Counterintuitive Spring 2024

My research paper will be based around Vancouver and how they are helping their heroin addicts with providing them with heroin. It seems very counterintuitive to simply hand out heroin to those that are heroin addicts. There is obviously a reason that they are doing this and for some reason they feel as though this will in return help the addicts in one way or another. It seems insane to give users their drug of choice, but clinics in Vancouver must have a different idea.

Free Heroin Injections

Why Give Heroin to Heroin Addicts

Vancouver Fights Heroin with Heroin 

Prescription Heroin > Street Drugs

Heroin Clinics Improving Lives

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD) is a mental condition beset on people who are immersed in particularly stressful, rather dangerous, environments. Most commonly afflicting soldiers, PTSD can hit anyone. A victim of a terrorist attack, or even a bank robbery in which one was involved could open the door for PTSD. In a nutshell, PTSD is the aftermath of any traumatic event in which if an affected person encounters a trigger (like fireworks when their incident involved explosives, or a concert of people shouting when their incident was being held at gunpoint by criminals shouting commands) they, in a way, relive the trauma and have physical, emotional, and even psychological symptoms to show for it. Triggers come in all shapes and sizes and vary person to person. A trigger could be intense as a gunshot or as subtle as a car horn. Anything that can mimic or replicate something from the memory. Triggers aren’t restricted to sound, as someone seeing a plastic bag in the wind out of the corner of their eye could be triggered, thinking it was an IED (improvised explosive device, commonly used in roadside car-bombings).In Mother Jones’ article “Is PTSD Contagious?”, the author makes a proposition as to whether or not the symptoms of PTSD are transferable, specifically from a member of the army to his wife.

Much of the article is written as filler. Many parts are merely background on what PTSD is and what it’s like living with it. Some parts, however, offer more of an insight on to why it may be “contagious”.

“Her nose starts running she’s so pissed, and there she is standing in a CVS, snotty and deaf with rage, like some kind of maniac, because a tiny elderly woman needs an extra minute to pay for her dish soap or whatever.”

I’m no doctor, but this just sounds like someone who’s impatient and has no anger control. It is mentioned that the change dropping on the counter is what triggers her, and again i’m no expert, change isn’t a very big trigger for anyone suffering PTSD.

“‘Sometimes I can’t do the laundry,’ Brannan explains, reclining on her couch. ‘And it’s not like, ‘Oh, I’m too tired to do the laundry,’ it’s like, ‘Um, I don’t understand how to turn the washing machine on.’ I am looking at a washing machine and a pile of laundry and my brain is literally overwhelmed by trying to figure out how to reconcile them.'”

Washing clothes is a simple chore, probably repeated dozens of times by Brannan in her lifetime. How could secondary stress cripple someone so far as to not even be able to do laundry, something as routine as brushing one’s teeth.  Sounds to me like someone just doesn’t want to do laundry.

“Her schoolmate said something mean. Maybe. Katie doesn’t sound sure, or like she remembers exactly. One thing she’s positive of: “She just made me…so. MAD.””

Well here’s more evidence of simple anger issues. Spitting at someone for being mean or rude is a show of lacking anger containment. Again, this doesn’t sound much like PTSD. Where is the trigger here? Being rude?

I exceeded my time already by ten minutes (neglecting to mention I was also interrupted by a meeting with my RA, the time was subtracted from the hour). What I can add as a conclusion to my work this far is that I don’t believe PTSD is contagious. Maybe it’s blow-back can reach further than previously determined, but what I’ve been reading is just a case of personality mirroring, so to speak. If Caleb has never been to war, but his personality was as is with PTSD and we change the PTSD relationship to standard domestic abuse, the mirroring would be the same. If there were a PTSD victim who could suppress their symptoms or not show any at all, their PTSD would not be transferred at all, ever. Brannan and Katie don’t have PTSD, they just have anger issues.

Is PTSD Contagious?

PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) – is a mental health problem that can occur after a traumatic event (war, assault, disaster)

“BRANNAN VINES HAS NEVER BEEN to war. But she’s got a warrior’s skills”

This statement is assuming that Brannan has a warrior’s skills, however the ones listed are not exclusively warrior’s skills.  “Hyperawareness”, “hypervigilance”, and “adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning” are all skills, not necessarily related to being a warrior.  Does she have increased strength or agility?  Even by the end of the first paragraph, she is described as: “snotty and deaf with rage, like some kind of maniac” after experiencing something that triggered her warrior skills.  The statement that she turns into a snotty rage machine undermines the original statement that she has warrior skills.

