The article you quote about PTSD says that as many as 9 out of 10 POWs from the Korean War may suffer PTSD.

That's a pretty high number, but just for the sake of full disclosure of the truth I will point out that McCain was not a prisoner in the Korean War. He was a prisoner during the Vietnam War. I am not sure that you can make that argument comfortably apply to McCain; just my opinion.

Churlpat -- a plutarch by any name is still a plutarch

With regards to predicting future PTSD, it does not matter if the five years of captivity, including three years in solitary and torture so extreme that, as John McCain put it, "broke" him to the point he attempted suicide several times, happened during the Korean conflict, Vietnam or at a later point. One of the most important considerations with regard to medical predictions of future PTSD, is how the initial trauma was dealt with.

In 1999, Dr. Michael M. Ambrose, director of the Robert E. Mitchell Center for Prisoner of War Studies, was contacted by John McCain to conduct a mental health review. The quality of the review is a matter of dispute as some say Dr. Ambrose did a full medical exam of the patient and others say the doctor only reviewed McCain's old medical records.

After the evaluation was completed, John McCain's 1999 campaign released a statement by Dr. Ambrose, which stated:

"Senator McCain has never been diagnosed with or treated at the center for a psychological or psychiatric disorder (The term PTSD first appeared in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980, years after John McCain's initial military medical evaluations). He has been subject to an extensive battery of psychological tests and following his last examination in 1993, we judged him to be in good physical and mental health.''

The McCain campaign press release included a statement by Dr. Ambrose, which reveals John McCain created a fantasy world in order to escape the reality of captivity and torture. They further stated McCain always heard the guards coming with his food, but "was often so much in his private world, that he strongly resented their coming around and bringing him back to reality by intruding. He was enjoying his fantasies so much."

"findings suggest that it is less what happens at the time of a trauma (e.g., disrupted encoding) that predicts PTSD than what occurs thereafter (i.e., persistent avoidance)." [John Briere, Ph.D., Catherine Scott, M.D., and Frank Weathers, Ph.D.]

The keyword here is 'persistent avoidance' which was evidenced by the findings of Dr. Ambrose.

"The presence of dissociative symptoms soon after exposure to trauma has been found to predict the subsequent development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)" [Gary Tucker, MD, Published in Journal Watch Psychiatry October 9, 2002]

"The amount of dissociation that follows directly after a trauma predicts PTSD" [American Psychiatric Association]

"Individuals that are more likely to dissociate during a traumatic event are considerably more likely to develop chronic PTSD" [Brown, Scheflin and Hammond (1998). Memory, Trauma Treatment, And the Law.]

"In several studies, dissociation at the time of a trauma (peritraumatic dissociation) has been found to predict symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder at follow-up assessments' [Michael W. Otto, PhD, Published in Journal Watch Psychiatry July 21, 2005]

" early numbing contributed to the prediction of later PTSD" [Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, Psychiatry Department, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine]

"Peritraumatic dissociation is frequently considered to be a risk factor for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)" [Doris C. Breh PhD, Department of Psychotraumatology, Psychosomatic University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany]

Ambrose later told the Associated Press "He had a very healthy way of dealing with his experiences." One of the examiners even noted that McCain had improved his ability to control his infamous temper due to his years of torture and captivity.

Anyone familiar with Workers' Compensation or personal injury cases understands full well you can pull the right strings or pay a 'company' doctor to say anything necessary to help your client.

It is worth noting the 1999 McCain campaign only released a small number of redacted medical records, the pages were not allowed to be photocopied and only a few select news organizations were privy to what
records were made available.

John McCain has a consistent history of out of control outbursts of anger and even admits an adverse reaction to the sound of jangling keys. Author Robert Timberg, who McCain has said "knows more about me than I do," calls these episodes "an eruption of temper out of all proportion to the provocation" and says they are a result of Vietnam coming "back to haunt him."

VA studies have shown time and again that POWs suffer a much higher risk of developing PTSD than combat veterans. Even so, to this date, mainstream media still has not pushed for full disclosure of John McCain's military medical records and refuses to ask the one simple question:

"Is John McCain emotionally fit for the most stressful job in our country, the President of the United States, our Commander in Chief?"

Is John McCain emotionally fit for the most stressful job in our country, the President of the United States, our Commander in Chief?"

In MHO, no. More than his health, my concern is his age. I happen to be a few years older than he is so I can attest to the fact that age does make a huge difference. He does have a 72 year old body and brain - he can't escape that fact. At his age he cannot have the same stamina physically or mentally that he had 20 years ago. You get tired! Your mental faculties are not as sharp nor as keen as they once were. Why does this man even want the job at his age? Hasn't he given enough of his life for his country already? Is it power or greed? Most people his age have already retired - why would he want to put himself through the stress of the presidency?

Would a large corporation hire a 72 year old man to be their new CEO? I doubt it. So why should United States trust their country to a person this age? I've no animosity toward McCain, I just think he is too old for this job that requires a mentally and physically capable person to be 100% 24/7. And I question whether he qualifies in that area. Look at all the gaffes he's made just lately. Just carelessness or is it mentally a problem? Either way, why does the press allow him to get away with one after another? If Obama did the same,the press would be all over him and he'd pay the price.

His health history is also a concern for me, although I'm not a medically trained person, his medical history is problematic for me. Why won't he release his medical history - for more than 30 minutes, that is? What might he be hiding? That is more suspicious than letting it be open for scrutiny by the press. We have a right to know if this man is not healthy enough to be running for the highest office in the land.

IMHO Congress should pass a law setting the cut off age for any candidate running for the presidency. The top age should be 60 years of age. After two terms they would be 68 and that is old enough for such a stressful job. Of course, this is all just my humble opinion.

colocritic

Please take note that in today's news, psychiatrists questioned in the Valli exorcism case (where she claims to have PTSD because of a false exorcism) claim that she does not have PTSD because she does not exhibit the symptoms i.e. she is not afraid or reluctant to talk about her experiences and she is not afraid to go out and about. I think it is fair to say that if these are the criteria that will be stnad up in a court of law, then John McCain does not exhibit PTSD either.

Lori, please don't tell the Whitehouse - Our veterans are having enough problems getting their benefits for PTSD, not to mention TBI, as it is ;)

It is a national shame that our military serving in Iraq had to file a class action lawsuit in order to get the VA benefits they so deserve and stop Pentagon interference with their diagnosis.

Colocritic,

I agree. His health and emotional problems are a combination of factors.

Also in the News:

On June 10, U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs back into court. Conti is presiding over a lawsuit brought by veterans against the VA, charging the agency with systematically denying veterans the services and support they so desperately need. Conti demanded that the VA explain why it had failed to produce certain critical (and incriminating) documents.

Among those documents was an e-mail written by the now-infamous Norma Perez. It read: "Given that we have more and more compensation-seeking veterans, I'd like to suggest that you refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out. Consider a diagnosis of adjustment disorder, R/O [ruling out] PTSD."

Bob Filner, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said it was inconceivable that a low-level staffer like Perez could have written such an e-mail on her own authority. Barack Obama called it "unacceptable" and "tantamount to fraud." John McCain called it "not too important."

http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/90251/?ses=...

When you google 'mccain ptsd', please note the absence of articles relating to McCain speaking out for veterans on this subject which affects veterans of all wars.

Could it be the PTSD word is a no no during his campaign, even career, because it may open up a discussion he does not want to address?