Hundreds of PTSD Soldiers Likely Misdiagnosed

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The report begins: "At the height of the Iraq war, the Army routinely fired hundreds of soldiers for having a personality disorder when they were more likely suffering from the traumatic stresses of war, discharge data suggests."

Army veteran Chuck Luther shows a tatoo on his forearm at his home near Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, 08/13/10. (photo: LM Otero/AP)

Comments

+2 # James Bowen 2010-08-15 09:45

Anyone remember who was President during the years of the worst abuses of the soldiers?

+3 # Guest 2010-08-15 10:13

This really isn't news. Back when the orders went down to avoid assessing anyone with PTSD we said that the army was lying. As the article points out, the army psychologists claim that they are so good that they can detect a mental condition that existed before going through hell, but the same psychologists are so incompetent that they couldn't detect that condition before entering the service.

If there are any high school teachers or other people in contact with eligible recruits, they need to let them know just how the army regards them as disposable utensils and will screw them over to avoid making disability payments.

0 # Guest 2010-08-15 15:53

Personality disorders are pervasive and persistent disorders that don't just pop up like a case of hiccoughs. If a personality disorder is diagnosable at discharge, it almost certainly was diagnosable at intake. Therefore, there really is no question regarding if service members were misdiagnosed. The only question is whether that happened on the way in when the military wanted every warm body they could find or whether that happened on the way out when the military wanted to shed liability for the consequences to the veteran of that military service.

0 # Guest 2010-08-16 10:01

An excellent and powerful dramatizacion of this problem and/or tragedy is exposed in the new play by Colin McKay "I'm not here anymore", currently at the Pan Andreas Theatre in Los Angeles, directed by Al Bonadies and performed by a superb group of actors.
Check it out.

+1 # Guest 2010-08-17 11:21

Misdiagnosed? What a lot of crap! Ignored, spurned, dumped are more accurate descriptions. PTSD is, obviously, classified as a mental illness. Mental illness is not a popular diagnosis in *anyone,* particularly in those whose diagnosis the military is responsible for.

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