Put A Band-Aid On Your Brain And Get Back Out There!

This is really an unforgivable statement by VA Secretary James Peake.

On the topic of [post-traumatic stress disorder], Peake questioned if the condition is being overdiagnosed, considering the mental health services available to those in the armed forces.

"I worry about labeling all these kids coming back," he said. "Just because someone might need a little counseling when they get back, doesn't mean they need the PTSD label their whole lives." [...]

VA secretary Peake suggested some of the concern about post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury has been overblown.

Many of the brain injuries are serious but some of them are akin to what anyone who played football in their youth might have suffered, Peake told Guinn.

I played football as a kid. Even played in Veterans Stadium in Philly one time. Interestingly, I never woke up in a cold sweat screaming that the enemy was on my tail, nor have I ever put a gun in my mouth while crying because I couldn't take the signals my brain was sending me.

This is disgraceful. Concussions at the high school level of football and above are pretty serious, but TBI is on a whole other level. It's a severe medical condition that requires constant treatment, otherwise you get another generation of veterans living on the streets. Dismissing TBI and PTSD is symptomatic of a belief that troops are sausage, merely existing to be ground up. And that's the message from the Bush Administration since their series of wars began, and that's how McCain would "lead," too.

This guy Peake should resign.