The movie, “American Sniper” has given the general public an idea about the complex emotions that a sniper through in their personal and professional life. In the movie about the life of Chris Kyle was the deadliest sniper in US history with 160 kills and 255 claimed kills . Chris Kyle was a SEAL and a part of a military unit in Afghanistan but the similarities are profound in the mental health issues on the personal life of the sniper. Chris Kyle came home and suffered severe anxiety and difficulties in adjusting to home life but reenergized himself by functioning as a counselor of returning Iraq veteran. One of them, Eddie Routh, shot and killed Chris Kyle while suffering in an episode of PTSD.
The mental state of the sniper is always a concern of the supervisors in the military and in the local police forces. The snipers are a position that the forces hope that they do not have to use but it is a highly effective method of limiting the damage to civilians in hostage and other very serious conditions. The mental state of a sniper who has had three shootings have occurred in which he killed the offenders is of particular interest to the mental health counselors. It has been researched that at the time of the sniper being ready to take the shot they are at optimal mental health.. The training of the sniper is actually used to helped train business leaders because this type of training turns an emotional regular individual into a highly trained and effective killing machine is useful to train the business leaders to be less likely to make errors and operate at maximum efficiency and decision making. This training is intense and effective. However the sniper does achieve a sort of mental casualty after the three kills that the police officer was a part of. Symptoms of mental stress begin to appear. Police tend to call off and not want to go to work due to the fear of being called into action again .
Many mental disorders of the sniper are grouped under the title of PTSD and exacerbate at many and various times.. The damage to the mind and psyche of the sniper are far reaching to include sessions of drunk driving, over reacting to children playing, and other real life situations.
The sniper will be able to return to his duties as a police officer with certain helps from the medical profession. The treatment of PTSD is different with people of varying mental states. One treatment is the prescription of the drug Ecstasy. In the Journal of Psychopharmacology the effect of this drug on 19 subjects resulted in about two thirds of them showing significant improvement in their PTSD symptoms after more than three years. . Most of these police officers and soldier experience problems in their personal life and some stories are not told as they tend to keep them private. The returning police officer will still have to maintain counseling sessions with professionals hired by the police departments and religious leaders of their choice. Close monitoring of the personal life of the officers to indicate changes in metal state is a continual process with the police in most departments.
Mental Health treatment has many benefits for police officers at all levels but it is especially necessary for the ones in a sniper positon or in the line of duty officers who have killed another. The training that the police officers receive is of high quality and contains many of the facets of mental health that produces the most promising results. The sniper in a local community is affected at a higher rate because of the connection that the sniper has to the place and the people that he or she is faced with on a daily basis. Drive byes and other reminders of the incident can plagued them in the times when they are not on the job but just with their families. There does not seem to be the detachment that a military sniper experiences as the soldier can go home whereas the police officer is there on a daily basis. The police officer may know family members or even the individual that they shot.
Police officers are put into a situation in which life and death stares them in the face in each and every call that they are involved in. the training and the on the job experiences heighten their abilities to assess the situations and make split second determinations on the amount of force and the type of force needed to control the situation and the least amount of causalities. Many turn to drinking and other behavior that helps the officer forget for a little while the choices that they have to make on a daily basis. It does take its tolls on the officers and their families. Thankfully each day in the United States is not a highly active sniper shooting day and realistically the snipers are not called on that often.
References
Abse, D. W. (1966). Hysteria and Related Mental Disorders. Washington: John Wright https://books.google.com/books?id=KYFGBQAAQBAJ&printsec=copyright&source=gbs_pub_info_r#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retreieved April 2016.
Amerland, D. (2014, May 14). The Sniper Mnetality: 4 Ways to Think Better Under Pressure. Forbes, pp. http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2014/05/14/sniper-mentality-leader/#4a5e894f5720. Retreieved April 2016.
Grossman, D. (1996). On Killing: the Psychology Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society. New York: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316330116/warcatslair. Retreieved April 2016.
Hellerman, C. (2012, December 3). Treating PTSD with Ecstasy: One Story. CNN Health, pp. http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/03/health/ecstasy-ptsd-3/index.html. Retreieved April 2016.
Oklahoma, M. H. (2015). and American Sniper's Mental Courage. Mental Health Oklahoma, http://mhaok.org/an-american-snipers-mental-courage/#sthash.94JJdng4.dpbs. Retreieved April 2016.
Wright, D. (2003, Feb 4). Death of a famed seal sniper highlights mentla health issues . Shadow Proof, pp. https://shadowproof.com/2013/02/04/death-of-famed-seal-sniper-highlights-militarys-mental-health-crisis/. Retreieved April 2016.
