Foreign army veteran rescued after Songkran water gun exacerbates PTSD

[webfact]

Photo via Facebook/ Nicola Vincenzo Biccai

 

by Petch Petpailin

A Thai rescuer took to Facebook to share knowledge about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms after he helped a foreign veteran suffering from the condition after a water gun attack in the Patong sub-district of Phuket.

 

The Thai rescuer, Nicola Vincenzo Biccai, posted the story on Friday, April 14 that he received a notification from witnesses that a foreign man had fainted in Soi Bang La. Upon arrival at the scene, he discovered that the foreign man’s body temperature was high and he was breathing too fast.

The rescuer explained that the foreign man handed him an identification card saying that he was a US Army veteran. He then realised that the man must have suffered from a panic disorder. So, he and his team immediately moved the victim out of the scene and tried to assess his symptoms.

 

The foreign man explained that gun and shooting gestures exacerbate his PTSD symptoms. The water guns brought on traumatic memories of war and fights that he had experienced.

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/news/national/foreign-army-veteran-rescued-after-songkran-water-gun-excacerbates-ptsd

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-04-17

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

The most versatile and flexible rental investment and holiday home solution in Thailand - click for more information.

[JustAnotherFarang]

pathetic - truly

[scorecard]

6 minutes ago, JustAnotherFarang said:

pathetic - truly

Not so fast.  There's many war veterans from the US, Australia and many more countries still having PTSD, panic, anxiety depression issues resulting from combat situations/experiences going back as far as the Vietnam conflict, it's real.

 

Have some respect and compassion. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by scorecard

[swbaggies]

11 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Not so fast.  There's many war veterans from the US, Australia and many more countries still having PTSD, panic, anxiety depression issues resulting from combat situations/experiences going back as far as the Vietnam conflict, it's real.

 

Have some respect and compassion. 

Whilst I agree the comment was probably not worded greatly, surely he would have at least been conscious of his triggers and could/should have avoided the place. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by swbaggies

[KiChakayan]

The Greatest generation came back from the wars and went on with their lives... Wonder what happened?

[bigt3116]

He had heat illness for god's sake!

 

Symptoms of heat illness include;

 

Body temperature normal or slightly high.

Fainting.

Pulse fast and weak.

[scorecard]

11 minutes ago, swbaggies said:

Whilst I agree the comment was probably not worded greatly, surely he would have at least been conscious of his triggers and could/should have avoided the place. 

 

12 minutes ago, swbaggies said:

Whilst I agree the comment was probably not worded greatly, surely he would have at least been conscious of his triggers and could/should have avoided the place. 

You really think it's that simple?

People with PTSP issues want, as far as posible, to have a normal life like eveybody.

Staying home isn't the answer and avoiding isn't so easy.

 

 

 

[FritsSikkink]

13 minutes ago, KiChakayan said:

The Greatest generation came back from the wars and went on with their lives... Wonder what happened?

They never spoke about it and killed themselves / drank them selves to death.

[swbaggies]

Just now, scorecard said:

 

You really think it's that simple?

People with PTSP issues want, as far as posible, to have a normal life like eveybody.

Staying home isn't the answer and avoiding isn't so easy.

 

 

 

Whoah there horsey.. I am not blaming him, I'm just saying IF you know you have issues with guns, why go to a gun fight? 

 

I don't like heights so I would guess I would have a panic attack skydiving, I may not but there is a higher chance than someone without that issue. 

[scorecard]

14 minutes ago, KiChakayan said:

The Greatest generation came back from the wars and went on with their lives... Wonder what happened?

I guess you're meaning WW2.

 

In those days There was little information about the emotional effects of war but is is well recognized that WW2 did suffer PTSD issues.

 

Part of the situation was that thousands of returned soldiers had issues...  

 

The governments of the day focused (some countries with OK success some with very little success) on getting their countries back to manufacturing productivity and income. A very mixed bag.

