Hector Garcia: We train soldiers for war. Let's train them to come home, too
Hector Garcia: Nós treinamos soldados para a guerra. Vamos treiná-los também para voltar a casa.
Hector A. Garcia has spent his career as a frontline psychologist delivering evidence-based psychotherapies to veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Full bio
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and got shot up in every one.
e foi baleado em todas elas.
shrapnel in his body
he suffered from nightmares,
sofreu de pesadelos,
Stress Pós-Traumático (PSPT).
to help mitigate human suffering,
ajudar a diminuir o sofrimento humano,
has been the suffering caused by PTSD,
tem sido o sofrimento causado pela PSPT,
como o Carlos.
just wasn't there.
PSPT simplesmente não existia.
demos drogas pesadas
and gave generic group therapy,
e fizeram terapia de grupo genérica,
about your experiences."
essas experiências."
wilderness retreats --
com cães, retiros na natureza,
temporarily relieve stress,
o "stress" temporariamente,
PTSD symptoms over the long term.
sintomas da PSPT a longo prazo.
that we can now eliminate PTSD,
agora podemos eliminar a PSPT,
número de veteranos.
has been able to show,
conseguiram mostrar,
get rid of symptoms and which do not.
eliminam ou não os sintomas.
many of the very same training principles
muitos dos mesmos princípios de treino
in preparing its trainees for war.
preparar os recrutas para a guerra.
since before we were even fully human.
antes de sermos totalmente humanos.
from using stone and sinew
pedras e força
and devastating weapon systems imaginable.
sofisticados e devastadores imagináveis.
possam usar essas armas,
to use these weapons,
training methods.
métodos de treino.
our warriors to fight.
para lutar.
of the modern-day combat veteran,
de um veterano de guerra moderno,
have not been as good
que não temos sido tão bons
immersed in conflict,
viviam imersos em conflitos,
in our evolutionary history,
na nossa história evolutiva,
how to come home from war,
de aprender a voltar da guerra,
in far more peaceful societies,
em sociedades bem mais pacíficas,
we, especially in the United States,
especialmente os EUA,
our warriors through advanced training,
os nossos guerreiros em treino avançado,
anywhere on the globe
ponto do globo
para subúrbios pacíficos.
what this must feel like.
como deve ser isso.
firefight in Afghanistan
no Afeganistão
they found themselves
dão por eles a levar
to their kid's soccer game.
o jogo de futebol do filho.
I've heard to describe that experience.
para descrever essa experiência.
spend countless hours training for war,
passam horas a fio a treinar para a guerra,
começámos a perceber
on how to return to civilian life.
para regressar à vida civil.
PTSD treatments require repetition.
tratamentos para PSPT requerem repetição.
Mark-19 automatic grenade launchers
automáticos a recrutas e dizemos:
here's some ammo and good luck."
munições e boa sorte."
and in specific contexts,
e em contextos específicos,
and engaging their target
e enfrentar o seu alvo
without even thinking,
conditions you can imagine.
stressantes que se possa imaginar.
for training base treatments.
tratamentos baseados em treino.
is cognitive therapy,
é terapia cognitiva,
of mental recalibration.
the world is calibrated
mentalmente está calibrada
more dangerous environment.
mais perigoso.
onto a peacetime environment,
mentalidade para um ambiente pacífico,
about dangers that aren't present.
receios de perigos que não estão lá.
família ou amigos.
dangers in civilian life; there are.
perigos na vida civil, claro que há.
of encountering them
to turn off caution completely.
a baixar completamente a guarda.
to adjust caution
ajustarem o nível alerta
in a bad neighborhood,
serem intensamente racionais,
the actual statistical probability
a probabilidade estatística concreta
here in peacetime America.
aqui na América em tempo de paz.
those recalibrations stick.
essas re-calibrações ficam.
is exposure therapy,
é a terapia de exposição,
effective treatments out there.
comprovadamente eficazes.
by giving him exercises,
going to a restaurant,
ir a um restaurante,
where he could scan the room,
poderia avaliar a sala,
on a makeshift weapon.
arma improvisada.
in the Marine Corps,
nos fuzileiros,
his anxiety ratcheted down a little bit,
reduziu-se um pouco,
and then a little bit more,
e depois mais um pouco,
how to sit in a public space
como sentar-se num local público
of his combat experiences,
das suas experiências de combate,
no longer generated any anxiety.
deixassem de gerar ansiedade de todo.
to return to those experiences
de voltar a essas experiências
a year after treatment had finished,
de ter terminado o tratamento,
than erasing a memory.
their traumatic experiences,
das suas experiências traumáticas,
or as painful as they once were.
ou dolorosas como eram antes.
like they just happened yesterday,
que acabou ainda ontem,
better place to be.
melhor para se estar.
it may not work for everybody.
pode não funcionar para todos.
how can you help me?"
como pode ajudar-me?"
to civilian life,
somebody who's been there.
que tenha estado lá.
for operations on the battlefield;
operações no campo de batalha;
that you can imagine,
que possam imaginar,
where I have just felt my heart break
sentia o meu coração a partir
treatments work so well,
em treinos funcionam tão bem,
it puts back even more,
devolve ainda mais,
with his grandchildren,
e passear com os seus netos,
with his own children.
nem com os seus filhos.
is that after 43 years of suffering,
depois de 43 anos de sofrimento,
of intense training to get his life back.
de treino intenso para voltar a ter vida.
recuperar esses anos.
that I have left on this Earth,
número de dias que tenha neste Terra
younger veterans don't wait
veteranos mais novos
a ajuda que precisam."
esperança.
to have survived war
de sobreviver à guerra
experiência traumática,
to live your life well.
vivermos uma boa vida.
to get the training you need
para ter o treino necessário
human suffering caused by war
com o sofrimento causado pela guerra
yet as a species.
como espécie.
in our sons and in our daughters
aos nossos filhos e filhas
the energy level, the value
o nível de energia, o valor
to come back home to us.
para voltarem para casa, para nós.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Hector Garcia - PsychologistHector A. Garcia has spent his career as a frontline psychologist delivering evidence-based psychotherapies to veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Why you should listen
Hector A. Garcia is a psychologist with the Valley Coastal Bend Veterans Health Care System and a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.
In his work as a researcher, Garcia examines barriers to PTSD care, masculine identity and its impact on PTSD treatment-seeking, and how occupational burnout impacts PTSD care providers, who daily hear detailed accounts of trauma. As a teacher and scientist, he explores how evolutionary psychology and biology have influenced human tendencies toward violence in religion.
Garcia's groundbreaking book, Alpha God: The Psychology of Religious Violence and Oppression, reveals how human evolutionary history has left us prone to religiously inspired bloodshed. In particular, he explains how men's competition over evolutionary resources -- especially sexual primacy and territorial control -- has too often been projected onto notions of God, resulting in religious warfare, the oppression of women and ecological devastation. His regular blog on Psychology Today examines the evolutionary psychology of violence, politics, religion and our everyday lives.
Hector Garcia | Speaker | TED.com