Senator McCain’s Medical Records: Will They Include Psychiatric Records re PTSD?

[NNN0LHI]

http://themoderatevoice.com/at-tmv/newsweek-blogitics/18859/senator-mccains-medical-records-will-they-include-psychiatric-records-re-ptsd/

April 9th, 2008 by DR. CLARISSA PINKOLA ESTÉS, TMV Columnist

That’s what some of the pundits are hinting at. But, I wonder what the rules are for releasing one’s medical records if one is running for the presidency; surely it’s not required.

Senator McCain’s had several brushes with cancer; it’s not his age, but perhaps some think it’s his vulnerability to cancer that ought be weighed.

There’s a saying in the old religious stories that when we were born, God put a number on our heads, indicating the number of years we’d have on earth. No one knows their own number. Probably thankfully, many might say.

Yet number of years lived is no perfect predictor of longevity. I’ve seen, and you likely have too, enough clear-headed ninety year olds who lived past ten difficult diseases to still take a dance or ten at every wedding. And you and I have no doubt seen the too many young fall away like snowflakes in a sudden sun, leaving this earth far too soon.

Did Senator McCain have Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome when he returned as a POW from the Viet Nam war? (PTSD is currently called a ‘disorder,’ but I often use the older phrase ’syndrome,’ for post-trauma recovery process is often more like a set of phases one goes through in order to reset the psyche to know the difference between living in war, and living in peace again).

[ShaneGR]

1. Well, one thing to take a look at would be genetics....

How long did his parents live?

[Virginia Dare]

4. His mother is still alive, well into her 90's...n/t

[Poiuyt]

6. What about his father?

Is he still alive? If not, how old was he when he died?

[Virginia Dare]

7. He died in 1981 at the age of 70..

I just did a little research on him, and it appears he was a drunk, as McCain himself alluded to in his biography. The grandfather died of "exhaustion" at 61, so likely he was too.

[Poiuyt]

10. Interesting. So does McCain have his mother's genes or his father's?

[bryant69]

2. I don't see the PTSD thing as a winning issue for us

I mean I get that maybe we should ask the question even if it damages our party; but it certainly seems like the sort of question that can get turned around.

One way to approach is to point out conservative commentators suggesting that McCain might suffer from this, or worse, Stockholme Syndrome.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[noonwitch]

5. No one should attack McCain's service record

Not only is it an unwinnable strategy, it is just plain wrong to attack his military service. That's what they do, not what we do.

[leveymg]

3. If I recall, Tom Eagelton was kicked off the ticket in '72 when his electroshock was revealed

McCain was subjected to a wide range of 1960s Soviet interrogation techniques: electroshock, drugs with neuropychiatric effects, aversive dependency conditionng. In other words, he was brainwashed.

As a result, he reportedly delivered more than 30 propaganda addresses over Radio Hanoi, and has been a psychological wreck with PTSD symptoms ever since. He has my sympathy, but he's unfit for the office of President.

[windbreeze]

8. a more important question might be...before we get into this...

when, what year, did they actually start diagnosing VietNam vets with PTSD???and acknowledge that their serving in that "conflict" caused it?? did they ever??I thought the PTSD diagnoses for veterans did not start until after the first Gulf War....????I know when my husband came back with obvious mental problems from VietNam, they refused to acknowledge that there was any problem with him..there was no help, no counseling, nothing...take your month's leave, then go to your next duty station and act like a man, there's nothing wrong with you...

I have mixed feelings about opening his military records...but then again...he's vying for the top spot in this nation...anything and everything that impacted his life, should be open to scrutiny...nothing should be hidden...what he went through could very well impact that office he wants to hold...wb

[NNN0LHI]

9. During WW II it was called shell shock

Same illness different name.

Don