Sebastian Junger: Our lonely society makes it hard to come home from war
塞巴斯蒂安.榮格爾: 讓退伍軍人歸途難行的孤獨社會
The author of "The Perfect Storm" and the director of the documentaries "Restrepo" and "Korengal," Sebastian Junger tells non-fiction stories with grit and emotion. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
that I really had a problem.
and America wasn't at war yet.
美國還沒有向阿富汗宣戰。
「創傷後壓力症候群」
about the effect of trauma and war
for a couple of months
北方聯盟一起待過幾個月。
as they were fighting the Taliban.
had an air force,
they had tanks, they had artillery,
pretty badly a couple of times.
than I had ever been in Afghanistan.
更使我害怕。
it was going to kill me,
都像將要殺了我一樣,
everything was moving too quickly.
都動的太快了。
and just waited for it.
等待這陣恐慌過去。
I ran out of the subway station
我跑出了地鐵站,
was short-term PTSD:
我患上了短期的 PTSD:
to survive periods of danger,
在危險情境中生存了下來,
predisposed to fight,
進入準備戰鬥的狀態,
of circulation a little bit.
讓你有點喘不過氣來,
but it's better than getting eaten.
但總比死亡要好。
from that pretty quickly.
從這精神障礙中康復。
but they eventually went away.
但我最後還是康復了。
to the war that I'd seen.
目睹過的戰爭有聯繫。
now I'm not going crazy anymore.
現在我不會再發瘋了。
長期的創傷後壓力症。
who are vulnerable to long-term PTSD
長期的創傷後壓力症:
disorders in their family.
long-term PTSD from Vietnam.
會患上長期的創傷後壓力症。
as a journalist,
我開始研究這個問題,
really strange going on.
in the wrong direction.
fought as a country,
have gone down.
in the same direction,
have produced, thank God,
阿富汗的戰爭僅造成
of what it was in Vietnam.
three times the disability rates.
is actively engaged in combat,
killing people,
seeing their friends get killed.
of our military.
我們看到有一半的軍人
from the government.
壓力症候群的救濟金。
in a very logical way.
根本不符合這個數據。
of 22 vets a day, on average,
有 22 位退伍軍人選擇自殺。
are veterans of the Vietnam War,
是從越南戰爭回國的軍人,
actually might not be related
參與過的戰爭不太有關連性。
between combat and suicide.
相關性的統計數據。
and you're in a lot of combat,
than if you weren't.
to commit suicide later.
在以後選擇自殺的。
on the Navajo reservation.
long-distance runners.
I was researching PTSD,
I did when I was young,
the Apache, the Comanche --
阿帕奇人、科曼奇人,
PTSD like we do.
患上創傷後壓力症。
from fighting the US military
軍隊的戰爭中回到家鄉
right back into tribal life.
重新融入部落生活。
to a close, cohesive, tribal society,
團結的、部落化的社會,
to an alienating, modern society,
疏遠的現代的社會,
your entire life.
都遭受精神創傷。
isn't them, the vets;
退伍軍人本身;
is hard on the human psyche
帶來了重大的壓力,
各種的衡量標準。
agrarian society.
the highest rates of suicide
and loneliness and child abuse
和受到童年虐待的可能,
and violent and corrupt
were urban women in North America.
是憂鬱症患病率最高的。
for PTSD compensation.
領取創傷後壓力症候群的補償。
really were not traumatized overseas
並不是在海外受到精神創傷,
they are dangerously alienated
發現他們被孤立
but don't understand why?
患上創傷後壓力症,卻不清楚成因?
of sort of tribal closeness
sleeping together,
with their lives.
to a society, a modern society,
who weren't even in the military.
都覺得艱難的社會。
精神創傷、創傷後壓力症,
soldiers are traumatized
士兵的確是受過精神創傷,
have to be treated for that.
is actually a kind of alienation.
the wrong word for some of it,
錯用了詞語去形容他們,
our understanding,
我們的認知,
for some of these people
他們其中的一部分人,
that didn't really happen
that really is happening.
他們正在經歷的感受。
dangerous feeling.
非常危險的感覺。
can lead to suicide.
of around one percent.
創傷後壓力症比例在1%左右。
is supposed to serve in the military.
的所有人都需要服兵役。
from the front line,
environment to a civilian environment.
where everyone understands
or is going to be in it.
the situation they're all in.
in a cage by itself,
再把它獨自放在籠子里,
almost indefinitely.
讓牠保持在精神創傷的狀態。
and put it in a cage with other rats,
放在有其他老鼠的籠子里,
it's pretty much OK.
牠的表現就會回復正常了。
went down by 40 percent.
went down after 9/11.
911 事件後也下降了。
who suffered from PTSD
患有創傷後壓力症候群的退伍軍人
after 9/11 happened.
911 事件之後減輕了。
an entire society,
整個社會受到精神創傷,
and turn on one another.
和別人針鋒相對。
feels so good and is so good for us,
也對我們有益,
with mental health issues.
went down during the bombings.
back to -- a unified country.
the threat against us.
ourselves and the world.
to a country that is so bitterly divided
一個極其分裂的國家,
are literally accusing each other
an enemy of the state,
and the welfare of their own country.
國土安全和福利。
is the biggest it's ever been.
and even riots in the streets
that treated itself that way -- in fact,
一個部落或者連隊
that way -- would never survive.
都不會存活。
and are coming back
with fresh eyes.
if we can save the vets.
我們能不能拯救退伍軍人。
is if we can save ourselves.
我們能不能拯救自己。
who fought to protect us.
而戰爭的男人和女人。
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sebastian Junger - Journalist and documentarianThe author of "The Perfect Storm" and the director of the documentaries "Restrepo" and "Korengal," Sebastian Junger tells non-fiction stories with grit and emotion.
Why you should listen
Sebastian Junger thundered onto the media landscape with his non-fiction book, The Perfect Storm. A correspondent for Vanity Fair and ABC News, Junger has covered stories all across the globe, igniting a new interest in non-fiction. One of his main interests: war.
From 2007 to 2008, Junger and photographer Tim Hetherington embedded with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in Afghanistan. They spent intensive time with the soldiers at the Restrepo outpost in the Korengal Valley, which saw more combat than any other part of Afghanistan. The experience became Junger's book WAR, and the documentary "Restrepo," which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2011.
Junger and Hetherington planned to make a second documentary on the topic, "Korengal," meant to help soldiers and civilians alike understand the fear, courage and complexity involved in combat. It's a project that Junger decided to carry on after Hetherington was killed in Libya while covering the civil war there. Junger self-financed and released the film.
Sebastian Junger | Speaker | TED.com