The film "Brothers"

[heartmama]

I just watched this--Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllanhal (can't spell it) and Toby McGuire (nice turns also by Sam Shepherd and Mare Winningham)

I thought it was good--made me cry--and made me realize the hell that is PTSD. I feel heartbroken for soldiers who come back feeling alone with shame and guilt. So much more should be done to help them

[Jaxinator]

Slowly more things are being done. New post-deployment programs are coming together.
I think the more people who reach out after a difficult deployment (and yeah, there really such things as easy deployments) the better things will get. The stigma is slowly dissolving.
I haven't seen the movie, but I agree, the people who go out there deserve to get the best care possible when they come home.

[heartmama]

The movie showed that help is there, but to get that help, a soldier winds up doing things--crazy, dangerous, illegal stuff, that force the military to say "okay, now you get help".

In the movie the character was captured and tortured in enemy territory--you would think the military could safely assume in every such instance the soldier was forced to see things, to do things, terrible unthinkable things, designed to inflict the worst kind of psychological trauma. He wasn't kidnapped by fairies and wood nymphs for petes sake. There should be daily close contact with family members living in the same house, a broad network of people watching this person as they try to re-assimilate to normal life.

I listened to an NPR interview with a captured journalist and the things he saw in his cell by...the things he saw were...unspeakable. I can't even think of a way to type it. He said every day he was made to watch the same act, and every time he threw up and passed out. So I guess this is not unusual for captives--anyone captured should be given major help if they make it home