Boot Camp is Different for Everyone

I was talking to a Max, who owns a homeless veteran facility in the high desert. He was perplexed at the number of veterans that have PTSD without seeing combat. He started telling me about Steve, a 38 year old homeless Army veteran that lives in his facility. Steve has never seen combat but has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) outside of the Veterans Administration’s (VA) system. Like many in his situation Steve also struggles with addiction. Many veterans like Steve don’t know if he qualifies for VA benefits or not. Like so many veterans Steve struggles to fit in. He can work a little and does odd jobs when he can to make some money, but holding down a full-time job eludes him due to his illness. Steve may have VA benefits because of his minimal income, but getting him to go to the VA and deal with the red tape is a different story.

Steve was married for several years and has a daughter. Steve had an incident that triggered him and he spiraled into a deep depression. After a while he started to self-medicate with alcohol like so many veterans in his condition. Steve told Max that he reached his bottom when his wife took their daughter and left. Due to his situation Steve lost his family and his home. He became another homeless veteran statistic.     

Max, a veteran himself, is struggling to understand how someone who was in the military and never saw combat could have PTSD. Max is unaware of any traumatic event in Steve’s life, but has seen this a lot of trauma in veterans, especially the homeless population. He believes Steve has some trauma in his background but Max is not qualified to talk to him about his possible trauma and Steve will not talk openly about it. Since I am a mental health professional, Max asked if it was possible to get PTSD from Boot Camp. To me that was an interesting thought, boot camp does offer many of the same situations that can cause PTSD.  In boot camp recruits are threatened, psychologically tortured, placed in physically demanding high stress situations in order to eliminate those deemed as “weak”. I understand it sounds absurd that something so many people go through can cause PTSD. But studies show it can play a part.

Most mental health professionals aren’t ready to say that boot camp causes PTSD, but some do. Research shows some psychologists and mental health professionals feel it is possible for recruits to have the “PTSD seed” before they enter the military. The military mental health screening process for recruits is limited, to say the least. The military does not possess the needed manpower or expertise to do a complete mental health makeup of all new recruits.  Studies have proven that having a traumatic background can increase the possibility of getting PTSD in the future. Many recruits join the military to get out of their undesirable environments, and sometimes that includes violence. Some recruits were sexually molested, come from inner city gangs, raised in abusive homes, survived natural disasters, car accidents, and bullied in school, all of which can cause PTSD or the “PTSD seed”. Individuals who enter the military with pre-existing mental health issues is common. Those who have PTSD or the “seed” can be at a higher risk of having problems because of the stressors brought on by boot camp and combat training.

The military service entails a considerable amount of stress and high demand for excellence. Persons that enter the military with pre-existing mental health issues are more likely to suffer from military training. The consistent threats from drill instructors who hold power over them can cause some recruits to struggle. Most make it through, but the seed can be fertilized causing the trauma to grow in some and in others, it was already there. Most don’t realize the seed was planted causing them bigger problems later. Since alcohol is acceptable in military culture, many self-medicate to survive the pain of their mental health issues. The all-volunteer military opens up the possibility of having more recruits susceptible. This is especially true in the enlisted ranks.

A US Navy study showed many recruits are unaware of, or do not disclose having mental health issues. The study found that 15% to 17% of enlistees could be categorized as having PTSD. There is no reason to believe that this study does not represent the same percentages among other military branches. With the lack of mental health professionals in the recruiting process it is highly possible some military recruits make it through the process to go on to boot camp. Even if mental health professionals spent face to face time with recruits they would struggle to build rapport in the allotted time to flag the recruit for further evaluation.

Often these homeless veterans like Steve have burned their bridges with their families. Not just their spouses but parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts etc. Family members do not understand what’s going on and often blame their veteran for their homelessness because they do not believe someone without combat can have PTSD. The veteran does have a responsibility, to seek help for their PTSD.        

So, the question is still, does basic training cause PTSD? No one knows for sure, but it is possible. It is more likely that Steve entered the military with mental health problems and boot camp or military service exacerbated the issues. Presently he is doing fine and still clean and sober, he is moving forward trying to gather his life back together but it is a struggle for him. 

For questions or comments, I can be reached at bo@afterdutyvets.com or visit our website at afterdutyvets.com.