Recognition of the life-long damage caused to the human brain from exposure to military related blasts is beginning. Despite doctors talking about “shell shock” and “combat stress reaction” for over 100 years, until recently these have been understood to be nothing more than old names for Post Traumatic Stress. However, years of research from sports have shown the damage even seemingly small impacts to the head can have, especially if repeated many times. The experiences of the endless wars and better testing tools have finally shown the real and permanent injuries to the brain exposure to blasts.
It took tragedy to force attention to this issue. On October 25, 2023 a sergeant in the Army Reserve went on a shooting spree in Maine that left 18 people dead and another 13 injured. Subsequent investigation showed that he had traumatic brain injuries that were attributed to his 8 years as a grenade instructor. In those 8 years he was exposed to thousands of blasts.
Despite 20 years of research on the effects of blast exposure, only last April the Army announced a study to create a baseline of brain functioning in recruits. In August the Defense Department announced new efforts to protect from the effects of blasts that may help reduce these injuries in the future.
The thousands of jobs being cut from Veterans Administration will have an effect on the services provided to people who have had their brains forever changed by their exposures to blasts. How many more incidents like the one in Maine are going to occur because of continued denial of real care for yet another injury.