Comments on: Army Vet’s Suicide Raises Questions About VA’s Treatment of PTSD Cases http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/07/army-vets-suicide-raises-questions-about-vas-treatment-of-ptsd-cases/ a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:27:33 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Christophe http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/07/army-vets-suicide-raises-questions-about-vas-treatment-of-ptsd-cases/#comment-57702 Christophe Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:51:29 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=2405#comment-57702 PTSD is one of very few disorders listed in the DSM that has a social basis to its etiology. I think that many MH professionals-at least the more honest and thoughtful of them-see the socially strategic nature of their endeavor. Western culture, specifically the U.S., is awash with victims, mentally ill and disordered individuals, and others who have decided to assume his sickness to be life-long ( "chronic", if you will). And so, the state, and certainly, the capitalist economy, with its surplus of labor, has a means of warehousing (accounting for) otherwise healthy citizens, be it as non-producer, dependent, or, a combination of both. As for bodily illnesses, there are many folks out there that are physically sick, yet who keep toiling to keep things running in society (to paraphrase Winston Churchill, a "chronic" alcoholic and depressive). Every state has worked into its budget and, provides the requisite institutions, for those who find themselves in the system, many for life. I strongly suspect that MH practitioners do succeed in delivering many with PTSD back to (near) normalcy. I do also think that many "patients" find the label difficult to shirk, for whatever reason. MH professionals count on individuals taking on labels qua life-long debility, because this justifies budgets, new hospitals, and, for the pharmaceutical industry, continued R&D and profits. It is irrefutable that the Therapeutic state (the MH profession working alongside political entities) has a social and economic part to play in a culture were mental illness is literalized. PTSD is one of very few disorders listed in the DSM that has a social basis to its etiology. I think that many MH professionals-at least the more honest and thoughtful of them-see the socially strategic nature of their endeavor. Western culture, specifically the U.S., is awash with victims, mentally ill and disordered individuals, and others who have decided to assume his sickness to be life-long ( “chronic”, if you will). And so, the state, and certainly, the capitalist economy, with its surplus of labor, has a means of warehousing (accounting for) otherwise healthy citizens, be it as non-producer, dependent, or, a combination of both. As for bodily illnesses, there are many folks out there that are physically sick, yet who keep toiling to keep things running in society (to paraphrase Winston Churchill, a “chronic” alcoholic and depressive). Every state has worked into its budget and, provides the requisite institutions, for those who find themselves in the system, many for life. I strongly suspect that MH practitioners do succeed in delivering many with PTSD back to (near) normalcy. I do also think that many “patients” find the label difficult to shirk, for whatever reason. MH professionals count on individuals taking on labels qua life-long debility, because this justifies budgets, new hospitals, and, for the pharmaceutical industry, continued R&D and profits. It is irrefutable that the Therapeutic state (the MH profession working alongside political entities) has a social and economic part to play in a culture were mental illness is literalized.

]]> By: John Hatch http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/07/army-vets-suicide-raises-questions-about-vas-treatment-of-ptsd-cases/#comment-25398 John Hatch Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:29:27 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=2405#comment-25398 This sounds like everything else in the Bush Administration- send people off to war under false pretenses, have them commit atrocities causing mental consequences they can't handle, then just ignore them, and lie about what a great job you're doing to help them, and about how much you care. Of course if young people did't buy the bull, refused to kill Iraqis or Afghans or commit atrocities thus staying sane, then they wouldn't need the corrupt and inefficient and uncaring VA. This sounds like everything else in the Bush Administration- send people off to war under false pretenses, have them commit atrocities causing mental consequences they can’t handle, then just ignore them, and lie about what a great job you’re doing to help them, and about how much you care.

Of course if young people did’t buy the bull, refused to kill Iraqis or Afghans or commit atrocities thus staying sane, then they wouldn’t need the corrupt and inefficient and uncaring VA.

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