Major Nidal Malik Hasan is the shooter responsible
for slaughtering 13 people and wounding 31 others
Nidal Malik Hasan, the army major responsible for slaughtering 13 unarmed people, and wounding 43, (34 of them shot), on Thursday the 5th of November at Fort Hood military base in Killeen, TX, may have been treating himself with psychotropic medications.
The major was about to deploy overseas, and didn't make it a secret that he was dissatisfied with the move. According to retired Army Col. Terry Lee, Major Hasan frequently argued with military personnel about their support of the wars in Iraq, and Afghanistan, and tried to weasel out of of his pending deployment, according to Fox News in Dallas.
The Huffington Post reported that soldiers deployed overseas used to be given an anti-malarial drug called mefloquine, but in 2002 three soldiers murdered their wifes, and the drug took the heat for possibly causing their behavior. The drug has serious side-effects including psychotic behavior. Vanity Fair's Maureen Orth did a story on the Fort Bragg murders in 2002.
It would also be interesting to see whether Major Hasan was being given this drug as he was about to be deployed overseas. Given his already suspect behavior, this may have sent him over the edge.
Major Hasan was at Walter Reed Army Medical Center where he was pursuing his career in psychiatry. According to My Fox Dallas Fort Worth, "While an intern at Walter Reed, Hasan had some "difficulties" that required counseling and extra supervision, said Dr. Thomas Grieger, who was the training director at the time."Hasan was eventually transferred to Fort Hood in Texas.
Is it possible Nidal Hasan was on medication to cope with the troubled feelings, and thoughts he was having in relation to the patients he was seeing at Walter Reed? Dr. Geiger could have placed the major on some type of psychotropic drugs, such as antidepressants, at the time. Major Hasan could also have been taking medication on his own accord, being a doctor, and psychiatrist, it wouldn't be that difficult to obtain the drugs. If the Major was taking any of the medications with warnings of increased risk of suicide attached to their use, could this have pushed him over the edge as well?
Psychiatry and senseless violence
Major Hasan never saw combat, but instead was impacted by his patient's experiences in, and out of combat. Would people understand it more had Major Hasan been involved directly with the war, as in combat situations, and been subjected to gruesome experiences that led to him going "Postal?" Or, are people reacting in a knee-jerk fashion because of his religion, and terrorist-like qualities of his actions as proof that Major Hasan had his own personal Jihad in effect?
From this side of the desk it sure looks like a Jihad, smells like a Jihad, and walks like a Jihad. So what do you call someone who quacks, and walks like a duck? Not a pigeon. Major Hasan probably had an agenda, despite the possibility he was taking medication.
Unfortunately, all of this is speculation, and we won't know all of the details for a while yet. It would be telling to know whether Major Hasan was on drugs at the time of the rampage. Not to excuse his behavior, but as a way to highlight the increased mental disorders military personnel are suffering, including substance abuse problems. However, if Hasan had an agenda, then of course, what difference does it make whether he was taking drugs or not? He would have carried out the deed regardless.
Of course, if the military doesn't start addressing the increased mental health problems surfacing these past few years within the ranks, and increased substance abuse problems, as well as a high soldier, and veteran suicide rate, (16 in October alone), we might be in for more troubles of this nature in the very near future.
Leave condolences to victims here
UPDATE - OBAMA SPEAKS AT FORT HOOD 11-10-09 3:30pm (Washington Post)
If you or a loved one needs help with any type of drug problem, contact these sites depending on where you live. SEMCA (Wayne County residents), CARE (Macomb County residents), PACE (Oakland County residents), Drug Free Detroit (City of Detroit residents). For those residing outside the State of Michigan, contact SAMHSA for assistance.
