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Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

americanmilitarynews.com

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Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#31

Post by pram »

htag wrote: post #8

1. "Drug use" probably includes soft drugs like cannabis. 2. Basically any diagnosis of a mental health condition, like ADHD, will block military service. This is true even if symptoms are well managed without medication. The rise of diagnosis of these conditions combined with digital records means a lot of people are prohibited to join due to mental health that would have been overlooked in previous decades. 3. This…

2 has never mattered that much I don’t think. I enlisted in the Air Force in 2005 with an adhd AND depression diagnosis and I went in as Aircrew. I’m sure it required a waiver but it wasn’t an obstacle at all during the process. I got cleared at MEPS with no issues.

So many people I knew had waivers for random things I think it’s kind of a joke they’re saying they have to “lower” standards now or whatever.

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#32

Post by zoklet-enjoyer »

zoklet-enjoyer wrote: post #27
AardvarkAnon wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

This reminds me of when I turned 18. I was pissed. Signing up for selective service while the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were going strong. I was worried there could be a draft and I'd end up in jail. Recruiters would call my house and I'd bitch them out about how I wasn't going to go invade another country and murder civilians. Just typing this out really reminds me how much I despise our military. The US is a shi…

How does our society accept the evil shit done in our name? Why do we participate in and encourage warmongering and violations of human rights throughout the world? Because we're selfish and benefit from it? Society is fucked

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#33

Post by ryandrake »

htag wrote: post #8

1. "Drug use" probably includes soft drugs like cannabis. 2. Basically any diagnosis of a mental health condition, like ADHD, will block military service. This is true even if symptoms are well managed without medication. The rise of diagnosis of these conditions combined with digital records means a lot of people are prohibited to join due to mental health that would have been overlooked in previous decades. 3. This…

Number 2 is also putting a dent in the supply of airline pilots. The FAA has a very large list of mental disorders it considers disqualifying, and ADHD is one of them. It’s nuanced, in that it depends on things like whether you require medication or not, but if you ever in your life had any kind of diagnosis, even mild anxiety, you need to disclose it on your medical application and they will dig in to it.

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#34

Post by zoklet-enjoyer »

zoklet-enjoyer wrote: post #32
zoklet-enjoyer wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of when I turned 18. I was pissed. Signing up for selective service while the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were going strong. I was worried there could be a draft and I'd end up in jail. Recruiters would call my house and I'd bitch them out about how I wasn't going to go invade another country and murder civilians. Just typing this out really reminds me how much I despise our military. The US is a shi…

How does our society accept the evil shit done in our name? Why do we participate in and encourage warmongering and violations of human rights throughout the world? Because we're selfish and benefit from it? Society is fucked

And while I'm ranting, one more thought. Republicans are so concerned about "groomers", go after the military recruiters in the schools. That needs to be shut down

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#35

Post by BobbyJo »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #22
CSMastermind wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone has their own experiences but I will say that joining the Marines was the best thing that ever happened to me and I would openly recommend it to any young man.

Quite literally survivorship bias. Anecdotes aside, the statistics are damning. https://stopsoldiersuicide.org/vet-stats > Over 40,000 veterans are homeless on any given night > Veterans are at 57% higher risk of suicide than those who haven't served. > "Depending on branch, up to 31% of service members develop PTSD after returning from combat." ; "The rate of suicide for veterans in the LGBTQ+ community is up to 7x…

Those numbers don't mean much in isolation. 81% of women broadly experience sexual harassment in their lifetimes. Veterinarians are 400% more likely to commit suicide than general population.

You have to put the risks of serving in context. Of course being a part of a military carries more risks than most/all desk jobs, but it's not the worst thing ever and helps a lot of people.

I have an uncle that has a great life because service, and a half-brother that hated it and washed out barely worse for wear. Anecdotes are just as good as random stats without context.

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#36

Post by lurquer »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #22
CSMastermind wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone has their own experiences but I will say that joining the Marines was the best thing that ever happened to me and I would openly recommend it to any young man.

Quite literally survivorship bias. Anecdotes aside, the statistics are damning. https://stopsoldiersuicide.org/vet-stats > Over 40,000 veterans are homeless on any given night > Veterans are at 57% higher risk of suicide than those who haven't served. > "Depending on branch, up to 31% of service members develop PTSD after returning from combat." ; "The rate of suicide for veterans in the LGBTQ+ community is up to 7x…

> You would recommend something that leads to these outcomes?

An inability to provide for oneself or to self-motivate are factors that lead to enlistment. You have it backwards.

For the most part — particularly the Army — the service is very expensive daycare for would-be homeless bums.

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#37

Post by mkolodny »

htag wrote: post #18
mkolodny wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does "drug use" include coffee? Alcohol?

Coffee: no Alcohol: It includes a level of alcohol abuse, but I'm not sure how they draw the line.

Good question. I'd say if you're drinking during work, it's a problem. If you're not, hopefully they have some way of proving you're abusing it rather than making unfounded accusations. It seems like people will believe anything these days.

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#39

Post by photochemsyn »

Joining the military means giving up most of your civilian rights laid out in the Bill of Rights, in exchange for pay and training. Historically, this has often been a pretty good deal for those without other economic options.

However, if you think the country's leaders are going to send you off to get killed in poorly thought-out and reckless adventures for dubious reasons, then giving up those rights starts looking less and less attractive. Given that's what happened in Afghanistan (which was somewhat justifiable, but could have been a six-month operation, rather than a 20-year one) and Iraq (completely unjustifiable, an epic disaster), it's not surprising that economic desperation is now the main motivator for military recruiting, nor is it surprising that applicants coming from that background aren't in the best mental or physical health.

Step one in regaining trust would involve purging the government and military leadership of the architects of the debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan, although that seems unlikely at present - these are the same neocon ideologues who are vigorously opposing a negotiated settlement in eastern Ukraine while also pushing for military confrontation with China.

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#40

Post by defrost »

primitivesuave wrote: post #28
htag wrote: post #8

1. "Drug use" probably includes soft drugs like cannabis. 2. Basically any diagnosis of a mental health condition, like ADHD, will block military service. This is true even if symptoms are well managed without medication. The rise of diagnosis of these conditions combined with digital records means a lot of people are prohibited to join due to mental health that would have been overlooked in previous decades. 3. This…

Regarding #1, you can get a waiver for past cannabis use if you weren't a habitual user (by self admission) and never faced any legal action (distribution, possession, etc) in regards to cannabis. If you have ever distributed any drug (even so far as splitting the cost of drugs with a roommate) you cannot enlist. The enlistment screeners are surprisingly effective at getting people to admit things they did over a dec…

Oddly enough if you joined the British Army in days of yore you might have found yourself ordered to take LSD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziqpwkhqTRs

( Likely also true for other countries, eg: USofA, etc )

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