We train soldiers for war. Let's train them to come home, too
-
0:01 - 0:02Carlos,
-
0:02 - 0:04the Vietnam vet Marine
-
0:04 - 0:08who volunteered for three tours
and got shot up in every one. -
0:09 - 0:11In 1971, he was medically retired
-
0:11 - 0:13because he had so much
shrapnel in his body -
0:13 - 0:15that he was setting off metal detectors.
-
0:16 - 0:19For the next 42 years,
he suffered from nightmares, -
0:19 - 0:22extreme anxiety in public,
-
0:22 - 0:24isolation, depression.
-
0:24 - 0:26He self-medicated with alcohol.
-
0:26 - 0:29He was married and divorced three times.
-
0:29 - 0:31Carlos had post-traumatic stress disorder.
-
0:32 - 0:36Now, I became a psychologist
to help mitigate human suffering, -
0:36 - 0:40and for the past 10 years, my target
has been the suffering caused by PTSD, -
0:40 - 0:43as experienced by veterans like Carlos.
-
0:43 - 0:49Until recently, the science of PTSD
just wasn't there. -
0:49 - 0:52And so, we didn't know what to do.
-
0:52 - 0:54We put some veterans on heavy drugs.
-
0:54 - 0:57Others we hospitalized
and gave generic group therapy, -
0:57 - 0:59and others still we simply said to them,
-
0:59 - 1:02"Just go home and try to forget
about your experiences." -
1:04 - 1:07More recently, we've tried therapy dogs,
wilderness retreats -- -
1:07 - 1:10many things which may
temporarily relieve stress, -
1:10 - 1:14but which don't actually eliminate
PTSD symptoms over the long term. -
1:15 - 1:16But things have changed.
-
1:16 - 1:22And I am here to tell you
that we can now eliminate PTSD, -
1:22 - 1:23not just manage the symptoms,
-
1:23 - 1:25and in huge numbers of veterans.
-
1:25 - 1:28Because new scientific research
has been able to show, -
1:28 - 1:30objectively, repeatedly,
-
1:30 - 1:34which treatments actually
get rid of symptoms and which do not. -
1:34 - 1:36Now as it turns out,
-
1:36 - 1:41the best treatments for PTSD use
many of the very same training principles -
1:41 - 1:45that the military uses
in preparing its trainees for war. -
1:46 - 1:48Now, making war --
-
1:48 - 1:51this is something that we are good at.
-
1:51 - 1:55We humans have been making war
since before we were even fully human. -
1:56 - 1:59And since then, we have gone
from using stone and sinew -
1:59 - 2:04to developing the most sophisticated
and devastating weapon systems imaginable. -
2:04 - 2:06And to enable our warriors
to use these weapons, -
2:06 - 2:09we employ the most cutting-edge
training methods. -
2:09 - 2:10We are good at making war.
-
2:11 - 2:14And we are good at training
our warriors to fight. -
2:15 - 2:18Yet, when we consider the experience
of the modern-day combat veteran, -
2:18 - 2:21we begin to see that we
have not been as good -
2:21 - 2:23at preparing them to come home.
-
2:23 - 2:25Why is that?
-
2:26 - 2:29Well, our ancestors lived
immersed in conflict, -
2:29 - 2:31and they fought right where they lived.
-
2:32 - 2:35So until only very recently
in our evolutionary history, -
2:35 - 2:38there was hardly a need to learn
how to come home from war, -
2:38 - 2:40because we never really did.
-
2:41 - 2:43But thankfully, today,
-
2:43 - 2:46most of humanity lives
in far more peaceful societies, -
2:46 - 2:50and when there is conflict,
we, especially in the United States, -
2:50 - 2:53now have the technology to put
our warriors through advanced training, -
2:53 - 2:56drop them in to fight
anywhere on the globe -
2:56 - 2:58and when they're done,
-
2:58 - 3:00jet them back to peacetime suburbia.
-
3:01 - 3:04But just imagine for a moment
what this must feel like. -
3:05 - 3:07I've spoken with veterans who've told me
-
3:07 - 3:10that one day they're in a brutal
firefight in Afghanistan -
3:10 - 3:13where they saw carnage and death,
-
3:14 - 3:16and just three days later,
they found themselves -
3:16 - 3:19toting an ice chest
to their kid's soccer game. -
3:20 - 3:23"Mindfuck" is the most common term.
-
3:23 - 3:25(Laughter)
-
3:25 - 3:28It's the most common term
I've heard to describe that experience. -
3:28 - 3:29And that's exactly what that is.
