October 22nd, 2010 by admin

One of the ways in which the manufacturers of the standard anti-anxiety meds sell their pills is the claim the drugs relieve anxiety, produce a state of calm and reduce the risk of terror attacks. In the ordinary world where there are few real dangers, this is all very reassuring. No one wants to freak out in the mall when the crowd of shoppers builds up. But do we really want our soldiers to be regular users? The trigger for this questions was the admission from the U.S. Army that more than 105,000 soldiers had prescriptions for painkillers, anti-anxiety meds and antidepressants. The world of the professional soldier is always full of stress. It starts with the need to carry heavy equipment around, sometimes over rough terrain. No matter how careful you are, it’s easy to twist an ankle or knee. Add in the fact someone might try to shoot at you and you’re going to be keeping low and moving fast. With there being a shortage of active soldiers, troops are cycled into and out of the combat zone with ever shorter periods of rest. Frequently, soldiers are sent back out with injuries not properly healed. They only get through with the help of painkillers.

When you are being sent out for your third or fourth tour of duty, it’s also easy to be anxious, if not depressed. Forced extensions after the enlistment contracts are up as part of the stop-loss program does not send our soldiers out in the best possible frame of mind. Then, living in difficult and dangerous conditions in a foreign country, fighting an enemy you cannot see, adds to the challenge. So, perhaps it’s not so surprising such a significant number of serving troops are routinely prescribed mood-control drugs. The latest suicide statistics, however, are surprising. Over the centuries, fewer serving in the Army have committed suicide as compared to the civilian population. That has all changed with the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have been at war for longer than ever before. The result is that suicide is the third most common cause of death. When you add in all the other deaths caused by drug-induced behavior, like driving while under the influence, more soldiers kill themselves or each other than are killed by the “enemy”. Forget about the deaths of others caused by “friendly fire”. Our soldiers are more dangerous to each other. Read the rest of this entry »