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No Sleep: Rest is a casualty of war, soldiers find
AP Photo
Sgt. Rashaun Carpenter rests on his new Craftmatic bed.
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Published: July 20, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE - Sgt. Rashaun Carpenter was on his way home in 2003 to see the birth of his first child -- a daughter -- when his Chinook was shot down by insurgents south of Fallujah, causing a fireball to soar through the helicopter and send it spiraling downward.
When he awoke two weeks later with a traumatic brain injury and a broken arm and pelvis, it didn't take long before the nightmares began.
But rather than replaying the crash, Carpenter would dream that he was being killed in myriad ways.
"I'd be set on fire. I'd be shot. I'd be stabbed," said Carpenter, 26, of Michigan in a slow, but deliberate cadence caused by the brain injury.
Those dreams have subsided, but other nightmares persist, preventing the now-retired sergeant from getting a good night's rest. The pain in his back and pelvis doesn't help, either.
For many military personnel and veterans, sleep is hard to come by. Whether they are on the front lines or reliving traumatic memories years after combat, sleep disorders are a growing part of military life.
Statistics about the number of military personnel with sleep disorders are difficult to determine because the disorders are often symptoms of other problems, doctors say.
Lt. Col. Scott Johnson, the chief of the Department of Medicine at Womack Army Medical Center, said that doctors there have seen a significant number of people seeking treatment for sleep problems.
Sleep apnea, severe snoring and restless leg syndrome are among some of the common complaints, he said.
But some soldiers coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan are experiencing what he described as circadian-rhythm disturbance.
People function on a 24-hour cycle known as the circadian rhythm. When soldiers are required to be alert at times when their bodies are typically asleep, some develop rhythm disturbances. Similar disturbances are also seen in civilian shift workers.
Johnson said that soldiers returning from deployment also face the stress of re-entering a noncombat environment. Whether they experience problems re-integrating into their families, alcohol abuse or even post-traumatic-stress disorder, sleep issues might arise.
For Carpenter, returning to a combat-free lifestyle meant facing another fight -- with PTSD.
At his new Fayetteville apartment earlier this summer, Carpenter lay back on his new Craftmatic bed, donated to him by the company's CraftmaticCARES program, which will donate an adjustable bed to a severely wounded veteran every week this year.
Despite his brain injury, which impairs his memory and slows his speech, Carpenter easily recalled the helicopter crash that left 15 fellow soldiers dead. "People still don't know how we survived," said Carpenter, who served with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Field Artillery stationed at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.
He survived, but a new battle began when he started exhibiting signs of PTSD, including the unrelenting nightmares.
Some nights he gets only one or two hours of sleep. He attends meetings of PTSD-support groups every week.
Dr. Jack Edinger, a psychologist at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a psychiatric professor at Duke University, said that sleep disturbances are a common symptom in PTSD patients. Recovery can include a complex array of treatments when PTSD is involved, he said.
In May, the Army released statistics that showed that the number of new PTSD cases increased by 46.4 percent in 2007 from the previous year, bringing the number of diagnoses to nearly 40,000 troops since the war began.
Dr. Mary Fruit, the chief of mental health at the Fayetteville VA Medical Center, said that sleep disorders are often related to other health problems, including PTSD.
Some are simply afraid to go to sleep, she said.
"I've had combat veterans say, ‘Bad things happen at night,'" she said.
Doctors often must delve deeper to resolve underlying issues.
"The sleep disruption is so intertwined, it's not usually the only thing on the table," Fruit said. "If you're well-rested, you're better able to deal with the other problems.
"The reality is that no one who goes to war is ever the same."
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Posted by ( BuenaVistaMall ) on July 20, 2008 at 2:38 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
How to get your loved one out of the war;
http://www.nyclu.org/node/1419
http://BuenaVistaMall.com/Truth.htm
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