Going Nuts

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 4/9/13  Going Nuts

PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has become a house hold word these last few years as our veterans return from decades of wars with terrorist. Growing up I watched General Patton slap a soldier suffering from it in a World War Two movie, but we called it battle fatigue back then. Whatever the name, it is defiantly a real thing in many people's lives. We find all too often our police officers and other first responders have dealt with it. Others too like myself a truck driver, after being on the scene of a horrific wreck; found myself with the symptoms of PSTD.

 

Many that come to know PSTD have systems within their work environment to help them deal with the effects. Others like myself as a truck driver find that they are left to deal with it on their own. Understanding this I decided to venture into finding out just what might be available to find help for those that need it. What happen though is I found out what is happening to those that have already received the help they needed.

 

Going on right now the state of New York is revoking gun permits based on the fact that a person is now or in the past used  anti-anxiety medications. Our veterans in other states are having their Constitutional right to carry a fire arm taken away based on the fact that they were in combat and may have problems resulting from that experience. In short, this latest attempt to disarm law abiding Americans of their Constitutional rights has many people running for cover.

 

So what do these two important subjects, our Second Amendment and PSTD have in common, let me try to explain it for you. For years certain profession have needed to get medically qualified to be able to do their jobs. truck drivers for one but also police, pilots and a host of others. Fail to meet the requirements and you no longer have a job. You are left standing their trying to figure out how to feed your family and pay your bills on your own. The outcome of this has been the fact that one does not tell the doctor anything that will get them disqualified. In short, medical conditions go not only undocumented, but untreated as well.

 

With this new reviewing of medical records with the intent of removing firearms from perfectly safe law abiding citizens, why one might ask would anyone seek help not only for PSTD or any other condition for that matter. I have heard about letters to veterans revoking their rights because they lost an arm or a leg in battle and now the government feels that the stress caused by that leaves a person too mentally unstable to be trusted with a fire arm. These people fought for those rights.

 

As we move forward, understanding how the government is now thinking, why would anyone want to admit that they need to talk to someone about anything. Even if what you are dealing with now will not get your rights as a gun owner taken away, a quick swipe of a pen five years from now could place you on that list.

 

So if you need help, you need help. I am not in any way suggesting that you do not seek it out. What I am saying is that the overzealous actions of a government out of control is forcing people to choose between seeking that help at the risk of losing their rights. Already far too many will not tell their doctors their true medical situation. What is going on now will only increase that number tenfold.

 

I would love to see the need for help come available for truckers like myself. We are out there thousands of miles  and weeks away from home behind the wheel of a large truck. The events of a few days ago need an outlet sometimes and there is nothing available to us at this point in time that I am aware of. Keeping our highways safe is our number one job. I wonder though, how many truckers would seek out that help if it became available if they knew that their rights as an American would be stripped away. I know that I would never myself take that chance. I can only write this because my story is already out there in print. Would I have done that knowing what I know today? I am not so sure.

 

Saving lives on our highways has become a top priority for the truckers of today. We demand more and more to run legal and we walk away from companies that would have us do otherwise. And as important as that is, choosing between keeping our highways safe and keep our Country free, the most important of all things, has just been made into one heck of a conundrum for not only truckers, but anyone that might need a little help.

 

Politically correct thinking will be the downfall of this nation. We need to get over it and back to common sense.

 

 

 

God Bless America

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