Joe Biden Speaks On PTSD With A Refreshing Vigor
We are going to get into this topic pretty heavily on Zero Blog Thirty this week, but I realize all the readers don’t listen to all the podcasts so I wanted to mention it on the blog as well.
Running for President must be an absolute nightmare. You can try to be careful in the media but then you slip with one verbal implication that the thousands of veterans who struggle with PTSD are weak and things really go off the rails.
I love Joe Biden’s passion on Veteran’s issues. Stories like the one that the Vice President told are so incredibly common. I’d imagine that Biden is correct, too. I’m sure that the young commander does see images of that soldier who was killed every time he goes to sleep. I’m sure that it’s haunting. I also believe that most rational people know that those ingrained images are haunting and, at times, debilitating.
Mental health care for veterans is a hot button topic and rightfully so. 22 veteran suicides a day is a fucking epidemic. Our care must be better. Our prepping those warriors for care must be better. We’ve got to move past the point where mental health is so stigmatized. Mental health care and treatment must become normalized because, as long as PTSD is seen as weird/dangerous or it’s seen as crazy to go to behavioral health, these issues will continue to grow like mold in a wet, warm basement. More and more veterans will be further and further removed from combat as the years go by. They will be further away from their support system. They will be in situations that they deem to be completely overwhelming.
We can’t have the illusion of weakness when PTSD or Traumatic Brain Injuries are involved. If you’re reading this and are struggling with PTSD, seek help. Dont wait until it’s too late. Contact someone. Contact the veteran crisis hotline at 1-800-273-8255. Please.