“Caleb has been home since 2006, way more than enough time for Brannan to catch his symptoms. ” 

After Caleb came home from war, he was diagnosed with PTSD.  The statement that his wife had “more than enough time” assumes that she has been exposed to her husband long enough to catch his disorder, assuming that she can catch it at all.  How does the writer of this article know how long it takes for someone to catch PTSD from someone else, considering it isn’t like a typical disease whereas transmission would be from a physical pathogen.

“THE VINESES’ WEDDING ALBUM is gorgeous…you’ve ever seen, in a shy kind of way.”

How is the paragraph relevant to the topic of PTSD being contagious?  It is understandable to use the paragraph to show how the war and PTSD has changed Caleb Vine, however the addition of saying that the mayor was at their wedding and she couldn’t drink doesn’t seem relevant.  The paragraph is an unnecessary distraction from Caleb’s transformation after getting PTSD.

“Caleb knows that a person whose problem is essentially that he can’t adapt to peacetime Alabama sounds, to many, like a pussy.”

Having Caleb’s opinion of others’ opinions about himself can only be used to gain sympathy from the reader’s.  If the writer actually wanted to display Caleb’s mentality behind his condition, they should have a direct quote from him.  Saying that he should simply “get over” PTSD is absurd, but does nothing to further the point that PTSD is contagious.

PTSD or post traumatic stress disorder is a mental condition triggered by experiencing or seeing a terrifying event. This condition is most seen in soldiers who have been in war and is also seen sexual assault victims. Some symptoms are re-experiencing the traumatic event, avoiding reminders /triggers of the trauma, increased anxiety, and emotional arousal. PTSD is a condition that is developed by a person psychologically and not is something that can be spread.

In the article “Is PTSD Contagious?”, written by Mac Mclelland, he claims that PTSD is able to be spread to the surrounding people. The article starts by claiming that Brannan Vines has warrior skills. Even though Brannan has never been to war in her life she still possess warrior skills. He than states that she has the skills a soldier would require and use in warfare, such as being super stimuli-sensitive, hyperawareness, hyper vigilance, and adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning for danger. These set of skills that Mclelland claims her to have are symptoms of PTSD. Mclelland goes on to explain a situation when Mrs. Brannan was inside of a CVS pharmacy. While standing in line at this CVS Mrs. Vines suddenly became so furious her ears started to ring, nose started to run and was filled with furry towards the echoing sound of an old lady shifting through some coins.

For someone who hasn’t been to war it is a little strange as to how Brannan Vines is showing signs of PTSD. Mclelland claims that Brannan Vines husband Caleb Vines has passed on his PTSD to her. Caleb is an Iraqi war veteran who was deployed on two tours. After Calebs services were over and receiving numerous head injuries he developed PTSD. He has many symptoms such waking up from night terrors screaming, nearly striking her, mixing medication with alcohol, and other reckless violent behaviors. Mclelland also claims that due to Brannan being exposed a great deal to Caleb’s trauma that she has develop her own case of PTSD. The Vine family now fears that this horrible condition may spread to their daughter.

PTSD is a disorder obtained by most men and woman who go to war and fight for our country. After returning from war many people have side affects such as hyper awareness, hyper vigilence, and extreme amounts of adrenaline. We know what causes this in those that go away to war but is it contagious, and how does one come about obtaining it?

A prime example of this type of debate is the story of Brannan Vines. Her husband Caleb has been home from war since 2006 and suffers from PTSD. After returning home some of his symptoms of PTSD started rubbing of onto his wife Brannan. They shared many of the symptoms that have been previously mentioned. This proving that PTSD can be contagious in a way. People are likely to imitate the actions of those around them. It’s inevitable at any age that people are influenced by the ones close to them. For example many parents might monitor who their children associate with when they are young because they do not want them mimicking the actions of children that misbehave. This type of mimicking behavior can also be present in older age. Brannan and her daughter are subjected to her husbands behavior so often that they begin to adapt to their new habitat by taking on some of the traits of PTSD as well.

“Secondary traumatic stress has been documented in the spouses of veterans with PTSD from Vietnam.”(McClelland). How is it possible for these spouses to obtain this disorder if they are not the ones going to war? Well just like anything else in life behaviors can be taught and can be changed. From witnessing PTSD so closely and so often the symptoms start to rub off, this proving that although PTSD may not be “contagious” like a disease, it is definitely transmittable through imitation.

Is PTSD Contagious?
What is PTSD? – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a group of words with individual meaning. “Post” meaning after, “Traumatic”- wound or something horrible has happened, “Stress” – pressure or strain and “disorder” meaning disturbed.

What is “Contagious?”– The word contagious means capable of being transmitted or spreading germs of some sort. Can something without germs be contagious? Can we catch behaviors and mirror others? Yes.

