“I strongly suspect that after the psychiatrists examine the Marine, they will find he needs institutionalization and a lot of psychiatric care.”
Since he was already diagnosed with PTSD, why didn’t the psychiatrists already know that he was dangerous and institutionalized him prior to this?!
Ron Paul’s tweet is disgusting because he almost says “it serves him right” for fighting for his country.
I think we all agree that Paul stupidly shot his mouth off and that the Marine really needs work on his head space and timing. But it is part of an even bigger problem.
After WWII, the media pushed the idea that soldiers returning from the war were dangerous. Which outside of a few incidents proved not to be the case. But Iraq and Afghanistan may actually be worse in the long run.
Some soldiers did more than a dozen tours. The relative number of PTSD cases is extraordinarily high. And while the “acute” effects are likely not going to be unusually high, the “chronic” effects are going to be like nothing ever seen before.
As a rule of thumb, half of PTSD cases spontaneously get better. The majority of the remainder have their own curve, with most having milder forms of disability; some needing extensive care; and a relative few that are mentally gone for good.