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Nidal Malik Hasan: His own patient? by Michael Velardo, aka Crash Test Addict is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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Comments
You said "Would people understand it more had Major Hasan been involved directly with the war, as in combat situations, and been subjected to gruesome experiences that led to him going "Postal?"" I am a new vet (retired a week ago) with 6 tours in combat zones. Here is the cut and dry. A MUSLUM US Army Officer shot and killed US troops, on US soil. He had statments long before this attack of his political views to others. THAT IS A FACTOR so don't down play it. He is a trator, a murder, and needs to suffer a painful death. Try looking into the eyes of a Muslum velot...a painful death is what they want for 99.9% Of America. He was a sell out to his nation, The Army, and the soldiers he served with. Don't make excuses for this scum bag. What kind of reporting is this? It's not, it's opinion and better you send this story to Aljazeera TV.
Nadal Hasan could easily have been prescribed an antidepressant -either by himself or another doctor.
The Physicians Desk Reference states that SSRI antidepressants and all antidepressants can cause mania, psychosis, abnormal thinking, paranoia, hostility, etc. These side effects can also appear during withdrawal.
Go to www.SSRIstories.com where there are over 3,400 cases, with the full media article available, involving bizarre murders, suicides, school shootings [49 of these] and murder-suicides - all of which involve SSRI antidepressants like Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, etc, . The media article usually tells which SSRI antidepressant the perpetrator was taking or had been using.
He said he was a Palestinian on his documentation even though he was born and raised in America. He shot and killed American soldiers that were going to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq;a war he was against. He didn't go postal, it was premeditated(giving away his possessions and copies of the Koran), and when he did it he yelled his Muslim god's name. Why is the media not concerned about this!?!?! Have we become so politically correct that we are not even considering that he was a sleeper?
Don't worry Concerned Patriot, the media will certainly focus on his being Muslim (note spelling SFC) more than his taking psyciatric medication. And then they will break for a commercial for the latest drug by Merck, and then they will talk about the H1N1 swine flu, how it's sweeping the nation and will cause untold amounts of death. Then they'll talk about Paris Hilton. So don't worry, you'll be satisfied. But the reality is we have a much higher correlation between men on psychiatric medication and violence than we do between Muslim men and violence.
I suppose I should have spelled psychiatric correctly.
We have to be honest and come right out and say it... everything that has come out from initial interviews points to the massacre being related to this man's religious beliefs.
His friends and colleagues have all said that his resistance to serving was because he felt it conflicted with his religion as a Muslim. He started the attack by yelling "Allah (God) is Great". To ignore the blatant religious underpinnings would be side-stepping this conversation.
Pointing out negative aspects of (all) religions should no longer be a protected taboo. Religious beliefs are fantasies and then we all act surprised when some believers come back into our real world and start shooting people while saying "God is Great", or flying planes into buildings believing their religious indoctrination that they will get 72 virgins in a (mythical) afterlife.
Religions are dangerous myths.
if someone is not willing to Kill Bill in the Army, then don't enlist or work for the military establishment. the military is there for the reason of defending one's country. so if Hasan has momentarily belief disorientation, then Allah has nothing to do with him going off and killing innocent people. when people kill like this, they will sport all kinds of strange ideas why they're doing it. religious fervor will spoon medicate feed this guy's mind into a shooting gallery. as one over the edge family man once told me fanatically and somewhat crazily, "BUT IT'S ALL IN THE MIND!" of course, it is. where else would our strange thoughts be -- in our foot?
The US military is devoting considerable effort to combating the twin maladies of PTSD and TBI.
northshorejournal.org/tag/ptsd
They are also working very hard to address the issues underlying soldier suicides. Keep in mind that about 1/3 of soldiers who suicide have never been deployed and are not scheduled to deploy. soldier suicide is about things like substance abuse, family problems and financial issues.
very good article...asking reasonable questions the press is ignoring in their "islam is evil" witch hunt...
expect to get a lot of flack, because the sheep aren't use to truth after a lifetime of slick lies.
The military has put an incredible amount of resources into mental health treatments for our soldiers. Interestingly, the violence has continued to escalate. If anything it's gotten worse. Maybe the mental health treatments are part of the problem. We should honor our brave young men and women, not drug them.
There are many good comments here. Major Hasan is not the alegded killer. He is the Killer (Murderer).
You can study the Quaran and it tells them that they will be rewarded for getting rid of Infidels. (That is US!!!!) The retired SFC said it very good.
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