I Had This Ridiculous Idea Last Night...

[MurphyJB]

So, this is probably absolutely absurd; but hear me out.

This would only be for people going to combat, as others with PTSD can't predict their trauma.

What if our servicemen and women were slowly exposed to the trials of overseas before they even got there?
What if that was part of their training from day 1 of enlistment?
Would that make a difference? Would their brains be wired differently when in the actual situation since they would have already been exposed to it?

Food for thought.

 

[sea]

It's difficult to expose a person to all of the varieties of things that go on overseas in a safe and conductive environment. When I was doing BCT we would have drills where we would go into a smoke-filled room with flashing lights going off, and have to move bodies properly while going through the environmental checks and potential "gunfire". It was a pretty amped up exercise and it got the adrenaline up but in the end, everybody knew they were safe, so it was not very effective in preparing. Things like IEDs, the "random" factor (it could happen At Any Time), disfigured/mutilated bodies, having to fire at enemies, having enemies fire at you, having your life in danger. You cannot replicate that unless your life is actually in danger, which would be illegal. Soldiers are already as exposed to the environment as they can be before they are sent off, the reason why it isn't very effective is because there is nothing that can simulate it unless your sergeant decides it's time to play "Randomly fire at the cadets while they duck behind crates".

 

[MurphyJB]

Thanks for you reply, Sea.
You have excellent points.

Maybe sometime in the future they'll have some sort of virtual reality game or something. Like I said...just a crazy idea last night as my fiancé was throwing punches in his sleep. Lol.

 

[sea]

I'm thinking if it were possible to have a level of "exposure" to trauma before the brain could handle it there probably wouldn't be any PTSD cases due to childhood abuse at all since a person is gradually exposed to that over their lifetime as well. The thing is that even with virtual reality, it still does not replicate the situation because you still know your life is not in danger. That knowledge is subconscious, at the end of the day it is just another "game over". You can get up and try again next time, but there isn't such luck in the field.

I think the only way to successfully prepare a soldier for the level of trauma they will experience is to actually threaten their life. Of course that is unethical and illegal so it will never happen. But that is just my opinion, and maybe things have changed now so who knows really. Anything is possible. It's just in the end though I don't think "exposure therapy" really works in instances of trauma because by its very definition any exposure would be controlled, whereas trauma itself is uncontrolled, unpredictable, dangerous, uncertain. It all depends how much a person is able to deal with the trauma and process it. I know they do train you to be able to handle a higher level of stress, and they do stress you out as much as they can, but that stress still does not compare to what a soldier will actually face if they see combat. PTSD is after-all a disorder, it is an abnormal response to trauma.

I'm sorry to hear about your fiance.

 

[Kintsugi]

I'm not combat and this is just a thought, but what if just learning coping strategies for stress and education on PTSD management skills before the trauma/combat could be implicated into early training? I know the military probably wouldn't be too hot on preemptive treatment/education because it's probably somewhat costly or time consuming or whatever. I don't know. Just a thought. I understand that you can't really predict or simulate trauma, but I know that the earlier on someone gets treatment the better. What if treatment could exist before trauma? Would it help? Maybe soldiers would be less likely to develop PTSD? Or at least identify and manage easier.

I know that alcohol is a pretty inevitable part of the service, at least from my servicemen friends. I wonder if it would still be a big problem if there was a lot of education before alcoholism was a big part of military server's lives? I really don't know.

 

[MurphyJB]

Childhood abuse does span over a period of time, but the person beig abused usually knows it's not normal. They know something is wrong.
Where as children that grow up in a war torn country don't develop PTSD because that is all anyone there has known...it's not out of the ordinary.

Now I'm getting of topic...

 

[MurphyJB]

MsA,
I think the military (at least in the US) does educate about PTSD somewhat before deployment.
My fiancé said that he ha a briefing on it before both his deployments....but I doubt anyone took them seriously, or paid attention.

I think your idea about educating about alcoholism is an awesome idea...could save a lot of lives.

 

[sea]

I think teaching soldiers coping skills for managing PTS and trauma would be invaluable. Teaching them about the effects of war and trauma on them, their families, their friends, etc. Unfortunately most soldiers don't take that kind of thing seriously. It is a group of young individuals who have a lot of preconceptions about being in the military, the one common theme is invincibility. That Won't Happen To Me!

Military culture is generally very anti-help, if someone needs "help" that means they could not handle it, they could not deal with it, they were weaker. The environment itself is a breeding ground for PTSD especially because combat is becoming more and more intensive, the deployments are longer, the redeployments are quicker, the rates for personnel to see combat are growing higher, the number of troops is steadily getting stronger. On top of that there is the implied, unspoken understanding that if a person seeks help it means they are not strong. In some cases it means they are just crazy. I think that is slowly being eliminated but it has a very long way to go.

I think an element of normalizing would be good though, which is what is starting to happen now with the VA counseling services upon return and so on, but many many people still fall through the cracks because it essentially says "you must volunteer for this," which most will not do. I think mandatory education, that means sitting these kids down and making the training and the skills a part of BCT, would go a long way. In the end though realistically education is only as good as it can be applied, so I think in general the military needs to start adjusting its viewpoint entirely. Which is difficult to do because the basic precept of BCT is to toughen you out, and it is hard to toughen someone out and say "Seek mental help if you need it" at the same time. You know?

 

[Mina]

Childhood abuse does span over a period of time, but the person beig abused usually knows it's not normal. They know something is wrong.

I found this statement somewhat upsetting, because it's not true. There is no "usually" on that. Myself and plenty of other PTSD sufferers have not identified the abuse as abnormal (or as abuse) until much later in life.

 

[MurphyJB]

I'm sorry for upsetting you, that was not my intent.
I'm not speaking as an expert, more so just talking through ideas.

 

[MurphyJB]

I was also speaking from personal experience.
I knew that other peoples dad's didn't hit them when I was younger. I knew that it wasn't normal.

 

[sea]

Normalizing trauma is not the same thing as not being traumatized. There is an inherent part of Human nature that resists being treated negatively and being exposed to pain. Rats and birds and monkeys resist being hurt, and they do not have the capacity to understand they are being abused. They still learn how to avoid getting hurt, and will adopt behaviors that ensure they receive the least amount of pain and suffering.

Humans are the same way. Just because someone thinks it is normal to get hit does not mean that they will not avoid trying to be hit. They know they do not like it, they know it is negative, they know it hurts, they know they don't want it. Kids resist doing things they don't want all the time. Whether or not you perceive your trauma as normal, or even traumatizing, has absolutely no bearing on whether or not you develop PTSD. I don't mean to offend or upset anybody by saying that it is just something I know from both personal experience and observation. Just because someone considers their way of life normal does not take away the fact that it causes them suffering. Normalizing suffering does not make it any less painful. That is why I tied it into my statements earlier, saying that it is not possible to build a tolerant level of exposure to trauma. Even if you consider the trauma normal, it still would not have an effect on whether or not you developed PTSD.

Soldiers are exposed to combat for months and years at a time, it becomes their way of life, but there is still no level of combat that suddenly makes it all right. That suddenly makes it less intense, that makes it less upsetting, less visceral. Unless a person has a reduced capacity for stress, for physical pain, they are going to find it arduous and probably terrifying. They will probably gradually get used to the terror itself, until the fear itself diminishes bit by bit, replacing itself with anger and tension. But the adrenaline, the hypervigilance, the alertness, the anger, the fuel - that does not go away ever. Your body reacts the exact same every single time until you are too exhausted to move.