Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Pattern of brain damage is pervasive in Navy SEALs who died by suicide

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

271–280 of 599 posts

Re: Pattern of brain damage is pervasive in Navy SEALs who died by suicide

#271

Post by coldtea »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #239
seventytwo wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not either/or. The psychological shit is real, but the physical damage to the brain is real also. Both things are true.

A lot of the medication for psychological issues is aimed at altering the bio chemistry in the brain to mitigate physical problems. The reason that stuff works is because the issues are physical and not imagined. It's also true that certain disorders (e.g. psychosis) actually cause brain damage when left unchecked. This technically is not a single thing but more like a group of disorders with widely varying symptoms.…

>The reason that stuff works is because the issues are physical and not imagined

Psychological doesn't mean "imagined", just means "in the realm of thought". Your thinking is not "imagined", nor is the impact of decisions, ruminating, etc to you.

Re: Pattern of brain damage is pervasive in Navy SEALs who died by suicide

#272

Post by beAbU »

jrmg wrote: post #46

Artillery crew members who fired thousands of rounds in combat came home plagued by hallucinations and psychosis Could this problem also be affecting civilian gun enthusiasts? Or is the order of magnitude of the exposure just wildly lower compared to the military, even in the most enthusiastic?

I've been surrounded by guns most of my life, going out to the shooting range at least once a month, sometimes more. Range days are busy, with sometimes dozens of people shooting on the line at the same time. The range is open air.

I have some hearing damage (which I actually think is from somewhere else - we've always been anal about protection). Other than that, no other issues to report with myself nor my family/friends who participated with me in this hobby. Small calibre gunfire does not have a big enough shock/impact to really affect bystanders. Interestingly, I dislike shooting in an indoor range, because so much of the shot is radiated back to the shooter and bystanders. Where in an open air range that impact goes up in the air and away.

Risk of lead exposure is very real though. A friend almost passed away due to too much shooting in an indoor range with poor ventilation. After some serious negative personality changes and other related symptoms he was finally diagnosed with nearly acute lead poisoning. Lead bullets basically vapourised when they hit the backstop, so the dust that's kicked up is very nasty.

Re: Pattern of brain damage is pervasive in Navy SEALs who died by suicide

#273

Post by coldtea »

Log_out_ wrote: post #206
toomuchtodo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet another reason to not join the military. You’re just fuel for the machine. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/06/14/armys-recruit...

Thats a nice sentiment you got there. Mind if i take it: Every dictator everywhere everytime. And it turns out the international order cant survive defectors.one large party going imperial or isolatinist and its bsck to olden times.

Not one, but several large parties have been globally "imperial" for centuries.

Except if by international order we mean "the will of the stronger dogs imposed upon the whole world, with tons of mayhem and blood, but it's not done to white people so it doesn't matter"?

Re: Pattern of brain damage is pervasive in Navy SEALs who died by suicide

#274

Post by coldtea »

sofixa wrote: post #216
logicchains wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Historically, the rationale for excluding women from the draft was that they weren't eligible to serve in combat roles, voluntarily or otherwise Historically countries didn't let women fight in wars because they didn't want their civilisation to die out. If a country loses a double-digit percent of its men it can still repopulate just as quickly, because one man can make multiple women pregnant, while if it loses it…

> Historically countries didn't let women fight in wars because they didn't want their civilisation to die out. If a country loses a double-digit percent of its men it can still repopulate just as quickly, because one man can make multiple women pregnant, while if it loses its women then it takes significantly longer to repopulate, because one woman can't have multiple babies at the same time so the birthrate will ne…

>there were no laws or campaigns to allow harems or one man - multiple women combinations.

You don't need laws or campaigns, it happens naturally, due to the increased sexual selection availability. And of course, given that, why would men opt of harems (especially where they aren't even historically relevant to their culture)? They'd just have relationships on the side, jump ship and marry again, etc.

Re: Pattern of brain damage is pervasive in Navy SEALs who died by suicide

#275

Post by andybak »

coldtea wrote: post #267
seventytwo wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not either/or. The psychological shit is real, but the physical damage to the brain is real also. Both things are true.

