Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician, Toxicologist and Pharmacologist.
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - I had the dubious experience to watch and listen to the VA's new treatment for PTSD, "virtual reality", on ABC local news in Portland, Oregon. I was both fascinated and outraged.
Two doctors were directing the "experiment" of treating soldiers with "terror movies". One was Capt. Greg Reger, a psychologist who was manning the computer/player. The other was a civilian, Dr. Miles McFall of Seattle, Washington. It wasn't stated if he was a physician. He told the news reporter he was an expert on PTSD.
With the VA and the Army both admitting their treatment of PTSD veterans was a colossal failure, I can't imagine any doctor admitting he was involved in the colossal failure of the treatments.
I was astonished by the virtual reality experiment. It was about quartermaster troops in trucks driving in Iraq. I will admit truck drivers are in considerable hazard, but nothing compared to the infantry, who do the attacking, killing, wounding and dying. There is no comparison of the hazards of the two branches.
Dr. McFall admitted that the virtual reality experiment may be distressing. He doesn't know the half of it. Infantry combat is the most terrifying endeavor of mankind. The infantry has the highest casualty rates of both wounding and dying at 70 percent of the total. Tankers were next at about 5 percent. I suspect truck drivers may be a bit higher, but I recently read of a transportation battalion of maybe a thousand men having something less than 20 deaths in a year.
There seems to be one important fact that should be recognized but is not. There are several levels of PTSD disability. Level one is the least and it is probably little more than a minor nuisance, soon forgotten. Level ten is the most severe and the afflicted PTSD patient may probably never recover.
The Oregonian newspaper had a story about a combat Marine, Cpl. James Blake Miller. He had gone through extreme combat and survived physically far more than should be expected of anyone in close combat.
My estimate is that Cpl. Miller is a 9 or 10, or at the least an 8. It will be very interesting but heart-breaking to follow his saga in the news. He is but a microcosm of what is happening to hundreds of thousands of infantrymen who are surviving physically but ending up with PTSD.
It is possible that the PTSD veterans in the level 3, 4 or 5 may get some benefit from these "terror movies" but I doubt if any one of the above level 5 will be able to tolerate it. It is certain those above level 7 will not.
If anyone thinks this brave Marine is avoiding treatment they are demented. He would like to escape the demons attacking his mind and soul.
As a combat veteran, I can empathize with him. Who wants to endure the confrontation with the psychologists who can't possibly understand the damage to his mind and soul, but yet assure him "we are going to make you OK"?
Brain depressing medications are not going to help him according to VA reports and neither are anti-depressants. If there were anti-rage medications, they might help. In the meantime, Cpl. Miller is the tip of the iceberg.
PTSD: VA's Current Snow JobSalem-News.com