[n00dle]

39 minutes ago, JustAnotherFarang said:

pathetic - truly

no. a vetran suffering PTSD from battle is not pathetic. 

What is pathetic is people today claiming PTSD from working in "toxic" office environments.

 

That said, from the information provided id suggest heatstroke is far more likely a culprit here.

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by n00dle

[n00dle]

9 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

They never spoke about it and killed themselves / drank them selves to death.

indeed, you can see it here on aseannow.

[LennyW]

Sounds like heatstroke.

[scorecard]

24 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

They never spoke about it and killed themselves / drank them selves to death.

Very true for many WW2 veterans.

 

I lived in a very well organized war veterans village nth of Sydney until a a couple of years back.

 

A number of the residents were quite young, veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

 

Many of these vets had very serious issues fearing severe danger around every corner. Especially the Afghanistan vets.

 

I sat with many of these guys, and their wives and we talked slowly for hours, all aimed at getting them back closer to mainstream life with reduced PTSD issues, fears etc.

 

There was some success but their PTSD issues, panic, anxiety, lack of trust weren't gone.   

 

The wives always included because there was strong value in educating the wives about what the real combat situations looked like.  Also some meetings/discussions with parents for the same reason, always including many examples of what NOT to do/NOT to say at home.

 

I'm a Vietnam war vet. My parents alwas very caring and balanced.

 

I arrived home from VN, the same day my dad said 'on Friday night after work I'm taking you for a camping trip to shoot some roos and rabbits etc.' And he showed me the new rifle he had bought for me.

 

This was the very last thing I wanted to do.  In reality I desperately wanted to avoid:

- Night driving

- Camping with rifles in a small tent

- Handling guns / firing guns

- See more death.

 

I waited 24 hrs with lots of concerns going through my mind then I told my dad 'I don't wnt to go camping', and I explined why.

 

Dad quickly/deeply realized his plan was less than appropriate and he regreted what he had done and I never ever saw a gun/rifle in our house ever again. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by scorecard

[herfiehandbag]

1 hour ago, JustAnotherFarang said:

pathetic - truly

No. PTSD takes people many different ways. Different people have different triggers.

 

I live a couple of kilometres from a small arms range (Royal Thai Police). Sometimes I find it disturbing, not so much pistols but when they are using rifles. Very occasionally they have night shoots.

 

I served in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq. Nothing exceptional ( very "ordinary forces" me) but the odd occasion when the backside was going "sixpence, half a crown, sixpence, half a crown".

 

I don't have PTSD, but I do sometimes have very vivid dreams - some might say nightmares.

 

As I said it takes different people different ways. Heat, crowds, shouting and waving guns may have initially been fun, but it could also have been a trigger.

 

Be thankful you are not affected.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by herfiehandbag

[JustAnotherFarang]

I stand by what I said - no soldier would ever be triggered by plastic water pistols squirting water, the mere notion is ridiculous.  A snowflake would fare better at Songkran but it knows not to visit as its going to melt.

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The foreign man explained that gun and shooting gestures exacerbate his PTSD symptoms. The water guns brought on traumatic memories of war and fights that he had experienced.

Should have stayed home..

[dingdongrb]

My father-in-law who served a couple tours in Vietnam had PTSD. If he was sleeping and heard a loud noise he would roll out of bed and hide under it.

[scorecard]

20 minutes ago, JustAnotherFarang said:

I stand by what I said - no soldier would ever be triggered by plastic water pistols squirting water, the mere notion is ridiculous.  A snowflake would fare better at Songkran but it knows not to visit as its going to melt.

You have no idea what yo're talking about.

 

You cannot say "No soldier would ever be triggered by plastic water pistols squirting water, ..."

 

Soldiers are not robots all programmed to think the exact same way.  

 

 

[scorecard]

15 minutes ago, dingdongrb said:

My father-in-law who served a couple tours in Vietnam had PTSD. If he was sleeping and heard a loud noise he would roll out of bed and hide under it.

