AND THIS IS REASSURING?

AND THIS IS REASSURING?

(FRAZER CHRONICLE)

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

 

I surf the internet most every day, kind of like a shark looking for a morsel or tidbit of eatable food, or in my case, some decent news. Today there was an article penned by Dexter Mullins that appeared in Al Jazeera, relating a study the revealed the fact that 1 in 4 Army soldiers had mental illnesses before enlisting.

My initial reaction was great, sic those bastards on the Taliban, or some terrorist cells, like I said, that was my initial reaction. Like some of my friends who wouldn’t even give a thought about what sort of mental defect we were talking about here, they’d just be happy to get the problem out of society, into the military, where these diseased people can be properly diagnosed, or where their particular skills can be put to their best use.

The illnesses that the article talked about were some of the most common mental disorders…..and most of us have suffered from at least one, depression, panic attacks or disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) prior to enlisting into the Army. The study also revealed that 8% considered killing themselves at one time or another.

The study was done by the JAMA Psychiatry a kind of think tank in Washington D.C. that is commissioned by governments to study certain issues and problem areas that crop up from time to time. The director is Helen Blair Simpson an MD. PhD.

The report was triggered because of the high suicide rates among members of the United States armed forces. The study, which was released 3-3-14, stated that those who are most at risk of attempting suicide, I in 10 of those now survived and interviewed, also had a history of impulsive anger, a condition known as intermittent explosive disorder. That figure, 1 in 10, is more than five times the rate found in the civilian population.

The combination of this impulsive behavior, stress developed as a result of deployment and other mood disorders, increase the potential for a soldier to act on their suicide thoughts. Intermittent explosive disorder is the most common disorder among Army personnel and the second most common in the general population, coming in behind general “phobias” experts say.

The three research papers are the culmination of five years of collaborative work by academic, government and military researchers that have been investigating the numerous military suicides. The kinds of disorders that are very common ones, you just can’t have a business and say that “I’m going to take anyone.” These disorders should rule people out from being able to join the Army, or any other branch of the military, according to one of the researchers, Ronald Kessler.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

I was in the military, not during war time, but I saw guys that were different, hell I don’t know, maybe I was different. I never saw anybody shot and killed, I never saw anybody die, but there were some strange rangers out there.

I can’t say what we supply the military with…..I’m talking about our kids, but whatever it is, they sure as hell seem to be different then what was supplied in the old days. When I say “old days,” I’m talking about World War II, which I must add, was a war of necessity. Most of the world was at war in December of 1941, there were defined lines of the good guys and the bad guys, there was little conversation, we just went to war.

But since that time, 1941-45, every war that the U.S. has fought in has been hard to figure out, there was no clear defined reason for going to war, it was more an idea, or to help protect our allies rights. And there also were the Russians and their ideology. All of this is confusing to me, and I’m 70 years old, what it must be like for a 20 year old kid, I can’t even imagine.

The study talked about the decrease in suicides by 19% in 2013, down from 185 confirmed kills to 150 according to Army figures. Notice the bold and underlined kills, I mean absolutely no disrespect, but I’m sure that the Army brass has some pretty much in your face things to say about their problem.

I thought that the military was ramping up their criteria for accepting new recruits, guess not, huh. I got a copy of the standards for the different branches of the military, and thought I’d share them;

Air Force, age to enlist, 17-27, no more than two dependents, pass aptitude test

Army, age to enlist, 17-34, no more than two dependents, pass aptitude test.

Coast Guard, age to enlist, 17-39, no more than two dependents, pass aptitude test, willingness to work around water

Marines, age to enlist, 17-29, meet exacting physical, mental, and moral standards, pass aptitude test

Navy, age to enlist, 17-34, pass aptitude test

So if you are 17 to 39 years of age, in decent physical health, and test well, baby, you’re in, (women are discriminated against…..but oh well, better than being in one of those sex scandal situations where Generals sweep things under the rug).

Is anybody ever really ready for military service, I can’t answer that question, maybe a professional military recruiter can, hopefully. But there seems to be a deeper question here, one that nobody seems to discuss, or even wants to discuss.

THE CONVERSATION

If some in our military, according to statistics, 1 in 4 in the Army are mentally challenged, what about the other branches of our military service? And worse yet, what about the citizens of the United States, are we a quarter sick…..mentally? And if so, what can we do to identify those sick people, and get them the help that they need before the beat the hell out of their neighbor, or some poor smuck walking down the street.

How do are young people get to be mentally challenged, are we inbreeding, or has my generation, and the one right after mine poisoned the gene pool with drugs, and a dangerous lifestyle? If that is the case, as a people…..we are screwed, our past has come back to haunt us.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!