i'd be depressed tooo if i blew myself up like he did...
Posted on 08/29/2006 4:04:25 AM PDT by gr8eman
Former Sen. Max Cleland, who has battled bouts of depression since losing an arm and both legs in Vietnam, is being treated for post- traumatic stress disorder. Cleland, who represented Georgia in the Senate from 1997 to 2003, said he believes the condition _ cases of which are increasing rapidly among Vietnam war veterans _ was in part triggered by the ongoing violence in Iraq.
"I realize my symptoms are avoidance, not wanting to connect with anything dealing with the (Iraq) war, tremendous sadness over the casualties that are taken, a real identification with that. ... I've tried to disconnect and disassociate from the media. I don't watch it as much. I'm not engrossed in it like I was," Cleland said in an interview with WSB-TV in Atlanta.
He said he feels depressed, has developed a sense of hyper-vigilance about his security and has difficulty sleeping, the television station reported.
Cleland declined to discuss the matter with The Associated Press. An aide confirmed the diagnosis but said the former lawmaker is feeling better than he has in a long time.
The aide, Michael Duga, declined to say when Cleland's treatments started, although he said the disease is often intertwined with other illnesses such as depression, which Cleland has been open about confronting.
"This is not a new thing," Duga said. "He's happy and he's healthy and he's continuing with his counseling."
Cleland is receiving treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, Duga said. He said Cleland acknowledged his condition to encourage other veterans to seek help if they feel sick.
The Department of Veterans Affairs' inspector general reported last year that the number of post-traumatic stress disorder cases has increased dramatically in recent years, from 120,265 in 1999 to 215,871 in 2004.
A former VA administrator under President Jimmy Carter, Cleland has been highly critical of the Bush administration's funding for the agency. The Democrat also is a vocal critic of the Iraq war and is traveling the country to help Democrats campaign for office. He aggressively campaigned for Democrat Sen. John Kerry, a fellow Vietnam veteran, in the 2004 presidential election.
Cleland lost his Senate seat after one term in 2002 to Republican Saxby Chambliss.
My guess is his depression stems from losing his senate seat and not getting the plum job he thought he would get when Kerry was elected.
In other words, this unfortunate person needs a lot of help and should definitely not be giving out advice. (But that can be said of any Democrat.)
Pity about his maladies. Greater pity that he's allowed them to be traded on.
This sums it up, imho.
I buy it. I also think he is (disgustingly) using it to make a political point about the war in Iraq. I don't think it has to be one or the other.
I buy it too. He's had a brain injury that comes into the mix. It's real. Sure, his wife's going to see that it hits the news.
How far into the depths of STUPIDITY do these prix have to dig before they realize NO ONE is buying their B.S. any more?
They are playing on these bogus polls saying that people are getting tired of Iraq, but their absolute arrogance won't let them see that people also understand it's a neccessary part of the WOT.
I don't buy it for a nano-second.
i think the dnc is trying to rehab all the democrat politicians with "mental disorder" in order to say EVERYTHING is a wound.
Thus the democrat party members who happen to be soldiers can come back and make use of their military careers for anti-war purposes.
This goes with the DNC talking point of all soldiers are wounded.
This is fumble fingers rehab. They NEED walking wounded for speaker immunity.
Cleland will be back in 2008 "speaking for the soldiers".
he's looking for sympathy. People might feel sorry for him and vote democrat, after all it was Bush that caused his trauma.
Wanted to be sure you saw this in light of upcoming events. I won't be surprised if this is the media focus when they cover his appearance.
Reminds me of the lady on Boortz yesterday who said her SIL blamed Bush for her fathers lung cancer. "If he had only cancelled the space program and put that money towards cancer research, my father wouldn't be sick."
Sounds to me like he needs an excuse to not campaign for Murtha and other anti war critics. I guess we'll know on September 30th in Johnstown.
i'd be depressed tooo if i blew myself up like he did...
Is this condition brought on by being around traitors like John Kerry or does the condition cause one to seek out traitors like John Kerry.
He's an actor now, starved for attention.
Yep, I buy it...because I've seen it up close and personal, and perhaps you have too but just didn't recognize it. In late 1966 I was in Da Nang and witnessed a Marine with PTSS; I didn't know the guy so I shrugged it off. The next year I was at New London in a submarine damage control trainer and I saw it again (from a chief steward). This time I did know the guy(he had been in WWII and had made war patrols and had been depth charged) and when the damage control trainers began the drill it became too much for him to continue.
Back then they called it "shell shocked" because there wasn't a term for PTSS...and there were a lot of old WWII vets with PTSS. After I got out of the Navy I saw it again as I was a night security guard at a V.A. hospital while in college on the G.I. Bill and witnessed it a lot--mostly from alcoholics who had too much wine and began seeing their deamons from the war again.
I didn't agree with Cleland's politics (he is a bonafide liberal) but at least he served his country honorably--which is something a lot of Republican "chickenhawks" cannot say--and I believe his PTSS is real.
This is pitiful, that he can prostitute himself so. He must have caught it from Mother Sheehan. Pitiful.
