i'd be depressed tooo if i blew myself up like he did...
Posted on 08/29/2006 4:04:25 AM PDT by gr8eman
Former Sen. Max Cleland, who has battled bouts of depression since losing an arm and both legs in Vietnam, is being treated for post- traumatic stress disorder. Cleland, who represented Georgia in the Senate from 1997 to 2003, said he believes the condition _ cases of which are increasing rapidly among Vietnam war veterans _ was in part triggered by the ongoing violence in Iraq.
"I realize my symptoms are avoidance, not wanting to connect with anything dealing with the (Iraq) war, tremendous sadness over the casualties that are taken, a real identification with that. ... I've tried to disconnect and disassociate from the media. I don't watch it as much. I'm not engrossed in it like I was," Cleland said in an interview with WSB-TV in Atlanta.
He said he feels depressed, has developed a sense of hyper-vigilance about his security and has difficulty sleeping, the television station reported.
Cleland declined to discuss the matter with The Associated Press. An aide confirmed the diagnosis but said the former lawmaker is feeling better than he has in a long time.
The aide, Michael Duga, declined to say when Cleland's treatments started, although he said the disease is often intertwined with other illnesses such as depression, which Cleland has been open about confronting.
"This is not a new thing," Duga said. "He's happy and he's healthy and he's continuing with his counseling."
Cleland is receiving treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, Duga said. He said Cleland acknowledged his condition to encourage other veterans to seek help if they feel sick.
The Department of Veterans Affairs' inspector general reported last year that the number of post-traumatic stress disorder cases has increased dramatically in recent years, from 120,265 in 1999 to 215,871 in 2004.
A former VA administrator under President Jimmy Carter, Cleland has been highly critical of the Bush administration's funding for the agency. The Democrat also is a vocal critic of the Iraq war and is traveling the country to help Democrats campaign for office. He aggressively campaigned for Democrat Sen. John Kerry, a fellow Vietnam veteran, in the 2004 presidential election.
Cleland lost his Senate seat after one term in 2002 to Republican Saxby Chambliss.
My guess is his depression stems from losing his senate seat and not getting the plum job he thought he would get when Kerry was elected.
In other words, this unfortunate person needs a lot of help and should definitely not be giving out advice. (But that can be said of any Democrat.)
Pity about his maladies. Greater pity that he's allowed them to be traded on.
This sums it up, imho.
I buy it. I also think he is (disgustingly) using it to make a political point about the war in Iraq. I don't think it has to be one or the other.
I buy it too. He's had a brain injury that comes into the mix. It's real. Sure, his wife's going to see that it hits the news.
How far into the depths of STUPIDITY do these prix have to dig before they realize NO ONE is buying their B.S. any more?
They are playing on these bogus polls saying that people are getting tired of Iraq, but their absolute arrogance won't let them see that people also understand it's a neccessary part of the WOT.
I don't buy it for a nano-second.
i think the dnc is trying to rehab all the democrat politicians with "mental disorder" in order to say EVERYTHING is a wound.
Thus the democrat party members who happen to be soldiers can come back and make use of their military careers for anti-war purposes.
This goes with the DNC talking point of all soldiers are wounded.
This is fumble fingers rehab. They NEED walking wounded for speaker immunity.
Cleland will be back in 2008 "speaking for the soldiers".
he's looking for sympathy. People might feel sorry for him and vote democrat, after all it was Bush that caused his trauma.
Wanted to be sure you saw this in light of upcoming events. I won't be surprised if this is the media focus when they cover his appearance.
Reminds me of the lady on Boortz yesterday who said her SIL blamed Bush for her fathers lung cancer. "If he had only cancelled the space program and put that money towards cancer research, my father wouldn't be sick."
Sounds to me like he needs an excuse to not campaign for Murtha and other anti war critics. I guess we'll know on September 30th in Johnstown.
i'd be depressed tooo if i blew myself up like he did...
Is this condition brought on by being around traitors like John Kerry or does the condition cause one to seek out traitors like John Kerry.
He's an actor now, starved for attention.
Yep, I buy it...because I've seen it up close and personal, and perhaps you have too but just didn't recognize it. In late 1966 I was in Da Nang and witnessed a Marine with PTSS; I didn't know the guy so I shrugged it off. The next year I was at New London in a submarine damage control trainer and I saw it again (from a chief steward). This time I did know the guy(he had been in WWII and had made war patrols and had been depth charged) and when the damage control trainers began the drill it became too much for him to continue.
Back then they called it "shell shocked" because there wasn't a term for PTSS...and there were a lot of old WWII vets with PTSS. After I got out of the Navy I saw it again as I was a night security guard at a V.A. hospital while in college on the G.I. Bill and witnessed it a lot--mostly from alcoholics who had too much wine and began seeing their deamons from the war again.
I didn't agree with Cleland's politics (he is a bonafide liberal) but at least he served his country honorably--which is something a lot of Republican "chickenhawks" cannot say--and I believe his PTSS is real.
This is pitiful, that he can prostitute himself so. He must have caught it from Mother Sheehan. Pitiful.
It's crap. Cleland , who managed to damage himself, i believe, with his own grenade, has continued his bitter little journey since rightfuly losing his re election bid. What a pathetic, miserable little waste of time is he.
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