The Republican candidate, Donald Trump, was discussing U.S. veterans‘ health situation after coming home from a war when he implied that military servers who committed suicide were not as strong than others that survived.
Trump was discussing Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder (PTSD) with a full audience of U.S. military veterans on Monday morning at Northen Virginia when he was asked about his views on the suicide of many veterans in the country. The Republican candidate explained that coming home from the war was a strong situation, in which many need to be strong to adapt themselves back to reality when he said that some were not as “strong.”
“When you talk about the mental health problems when people come back from war and combat, they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over,” started to explain the Republican candidate to the audience. “And you’re strong enough and handle it, but a lot of people can’t handle it,” said Donald Trump to the veteran audience on Monday morning.
Trump’s comments sparked controversy on social media and among the veterans audience, which perceived the candidate’s comments as offensive towards the constant number of veterans suicides.
Sensitive matter
On the verge of the November elections and in the political tension being felt in the United States, both of the presidential candidates are seeking to defend their views and opinions towards national matters.
Donald Trump, who has become one of the countries most controversial candidates, has been recognized for speaking his mind and saying things as they come to his mind. However, Trump’s last statements touched a sensitive matter among U.S. servers.
Suicide is nothing to joke about, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, each year 41,773 Americans take their lives each year making this the 10th leading cause of death in the country and costing the nation over $44 billion annually.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a very common mental illness in the U.S. military especially when the soldiers have come back from a war they experience a sort of “hangover” in which violent scenes are repeated over and over in their heads, making them feel threatened at home.
Currently, 22 U.S. veterans take their lives every day due to an untreated PTSD since the vast majority lives with the premise that asking for mental health help is seen as “weak,” something that doesn’t go with a veteran’s views.
Over the past few years, the Obama administration has been trying to reduce that views to its minimum by bringing attention to the subject and creating campaigns that fight that opinions and make veterans understand that treating their mental health is just as treating a physical wound.
Recently, the President of the United States was asked a question similar to Trump’s as he talked to veteran family members and women, to which Obama answered “You’ve got to go get help, and there’s nothing weak about that,”
After Mr. Trump’s declarations, his campaign manager informed that the media was trying to misrepresent the candidate’s declarations as a way of support to the democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Source: NY Daily News