During The Real World Brooklyn, one of the issues that people in the military face that Ryan Conklin brought attention to is the problem of the strong resistance in many military personnel against being evaluated and treated for certain combat related injuries, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As an infantryman, Ryan knew well about the high frequency of PTSD in combat soldiers and he was able to explain to his roommates to some degree what the condition is and how it affected people he knew. He was also able to show to the audience through his words about himself, how and why an otherwise reasonable person would avoid getting medical attention for such a pernicious condition.One such occasion when Ryan talked about himself was early in the season when his brother Aaron came to visit him in Brooklyn. While they were playing pool, Ryan told Aaron that his Army medical packet was being updated to reflect the injuries to his knees from when he was in the Army. He also said that he would be getting help for tinnitus (ringing in the ear) that had been caused by IEDs. Since these were physical injuries, Ryan had no reticence about acknowledging them.
Ryan then told his brother, almost as an aside, that he was going to meet with "somebody to talk to about PTSD and sh**." Aaron was heartily glad to hear this bit of news, but was surprised by it. He said inquisitively, "Before, you were like, 'yeah, it's nothing.'"
Ryan tried to explain that, for some reason, he had considered a doctor's care to be a "crutch" and that he was too "proud" to accept the possibility he could be afflicted like hundreds of thousands of others.
Ryan tried to downplay his going, saying, "I'll listen to what they have to say and see if I could maybe learn, or take something from it." Then as he became more comfortable talking about it, he said, "Find out what's good for me, so I don't have pent-up anger for no reason."
Aaron reiterated that he was glad Ryan was doing this and that he supported Ryan taking the step. As encouragement, he mentioned that a lot of people in Gettysburg who knew Ryan felt that based on their observations it would be a good thing for Ryan to get himself checked out.
Ryan wasn't happy that anyone he knew felt he needed or could benefit from some assistance. Here he summarized for himself, but really for many people, why it was tough for him to do anything about it: "I just don't like being looked at like I have a problem, because I don't have a 'problem'." He then indicated another difficult aspect of the issue that keeps people from getting evaluated, the self-diagnosis: "I'm a pretty happy-go-lucky guy."
Nevertheless, Ryan said that people he knew who had gotten medical care for possible combat related stress had reported that it was all beneficial. So he felt no matter what, he could gain something from it. Most importantly, he had become willing to at least listen to what kind of help is available to soldiers such as himself when they make the difficult transition to home.
