He saved many, now he's home.

[HALLGATOR]

Very poignant story I thought was worth posting. This was not meant to start an argument about Iraq or to knock anyone or anything. It does however bring up some good points about the mental issues of dealing with war and some possible shortcomings we have with respect to enough mental health experts in the military.

I sincerely hope he has found peace.


He had a knack for soothing soldiers who'd just seen their buddies killed by bombs. He knew how to comfort medics sickened by the smell of blood and troops haunted by the screams of horribly burned Iraqi children.

Capt. Peter Linnerooth was an Army psychologist. He counseled soldiers during some of the fiercest fighting in Iraq. Hundreds upon hundreds sought his help. For nightmares and insomnia. For shock and grief. And for reaching that point where they just wanted to end it all.

Linnerooth did such a good job his Army comrades dubbed him The Wizard. His "magic" was deceptively simple: an instant rapport with soldiers, an empathetic manner, a big heart.

For a year during one of the bloodiest stretches of the Iraq war, Linnerooth met with soldiers 60 to 70 hours a week. Sometimes he'd hop on helicopters or join convoys, risking mortars and roadside bombs. Often, though, the soldiers came to his shoebox-sized "office" at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

http://news.yahoo.com/vet-saved-many-iraq-couldnt-escape-demons-190136480.html

[jdrgator]

Absolutely gut-wrenching.

The psychological toll war takes on many (most) soldiers should make us think long and hard about it. Good folks give their lives for this country and then others make it home only to suffer terribly thereby taking their own lives.

[Spurffelbow833]

He sounds like a real-life version of Sidney Friedman from M*A*S*H. No telling how many lives he also saved over here by helping soldiers on a collision course with violent meltdowns.

[Spurffelbow833]

Absolutely gut-wrenching.

The psychological toll war takes on many (most) soldiers should make us think long and hard about it.

It does make us think long and hard about it. Unfortunately, it has zero effect on those who start them.

[g8orbill]

I have seen first hand what happens to soldiers who have seen many of their friends and comrades killed right next to them in a fox hole or by snipers-one of my best friends came back from Nam a totally different person and has never recovered-he will never be a normal member of our society-it is an excruciatingly sad part of war and its after affects

[DaveFla]

He sounds like a real-life version of Sidney Friedman from M*A*S*H. No telling how many lives he also saved over here by helping soldiers on a collision course with violent meltdowns.

...


"Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice. Pull down your pants, and slide on the ice."

[MastaG8r]

Truly tragic story about a truly admirable man.

Have to say, though - despite all he went through in Iraq, both firsthand and through the secondhand experiences related to him by his patients, strictly speaking he may not necessarily have been a casualty of war per se. Whatever "issues," for lack of a better word, that drive people to want to become a mental health counselor in the first place often end up driving them over the edge in the end. The profession is known for having a disproportionately high suicide rate.

[jdrgator]

Truly tragic story about a truly admirable man.

Have to say, though - despite all he went through in Iraq, both firsthand and through the secondhand experiences related to him by his patients, strictly speaking he may not necessarily have been a casualty of war per se. Whatever "issues," for lack of a better word, that drive people to want to become a mental health counselor in the first place often end up driving them over the edge in the end. The profession is known for having a disproportionately high suicide rate.

Serious question, could it be that mental illness such as major depression or ptsd is somehow contagious?

[MichiGator2002]

Serious question, could it be that mental illness such as major depression or ptsd is somehow contagious?

Well, psychological issues of various types can be symptoms of something contagious, or something environmental for that matter. But I don't think you will catch Tiger Blood by drinking out of Charlie Sheen's orange soda :)

[jdrgator]

Well, psychological issues of various types can be symptoms of something contagious, or something environmental for that matter. But I don't think you will catch Tiger Blood by drinking out of Charlie Sheen's orange soda :)

haha. Winning can be contagious though!

Yeah, I wasn't quite implying it being so direct (hence the italics), but given how humans are social and are affected by others etc...I can see something happening that might appear as such.

[MichiGator2002]

haha. Winning can be contagious though!

Yeah, I wasn't quite implying it being so direct (hence the italics), but given how humans are social and are affected by others etc...I can see something happening that might appear as such.

Well, there is such a thing as conversion disorder, so maybe that might be what you have in mind?

[Lawdog88]

Psychology only goes so far. Empathy only goes so far. If you give out of your own tank, there has got to be a source of your own personal replenishment, or you go down too.

Respectfully said in memory of this individual's efforts, and what he hoped to accomplish.

[jdrgator]

Well, there is such a thing as conversion disorder, so maybe that might be what you have in mind?

Maybe. I had in mind contagion theory, psychology of crowds, etc... Sort of like what causes people to yawn when someone in a room yawns first. We can certainly be affected by others psychological state--at least temporarily--so perhaps given both a time factor and volume factor, an otherwise normally adjusted person could develop his or own psychological issues as a result of contact with an increasing number of folks with psych issues when it occurs over a longer period of time. Also, perhaps the acuteness and peculiarity of war also factors in as well.