Yes, haven’t we all witnessed the carnage of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) particularly amongst veterans? Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Korea, France et al. Often it is the violent incidents associated with PTSD we encounter in the media. But there is also a quiet form of suffering without any violence except for violence against the soul of PTSD victims.
Thirteen million Americans are suffering from PTSD. Some 20 veterans a day are committing suicide suffering from PTSD. And Canadian vets as well are suffering after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. These PTSD victims may kill their entire family and then turn the gun on themselves. In Canada more vets have committed suicide than died in Afghanistan.
“Here is Better” tracks four United States military vets that had served in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. An intelligence officer sent on dangerous missions in Iraq without backup facing death at any moment. A U.S. Marine raped by men in her unit. A U.S. army driver seeing her husband blown up in Iraq. A Vietnam door gunner with a 1969-1970 tour of duty in Vietnam. PTSD can affect many suffering from trauma but American vets are three times more likely to suffer from PTSD than civilians. And it is not only direct combat that spawns PTSD as it can be the stress of operating as a soldier that is enough to trigger PTSD.
“Trigger” is a key word. A sound. A voice. A memory. They all may be harbingers of a PTSD reaction. It may affect all ranks of soldiers and manifest itself in such reactions as hyper alertness, fear, rage, isolation, terror, depression, violence and panic.
My father was a Royal Airforce flyer in the Battle of Britain. I recall on a rare occasion he’d take out his photo album full of photos with his squadron. Most of his friends were killed in action. His best friend who I was privileged to call “uncle” survived. My real uncle was shot down flying a mission over France at 22. Yet in those days it was be a man and suck it up.
Vietnam vets have fought tirelessly to recognize PTSD as a war injury. There are now therapies used with some degree of success which are described in the film. Eye Movement Desensitization, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure Therapy and Eastern spiritual exercises. The Cincinnati VA Trauma Recovery Centre offers a 7-week residential programme to deal with PTSD and has a 70% success rate meaning those in the 70% are no longer considered to be suffering from PTSD.
Best you listen to the horror stories of these four vets to understand the triggering events of PTSD and how each managed to climb out of the hell hole perhaps not to be cured but how to manage PTSD so it no longer has a suffocating grip on them.
As Dr. Kathleen Chard of the Cincinnati VA Trauma Recovery Centre states, “I don’t want to take away the memory but remove the control that memory has over you.”
Combat not only kills it destroys minds. PTSD is a disease that is finally getting the attention it deserves after hundreds of years of taking its toll.
Here and now is certainly superior to then and there and the tortured past.
Limited theatrical release on 23June2023 in the United States with a 27June2023 VOD release in North America.
You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmfAoB6TYMo
Directed by Jack Youngelson.
RKS 2023 Film Rating 90/100.
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