The mainstream US media continues to shy away from awkward questions about the lowering of mental health entry standards into the military and the subsequent medication of personnel with severe psychological problems. The side-effects of mixing various psychotropic and non-psychotropic drugs in an environment which appears to ignore a culture of heavy drinking is also not on the agenda despite clear manufacturer's warning labels.
What is very obvious is that SPC Nestling's death was totally unnecessary, her calls for help were largely ignored by a military establishment who no longer saw her as an asset but a liability that needed to be shown the exit door. The military authorities have failed get to the bottom of what really happened or are covering up. This suggests a basic lack of respect for low-ranking personnel and their families in a system which is clearly stretched beyond capacity.
SPC Nestling was dumped alone into a decommissioning facility with total strangers, where odd behavior like sleeping all day, locking oneself inside a shared day-room, binge drinking and abusing prescription drugs were ignored, or worse, accepted as normal behavior. A place where she did not make friends or socialize and where fellow soldiers forgot the first rule drummed into them during basic training i.e., you look after each other - that's what keeps you alive in combat.
Was Nestling's death just another avoidable co*k-up or is there something more sinister going on here? Either way, plenty of people in the military appeared to be aware that she had serious psychological problems and its leadership clearly failed in its basic duty of care by allowing a vulnerable confused young female soldier to slip through the cracks.
***postscript***
August 2009: Lariam (mefloquine), manufactured by Roche
Pharmaceuticals, is no longer being sold under that trade name in the
United States. Generic mefloquine, however, is widely available here
and in other countries. Just prior to this decision the US Army also
dropped Lariam as its drug of choice for anti-malarial protection for
troops. The Army Surgeon General now recognizes the dangers of
prescribing Lariam to patients with symptoms of brain injury,
depression, or anxiety disorder, which describes many troops who have
been deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan.'
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