Bob's Blog

Michael Phillips wrote in the Wall Street Journal,

...Eighteen years after the Sept. 11 hijackings spurred the U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban and its al Qaeda allies, American troops are still fighting and dying in Afghanistan. Negotiations between the U.S. and Taliban have lurched forward and stumbled backward.

Over the course of the war, 775,000 U.S. troops have fought in Afghanistan; 28,000 of them have served five or more tours. More than 2,300 Americans have died there, and 20,000 have suffered wounds, including amputated limbs and brain injuries.

A much larger number, more than 120,000, returned home with symptoms of post-traumatic stress, the hidden wounds of America’s longest war.

Michael then goes on to tell the story of a Marine who came back from Afghanistan with PTSD. It is a superbly written story that you can read here.

Emily Waltz reports in IEEE Spectrum,

Brain Stimulation Gives New Hope For Treating Psychiatric Disorders
Addiction, OCD, PTSD and depression: All of these conditions might be improved by stimulating one deep brain structure

Read more here.

U.S. Marine Vet Andrew Tahmooressi has been released from jail by a Mexican judge! Congratulations to Arizona Congressman Matt Salmon and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson for their efforts in this case. Two tours of duty in Afghanistan not as bad as being in a jail in Mexico.



Thanks to Noisy Room.net

I have written before about being a social work graduate student placed at the Veterans Hospital in Topeka Kansas in 1964-65. I was assigned to work with veterans who were alcoholics and their families. Because Topeka was home to the world famous Menninger Clinic, psychiatrists from all over the world came to study under Dr. Karl Menninger, a mental health pioneer.

Mid-60s, psychiatrists, what could go wrong? Guess what they did? They sat by the vets' bedsides and followed the vets as they went on supervised LSD trips!

Now guess what the federal government has approved? You guessed it: a study in which vets with PTSD are treated with marijuana! Here's a guy who thinks it's a great idea.