So what does the LA Times have in common with the Iraq Veterans Against the War-funded Under The Hood coffee shop in Killeen, Texas? They both think that the shooting in Texas is an opportunity to talk about PTS, post-traumatic-stress. The problem is that the shooting had nothing to do with PTS.
The shooter, Ivan Lopez, didn’t have PTS. He told the doctors that he had it, he also told doctors that he had a TBI – traumatic brain injury – but the facts don’t support either claim. He was being treated for depression, anxiety and sleeplessness, but his PTS and TBI were undiagnosed – they were self-reported. That doesn’t stop the LA Times from leaning on the “crazy vet” meme to explain the whole incident to us;
The disorder alone does not make a combat veteran or anyone else more prone to premeditated violence, experts say. But it can severely strain relationships or lead to a firing or demotion at work — events that can push someone over the edge.
And some conditions associated with PTSD — depression, anxiety, anger, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts — are also associated with those who commit mass shootings.
“It’s easy to identify possible predictors of a rare tragic event after the fact,” Richard J. McNally, a psychology professor at Harvard University, said in an email interview. “It is much harder to predict it.”
The 34-year-old Lopez had been examined by a psychiatrist last month and was prescribed Ambien, among other drugs, while undergoing evaluation for PTSD.
“We have very strong evidence that he had a medical history that indicates unstable psychiatric or psychological conditions,” Army Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the Ft. Hood commander, told reporters. Yet Lopez was not placed under any restrictions, according to the Army.
Several studies have found that combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD are two to three times more likely than other combat veterans to commit domestic violence or other violent acts, said Dr. Prakash Masand, a former Duke Univeristy [sic] psychiatrist who has studied the disorder.
Not exactly true. PTS makes veterans withdraw from social contacts which means that their violence is directed inward, not outward. The LA Times tries hard to say that even though the shooting at Hood isn’t PTS related, it really is.
Meanwhile in Killeen, Texas, Under The Hood coffee clatch manager, Cindy Thomas is also blaming PTS for the shooting;
For her part, Thomas grapples with the harsh media spotlight that tragedies like the Fort Hood shooting generate, but weighs it against the awareness it brings to the struggles of everyday soldiers.
“We’ve been seeing these things happen on a smaller scale for years, soldiers killing spouses in houses, domestic violence” – the things Americans outside the military community don’t hear about.
“We have talked about it until we’re blue in the face,” she says. “These are the kinds of things that happen when we don’t take care of our soldiers.”
Dependopotamus Thomas doesn’t mention that her husband, a careerist in the Army, divorced her ass when she started Under The Hood against his wishes. Things like her behavior probably contribute more to domestic violence in Fort Hood than any reaction to the soldiers’ participation in war.
Yes, I’ll agree that troops talking to each other about their experiences is the best treatment, but troops talking to Matthis Chiroux and the other border-line criminals, like Carl Webb who are attracted to Under The Hood doesn’t help anyone – except Cindy Thomas and the IVAW.
I’ll remind you that Jason Abdo, the failed Fort Hood bomber, a client of James Branum, the anti-military lawyer who was a regular at Under The Hood, was probably supported by Under The Hood and IVAW while he was hiding out from Fort Campbell child porn charges.
