Stressed soldiers forced to go absent
By Dahr Jamail
MARFA - With a military health care system overstretched by two ongoing wars,
in Afghanistan and Iraq, more soldiers are deciding to go absent without leave
(AWOL) to find treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Eric Jasinski enlisted in the military in 2005 and deployed to Iraq in October
2006 as an intelligence analyst with the US Army. He collected intelligence to
put together strike packets - where air strikes would take place.
On his return to the US after his tour, Jasinski was suffering from severe PTSD
from what he did and saw in Iraq, remorse and guilt
for the work he did that he knows contributed to the loss of life in Iraq.
"What I saw and what I did in Iraq caused my PTSD," Jasinski, 23 years old,
told Inter Press Service (IPS) during a phone interview. "Also, I went through
a divorce - she left right before I deployed - and my grandmother passed away
when I was over there, so it was all super rough on me." In addition, he lost a
friend in Iraq, and another of his friends lost a leg due to a roadside bomb
attack.
After returning home in December 2007, Jasinski tried to get treatment via the
military. He was self-medicating by drinking heavily, and an over-burdened
military mental health counselor sent him to see a civilian doctor, who
diagnosed him with severe PTSD.
"I went to get help, but I had an eight-hour wait to see one of five doctors.
But after several attempts, finally I got a periodic check up and I told that
counselor what was happening, and he said they'd help me ... but I ended up
getting a letter that instructed me to go see a civilian doctor, and she
diagnosed me with PTSD," Jasinski explained, "Then, I was taking the
medications and they were helping because I thought I was to get out of the
army in February 2009 when my contract expired."
As the date approached, a problem arose. "In late 2008, they stop-lossed me
[involuntary extension of service] and that pushed me over the edge," Jasinski
told IPS, "They were going to send me back to Iraq the next month."
During his pre-deployment processing, "they gave me a 90-day supply of meds to
get me over to Iraq, and I saw a counselor during that period, and I told him,
'I don't know what I'm going to do if I go back to Iraq'."
"He asked if I was suicidal," Jasinski explained, "and I said not right now,
I'm not planning on going home and blowing my brains out. He said, 'Well,
you're good to go then.' And he sent me on my way. I knew at that moment, when
they finalized my paperwork for Iraq, that there was no way I could go back
with my untreated PTSD. I needed more help."
When Jasinski went on his short pre-deployment leave break, he went AWOL, where
he remained out of service until December 11, when he returned to turn himself
in to authorities at Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas.
"He has heavy-duty PTSD and never would have gone AWOL if he'd gotten the help
he needed from the military," James Branum, Jasinski's civilian lawyer who
accompanied him to Fort Hood, told IPS. "This case highlights the need of the
military to provide better mental health care for its soldiers."
Branum, who is also co-chair of the Military Law Task Force, added, "Our hope
is that his unit won't court-martial him, but puts him in a warrior transition
unit where they will evaluate him to either treat him or give him a medical
discharge. He'd be safe there, and eventually, they'd give him a medical
discharge because his PTSD symptoms are so severe."
He's turning himself in "because he is not a flight risk and wants to take
responsibility for what he's done", Branum stressed.
"It's been a year, I want to get on with my life and go to college and become a
social worker to help people," Jasinski said of why he was turning himself in
to the military. "I want to get on with life, and I don't want to hide."
Kernan Manion is a board-certified psychiatrist who treated US Marines
returning from war who suffered from PTSD and other acute mental problems born
from their deployments, at Camp Lejeune - the largest marine base on the East
Coast.
While he was engaged in this work, Manion warned his superiors of the extent
and complexity of the systemic problems, and he was deeply worried about the
possibility of these leading to violence on the base and within surrounding
communities.
"If not more Fort Hoods, Camp Liberties, soldier fratricide, spousal homicide,
we'll see it individually in suicides, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, family
dysfunction, in formerly fine young men coming back and saying, as I've heard
so many times, 'I'm not cut out for society. I can't stand people. I can't
tolerate commotion. I need to live in the woods'," Manion explained to IPS.
"That's what we're going to have. Broken, not contributing, not functional
members of society. It infuriates me - what they are doing to these guys -
because it's so ineptly run by a system that values rank and power more than
anything else; so we're stuck throwing money into a fragmented system of inept
clinics, and the crisis goes on.
"It's not just that we're going to have an immensity of people coming back, but
the system itself is thwarting their effective treatment."
According to the army, every year from 2006 onwards there have been a record
number of reported and confirmed suicides, including in 2009. There has also
been an escalation of soldier-on-soldier violence, as the November 5 shooting
spree at Fort Hood by Major Nidal Hassan indicates. In 2008, there were also a
record number of suicides for the marines.
Jasinski's case is representative of a growing number of soldiers returning
from the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan who are going AWOL when they are
unable to get proper mental health care treatment from the military for their
PTSD.
A 2008 Rand Corporation report revealed that at least 300,000 veterans
returning from both wars had been diagnosed with severe depression or PTSD.
Jasinski's experience with the military has inspired him to offer advice for
other soldiers who need PTSD treatment but are not receiving it.
"Do not - do not - let a five- to 10-minute review by a military doctor
determine if you go to Iraq," he told IPS. "Even if you have to pay out of
pocket, go to civilian a doctor ... the military mental health sector is so
overwhelmed, they won't take care of you. Go see a civilian, and hopefully that
therapist will help you ... even then, I'm not sure that will help ... but you
have to take that chance."
When asked what he feels the military needs to do to rectify this problem, he
said, "A total overhaul of the mental health sector in the military is needed
... we had nine psychiatrists at our center, and that's simply not enough
staff, they are going to get burned out after seeing 50 soldiers each in one
day. We need an overhaul of the entire system, and more, good psychiatrists;
not those just coming for a job, but good, experienced mental health
professionals need to be involved."
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