It's crap. Cleland , who managed to damage himself, i believe, with his own grenade, has continued his bitter little journey since rightfuly losing his re election bid. What a pathetic, miserable little waste of time is he.
PTSS is caused by liberal angst over actually having to fight.
If it wasn't everyone would suffer from it.
Post traumatic stress is a serious condition, and I in know way want to disrespect vets who have it. But It just seems a bit to convenient to be having this 3 months before November elections.
I agree, he very well might be suffering from this. I think what bothers everyone is the way he went public with it and allows it to be used for political gain.
Most people I know who might fall under this category go to counseling and get help, they don't go to get help and then run to the press to declare its all his political rivals fault.
I thought it was terminal. Prayers for Mad Max.
that was cold but,so,so true.
I can't believe all you posterior orifices on here. Very few of you know what you are talking about and you should keep your stupid opinions to yourself. PTSS-PTSD is real. It is debilitating. It is hell. Just STFU BTDT
100% disabled from service connected PTSD Viet Nam 66-67
This is just more B.S from the left.You know half the people will buy this crap. pretty sad
oh8eleven didn't mean to address my above post to you. Sorry. Thank you for your service
But I thank you for your comments and of course your service.
Greg Adams
Formerly of Da Nang, Phu Bai/Hue
Brownsville, TX (on the other front line)
skysoldier - I salute you for your service, but we have to suck it up and maintain our bearing. Guys like Murtha and Kerry want nothing less than to portray folks like us as frothing at the mouth, knuckles dragging mental cases and drug addicts. Don't let them have the satisfaction. Fight through your pain, and continue working towards a peaceful (pacified) world where our grandkids don't have to take up arms any more than they have to. Semper fi
and support Diana Irey (www.irey.com).
This article is a joke right?
I wish him good health and a long life, as I would anyone who wore the uniform.
I also wish him a long, long retirement from public life! His service does not excuse his current actions. He undercuts the very soldiers who should be his spiritual brothers.
Welcome home and thanks for your service, brother.
PTSD sufferers experience different levels of intensity. It is not like pregnancy wherein "you are or you are not."
However, Cleland's manifestation is too convenient, and I note that HE is the one who says it was brought on by the Iraq war, not the doctors.
Since Cleland has been caught in lies several times over the last few years, and because he is not above grandstanding as a victim for political purposes, I simply have to discount this story as a fabrication for political purposes.
PTSS-PTSD is real. It is debilitating. It is hell. Just STFU BTDT
100% disabled from service connected PTSD Viet Nam 66-67
@@@@@
Posters on this thread are not denying the disorder, which is a terrible residual effect of wartime service. The question before us is = Do we believe that Max Cleland has it and chooses to share the news with the media?
The consensus seems to be that he is using veterans AGAIN to make political points.
Doea this fall into the "Martyrs we Dare Not Question" category that is so prevalant in the Democrat/Liberal Party
A friend and co-worker's Viet Nam vet husband shot himself in their backyard about 6 months after the invasion of Iraq. He'd been battling depression for 20 years.
It's believable to me.
This is just a transparent media ploy to improve Cleland's news profile prior to the run-up for the pro Murtha rally on 9/30.
He was on Bill Maher's show last week having a great time laughing his head off, and Bill sucking up to him(sorry for any visuals that may come to mind).
The only saving grace of that miserable show was seeing Christopher Hitchens running circles around Bill Maher's puny intellect---and Chris flipping the bird to Bill's audience.
I've had PTSD and I doubt that it is retroactive. Furthermore, it is possible to get over it.
It's Bush's fault.
So is PTSS - Post Traumatic Spelling Syndrome. I no becuz I ben there two.
and yeah... I know a lot about it, a lot. It pisses me off when I see guys in their early 40's claiming to be Vietnam vets dirty, drunk, addicted and living with mama saying they've got ptsd.....
most of the soldiers, marines and seals that see combat or are in forward operating areas do fine.
It's WAR..... it's not normal to see people blown to bits in front of you or to be talking to your friend and have him shot. It's not normal to get all sweaty when you walk into a building waiting for a charge to go off or somebody to shoot you in the face. It's not normal to walk in the beautiful forests/jungle and feel that every step is gonna be your last.
but you go home to your wife and kids, pray to God and thank him everyday that you've got this bonus, called the rest of your life and you MOVE ON AND LIVE.
If you were screwed up before combat, it ain't gonna help matters. If you've got a good support system....you'll be fine.
and if you're a liberal democrat a-hole before joining up..... you'll just be a more disciplined democrat a-hole when you get out..
As for PTSD - he must have seen someone juggling a grenade and had flashbacks to his Near-Darwinian moment in Nam.
I believe it is real also, what I do not buy into is that anything remotely to do with Iraq can have an effect. I was in Iraq and, although not wounded, I will never be the same again. High blood pressure due to hypertension or some such and I think that the stress of war can cause after effects but only the actual experience. No way IMO can deaths in Iraq cause this guy to have problems more than he already has.
...but Cleland has proven himself an opportunitist at all levels!...
..and I distrust him.
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