Brannan Vines, the wife a war vet has been diagnosed with PTSD.  She is showing signs of a warrior: hyperawareness, hypervigilance, adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning for danger, for triggers.”

• The writer is comparing Beannan’s skills to the skills or traits of a warrior. This is a clever way to lure the reader in and feel the tension and danger of what she is going through.
• Like she is some crazy psycho, scanning for danger, and triggers to make her go off the deep end.

“Hypervigilance sounds innocuous, but in fact is exhaustingly distressing, a conditioned response to life-threatening situations. Imagine there is a murderer in your house. “

• Imagining there is a murderer in the house 24-7 is insane.
• This is a good analogy, makes for a really strong claim as to what a person with PTSD is feeling.
• The word, “murderer” is exhausting and scary.

“Sometimes I can’t do the laundry,” Brannan explains, reclining on her couch. “And it’s not like, ‘Oh, I’m too tired to do the laundry,’ it’s like, ‘Um, I don’t understand how to turn the washing machine on.’ I am looking at a washing machine and a pile of laundry and my brain is literally overwhelmed by trying to figure out how to reconcile them.”

• Laundry is a mindless and mundane chore.
• Could it be that Brannan is just lazy and doesn’t want to do the laundry, could be.

Katie mirrors her dads behavior.   Brannan says, she can’t get Katie to stop picking at the sores on her legs, she digs into her own skin with anxious little fingers.  According to Brannan,  Katie is not a normal carefree six-year-old.
• How can we blame her father? This sounds like  pure speculation to me.
• Maybe she is itching due to a rash, right?

My time is up, thank you once again for challenging my thoughts and I hope I completed that assignment correctly.

I do believe that PTSD is contagious and wish there is something we could do to help the veterans that fight for our freedom.  I’m able to take this class and speak my mind because of those brave souls.  Thanks again for the challenge.

P1. PTSD is a psychological disorder that is caused by traumatic events that many soldiers experience at war.  It is rarely heard that PTSD is passed onto people as if it were the cold or flu. Some believe that this is what is happening with Brennan. Instead it is absolutely possible that the characteristics of PTSD can be contagious when someone, such as Brennan, is constantly around a person with PTSD.

P2. The article begins by explaining how Brennan, Caleb’s wife, acquires all the characteristics as a soldier who had battled in war. The author states, “hyperawareness, hypervigilance, adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning for danger, for triggers. Super stimuli-sensitive” (McClelland), when reading these words readers can picture a person who is more jumpy or easily startled. These are symptoms that are generally associated with someone who has returned home from war, not a normal everyday housewife. An incident occurs when Brennan is waiting in line to check out and a elderly woman is fiddling with her change maybe taking longer than an average person. This triggers Brennan’s temper and causes her to become infuriated. When the incident with the elderly woman counting her change is explained, it is typically something that a normal person would not even think twice about. Instead it causes Brennan’s ears to ring describing the infuriating incident as “Her nose starts running she’s so pissed, and there she is standing in a CVS, snotty and deaf with rage, like some kind of maniac” (McClelland). Using such dramatic phrases like deaf with rage give the reader incite into how serious the matter at hand really is.

P3. When McClelland goes on to describe the lack of attention PTSD patients receive she says, “It’s hard to say, with the lack of definitive tests for the former, undertesting for the latter, underreporting, under or over-misdiagnosing of both” (McClelland). She uses a repetition of the prefix under to draw attention and emphasize just how neglected it is.

P4. An extremely terrifying situation is used as an example: McClelland says to imagine a murderer in your home at night with the electricity out. That anxiety and nervousness that is felt is what a PTSD patient feels all the time. This draws the readers attention because that is something that everyone can relate to as being absolutely terrifying. Living with a person who has PTSD is similar to living with a murderer in the house, the person is always forced to be on his or her toes not knowing what to expect.

P5. McClelland describes the area the Vine’s live as, “small town in the southwest corner of Alabama, is often quiet as a morgue. You can hear the cat padding around. The air conditioner whooshes, a clock ticks” (McClelland). This description could be interpreted as somewhere that could make someone go crazy. Listening to the clock tick tock in the middle of nowhere with a sick husband is a recipe for anyone to loose it. Is that what it really is and not PTSD? I believe the author wants to provoke a question in their reader’s minds.

P6. When Caleb is described as rounder and heavier after war as compared to his wedding album when he is smiling in every picture may indicate his depression. Eating can be a way of comfort and that may result in weight gain, or a way to cope with PTSD. The author mentions that Caleb has a disabled veteran license plate, when we think of injuries it is mostly physical not mental in Caleb’s case. Even though his disability is not physical it has similar restrictions. Like being light sensitive, waking up screaming or confused, this goes back to the beginning of war itself.

