Moving Violations, or the Needle in the Red Zone - Combat Veterans and Adrenaline Addiction

Adrenaline in combat helps the servicemember stay alive, and execute the plan.  Being addicted to the same adrenaline rushes after combat, though -- back on the home front -- can go from being an asset to a liability -- especially behind the wheel or on the motorcycle, and contributes to the sad phenomenon known as "non-combat deaths" from various origins.

Enough returning combat veterans kill themselves through reckless driving that different steps are being taken to warn participants of the semi-obvious dangers:

The Guardian (UK) newspaper has a story in today's paper, previously published yesterday in the Observer (UK), about the the British military's current advertising campaign to warn returned servicemembers about the dangers of amped-up, reckless driving.  The article, "Ads warn soldiers back from war zones against reckless driving," is linked here.

Says the article, "British soldiers are twice as likely as civilians to die as a result of reckless driving, because they have difficulty adjusting to normal life after returning home from active duty, according to official statistics."  The ads feature catchy slogans, such as "Drive Carefully.  You're Tough, but Not Invincible," and one directed to motorcyclists, "You're An Accident Waiting to Happen."  Hmmmn.  Those ads are likely to catch people's attention -- in fact, almost 60% of troops surveyed said they would think about slowing down, said the article, after considering them.

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Rick Roger's article in the May 23 issue of the San Diego Union-Tribune talked about the rash of non-combat fatalities among Marines at Camp Pendleton, many of whom had died in motorcycle fatalities.  Five Marines had died in the past eight days, where the "confirmed or probable causes" were homicide, suicide and traffic accidents. The article described Marine commanders and commands "backtracking to see if we need to do anything different to avoid these things happening again.”

It also clarified:

“Two of these deaths were caused by apparent motorcycle accidents, an area of deep concern for our Corps as motorcycle fatalities continue to rise at an alarming rate,” the statement said. “In a recently released All-Marine Message, the commandant outlines guidance and directives designed to curb motorcycle injuries and fatalities.”

Motorcycle-related deaths in the Marine Corps have risen every year since 2004, when there were seven. Last year, there were 19, according to the Naval Safety Center.

As for efforts to minimize combat stress and substance abuse, Camp Pendleton officials said the base has programs, policies and officers devoted to outreach and education. They also said each unit conducts monthly random drug tests on a mandated percentage of its Marines."

(Since that article was published, even more Marines have died as a result of motorcycle accidents.  See the article by Trista Talton in Friday's Marine Corps Times, linked here.  She writes, "Twenty Marines have died in motorcycle wrecks since Oct. 1, making this fiscal year the deadliest on record despite the Corps’ efforts to reduce two-wheel fatalities."  YIKES.

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From an article in the May 13, 2008 edition of the Marine Corps Times:

The new order, a work in progress for about six months, was initiated because of the number of motorcycle fatalities and injuries occurring within II MEF. From October 2007 to January 2008, more II MEF Marines died in motorcycle wrecks than in combat.

According to the order, released April 29, most of those deaths involved junior Marines and included things such as reckless behavior, blatant disregard of orders and policies, lack of proper training, little driving experience, alcohol and willfully disobeying state and federal traffic laws.

Information about the order is linked here.

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"Adrenaline addiction" is a familiar concept but by no means an official diagnosis (there are, however, informal support groups for it, on the Web, although I wonder if they're not just catchy names for invitations to drag racing and hang gliding events :-).

Sgt. Chad T. Jones wrote about it, back in April of 2004, in an article called "Flipping Off the Switch Can Save Your Life," linked here, first published in a Fort Bliss military publication, called the NCO Journal.  He introduced the article by saying:

A Soldier who has recently returned from Iraq might experience a need for a combat-level rush, called adrenalin addiction. The cravings for this excitement could kill him, but a patient, informed leader can intervene to save the Soldier’s life.