Been there done that.

[herfiehandbag]

1 hour ago, dingdongrb said:

My father-in-law who served a couple tours in Vietnam had PTSD. If he was sleeping and heard a loud noise he would roll out of bed and hide under it.

The classic story in the UK was the soldier recently returned from "Op Banner" (deployment in Northern Ireland) who dived for cover when a passing car backfired.

 

Never happened to me but I know of others who have done it.

 

I do remember being a passenger in a friends car having recently returned, we were driving down the M3, he saw a couple of farmers in a field with shotguns, and took off like a bat out of hell. I didn't know a Triumph Herald (it was a long time ago) could go that fast!

[Fortean1]

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

Very true for many WW2 veterans.

 

I lived in a very well organized war veterans village nth of Sydney until a a couple of years back.

 

A number of the residents were quite young, veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

 

Many of these vets had very serious issues fearing severe danger around every corner. Especially the Afghanistan vets.

 

I sat with many of these guys, and their wives and we talked slowly for hours, all aimed at getting them back closer to mainstream life with reduced PTSD issues, fears etc.

 

There was some success but their PTSD issues, panic, anxiety, lack of trust weren't gone.   

 

The wives always included because there was strong value in educating the wives about what the real combat situations looked like.  Also some meetings/discussions with parents for the same reason, always including many examples of what NOT to do/NOT to say at home.

 

I'm a Vietnam war vet. My parents alwas very caring and balanced.

 

I arrived home from VN, the same day my dad said 'on Friday night after work I'm taking you for a camping trip to shoot some roos and rabbits etc.' And he showed me the new rifle he had bought for me.

 

This was the very last thing I wanted to do.  In reality I desperately wanted to avoid:

- Night driving

- Camping with rifles in a small tent

- Handling guns / firing guns

- See more death.

 

I waited 24 hrs with lots of concerns going through my mind then I told my dad 'I don't wnt to go camping', and I explined why.

 

Dad quickly/deeply realized his plan was less than appropriate and he regreted what he had done and I never ever saw a gun/rifle in our house ever again. 

Your story is profound to me.  My father served in WW 2, Pacific Theater, in the U.S. Navy.  He had depression and lost a lot of weight.  When I was 16, my Dad killed himself at age 40, in 1966.  He used a rubber hose running from the car exhaust.  This was done in the stripper pits east of Evansville, Indiana.  I recommend watching this John Huston film made in 1946.  It is about one hour long:

John Huston does much of the narration.

 

I too served in Vietnam at the Headquarters and Headquarters company of the 1st Aviation Brigade.  I worked in the teletype communications center and later maintained codes and made the stenciled booklets of SOIs for use by the pilots of our light aircraft and helicopters.  I served at Long Binh 1/71 to 7/72.  I may have a mild form of PTSD.

 

Terry

( a few miles south of Hua Hin )

[KiChakayan]

2 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

They never spoke about it and killed themselves / drank them selves to death.

Totally incorrect, my Dad and my uncles  never stopped talking about their war experiences. They built meaningful lives dedicated to raise their families.

 

[scorecard]

41 minutes ago, KiChakayan said:

Totally incorrect, my Dad and my uncles  never stopped talking about their war experiences. They built meaningful lives dedicated to raise their families.

 

Let's please understand there is no standard box that all war vets fit into. My uncles etc., never ever talked about it and as kids we were educated to not ask them questions about the war.

 

And the experiences of war vets can be vastly different according to the 'jobs' and units they belonged to. Some saw horrific incidents, some didn't quite so much. 

 

My own experiences include small children being blown to pieces and I was the section leader on a search and destroy mission. The village was very strongly suspected of aiding the viet cong communist army. After many hours of serious very methodical searching everywhere for villagers (because of geneva conventions protecting / non targeting of civilans etc.) and your in an area known to have active well trained communist ruthless special forces, and you have to get on with your orders, I gave the order to blow up the village.

