Memorial Day is a time to remember. On this day we focus our thoughts on those who gave their lives to give us our freedom. Indeed, these are dear memories of selflessness and sacrifice. Many fought and never returned home. However, those who did make it back to their loved ones often carry with them memories too difficult to bear. The sights and sounds of war brought a loss of innocence and an unfathomable severity of suffering with very few mechanisms to cope.
Only recently, we term this condition as post-traumatic stress disorder. In times past, it was called “shell shock”. However, no matter what we choose to name it, the disorder remains misunderstood by many. Often the nightmares and flashbacks remain hidden within the mind of the soldier until he or she cannot deal with it any longer. By VA statistics from 2022, eighteen veterans commit suicide every day. Many more deal with the stigma of depression and anxiety. If they remain enlisted in the military, they often avoid admitting there is a problem for fear of being labeled as weak. Thus, instead of proactively treating soldiers, the system itself promotes a culture of denial, creating a downward spiral toward suicide. Something has to change.
Memorial Day must be a time to remember not just the fallen soldier but the one living in our family, at our church and in our workplace. Be aware that they struggle with memories that we can’t even imagine. Over the years, I treated numerous veterans. Only a few opened up to confide in me their wartime experiences. Even then, I felt that they gave me only a glimpse of the horror. Did they feel that I wouldn’t believe them or were they somehow trying to protect me from their pain? Nonetheless, in asking and reaching out, doors opened for help and healing.
Unfortunately, the VA only recently recognized the magnitude of this crisis. Over the past few years, they instituted the Veterans Crisis Line and have taken measures to enlist more private psychiatrists and social workers to treat those suffering in silence. However, between the high suicide rate among vets (which is twice that of the US non-veteran population) and the addiction crisis, we find our psychiatric services overwhelmed. More primary care physicians need to step up to care for these individuals. It must become a part of our training. We see vets and their families every day in our practices for other problems. Through asking the right questions and assessing the individual’s needs, we start the process of healing. Perhaps then, our soldiers won’t suffer in silence any longer.
So, this weekend as we pause for a time to remember, be thankful but also be prayerful. Pray for the soldiers you know. Reach out in friendship to them and their families. If you are a veteran yourself, be open to others who share similar experiences. Only veterans truly understand what others like themselves suffer. When we begin recognizing the problem of veteran PTSD, then solutions will be found. We have lost too many soldiers on the battlefield to allow any more losses on our home front.
In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
The words of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
*Featured Photo courtesy of Canva
