Returning soldiers have more car crashes: study

[douglas9]

BOSTON (Reuters) - Military personnel have 13 percent more car accidents in which they are at fault in the six months after returning from overseas duty than in the six months prior, a USAA study revealed on Tuesday.

USAA, a major insurer catering specifically to the armed forces and their families, based its study on 171,000 deployments by 158,000 of its members over a three-year period ending in February 2010, when combat was still raging in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In many cases, USAA found, soldiers took the driving style that kept them alive on the streets of Baghdad and Kabul and applied it to the suburban roads at home.

The results were most dramatic for returning members of the Army and Marines, whose accident rates rose 23 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively. (Rates were up 3 percent for the Navy and 2 percent for the Air Force).


http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/24/us-insurance-military-idUSBRE83N04Q20120424?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

[pinboy3niner]

1. It's also one method for commiting suicide

Investigative results often may be inconclusive on that point due to lack of an actual suicide note or testimonial evidence of the service member/veteran's suicidal ideation and intent.

It wasn't until 20 years later that I learned that my first RTO (radioman) in Vietnam commited suicide by driving head-on at high speed into a tractor-semitrailer shortly after he got back. I never learned the details from media or official sources, and I don't know how his death was classified. I learned about it from a man in the platoon who was close to the RTO in-country and after they got back, and I trust his account.

He was a damn good man, too.

R.I.P.

[MADem]

2. This wouldn't surprise me at all.

Even in less contentious areas of the ME, it's a very different interaction when you drive over there--if you make eye contact with a driver, you've essentially ceded the right of way.

[polly7]

3. I wonder too about all the meds they may have been given and could still be on.

Anti-d's, Anti-anxiety's like benzos, sleep-aids .... a combination which makes driving difficult for a lot of people who take take them ... especially when unmonitored and self-adjusting dosages or self-medicating with other things in desperation to forget, and have life go on as it was before. It's just my own theory, but something that could also contribute, imo. There have been many articles on how many were given meds over there and back home.

[pinboy3niner]

4. That's a very good point, polly

It used to be that someone who was depressed was prescribed a med, and after a series of trials they'd settle on the one that seemed to be helpful.

Now we're seeing docs prescribe cocktails of meds just for depression--when only one used to do. And that's on TOP of other meds prescribed for pain, anxiety, and other conditions.

We've seen reports of troops on these Pharma cocktails dying in their sleep in-country and at U.S. bases.

It's hard not to get the impression that the 'mental health community' is, once again, experimenting with a 'captive' group--military troops and veterans--without any ethical or moral regard for the consequences.

Whether or not that may be a factor in car crashes is the least of the issues and questions involved here.

[polly7]

6. Yes, and thank you for reminding me of all the pain meds mixed into these cocktails.

I remember the months after losing my Dad to a violent suicide, I took meds in my cupboard I didn't even read the labels of, just to get the images out of my mind. Stupidly, I drove because I had to but I do remember being in and out of ditches along the way. Imagine years of seeing horrible images and having to participate in the circumstances around them ........ it would be pure torture trying to go on and leave them behind. Yes, this could be just one factor in it all. I really think there should be more resources available for those who return home just trying to cope.

[pinboy3niner]

7. Trauma survivors share a lot in common

There are significant differences between war trauma survivors and other trauma survivors--but there are also significant commonalities.

I''m very sorry for your loss of your dad, especially in that way and for all of the trauma that caused you. At the same time, I recognize in you, as I do in myself and other trauma survivors, not just those negative effects in our lives, but also the positive effects of enduring that trauma.

Those images will never go away. But one thing I tell HS and college students on speaking visits is, "You didn't have to go to Vietnam to find your compassion. But it sure could add a lot of fuckin' depth."

Take care, polly...

Love & Peace,
pinboy3niner

[polly7]

8. Thanks for that, those students you speak to are very lucky to have someone who knows the

value of empathy and compassion. I don't think I could ever understand completely what any one of those returning soldiers have gone through, and I HATE the people that caused it all, but in order to stop the troubles many of them are getting into after returning, we at least have to try to understand what they've been through. Maybe those in charge are trying .... I don't know, and I have my doubts because of how they tried to lessen the harm and stats of PTSD within the military, but it seems the statistics in the OP and in many other cases are showing the returning members are not getting enough help. This needs to be a national / international priority for all who've been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan and their families, who I worry about so much.

"You didn't have to go to Vietnam to find your compassion. But it sure could add a lot of fuckin' depth." - that's excellent.

[HubertHeaver]

5. Was true in the early 70's also.

The first 6 months back were the most deadly.