Is it fair or ethical for a veteran(or anyone else) to claim a disability or pension or benefit
/$$$ because of major mental health problems(psychotic behavior, suicide attempts, domestic violence, etc)......[/
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PTSD is none of that stuff.
No one knows for sure what was wrong with Eddie Ray Routh that caused him to murder Kyle. So far as i know he has defied mental classification. He could be bi-polar, a paranoid schizophrenic, had a traumatic brain injury or something else. Doctors, VA and otherwise, tell me there are tens of thousands of undiagnosed traumatic brain injury cases related to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
All we know is that Routh claimed to have PTSD. Some folks jumped on the PTSD thing right away.
Routh’s days at the Erath County Jail have not been placid ones. He was tasered by a guard a few hours after being booked, and his combativeness kept a mental-health expert from even completing her assessment of whether he is competent to stand trial—a question that remains. In a recent episode, Routh yanked his television from the wall, blocked his shower drain, and tried to flood the cell. He cannot sustain a cogent conversation.
One needn’t be at all sympathetic to Routh’s travails to grant that his psychological distress (and his inability, before the shooting, to get proper treatment from the Veterans Affairs facility in Dallas) factored into the tragic events in February. He has, however, received no counselling from the V.A. since late January.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blo...eterans-on-trial-after-chris-kyles-death.html
Routh, a member of the Marines Corps Reserve, was first taken to a mental hospital Sept. 2 after he threatened to kill his family and himself, according to police records in Lancaster, where Routh lives. Authorities found Routh walking nearby with no shirt and no shoes, and smelling of alcohol. Routh told authorities he was a Marine veteran who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"Eddie stated he was hurting and that his family does not understand what he has been through," the report says.
Routh's mother told police her son had been drinking and became upset when his father said he was going to sell his gun. She said Routh began arguing with them and said he was going to "blow his brains out."
Police took Routh to Green Oaks Hospital for psychiatric care.
Dallas police records show Routh was taken back to the same mental hospital in mid-January after a woman called police and said she feared for Routh's safety.
Green Oaks will not release patient information, citing privacy laws. Most people brought by police to the hospital are required to stay at least 48 hours.
In another brush with authorities, Lancaster police in May responded to a burglary reported by Routh's mother that included nine pill bottles. Police say Routh was involved but no other details were available.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...ptsd-suspect-chris-kyle-murder_n_2621764.html
The warning signs were there. It was much more than PTSD.
Much has been made of the PTSD thing by anti-gunners, those who know nothing about PTSD and those who really hate to see veterans compensated for disabilities incurred in the service of this country.
A couple days nearly every week i'm out hog hunting/hog trapping with two combat veterans who are diagnosed with PTSD. You would not know either has PTSD. One has a non-violent "episode" as he calls it about every six months. Won't see him for a few weeks then he's there one day ready to hunt: Same old guy.