-
3:29 - 3:33Because while our warriors
spend countless hours training for war, -
3:33 - 3:35we've only recently come to understand
-
3:35 - 3:39that many require training
on how to return to civilian life. -
3:40 - 3:44Now, like any training, the best
PTSD treatments require repetition. -
3:44 - 3:45In the military,
-
3:45 - 3:48we don't simply hand trainees
Mark-19 automatic grenade launchers -
3:48 - 3:51and say, "Here's the trigger,
here's some ammo and good luck." -
3:51 - 3:56No. We train them, on the range
and in specific contexts, -
3:56 - 3:58over and over and over
-
3:58 - 4:01until lifting their weapon
and engaging their target -
4:01 - 4:02is so engrained into muscle memory
-
4:03 - 4:05that it can be performed
without even thinking, -
4:05 - 4:08even under the most stressful
conditions you can imagine. -
4:09 - 4:11Now, the same holds
for training-based treatments. -
4:12 - 4:15The first of these treatments
is cognitive therapy, -
4:15 - 4:19and this is a kind
of mental recalibration. -
4:19 - 4:21When veterans come home from war,
-
4:21 - 4:23their way of mentally framing
the world is calibrated -
4:23 - 4:26to an immensely
more dangerous environment. -
4:27 - 4:32So when you try to overlay that mind frame
onto a peacetime environment, -
4:32 - 4:33you get problems.
-
4:33 - 4:38You begin drowning in worries
about dangers that aren't present. -
4:38 - 4:41You begin not trusting family or friends.
-
4:42 - 4:46Which is not to say there are no
dangers in civilian life; there are. -
4:46 - 4:49It's just that the probability
of encountering them -
4:49 - 4:50compared to combat
-
4:50 - 4:53is astronomically lower.
-
4:54 - 4:57So we never advise veterans
to turn off caution completely. -
4:57 - 4:59We do train them, however,
to adjust caution -
4:59 - 5:01according to where they are.
-
5:02 - 5:04If you find yourself
in a bad neighborhood, -
5:04 - 5:05you turn it up.
-
5:06 - 5:08Out to dinner with family?
-
5:08 - 5:09You turn it way down.
-
5:10 - 5:13We train veterans to be fiercely rational,
-
5:13 - 5:17to systematically gauge
the actual statistical probability -
5:17 - 5:21of encountering, say, an IED
here in peacetime America. -
5:21 - 5:26With enough practice,
those recalibrations stick. -
5:27 - 5:30The next of these treatments
is exposure therapy, -
5:30 - 5:32and this is a kind of field training,
-
5:32 - 5:36and the fastest of the proven
effective treatments out there. -
5:36 - 5:38You remember Carlos?
-
5:38 - 5:39This was the treatment that he chose.
-
5:40 - 5:42And so we started off
by giving him exercises, -
5:42 - 5:44for him, challenging ones:
-
5:44 - 5:46going to a grocery store,
-
5:46 - 5:48going to a shopping mall,
going to a restaurant, -
5:48 - 5:51sitting with his back to the door.
-
5:51 - 5:52And, critically --
-
5:53 - 5:55staying in these environments.
-
5:56 - 5:58Now, at first he was very anxious.
-
5:58 - 6:00He wanted to sit
where he could scan the room, -
6:00 - 6:02where he could plan escape routes,
-
6:02 - 6:05where he could get his hands
on a makeshift weapon. -
6:05 - 6:08And he wanted to leave, but he didn't.
-
6:08 - 6:11He remembered his training
in the Marine Corps, -
6:11 - 6:13and he pushed through his discomfort.
-
6:14 - 6:17And every time he did this,
his anxiety ratcheted down a little bit, -
6:17 - 6:20and then a little bit more
and then a little bit more, -
6:20 - 6:21until in the end,
-
6:21 - 6:26he had effectively relearned
how to sit in a public space -
6:27 - 6:28and just enjoy himself.
-
6:30 - 6:33He also listened to recordings
of his combat experiences, -
6:33 - 6:35over and over and over.
-
6:36 - 6:40He listened until those memories
no longer generated any anxiety. -
6:40 - 6:43He processed his memories so much
-
6:43 - 6:46that his brain no longer needed
to return to those experiences -
6:46 - 6:48in his sleep.
-
6:48 - 6:52And when I spoke with him
a year after treatment had finished, -
6:52 - 6:53he told me,
-
6:53 - 6:58"Doc, this is the first time in 43 years
-
6:58 - 7:00that I haven't had nightmares."