This information is a little on the generic side (in other words, seems like common sense) -- but apparently it's worth thinking about for those who haven't already considered it.  (It would be interesting, too, to learn the age ranges of those surveyed, above, who thought that just seeing the ad's message would reinforce their behavior towards slowing down and being more reasonable.  My guess is those were the older survey participants, because with age comes wisdom -- or so they say -- and/or the change to experience a few close calls with reckless behavior, which also has an impact on slowing us down.

From the same 2004 article:

Adrenaline addiction is something Soldiers returning from deployment are susceptible to, and is described as the need to engage in excitement-seeking behavior, said Col. Robert Gifford (Dr.), associate professor of psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences.

“Soldiers, when they come back from a deployment, have often been observed engaging in ‘excitement-seeking behavior.’ It includes a lot of people who liked excitement before and
Soldiers who come back [from a deployment] and miss the excitement, and sense of purpose that comes with a deployment,” Gifford said.

Usually, Soldiers are able to adjust their lifestyle or compensate for the lower operation tempo, but unfortunately other Soldiers “can’t find adequate ways to fulfill themselves, and they become excitement junkies,” said Lt. Col. (Dr.) David M. Benedek, associate professor of psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences.

Specific evidence stating why a Soldier seeks danger is not existent, Gifford said. But a popular opinion among medical professionals is that Soldiers are trying to replace the constant adrenaline needed to be successful in a combat environment.

“Operational or combat environments require a sense of alertness all of the time and it is very difficult to turn that off when you return home. Even though Soldiers are glad to be home, many found features they enjoyed while deployed,” Gifford said. “Sure it’s hot and miserable, but there is a sense of purpose. Suddenly, you’re home and those senses of purpose or excitement are suddenly gone, and people may not want to give that up so quickly.”

One way emotion leads to the reckless behavior is that Soldiers feel indestructible when they get home because they survived combat. That carelessness or sense of being indestructible can be dangerous, Gifford said. “Clearly any person who gets involved with risky behavior puts themselves in a position to get hurt, or killed,” he said.

While "adrenaline addiction" or being an adrenaline "junkie" isn't a true "addiction," as defined by the experts, there are some obvious similarities, including developing cravings for the environmental stimulants that provide the adrenaline rush -- many of which were available in combat situations, but not on the home front.  It's hard for many returning servicemembers to calm down -- and this is understandable -- after the rigors and the scares of combat.

Says the article:

"Upon detection [of the problem], leaders have many options they can use to help the Soldier. “There are a variety of mental health sources,” he said, but many Soldiers feel more comfortable talking to Chaplains or someone else. The important thing is to get the problem surfaced.”  Once the problem is brought to light, it’s important to figure out why the behavior is occurring. “Reckless behavior may be a signal of a number of illnesses or situational things that might resolve itself on its own or it might take a medical professional to figure out what to do,” [Col. Robert] Gifford said."

As I'm typing this out, though, I'm reading an email from a favorite Vietnam vet, telling me about the battle for Hill 881, and saying, in part, "without masses of adrenaline rushing through us, we couldn't have done this..." Aye, there's the rub.  Sometimes it's a total asset to have it; and just as easily, it becomes a grave liability.  Context is everything.

If you remember watching the Kellee Twiggs video (SSgt. Travis Twigg's wife, speaking after his death from PTSD), you will recall her talking about how jumpy her husband was -- how he couldn't sit still long enough to watch a movie with her and the kids; that his legs were always twitching.  To a certain degree, this must be a conditioned response from combat -- all that hyper-alertness turns into just plain jumpiness, with nowhere to go.  No wonder people try to bleed it off, doing risky things -- it keeps the feedback loop primed.

Sad to say, though, it's a feature of post-deployment life that servicemembers will need to get a handle on, through any reasonable means necessary -- and with good advice from practitioners they trust -- because failing to do so will prolong their suffering, and put their safety and sometimes that of other people's at risk.  Good for the British to be doing these ads, but as the popular saying goes, you can't really regulate human behavior. Suggesting that there might be a problem, though -- may be what amounts to a start.  An attempt to get the needle back out of the red zone...