How to give someone a howling case of PTSD: The Army’s recipe in action
Much talk of post-traumatic stress disorder has come out of the Iraq War, but little is as striking as that of Lt. Col. Bill Russell Edmonds, a Special Forces officer whose memoir is scheduled to appear in a few months. In the book, titled God Is Not Here: A Soldier’s Struggle with Torture, Trauma, and ...
Much talk of post-traumatic stress disorder has come out of the Iraq War, but little is as striking as that of Lt. Col. Bill Russell Edmonds, a Special Forces officer whose memoir is scheduled to appear in a few months.
Much talk of post-traumatic stress disorder has come out of the Iraq War, but little is as striking as that of Lt. Col. Bill Russell Edmonds, a Special Forces officer whose memoir is scheduled to appear in a few months.
In the book, titled God Is Not Here: A Soldier’s Struggle with Torture, Trauma, and the Moral Injuries of War, Edmonds says in his first sentences, “I’m a good person forced to make many horrible choices.”
What especially makes it stand out is that it amounts to a textbook on how to develop a howling case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). All the ingredients identified by the noted psychiatrist and veterans’ counselor Jonathan Shay in his two groundbreaking books on the syndrome are here.
If the Army in some perverse experiment had consciously wanted to try to induce PTSD in one of its officers, it could not have done a more effective job than it did on Edmonds.
(For the rest, click here.)
Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1
More from Foreign Policy
Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak
Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.
Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage
The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.
The West’s False Choice in Ukraine
The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.
The Masterminds
Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.
Sign up for World Brief
FP’s flagship evening newsletter guiding you through the most important world stories of the day, written by Alexandra Sharp. Delivered weekdays.
By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.