Caring for Troops With Stress Disorders

Re “Revulsion to War Isn’t a Mental Disorder,” Commentary, July 8: As a Vietnam combat veteran with a 70% service-connected disability (post-traumatic stress disorder), I agree with much of what Richard J. McNally says. True, a questionnaire given to troops three to four months out of combat is not a valid source of PTSD diagnosis confirmation. It is, however, a valuable beginning indicator for any agency that is willing to undertake a timeline study of these troops to determine how and if they’ll be sweeping their nightmares, flashbacks, disturbing thoughts and the many other PTSD symptoms under their individual psychological rugs.

These kids coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan must not be clinically ignored by the psychiatric community. It may be true that revulsion to war isn’t a mental disorder, but if that revulsion persists and is allowed to tragically morph into thousands of cases of PTSD, it will signal a social disorder of the highest magnitude

Joe Paquin

Fillmore