I hate being a disabled vet

[F350-6]

Love your soldiers, for the pot smokers they are.

I'm just now seeing this thread, no respect for the OP.

Really?

I don't think the OP is the one who had any respect lost here. You might want to check the mirror for that one.

 

[Glockster69]

Really?

I don't think the OP is the one who had any respect lost here. You might want to check the mirror for that one.

Why, because I don't blindly support/agree with GHG? Because we don't agree?

Neither are the American way nor what he "wrote a blank check" on his life for, even though he now expressly excluded me.

If you contrast this OP and comments with others including a thread he helped lock by going on an anti-alcohol tyrate, while posting elsewhere what he's drinking and often *I'm drunk*, perhaps you'll understand my position. In other words, consistency matters to me.


The news about how poorly the VA operates disgust me, but that's not an excuse for every Vets negative actions.

 

[Sugar Land]

This one going down hill fast.

 

[Glockster69]

It is civil so far.

 

[grasshopperglock]

It is civil so far.

Please troll another thread.

 

[Mike1234567]

I hesitate to write this but I think it's important and pertinent... and I'm addressing everyone rather than the OP.

While I empathize with the Op's emotional issues, I think they may be less about being a veteran with PTSD and more about longer term issues. I've known plenty of people who are depressed, anxious, have dealt with some horrible and heart-breaking problems, are occasionally confused, sometimes feel hurt and neglected, etc. And these people were never in the armed services. I'm one of them... though as I grow older I also grow more numb to it. I was never in the military but I did work civil service for nearly a quarter century, at first for the Air Force then for the Army. My job, as it is with all DoD civil servants (if they properly understand their duties) was to support our troops. The latter half of my duties exposed me to much of the healthcare aspects of the military. While many come home with horrific physical and/or emotional trauma, the vast majority of those soldiers seem to have been brainwashed to believe they have PTSD and should just quit doing anything productive. I'm not quite sure why command does this but I sincerely believe they do. Maybe it's just to bring in fresh new younger more impressionable more controllable minds.

My brother was always the very depressed type. It's just a brain chemistry thing. It's my belief, the more we sympathize and encourage this type of behavior, the more this feeds the demons they harbor within their minds. Don't feed the demons... starve them. Some folks have it in their minds that they need others to feel sorry for them. For what? There are tens of millions of people in the world who've had much harder lives than I or nearly anyone else on this forum have had. Yet they keep going because the alternative is the weak way out.

When my son was 13 years old he was going through a very stressful time. He stood on the second floor balcony of the apartment and said he was going to jump. So I asked him, what if he just smashes his feet such that he's in pain his entire life, or does some other permanent damage? I told him we just need to talk about his problems and find solutions to them and if no solutions are possible then we need to just need to find ways to deal with them. I told him dealing with stress and crappy problems are just a part of life and we need to be strong and logical about it. He came back inside, we talked over his issues as we always did, and he and never expressed any desire to hurt himself again.

My point is, my brother's depression (and others I knew) fed on the sympathy they so hungered for. The poor pitiful me monster is a damned relentlessly hungry SOB. If I'd fed that monster I'm sure I would have offed myself a very long time ago. Just don't feed that monster because it will eat you alive... if you let it.

 

[TXDARKHORSE361]

While many come home with horrific physical and/or emotional trauma, the vast majority of those soldiers seem to have been brainwashed to believe they have PTSD and should just quit doing anything productive. I'm not quite sure why command does this but I sincerely believe they do. Maybe it's just to bring in fresh new younger more impressionable more controllable minds.

Jesus Christ you went full retard here

 

[karlac]

While many come home with horrific physical and/or emotional trauma, the vast majority of those soldiers seem to have been brainwashed to believe they have PTSD and should just quit doing anything productive.

You have a point, but IME it is a minority, not the vast majority, who game the system and thereby steal finite resources from those in need.

I sadly agree that the term "PTSD" has become another opportunity for the entitled minded culture progressives have fostered.

