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Hey Drew, I didn’t see the initial video, but I have to first commend you for the creativity of stop scroll videos! You could easily do some YouTube/Facebook ad videos lol. On another note, it is sad the attacks you got, but sometimes with sensitive topics like this, you have to qualify your answer first and then provide more insight. I agree with you after having gone through REBOOT and seen what Mighty Oaks is doing among other organizations that many of the issues we face are at the soul level, not medical level even from a mental perspective. Austin’s perspective as well is interesting too. “It would be nice if people could be appropriately educated and prepared to deal with these levels of stress ahead of time, and we could forego the PTSD and other problems. That day may come in the future, and everyone reacts differently to things, but for now this what we’ve got-medications, therapy, philosophy, brain chemistry, etc.” One of my “little sisters” (a young lady in her 20s going for higher level education whom I’ve known she was a young teenager) is going through occupational therapy and told me that a lot of what we know today about occupational therapy came from treating soldiers back in World War I. That was interesting. She also believes that there can be an inoculation of sorts from mental illness issues like PTSD by training certain skill sets ahead of time. I agree with her. In fact, I see it in my own life where I have been through really difficult situations but for the most part came through stronger and still am moving forward because of strong coping mechanisms of my faith in Jesus, close relationships with brothers and sisters in the Lord, a strong sense of purpose, and other skills used to effectively deal with crap in my life. Yesterday I was having a drink with a few of my fellow Marine leaders and were discussing some of their past experiences in combat operations and recognized (without surprise) that they talked more about issues that were related to what we call “moral injury”. One of the guys discussed how he really started to question some of the decisions being made by people around him who got almost too “kill happy” from those in the US military (my words here) and the other in terms of real life difficulties of dealing with the same issues but from another partner force and extremes on the other end of cowardice from another partner force. These issues won’t be resolved by medication. I for one still being in am recognizing the need to be a force of positive influence on decision making to prevent these types of things to the best of my ability both in terms of lives lost or shame felt from actions in wartime that could have been done differently.
Chris, Moral Injury is a difficult thing indeed. When it comes to what you’ve observed or the actions of others, it becomes extremely difficult to sort out. It seems more spiritual in a sense- people asking, “Why would God allow that?” There is no medication for moral injury. You can numb the pain but it doesn’t help treatment or resolve the issue.
Medication might buy time, but they don’t fix underlying problems – they are to mask symptoms. Convincing someone that they are ruined and will require medication for life is going to depress them – and when the prescriptions involve anti-depressants, it becomes a self-licking ice cream cone of misery and failure. Artificially pumping more happiness into your brain – while your rational mind is fully aware that things are going poorly – both in your own mind, and in the world around you – is retarded. Medications can help get someone from point A to point B alive and avoiding prison time, but they aren’t going to repair trauma, teach morality, or give you a new path forward in life.
If you’re taking a medication that alters your mental state and decision making ability, and you take it for months or years, you’ll be getting accustomed to the false way it’s making you feel, and you’ll be taking actions in your life that you would not take in your unaltered mental state. When you cease taking those medications, you will be suddenly faced with the real way you should have been feeling, based on your adaptations to stressful environments – but there will be less memory associated with the stress reactions, it will feel more foreign, disorienting, and unsettling. Coming off of medications is dangerous. Then there’s the life decisions and long term impacts of that to deal with too. The whole thing can turn into a shitshow pretty quick.
It would be nice if people could be appropriately educated and prepared to deal with these levels of stress ahead of time, and we could forego the PTSD and other problems. That day may come in the future, and everyone reacts differently to things, but for now this is what we’ve got – medications, therapy, philosophy, brain chemistry, etc.
Chris Reardon
October 2, 2020 14:47Hey Drew, I didn’t see the initial video, but I have to first commend you for the creativity of stop scroll videos! You could easily do some YouTube/Facebook ad videos lol. On another note, it is sad the attacks you got, but sometimes with sensitive topics like this, you have to qualify your answer first and then provide more insight. I agree with you after having gone through REBOOT and seen what Mighty Oaks is doing among other organizations that many of the issues we face are at the soul level, not medical level even from a mental perspective. Austin’s perspective as well is interesting too. “It would be nice if people could be appropriately educated and prepared to deal with these levels of stress ahead of time, and we could forego the PTSD and other problems. That day may come in the future, and everyone reacts differently to things, but for now this what we’ve got-medications, therapy, philosophy, brain chemistry, etc.” One of my “little sisters” (a young lady in her 20s going for higher level education whom I’ve known she was a young teenager) is going through occupational therapy and told me that a lot of what we know today about occupational therapy came from treating soldiers back in World War I. That was interesting. She also believes that there can be an inoculation of sorts from mental illness issues like PTSD by training certain skill sets ahead of time. I agree with her. In fact, I see it in my own life where I have been through really difficult situations but for the most part came through stronger and still am moving forward because of strong coping mechanisms of my faith in Jesus, close relationships with brothers and sisters in the Lord, a strong sense of purpose, and other skills used to effectively deal with crap in my life. Yesterday I was having a drink with a few of my fellow Marine leaders and were discussing some of their past experiences in combat operations and recognized (without surprise) that they talked more about issues that were related to what we call “moral injury”. One of the guys discussed how he really started to question some of the decisions being made by people around him who got almost too “kill happy” from those in the US military (my words here) and the other in terms of real life difficulties of dealing with the same issues but from another partner force and extremes on the other end of cowardice from another partner force. These issues won’t be resolved by medication. I for one still being in am recognizing the need to be a force of positive influence on decision making to prevent these types of things to the best of my ability both in terms of lives lost or shame felt from actions in wartime that could have been done differently.
Drew
October 8, 2020 11:33Chris, Moral Injury is a difficult thing indeed. When it comes to what you’ve observed or the actions of others, it becomes extremely difficult to sort out. It seems more spiritual in a sense- people asking, “Why would God allow that?” There is no medication for moral injury. You can numb the pain but it doesn’t help treatment or resolve the issue.
Austin
September 26, 2020 22:28Medication might buy time, but they don’t fix underlying problems – they are to mask symptoms. Convincing someone that they are ruined and will require medication for life is going to depress them – and when the prescriptions involve anti-depressants, it becomes a self-licking ice cream cone of misery and failure. Artificially pumping more happiness into your brain – while your rational mind is fully aware that things are going poorly – both in your own mind, and in the world around you – is retarded. Medications can help get someone from point A to point B alive and avoiding prison time, but they aren’t going to repair trauma, teach morality, or give you a new path forward in life.
If you’re taking a medication that alters your mental state and decision making ability, and you take it for months or years, you’ll be getting accustomed to the false way it’s making you feel, and you’ll be taking actions in your life that you would not take in your unaltered mental state. When you cease taking those medications, you will be suddenly faced with the real way you should have been feeling, based on your adaptations to stressful environments – but there will be less memory associated with the stress reactions, it will feel more foreign, disorienting, and unsettling. Coming off of medications is dangerous. Then there’s the life decisions and long term impacts of that to deal with too. The whole thing can turn into a shitshow pretty quick.
It would be nice if people could be appropriately educated and prepared to deal with these levels of stress ahead of time, and we could forego the PTSD and other problems. That day may come in the future, and everyone reacts differently to things, but for now this is what we’ve got – medications, therapy, philosophy, brain chemistry, etc.