsydoodle	Mar 2012	#59
While I cannot hold him personally guilty for this due to this report I can and do hold the Military	jwirr	Mar 2012	#58

Edit History

Please login to view edit histories.