 

[Mike1234567]

I don't think so, DarkHorse. I was never important enough to have any influence (that may be a good thing) but I sat in on hundreds of MEDCOM meetings at FSH and heard much more than I ever wanted to. BTW, why single out a very small portion of my post to react to? There's no question that I do sometimes "go full retard", as you so eloquently describe it, but you haven't seen and heard what I have.

 

[Glockster69]

Please troll another thread.

ZERO trolling on my part. You may be surprised to hear I've received notes agreeing with my comments herein and that they too are legitimately concerned about you.

Have you sought help outside the VA system? Obviously rhetorical unless you choose otherwise.

 

[Mike1234567]

You have a point, but IME it is a minority, not the vast majority, who game the system and thereby steal finite resources from those in need.

I sadly agree that the term "PTSD" has become another opportunity for the entitled minded culture progressives have fostered.

I probably exaggerated... let's say "half" are brainwashed to game the system or simply convinced that they need to be angry and depressed. I'm NOT saying the OP is doing this.

 

[TXDARKHORSE361]

I could say the same to you, I'm gonna say our experiences were different enough that comparing them would be apples and toothpaste.

That's the section that made we say wtf, also being at work and on my phone I don't have the time to type out a full response to everything you wrote.

 

[grasshopperglock]

ZERO trolling on my part. You may be surprised to hear I've received notes agreeing with my comments herein and that they too are legitimately concerned about you.

Have you sought help outside the VA system? Obviously rhetorical unless you choose otherwise.

Wow, What a way to attack someone that's done ZERO against you. You put your foot in your mouth by bombing this thread with your opinion. When you realize it was a late night mouth diarrhea. You attack me and "gather" notes as a way to overshadow your anger and embarrassment.


I refuse to fight with you. It's not gonna happen lady.

 

[Mike1234567]

Fair enough, DarkHorse. My experiences probably are different than yours. However, that doesn't make those experiences insignificant. My exposure to events were nearly all at MEDCOM level. I was just a lowly VTC technician but I saw and heard quite a bit. Although I think many Commanders' hearts were in the right place, I also think they relied far too much on anecdotal and outmoded information. The problem is, just as medical doctors, they often failed to keep up with current trends and were locked into misunderstood and incorrect data. Also, all too often they were too "politically correct" to argue against higher command.

I remember when General Kevin Kiley failed to address serious issues at Walter Reed and he let George Weightman take the fall. Weightman was/is a damned fine and honorable soldier. I have ZERO respect for Kiley. The truth was finally revealed and Kiley was forced into retirement, losing a star. That was FAR too good for him!! Kiley didn't give flying shit about his soldiers. This is just my opinion but I think Kiley was a lazy ignorant spoon-fed arrogant SOB.

BTW, thank you (and the other mods) for allowing open and honest conversation.

 

[Glockster69]

By "notes" I meant PMs, completely unsolicited by me. I am not gathering notes on you or any TGT member.

I am intentionally ignoring the rest of your post.

 

[grasshopperglock]

By "notes" I meant PMs, completely unsolicited by me. I am not gathering notes on you or any TGT member.

I am intentionally ignoring the rest of your post.

Did your foot taste that bad?

 

[TXDARKHORSE361]

Fair enough, DarkHorse. My experiences probably are different than yours. However, that doesn't make those experiences insignificant. My exposure to events were nearly all at MEDCOM level. I was just a lowly VTC technician but I saw and heard quite a bit. Although I think many Commanders' hearts were in the right place, I also think they relied far too much on anecdotal and outmoded information. The problem is, just as medical doctors, they often failed to keep up with current trends and were locked into misunderstood and incorrect data. Also, all too often they were too "politically correct" to argue against higher command.

I remember when General Kevin Kiley failed to address serious issues at Walter Reed and he let George Weightman take the fall. Weightman was/is a damned fine and honorable soldier. I have ZERO respect for Kiley. The truth was finally revealed and Kiley was forced into retirement, losing a star. That was FAR too good for him!! Kiley didn't give flying shit about his soldiers. This is just my opinion but I think Kiley was a lazy ignorant spoon-fed arrogant SOB.

