Sebastian Junger: Our lonely society makes it hard to come home from war
Sebastian Junger: Nossa sociedade solitária torna difícil a volta para casa após a guerra
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.
estava com um problema.
and America wasn't at war yet.
e os EUA ainda não estavam em guerra.
about the effect of trauma and war
do trauma e da guerra
for a couple of months
as they were fighting the Taliban.
quando esta lutava contra os talibãs.
had an air force,
tinha uma força aérea,
they had tanks, they had artillery,
tanques, tinha artilharia,
pretty badly a couple of times.
than I had ever been in Afghanistan.
do que jamais estive no Afeganistão.
it was going to kill me,
everything was moving too quickly.
tudo se movia rápido demais.
and just waited for it.
e simplesmente fiquei esperando.
I ran out of the subway station
saí correndo da estação do metrô
was short-term PTSD:
tido um TEPT de curta duração:
evoluímos para sobreviver aos perigos
to survive periods of danger,
para acordar facilmente.
com o que poderia ter nos matado.
predisposed to fight,
pois ela nos predispõe à luta;
tira um pouco de circulação.
of circulation a little bit.
but it's better than getting eaten.
mas é melhor do que ser comido.
from that pretty quickly.
but they eventually went away.
mas eles acabam passando.
com a guerra que presenciei.
to the war that I'd seen.
now I'm not going crazy anymore.
não vou enlouquecer mais".
who are vulnerable to long-term PTSD
ao TEPT de longa duração
abusos na infância,
disorders in their family.
no Vietnã um TEPT de longa duração.
long-term PTSD from Vietnam.
as a journalist,
o assunto como jornalista
really strange going on.
realmente estranho acontecendo.
in the wrong direction.
fought as a country,
have gone down.
diminuíram também.
in the same direction,
have produced, thank God,
e do Iraque produziram, graças a Deus,
of what it was in Vietnam.
de um terço menor do que a do Vietnã.
three times the disability rates.
mais taxas de incapacidade.
is actively engaged in combat,
estão ativamente engajados em combate,
killing people,
seeing their friends get killed.
of our military.
from the government.
de indenização por TEPT.
in a very logical way.
nisso de uma forma muito lógica.
of 22 vets a day, on average,
de 22 veteranos por dia, em média,
desses suicídios são de veteranos
are veterans of the Vietnam War,
actually might not be related
não deve, na verdade, estar relacionada
between combat and suicide.
entre combate e suicídio.
e participou de muitos combates
and you're in a lot of combat,
de se matar do que os demais.
than if you weren't.
no Iraque ou Afeganistão,
de cometer suicídio mais tarde.
to commit suicide later.
on the Navajo reservation.
na reserva navajo.
long-distance runners.
de longa distância navajos.
I was researching PTSD,
I did when I was young,
the Apache, the Comanche --
os apaches, os comanches,
PTSD like we do.
from fighting the US military
de lutas contra militares dos EUA,
right back into tribal life.
para a qual eles voltam.
to a close, cohesive, tribal society,
uma sociedade unida, coesa e tribal,
to an alienating, modern society,
moderna e alienante,
your entire life.
pelo resto da vida.
isn't them, the vets;
não sejam eles, os veteranos,
is hard on the human psyche
é difícil para a psique humana
aumenta na sociedade,
agrarian society.
numa sociedade pobre e agrária.
the highest rates of suicide
produziu os maiores índices de suicídio,
and loneliness and child abuse
solidão e abuso infantil
and violent and corrupt
mais caóticos, violentos,
na América do Norte.
were urban women in North America.
em mulheres urbanas na América do Norte.
norte-americanos,
indenização por TEPT.
for PTSD compensation.
really were not traumatized overseas
não foram traumatizados na guerra,
they are dangerously alienated
que estão perigosamente alienados
but don't understand why?
mas não entendem por quê?
of sort of tribal closeness
de intimidade tribal
sleeping together,
with their lives.
to a society, a modern society,
uma sociedade moderna,
esteve nas forças armadas.
who weren't even in the military.
soldiers are traumatized
soldados ficam traumatizados,
have to be treated for that.
is actually a kind of alienation.
na verdade um tipo de alienação.
the wrong word for some of it,
usando as palavras erradas,
our understanding,
no entendimento, poderia ajudar:
for some of these people
permita a algumas dessas pessoas
that didn't really happen
que realmente não aconteceu,
that really is happening.
que existe de verdade.
dangerous feeling.
extremamente perigoso.
can lead to suicide.
podem levar ao suicídio.
of around one percent.
de TEPT em torno de 1%.
is supposed to serve in the military.
têm de prestar o serviço militar.
da frente de batalha,
from the front line,
environment to a civilian environment.
para um ambiente civil.
where everyone understands
em que todo mundo entende
or is going to be in it.
the situation they're all in.
numa grande tribo.
in a cage by itself,
e colocado sozinho numa gaiola,
almost indefinitely.
continuar quase que indefinidamente.
and put it in a cage with other rats,
numa gaiola com outros ratos,
it's pretty much OK.
ele vai estar quase bom.
went down by 40 percent.
em Nova Iorque caiu cerca de 40%.
went down after 9/11.
caiu depois do 11 de setembro.
who suffered from PTSD
anteriores que sofriam de TEPT
after 9/11 happened.
diminuíram depois do 11 de setembro.
an entire society,
inteira é traumatizada,
and turn on one another.
e nos viramos uns contra os outros.
feels so good and is so good for us,
faz tão bem, é tão bom pra gente,
with mental health issues.
went down during the bombings.
caíram durante os bombardeios.
back to -- a unified country.
voltavam, para um país unificado.
the threat against us.
a ameaça contra nós.
a nós mesmos e o mundo.
ourselves and the world.
to a country that is so bitterly divided
para um país tão dividido
are literally accusing each other
literalmente acusam um ao outro
an enemy of the state,
and the welfare of their own country.
e o bem-estar de seu próprio país.
is the biggest it's ever been.
é o maior já visto.
and even riots in the streets
that treated itself that way -- in fact,
que trate a si mesma desse jeito,
that way -- would never survive.
dessa forma, jamais sobrevive.
and are coming back
with fresh eyes.
com um novo olhar.
if we can save the vets.
se podemos salvar os veteranos.
is if we can save ourselves.
é se podemos salvar a nós mesmos.
who fought to protect us.
e as mulheres que lutaram por nós.
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