P7. The word coward is thought of as an insult and weakness. When someone calls a soldier with PTSD a coward it just shows the ignorance people have for the disease and its seriousness. People who are not aware of the seriousness of PTSD associate people like Caleb with cowards. When in reality it is a disease that one can not control.

P8. McClelland says, “Doctors have to go on hunches and symptomology rather than definitive evidence. And the fact that the science hasn’t fully caught up with the suffering…” this shows just how serious the disease is and how it still remains a mystery. They can not pin point why some soldiers like Caleb contract PTSD from war but not some other soldiers. It must be something so complicated since the disease has been around for so long without a cure or end. This may be because PTSD has no blood tests or x-rays that can diagnose that it is present.

P9. Some claim that PTSD is not just an incident that happens to an individual, but it is in fact contagious and affects everyone that is in contact with a person with PTSD. The longer the person with PTSD is around others, the more likely it is to spread and affect others. Brennan seems to have all the characteristics of a PTSD patient, and his daughter will further develop these characteristics as well. Katie is a young girl who learns from watching. If she is constantly watching and hearing her father have episodes of screaming and yelling all the time, it is no surprise that Katie models these behaviors. This is shown by her spitting on one of her classmates and acting up in school.

P10. When McClelland explains the immense pressure on Brennan to get sleep, feed her family, take her daughter to and from school, take care of her husband it leads the reader to believe that all these pressures have an affect on her. Leaving her condition of contagious PTSD worse. Yes plenty of woman are exposed to these different stresses, but Brennan’s situation is unique. Her husbands sickness and random episodes make her more likely to become a person with PTSD herself.

PTSD is is a mental disorder that affects people who have been through very traumatic experiences.  It is commonly known that it can be found in soldiers who come home from war.  It is less commonly known that PTSD can be passed onto people.  This has become evident in Iraq veteran Caleb Vine’s wife Brannan.

Caleb Vine has been suffering from PTSD since 2006, when he came home from Iraq.  Since then, the symptoms of PTSD have been passed on to his wife Brannan. She suffers from symptoms like hyperawareness, hypervigilance, adrenaline-sharp quick-scanning for danger, actions that are not usually in good use when in a grocery store.

The question is how did she come to get PTSD. She never really went through any trauma. The writer of the article Mclelland suspects that the trauma she experienced is dealing with her husbands PTSD, as if she “learned” the symptoms and behaviors. This would support the claim that PTSD is “contagious”. The Vine family is worried that it may be contagious, and that they could one day pass it onto their daughter.

PTSD is a psychological disorder that has symptoms such as disturbing flashbacks, paranoia, hyper arousal, night terrors, etc. It may develop after a person has one or more traumatic experiences such as sexual assault, warfare, or injury. However the article “Is PTSD contagious?”, written by Mac Mclelland, shows evidence that this disorder can be learned from another person. Now when I say learned this is not literally learning how to be paranoid but you are affected or influenced by an others behavior.

As an example, this article uses Iraq war veteran Caleb Vine. Back home from war in Alabama since 2006, it would appear that Vine’s behavior rubbed off on his wife Brannan Vines. This is an example of how this disorder can affect others who have not had a significant traumatic experience themselves. The article begins by explaining a time when she was at a store in line behind an elderly woman. Brannan becomes hyper aware, hyper vigilant, and extremely anxious as she hears the coins being counted. It would appear she has zero tolerance for the elderly woman. As far as we know from the given information, Brannan has never been to war or had any terrible experience that would have feeling like she needs to always be on guard. So this makes us womder what has caused her to act this way?

Mclelland expresses that Caleb being home since 2006 has given his symptoms more than enough time to affect his wife. The idea is that Brannans “T” in PTSD (Trauma), comes from the actions of her war scarred husband. Brannan explains her husbands behavior. Waking up from night terrors screaming, nearly striking her, carelessly mixing his medication with alcohol, and other reckless violent actions. We can see how this can cause stress and traumatize a person. With this said, we can conclude that her PTSD, if we can even call it that, was learned or more specifically, has affected her and thew way she acts.

Brannan worries that if her and her husband suffers from this disorder, it is only a matter of time before it begins to affect their daughter. This raises the question, is PTSD contagious. Literally speaking, it is not. However, it can be learned and reiterated. A person with PTSD can be quite difficult to deal with. This is evident when Brannan explains Caleb’s behavior. As i stated previously, the disorder is nit literally learned but can easily affect others.