Trauma in the wrong lane?
http://www.idahostatesman.com/letters/story/193885.html
A question for mental health awareness week
I recently read in the war-blogs about soldiers returning from overseas, who have had a bit of an adjustment on our highways. Apparently, in battle zones, any vehicle in motion is perceived as threat and it’s hard to get over this. Military troops are trained to swerve over into the other lane, as they travel underneath bridges in conflict zones. In this way, they are more likely to avoid something bad dropped onto their vehicles, when they come out of the other side of the tunnel in an unanticipated lane.
Evidently, from what I gather from our armed forces blogs, this survival routine has been brought back to the States, resulting in several crashes and / or narrow escapes in L.A. area tunnels. I wondered if any of the professionals out there in the Idaho mental health community have heard about this unfortunate phenomenon.
http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2007/10/12/opinion/letters/122433_96.txt
Thanks, Jim. I'll see what I can find for you. I've heard quite a bit about other mental challenges in returning soldiers, but not this one.
ReplyDeleteWhich war blogs are you referring to? Where should I be looking online?
N. P.,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading my letter of concern.
I cannot remember the exact blog where I originally read this, but after seeing it somewhere last year, I submitted a similar question to the editors at www.unknownnews.net . At the time the editors there and I we were unable to substantiate the story, however, I kept having a nagging feeling that there was something more to it. With this being Mental Health Awareness week, it reminded me of the article, so I thought it worth another look. I believe that if we focus on the right key words –especially on the blogs -we may discover more on this. I have to head off to work in a few minutes, but will try again tonight.
In addition, I received a news tip yesterday about some of the earth dug up in Sun Valley where they are replacing the old gun club, with an extended golf course. Seems that the ground there tested for an overabundance of lead, which required hundreds of truckloads of contaminated dirt to be hauled off, before the new sod could be safely laid. Although the hauling off, of decades of lead shot seemed newsworthy, I don’t recall reading anything about this in local papers.
If this too is true, I was curious about the process of this earth-moving decision. Did the EPA test the ground as required by law, resulting in more tests, etc? This comes on the heels of a report from last year, about Sun Valley Company receiving a less than excellent environmental grade: Idaho Mountain Express: Environmental scorecard gives Sun Valley ‘D’ grade - November 22, 2006 .
Therefore, I thought that there could be something more to this story too, about trucks hauling off tainted dirt right under Ketchum’s noses, with their dogs out wagging up at the Castle Rock fire
Nate, So far I have only been able to find two items regarding our earlier correspondence about soldiers driving in wrong lanes. I believe that the original article I saw regarding this behavior, was in the LA Weekly or a similiar publication. However,due to personal circumstances, I may not be able to research this in great depth for a while.
ReplyDeleteFor now here are some extracts from the pertinent articles I was able to unearth:
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http://www.horseflyonline.com/index.php?fuseaction=home.viewarticle&article_id=931
Extract:
“There is one new additional bit of advice given at departure:? There have been incidents of grenades thrown down from overpasses on vehicles traveling on Highway 8. Enter the overpass from the original lane then change lanes while under the overpass to avoid a possible grenade incident. The main targets are military vehicles, but you should be aware of the situation?”
http://www.mfsocap.org/snews/SD1131751319
“Soldiers vouch for the part about the driving. In Iraq they don’t stop for red lights, they drive down the middle of the highway to avoid bombs at the roadside, and they switch lanes at overpasses to avoid insurgents who might drop a grenade on them. Every other vehicle is a potential suicide bomber.
Driving on the local freeways triggers stressful memories.
“So the question is, when somebody cuts you off, do you honk the horn and raise the middle finger?” asked James Munroe, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs clinical director in Boston who spoke at this month’s symposium. ‘It’s something to think about.’”
Best regards,
Jim Banholzer