Look at the time

See insomnia! Great I've graduated to super stress. Actually I think I've graduated to dull aching pain or who knows both could be winners. Not that it matters much because here I am nice and awake, shower taken and I'm feeling lively. At 11pm yesterday I was sooooo tired that I couldn't keep my eyes open. I just had to sleep. Which is fine, I run myself short on sleep sometimes so I get days where I just bang have to sleep right now. But most people know I'm not a morning person. So getting up like this is just really unusual.

So while I laid awake for the past hr without getting up (I tried to go back asleep) I began to think more about the returning soldiers stuff. Here is what I've thought out so far. Everyone thinks their story is the truth. When you try and change someone's perception of their story they don't like it very much. One of the things that happened to me when I went out of country for a long time was my country developed a different story then I did, from what I can gather this is true for many many people. Healthy, sane people with supportive families probably have a higher rate of being able to readjust although I question long term affects especially concerning raising families and to much physiological stress. I think the danger in the short term is initial feelings of disorienting and a longing to reconcile their internal story with what is happening on the outside. Compartmentalizing which is usually seen as something to avoid in phycoiologically may actually be extremely helpful to returning soldiers. What does this mean as far as what we can do? For starters I think this should mean providing them with a safe place to return to..... I know in the past this has met the barracks or the VA hospital. Both are inadequate to met the needs of returning soldiers who want to and should be allowed to return to "normal" society. The barracks are for training soldiers and the VA is to take care of the sick/infirmed. We need a readjustment center (although there has to be a better name then that!) , this center should take on caring for the needs of all soldiers that have been in combat. The consequences of that is that it means the gov. having more control not less in these peoples lives. That has some scary Sci-Fi type scenarios playing out in my head. But I try my best to remember, they volunteered, and when they come back and are working in the cubicle next to me I want to feel safe. I don't want to see them homeless, I don't want to see them unable to work thru' the myriad of bureaucracy to get the help they need.