Concussion Now Worthy of Purple Heart

And it is about DANG time the military came around on this.  I say military but really the Army is taking the lead as they have recently reviewed their designations for the Purple Heart, and concussions will now be considered for the honor.  There is hope that the other branches will follow suit and make concussions worthy of a Purple Heart.

It wasn’t like the Army did this on their own, it took pressure from the civilian sector, namely the NPR;

In response to the ProPublica/NPR reporting, which showed that Army commanders denied some soldiers the Purple Heart even after they suffered documented concussions, the Army’s Chiarelli called for a review of the guidelines. On Wednesday, he announced clarified rules, including a checklist of valid treatments (bed rest and Tylenol among them), that will make it easier for war veterans to receive the Purple Heart after sustaining concussions.

I must say this is great news, because by making this distinction more awareness will be given to “closed head trauma” and making the ‘invisible’ injury more visible to everyone.  And I echo the sentiments Continue reading

Concussions Not Only The Field of Play, but…

On the field of battle.  Amy Davidson of the The New Yorker wrote a story about concussions in football and in battle.  More significantly our soldiers are not getting Purple Hearts for such injuries.

She went on to source a ProRebublica/NPR report that was directed at the military and their lack of apparent recognition of brain injures as valid injuries.

An even deeper issue, one that seems not to garner the press it should be getting is the trouble that most soldiers are having trying to readjust to civilian life.  PTSD has been the biggest “diagnosis” for most with issues, but possibly could it be the concussions sustained on the battle field?