Some may call me heartless, others may call me cruel. I’m just sharing my own philosophy, which doesn’t go well with the new way of thinking from the last two decades, or more. I understand the concepts of PTSD, and many traumatic blows to the human psyche. Not only that, but I just think, perhaps we have swung the pendulum, too far the other way. In doing so, we are creating a weaker society. As strange as it sounds, these thoughts this morning, were brought on by seeing a pamphlet the puppy had managed to get from the bookcase, and left it in the middle of the floor.
I’m here to help you cope.
“Tips for Families of Returning Disaster Responders”, reads the title. The pamphlet is from a federal government agency. While I agree, that there are times when people see horrible things, and may need help in sorting their feelings. Most of the time, the counseling is just too handy. When I was in school, we had vehicle accidents that took the lives of classmates, we didn’t get immediate classrooms set up for in house counseling. We learned to deal with life and death, in stark manners. If our classmates were victims of an unfortunate accident, it was hard losing them. However, there weren’t teams of people, telling us how they think we feel, or should feel.
This pamphlet, goes into detail on how to welcome home disaster responders, and how to deal with their emotional moments of instability. I agree, there are some horrible things to be seen in disasters. There can be horror in the world all around us. From everyday people seeing horrible auto accidents, to witnesses of mass violence. Some will need help coping, but some will handle it well. Victims of the actual incident do, many times, require more attention, than just those that heard about it. Far too often, entire schools are subjected to “mass counseling” and grief management, for persons they didn’t even know. These youths, grow up to think it is expected of them to be terribly upset and unable to cope, without outside intervention. The same thing has been done to adults in the last two decades or more.
We are grooming our society
War veterans, many times, need counseling. War can provide some horrible, intense, moments that can unhinge many. It doesn’t mean, that every person returning will be that way. We are grooming our society to expect to be crippled or weakened from bad things around us, instead of first trying to do our best to cope, and teach others to cope through example. There is a list of stages/cycles for humanity, that I have always held in respect. They are;
- Hard times make strong men
- Strong men make good times
- Good times make weak men
- Weak men make hard times
We seem to be in the third cycle of those stages. This pamphlet was written a mere eight years ago. It was in a few books that belonged to a lady, that says she is disabled, due to her two years of serving on an ambulance crew. She was diagnosed with occupational PTSD. Now maybe she is one that is truly crushed by what she has seen, or maybe she is like many young and older adults, that are put into a slot, based on behavior. She does appear to have some “other issues” that are not related to first responders.
They will become damaged individuals automatically
I guess, I am trying to say, that in my opinion it appears as if we are conditioning society to be weak, and expected to fall apart in the face of hardship. What happens when that counseling is not available, and you’re of the mindset you can’t function without it, and just shut down. Perhaps trying to teach others to be strong and independent in the face of crisis, will go further and better, than teaching them they are expected to need help and comforting in any crisis, or they will become damaged individuals automatically.
“Strong men make good times”
I policed from the early 70s to 2000. In all that time, I never knew a single officer, or ambulance driver, or other first responders suffering from PTSD of the work place. Most, if they couldn’t handle it, simply left the professions, and moved on. There was no free counseling, disability, or support groups. I think we were stronger, and tougher back then, before all the cuddling. It’s said, the four cycles are a natural progression of empires, or worlds. Maybe so, but if we strive to make stronger individuals, I think we would stand a chance of slowing the progression, and maybe step back to, “Strong men make good times”.
Enough deep thoughts. It’s time for me to plan repairs to my diet, that I destroyed eating out, last night.
Comments always welcome.