 

After the village was destroyed we searched again as per orders, looking for any equipment, ammunition, packaged food etc., that might have been revealed. We discovered the badly dismembered burned bodies of several adults and children. Enough said.  

[JustAnotherFarang]

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

You have no idea what yo're talking about.

 

You cannot say "No soldier would ever be triggered by plastic water pistols squirting water, ..."

 

Soldiers are not robots all programmed to think the exact same way.  

 

 

you have no idea what you are talking about, I was a soldier

[KiChakayan]

58 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Let's please understand there is no standard box that all war vets fit into. My uncles etc., never ever talked about it and as kids we were educated to not ask them questions about the war.

 

And the experiences of war vets can be vastly different according to the 'jobs' and units they belonged to. Some saw horrific incidents, some didn't quite so much. 

 

My own experiences include small children being blown to pieces and I was the section leader on a search and destroy mission. The village was very strongly suspected of aiding the viet cong communist army. After many hours of serious very methodical searching everywhere for villagers (because of geneva conventions protecting / non targeting of civilans etc.) and your in an area known to have active well trained communist ruthless special forces, and you have to get on with your orders, I gave the order to blow up the village.

 

After the village was destroyed we searched again as per orders, looking for any equipment, ammunition, packaged food etc., that might have been revealed. We discovered the badly dismembered burned bodies of several adults and children. Enough said.  

No comment, Lt Calley.

[scorecard]

14 minutes ago, KiChakayan said:

No comment, Lt Calley.

Not funny. Your unneeded comment is why so often these experiences are not shared and are carried hidden for decades.  

[JustAnotherFarang]

6 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Not funny. Your unneeded comment is why so often these experiences are not shared and are carried hidden for decades.  

much is made of veterans and upto the 2nd world war I would agree that their cause was just and honourable.  But once we enter the realms of Vietnam, Iraqi and Afghanistan, my sympathies quickly evaporate because so much unwarranted sympathy is given to the imperialistic invaders and their "ptsd" and not to those that had their homeland attacked.  If said "soldier" was an active combatant in Asia then why would he return to the scene of the crime and expect anything less?  I have more respect for those who patrolled the streets of Belfast and made it home without ever killing innocents and theres not a single British soldier worth his salt who would lose the plot over multicoloured water pistols on a hot summers day

[scorecard]

34 minutes ago, JustAnotherFarang said:

much is made of veterans and upto the 2nd world war I would agree that their cause was just and honourable.  But once we enter the realms of Vietnam, Iraqi and Afghanistan, my sympathies quickly evaporate because so much unwarranted sympathy is given to the imperialistic invaders and their "ptsd" and not to those that had their homeland attacked.  If said "soldier" was an active combatant in Asia then why would he return to the scene of the crime and expect anything less?  I have more respect for those who patrolled the streets of Belfast and made it home without ever killing innocents and theres not a single British soldier worth his salt who would lose the plot over multicoloured water pistols on a hot summers day

Whether countries should participate / interfere in wars not of their own making / not on their own soil is complex to say the least.

 

To suggest that soldiers who went to these wars (mostly through conscription) are not entitled to claim PTSD, is not valid. 

 

 

"theres not a single British soldier worth his salt who would lose the plot over multicoloured water pistols on a hot summers day."

 

You cannot possibly be in a position to make such a substantive statement.

 

Also, was it specifically 'multicolored water pistols' that triggered his reaction? You don't know the answer to that and neither do I!

Edited April 17, 2023 by scorecard

[PleaseTypeSlow4me]

6 hours ago, JustAnotherFarang said:

pathetic - truly

such an insensitive and unwarranted comment, only to insult all soldiers, all soldier's families, everyone who knew someone with PTSD and anyone with the slightest bit of compassion.  You really came to Thailand to type this?  When you were on the plane, you told yourself, "I will insult people for no reason because I enjoy doing this."