Why does the military disqualify mentally unstable people?

[Chiropteran]

I remember before going to boot camp there was a huge deal about how if you were taking anti-depressants or similar drugs you might get in a lot of trouble if you lied and they find out later. Presumably because they won't accept you into training if you are the sort of person who needs those drugs to function.

But then, I watched Hart's War tonight. One small scene at the beginning is the main character being interrogated, and forced to reveal the location of fuel depots. Yeah okay, he is a normal perfectly sane person, so what is he going to do, let the Nazi's cut off his feet? Of course not, he spills the beans!

Now, consider this. Hart, instead of being a normal mentally stable person, was totally nuts and only functional while doped up on Zoloft. A couple days after capture he is suffering withdrawal symptoms and the Nazi's are going to have their hands full just trying to keep him from slitting his own wrists.

Wouldn't that be beneficial for our military? It's like a built-in self destruct mechanism- soldier gets captured, soldier goes nuts and kills self.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

You're forgetting about the part when he isn't captured

 

[FallenHero]

Imagine this: Same person you describe is in a combat zone and either 1) Mentally cannot handle the situation 2) runs out of meds, in which case refer to #1. Now his buddies have to worry about him going crazy and fragging them in the middle of their sleep or killing himself off in a violent way.

 

[Journer]

this is the worst fucking war logic i have ever heard.

 

[lyssword]

Yeah, but they can beat MMA elite in a street fight.

 

[Leros]

Mentally unstable person, with training to kill people, in combat situations = disaster

 

[Skunkwourk]

Originally posted by: Journer
this is the worst fucking war logic i have ever heard.

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: FallenHero
Imagine this: Same person you describe is in a combat zone and either 1) Mentally cannot handle the situation 2) runs out of meds, in which case refer to #1. Now his buddies have to worry about him going crazy and fragging them in the middle of their sleep or killing himself off in a violent way.

That would make a great movie. The Army could sell the rights to Hollywood and make a fortune.

Win-win situation.

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: Leros
Mentally unstable person, with training to kill people, in combat situations = disaster

They are perfectly stable with meds though. Or do you think ritalin, zoloft, etc are all just scams?

 

[zerocool84]

read Catch-22

/thread

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: Chiropteran

Originally posted by: Leros
Mentally unstable person, with training to kill people, in combat situations = disaster

They are perfectly stable with meds though. Or do you think ritalin, zoloft, etc are all just scams?

Shortage in the supply line could mean lack of meds. Or an unexpected extended mission could leave the soldier without meds.

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: zerocool84
read Catch-22

/thread

I've read the cliff notes.

It supports my argument!

Only a crazy person would want to go to war. Considering we have an entirely volunteer military, based on that logic everyone in the military is crazy.

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: Chiropteran

Originally posted by: Leros
Mentally unstable person, with training to kill people, in combat situations = disaster

They are perfectly stable with meds though. Or do you think ritalin, zoloft, etc are all just scams?

Shortage in the supply line could mean lack of meds. Or an unexpected extended mission could leave the soldier without meds.

Shortage in the supply line could mean a lack of rations, and all the soldiers will starve to death.

Or an unexpected extended mission could leave the soldier without enough rations, and he will starve to death.

The solution is to make sure the supply line is stable, reliable, and redundant.

 

[0roo0roo]

having other soldiers fragged by other mentally unhinged soldiers=bad for morale

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: Chiropteran
Presumably because they won't accept you into training if you are the sort of person who needs those drugs to function.

[...]

But then, I watched Hart's War tonight.

[...]

A couple days after capture he is suffering withdrawal symptoms and the Nazi's are going to have their hands full just trying to keep him from slitting his own wrists.

[...]

Wouldn't that be beneficial for our military?

You sir, are officer material.

 

[dighn]

I don't think you've throught this through.

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: Chiropteran

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: Chiropteran

Originally posted by: Leros
Mentally unstable person, with training to kill people, in combat situations = disaster

They are perfectly stable with meds though. Or do you think ritalin, zoloft, etc are all just scams?

Shortage in the supply line could mean lack of meds. Or an unexpected extended mission could leave the soldier without meds.

Shortage in the supply line could mean a lack of rations, and all the soldiers will starve to death.

Or an unexpected extended mission could leave the soldier without enough rations, and he will starve to death.

The solution is to make sure the supply line is stable, reliable, and redundant.

War is already incredibly psychologically damaging. An emotionally and mentally fragile person that can only function while on Zoloft would not be able to handle the stressors of war, even with medication. Not to mention, soldiers can not eat for a day or two, but you can't just stop taking meds and expect everything to be ok.

 

[imported_Champ]

Originally posted by: Chiropteran
I remember before going to boot camp there was a huge deal about how if you were taking anti-depressants or similar drugs you might get in a lot of trouble if you lied and they find out later. Presumably because they won't accept you into training if you are the sort of person who needs those drugs to function.

But then, I watched Hart's War tonight. One small scene at the beginning is the main character being interrogated, and forced to reveal the location of fuel depots. Yeah okay, he is a normal perfectly sane person, so what is he going to do, let the Nazi's cut off his feet? Of course not, he spills the beans!

Now, consider this. Hart, instead of being a normal mentally stable person, was totally nuts and only functional while doped up on Zoloft. A couple days after capture he is suffering withdrawal symptoms and the Nazi's are going to have their hands full just trying to keep him from slitting his own wrists.

Wouldn't that be beneficial for our military? It's like a built-in self destruct mechanism- soldier gets captured, soldier goes nuts and kills self.

I have no clue what to say about that but...that may be either the greatest or worst idea in military history

 

[Wheezer]

I'll do you one better....how about we take a dozen of death row inmates, give them some hard core military training, teach them how to be effective killing machines then drop them in Afghanistan and give them a mission to wipe out Taliban leaders if they succeed and live...they can go free.

Hey! wait a minute that sounds awfully familiar.......

 

[13Gigatons]

A better idea would be a cool under pressure soldier who has a small bomb implanted in his brain that can be remotely detonated.

 

[Soccerman06]

Anyone else thing of MGS4 after reading this?

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: Soccerman06
Anyone else thing of MGS4 after reading this?

I was actually thinking Robocop 2

 

[DJFuji]

this thread makes me lol

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Leros
Mentally unstable person, with training to kill people, in combat situations = disaster

Worse:
Mentally unstable person, with training to kill people, in a non-combat situation, like say, back home.

Someone who might be dangerous already, and now he knows how to kill people. That might be a bad idea.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: Leros
Mentally unstable person, with training to kill people, in combat situations = disaster

Worse:
Mentally unstable person, with training to kill people, in a non-combat situation, like say, back home.

Someone who might be dangerous already, and now he knows how to kill people. That might be a bad idea.

Just stop them from coming back or lock them up when they do.
Sure, it may be a little inhumane, but at least people will be safe from the government created dangerous people.