-
7:01 - 7:06Now, this is different
than erasing a memory. -
7:06 - 7:09Veterans will always remember
their traumatic experiences, -
7:09 - 7:11but with enough practice,
-
7:11 - 7:16those memories are no longer as raw
or as painful as they once were. -
7:16 - 7:20They don't feel emotionally
like they just happened yesterday, -
7:20 - 7:24and that is an immensely
better place to be. -
7:26 - 7:27But it's often difficult.
-
7:28 - 7:31And, like any training,
it may not work for everybody. -
7:32 - 7:33And there are trust issues.
-
7:34 - 7:35Sometimes I'm asked,
-
7:35 - 7:38"If you haven't been there, Doc,
how can you help me?" -
7:38 - 7:39Which is understandable.
-
7:40 - 7:45But at the point of returning
to civilian life, -
7:45 - 7:48you do not require
somebody who's been there. -
7:48 - 7:51You don't require training
for operations on the battlefield; -
7:51 - 7:55you require training on how to come home.
-
7:59 - 8:01For the past 10 years of my work,
-
8:01 - 8:04I have been exposed to detailed accounts
-
8:04 - 8:07of the worst experiences
that you can imagine, -
8:07 - 8:08daily.
-
8:08 - 8:10And it hasn't always been easy.
-
8:10 - 8:13There have been times
where I have just felt my heart break -
8:13 - 8:15or that I've absorbed too much.
-
8:16 - 8:19But these training-based
treatments work so well, -
8:19 - 8:23that whatever this work takes out of me,
it puts back even more, -
8:23 - 8:26because I see people get better.
-
8:27 - 8:29I see people's lives transform.
-
8:31 - 8:34Carlos can now enjoy outings
with his grandchildren, -
8:34 - 8:37which is something he couldn't even do
with his own children. -
8:38 - 8:42And what's amazing to me
is that after 43 years of suffering, -
8:42 - 8:45it only took him 10 weeks
of intense training to get his life back. -
8:46 - 8:48And when I spoke with him, he told me,
-
8:48 - 8:52"I know that I can't get those years back.
-
8:53 - 8:58But at least now, whatever days
that I have left on this Earth, -
8:58 - 9:00I can live them in peace."
-
9:01 - 9:05He also said, "I hope that these
younger veterans don't wait -
9:05 - 9:06to get the help they need."
-
9:07 - 9:08And that's my hope, too.
-
9:09 - 9:10Because ...
-
9:11 - 9:12this life is short,
-
9:13 - 9:17and if you are fortunate enough
to have survived war -
9:17 - 9:19or any kind of traumatic experience,
-
9:19 - 9:22you owe it to yourself
to live your life well. -
9:23 - 9:25And you shouldn't wait
to get the training you need -
9:25 - 9:27to make that happen.
-
9:29 - 9:34Now, the best way of ending
human suffering caused by war -
9:35 - 9:36is to never go to war.
-
9:37 - 9:40But we are just not there
yet as a species. -
9:40 - 9:41Until we are,
-
9:41 - 9:47the mental suffering that we create
in our sons and in our daughters -
9:47 - 9:48when we send them off to fight
-
9:49 - 9:51can be alleviated.
-
9:52 - 9:58But we must ensure that the science,
the energy level, the value -
9:58 - 10:01that we place on sending them off to war
-
10:02 - 10:03is at the very least mirrored
-
10:03 - 10:07in how well we prepare them
to come back home to us. -
10:08 - 10:09This much, we owe them.
-
10:10 - 10:11Thank you.
-
10:11 - 10:18(Applause)
- Title:
- We train soldiers for war. Let's train them to come home, too
- Speaker:
- Hector Garcia
- Description:
-
Before soldiers are sent into combat, they're trained on how to function in an immensely dangerous environment. But they also need training on how to return from the battlefield to civilian life, says psychologist Hector Garcia. Applying the same principles used to prepare soldiers for war, Garcia is helping veterans suffering from PTSD get their lives back.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 10:31
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for We train soldiers for war. Let's train them to come home, too | |
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for We train soldiers for war. Let's train them to come home, too | |
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Brian Greene approved English subtitles for We train soldiers for war. Let's train them to come home, too | |
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for We train soldiers for war. Let's train them to come home, too | |
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for We train soldiers for war. Let's train them to come home, too | |
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for We train soldiers for war. Let's train them to come home, too | |
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Camille Martínez accepted English subtitles for We train soldiers for war. Let's train them to come home, too | |
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Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for We train soldiers for war. Let's train them to come home, too |