> It’s not either/or. The psychological shit is real Depends, because we had millenia of wars, even much more gruesome (but without explosions), and much fewer accounts of psychological shit. It was just a fact of life, and most people carried on.

Fewer accounts - yes. "Carrying on" - well, maybe.

But the way you've phrased it implies a bit more and you should probably clarify.

Re: Pattern of brain damage is pervasive in Navy SEALs who died by suicide

#276

Post by coldtea »

londons_explore wrote: post #223
sofixa wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Historically countries didn't let women fight in wars because they didn't want their civilisation to die out. If a country loses a double-digit percent of its men it can still repopulate just as quickly, because one man can make multiple women pregnant, while if it loses its women then it takes significantly longer to repopulate, because one woman can't have multiple babies at the same time so the birthrate will ne…

I suspect that humans will sleep around enough that you don't need specific laws to make it happen...

Yeah, in fact such laws would make it less tempting (they'd mean those men would have to take financial responsibility and cater to the kids they spread, etc.). Whereas the sheer choice and ability to f... around more is way more tempting and naturally sustainable.

Re: Pattern of brain damage is pervasive in Navy SEALs who died by suicide

#277

Post by coldtea »

mc32 wrote: post #146
ceejayoz wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We haven't drafted people since the Vietnam War. There's plenty of draft fodder to dig into without having to expand the eligibility criteria.

Which raises the question of why they thought they'd approve this bill in committee? It's still very odd, weird, ungentlemanly and somewhat uncivilized.

Funnily almost none of the adjectives here fits what's described.

Re: Pattern of brain damage is pervasive in Navy SEALs who died by suicide

#278

Post by lupusreal »

coldtea wrote: post #267
seventytwo wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not either/or. The psychological shit is real, but the physical damage to the brain is real also. Both things are true.

> It’s not either/or. The psychological shit is real Depends, because we had millenia of wars, even much more gruesome (but without explosions), and much fewer accounts of psychological shit. It was just a fact of life, and most people carried on.

I think cultural context can make the difference between a psychological traumatic event and another day at the office. Somebody who grew up on a farm might snap a chicken's neck without a thought, while a vegan city slicker being made to do the same might plausibly suffer severe psychological trauma.

It may be the case that being from a society in which violence is glorified and made into a virtue makes people less susceptible to war-induced PTSD. Or the circumstances of the war could make the difference; if you are fighting a just war you earnestly believe to be in the direct defense of your family and community, or whether you were drafted into a war that has nothing to do with you and society tells you is cynically or foolishly motivated.

Re: Pattern of brain damage is pervasive in Navy SEALs who died by suicide

#279

Post by nabla9 »

kragen wrote: post #217

> Much of what is categorized as post-traumatic stress disorder may actually be caused by repeated exposure to blasts. that is to say, it's actually shell shock? as in, actual physical shock from actual shells? george carlin would be so proud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuEQixrBKCc the article also mentions that they'd all trained extensively in diving deep underwater, which is also known to cause brain damage, b…

.50 cal sniper rifles and shoulder launched weapons like Carl Gustaf, the M72 LAW or the AT4 can.

Firing a rifle may or may not cause shock waves that are strong enough. If you have been firing a whole day you definitely feel funny in the head.

Re: Pattern of brain damage is pervasive in Navy SEALs who died by suicide

#280

Post by HPsquared »

manuel_w wrote: post #259
alexey-salmin wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the good thing they went forward back then and invented the modern helmet to protect people in trenches from overhead explosions. And incredibly it seems that the Adrian helmet still outperforms modern helmet designs in the blast protection quality. [1] It can't stop a bullet sure, but I suspect that chances of being hit by an overhead blast are higher than that a of a headshot in a typical warfare scenario. [1]…

FYI, also modern helmets are not designed to stop bullets but rather to protect from shrapnel and hand grenades. Stopping a bullet would mean breaking the wearers neck. (The kinetic energy needs to go somewhere after all.)

I don't think it would break the neck. Typical AK47 bullet at 100yd has momentum 5 kgm/s, which is about the same as a baseball at 77mph.
Post reply on HN