Defense Deparment + Defense Mechanism = DENIAL

The Consequence of 'Ignore-ance'

On April 2, 2014 the community of Ft.Hood was again the target of a homicidal 'suicide' missions planned by two different fellow military comrades. On both occasions the motivation to initiate these savage shooting sprees is in direct connection with their involvement in the Iraq War (2003-2011).

This means that both men had complained repeatedly of suffering from intense levels of chronic stress that stemmed from harassment, fear, and hopelessness that went ignored due to systemic failures on the part of the military to allocate appropriate resources to mental health division.

First shooter: Nidal Malik Hasan, was an psychiatrist, Medical Corps officer, and devote Muslim that listened repeatedly to the stories of war-torn soldiers suffering from PTSD, who witnessed as well as took part in acts of war against Iraqi's that they considered both traumatizing and inhumane. 

 

Second shooter: Ivan Lopez was an experienced officer who for 4 months was deployed to Iraq in 2011 as a driver. While on tour Lopez suffered from a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and when he returned from Iraq began treatment for depression, anxiety and insomnia with prescription drug Ambien. 

Don't take the medias word for it - Educate Yourself! 

Click on the link below for more information of PTSD

Criterion A: Traumatic event

Trauma survivors must have been exposed to actual or threatened:

• death
• serious injury
• sexual violence

The exposure can be:

• direct
• witnessed
• indirect, by hearing of a relative or close friend who has experienced the event—indirectly experienced death must be accidental or violent

Therefore as it stands: both of these officers meet the criteria for PTSD in that their involvement with the Iraq War first qualifies them, and that their subsequent symptoms (stemming from their specifics level of exposure) has rendered them mentally unable to cope with significant feelings of anxiety, anger, helplessness, insomnia, and moral injury.

SYSTEMIC DENIAL - on the part of the military

Nidal Malik Hasan- made a presentation titled "The Quranic World View as It Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military"  suggesting that the Department of Defense "should allow Muslims soldiers the option of being released as "Conscientious objectors" to increase troop morale and decrease adverse events." 

Needless to say this was not well received...

BUT this is a huge insight into his belief structure and mental disposition on the matter of the Iraq War.

DENIAL - Later he asked to be discharged because of moral conflict and was denied.

Instead, he had to continue to perform as a psychiatrist and listen to stories of Muslim's dying in great numbers and in horrible ways, which contributed to the development of PTSD and subsequent horrendous acts of violence.

Ivan Lopez, on the other hand is a straightforward case of misdiagnosis. That is by 2014 he was still not diagnosis for PTSD of which he exhibited several of its main symptoms, and instead was simply being medicated, without proper therapy, for each symptom separately. This was compounded by a TBI, which in effect are linked to causing bouts of inhibition, dissociative behaviors, spontaneous aggression, as well as exasperate preexisting mental illness. 

DENIAL - Lopez was not only denied the mental health resources that he needed after his deployment - Like so many other soldiers. 

BUT the military also denied helping him to transfer his family, when they moved him from Ft. Bliss to Ft. Hood, thereby isolating him further, and not seeing the warning signs on Facebook and other channels that his mental health was worsening, due to their systemic failures.

Conclusion

 Moral Injury can also occur when military professionals, who devote their life to service are betrayed, denied, and invalidated by the ones they trusted to commit their lives to...

I am in no way condoning or excusing their acts of violence, but am advocating for the SOCIAL IMPERATIVE that we as a people demand the Defense Department invest and listen to our military personal both on and off the battlefield. 

Bianca Grace

Sources:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/04/how-the-army-screwed-the-hero-of-fort-hood.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/04/us/gunman-had-clean-record-with-no-violent-sign-officials-say.html?_r=0

http://www.brainlinemilitary.org/content/2010/06/dsm-iv-tr-criteria-for-ptsd.html

http://www.heavy.com/news/2013/08/nidal-malik-hasan-fort-hood-shooter-trial-2/

http://projects.huffingtonpost.com/moral-injury

http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/neuropsychiatry/neuropsychiatric-effects-traumatic-brain-injury
http://psychcentral.com/lib/symptoms-and-diagnosis-of-ptsd/000158