Republican grifter and media star Sarah Palin rarely misses a chance to insert the fact that her son, Track, served in the U.S. military as a way to bolster what her fan base sees as her “conservative credentials.” So it wasn’t surprising that when that same son got arrested after he beat up his girlfriend last week she quickly went into default pity mode, suggesting that Track had experienced Post-traumatic stress disorder and was not responsible for his own actions. She even floated the coarsely vulgar notion that his behavior was prompted by his lack of respect for this President, rather than her rotten parenting skills or the possibility that her son may just be a bad person.
And although her cheap shot at the President drew the attention she craves so much, Palin’s handy excuse for her son may have actually managed to hurt the veterans she claims to respect in a way that clearly never crossed her mind.
Brandon Friedman, writing for the New York Daily News, explains:
Palin’s implicit assertion that it’s normal or standard for a PTSD diagnosis to lead to physical violence is simply not accurate. And peddling in that kind of misinformation sets back the progress post-9/11 veterans have made in re-integrating after war, whether it’s in school or at work.
Contrary to caricature, those with PTSD — veterans and non-veterans alike — are simply not ticking bombs who could snap at any moment. Research has shown this time and again.
Now that Palin has shot off her mouth in such a public way, Friedman thinks veterans may think twice about seeking help for post-traumatic stress, fearing that a diagnosis may become known to a potential employer:
[S]he’s perpetuating an unwarranted stigma that will almost surely cause other veterans with PTSD to hesitate in reaching out for help, especially if they think a diagnosis will hurt their careers.
Those with PTSD are far more likely to harm themselves than somebody else. The syndrome usually appears in difficulty sleeping, nightmares, hyper-vigilance, depression, emotional disturbance, and yes, anger. But the anger only rarely manifests itself in physical outbursts. As Friedman points out, the vast majority of veterans also know that it is nothing to be ashamed of—it is a war wound.
People like Palin who recklessly perpetuate the myth that veterans are “ticking time bombs” or, as Nate Bethea writes in today’s New York Times, “damaged beings primed to harm,” are feeding a slur towards veterans that’s as nasty and wrongheaded as racial prejudice. Bethea, an infantry officer in Afghanistan, was diagnosed with PTSD in 2013. Recounting his years after leaving the service up to the point when he was actually diagnosed, he describes what it feels like:
Within a week of my return in March 2010, I visited the co-op at its new, unfamiliar building. I found myself in a hot, loud and crowded room full of aloof young strangers. In that moment, I felt a sudden burst of panic, something completely unexpected. I felt as if I was going to die. I had to leave the room, to return to the safety of my truck parked outside in the snow. Something was very wrong; something about me was clearly defective.
* * *
When I was confronted with a crisis, it began to feel as if someone had placed a magnifying glass over my normal emotional responses. At times I’d be hyper-alert, at others so brain-fogged that no amount of stimulants could enliven me, and no amount of alcohol could relax me. However, for three years I refused to seek help. I did not want it to affect my military career.
What those three years of denial entailed are scenes that I would much rather forget. Later, I realized that many of my friends had experienced similar moments: extreme reactions to emotional stimuli, hours of fear, weeks of hyper-vigilance. The common thread was not a tendency toward violence but rather toward self-hate. There were no flashbacks of combat. There was instead a sinking feeling that I’d always be a downer, always on guard, never able to relax. It was the fear of being permanently broken.
Bethea is a living example of why uninformed people like Palin are so dangerous to veterans when they try to opine about something they clearly don’t understand:
Because there is a stigma attached to mental health issues, there is a personal and professional risk attached with admitting an unseen ailment. I have the benefit of being a veteran, but I still worry about future graduate school applications or academic job searches. I worry about my own tenuous employment as an adjunct English lecturer. I also know that I’ve managed to improve my symptoms greatly by seeking counseling, avoiding destructive behaviors and writing about my experiences. I can function in society because I was able to seek care, and I want to make that care more accessible to people who need it.
Palin’s clueless self-promotion and greed may have made it that much harder for veterans to get the care they need.