I found this article in a Veterans suicide
support group. It was written by a neurologist. She has dealt with
many active duty military returning from deployment. As she goes through the interview process,
she has found that many insist they do
not have TBI (traumatic brain injury) as they have never been struck in the
head or lost consciousness from a blast explosion. She has identified that does not mean they do
not have a TBI. When she has studied
them with a brain MRI~ the evidence of injury is present.
She relates that when you use a
high-powered gun/weapon or are exposed to a blast (even from a distance of 150
yards or more), and you feel the impact of the blast, there is the potential
for an injury from that event. The high
pressure wave that is created is similar to the pressure you would feel if you
were deep sea diving. Many Veterans are exposed to explosion, after explosion,
after explosion, and the brain injury is cumulative.
Protective body armor worn by troops may
increase the brain-blast injury. The helmets protect from bullets, but may
reflect the pressure from inside the helmet.
She reports that even sending injured military by life-flight may
increase the injury. She identifies that if they have a decompression injury,
it is harmful to transport them in an airplane or helicopter at a high
altitude. Many injured, have been transported by air to hospitals in Europe.
The more exposures and closer in time they
are, the more the injury. Symptoms of TBI overlap with PTS(post-traumatic
stress). If the Veterans are not aware of the connection between the blast and
their symptoms, they may be falsely diagnosed with PTS or other conditions.
Even one concussion/TBI blast injury
increases the risk of suicide. The number of military Veterans that take their own
life, is 22-35 daily. That is between
8030-12,775 a year; many more than have been lost in combat in the recent wars.
This information was taken from an
article by Carol L. Hendricks, MD, titled “Insights into military traumatic
brain injury.” I got this article from the group called Stop Soldier Suicide.
The Veteran Crisis line is 1-800-273-8255
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