BTW, thank you (and the other mods) for allowing open and honest conversation.

Not my intention saying its insignificant, but by and large this is a agree to disagree topic I suppose. My experience is that of a lowly NCO in an infantry battalion in a non infantry MOS. I do not receive any disability and honestly never even applied for it. I'm also coming from the perspective of someone who has lost a close friend to his own hand a month after he separated from the Marine Corps, the VA had him on a cocktail of about 8 different medications (started before his separation) I do not see that as the easy way out or cowardly. It does not sit well with me that we lose so many but neither does saying people have it worse off so your struggles don't matter. No that is not an attack towards you but a general observation.

There are a lot of people who fabricate for the benefits, there are a lot of Dr's both in and outside the VA and military health system that misdiagnose and/or mistreat by throwing pills at a problem, however there are a lot of guys out there who do need the help and won't pursue reaching out for it until the stigma is gone. From my personal experience and the experiences of guys I've served with I'd say it's about a 75% against the VA and a 25% positive split. Personally I can't say I've ever been mistreated or had any kind of overall negative experience with the VA, there have been uncomfortable moments at the San Antonio clinic I went to when I got out and frustration with scheduling issues but as I said overall positive.

 

[Mike1234567]

Not my intention saying its insignificant, but by and large this is a agree to disagree topic I suppose. My experience is that of a lowly NCO in an infantry battalion in a non infantry MOS. I do not receive any disability and honestly never even applied for it. I'm also coming from the perspective of someone who has lost a close friend to his own hand a month after he separated from the Marine Corps, the VA had him on a cocktail of about 8 different medications (started before his separation) I do not see that as the easy way out or cowardly. It does not sit well with me that we lose so many but neither does saying people have it worse off so your struggles don't matter. No that is not an attack towards you but a general observation.

There are a lot of people who fabricate for the benefits, there are a lot of Dr's both in and outside the VA and military health system that misdiagnose and/or mistreat by throwing pills at a problem, however there are a lot of guys out there who do need the help and won't pursue reaching out for it until the stigma is gone. From my personal experience and the experiences of guys I've served with I'd say it's about a 75% against the VA and a 25% positive split. Personally I can't say I've ever been mistreated or had any kind of overall negative experience with the VA, there have been uncomfortable moments at the San Antonio clinic I went to when I got out and frustration with scheduling issues but as I said overall positive.

I hear you, DarkHorse... and accept your observations and experiences. You seem to mirror (in some ways) my observations regarding poor medical and psychological treatment of our soldiers. Whether you know it or not, (I think) we agree far more than you realize.

I'm very sorry about your US Marine buddy. My guess is, he received the wrong treatment for his internal demons. Again... what I've been saying all along. I've seen stupidity in both the military and civil servant and contractor areas at FSH. Throw a bunch of drugs at them and provide so-called "counseling" from idiots who are either untrained or failed in their fields.

What amazes and sickens me is the flagrant ignorance and complete lack of logic within the entire system. Your friend, and many soldiers are given all kinds of sympathy and treatment from (insane) psychologists and psychiatrists plus those with no training other than cursory bullshit from outdated crap from overpaid morons who only provide data and training and who possess "credentials" from colleges course for which they're virtually "gifted" the credit just because of the MOS they held and/or duties they performed in the military. That doesn't mean a fucking thing regarding their abilities to deal with such issues. They're retired military personnel seeking to suck on the government tit... that's all.

Greed... all too often it's all about greed... rather than what's best for the people they're supposed to be helping.

 

[grasshopperglock]

My primary doctor is a Scott&White retiree. Hopefully the federal employee drama won't make him bitter. It'll turn him into a di*k if it does.

VA employees cannot be fired. It takes federal court to remove them. Which don't happen. They're just trained more.

There's an underlying mentally in the VA system.....that's makes it difficult to navigate. It's a borderline circus.

 

[karlac]

There's an underlying mentally in the VA system.....that's makes it difficult to navigate. It's a borderline circus.

This.
It can be navigated, but it helps to be in top physical and mental condition to do so.
Very often defeating its entire purpose ...