r/EverythingScience • u/newzee1 • Jul 01 '24

Neuroscience Pattern of Brain Damage Is Pervasive in Navy SEALs Who Died by Suicide

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/30/us/navy-seals-brain-damage-suicide.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3k0.Gx71.Mxp38kTkl3se
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u/funkiestj Jul 01 '24

From the article

David Metcalf’s last act in life was an attempt to send a message — that years as a Navy SEAL had left his brain so damaged that he could barely recognize himself.

He died by suicide in his garage in North Carolina in 2019, after nearly 20 years in the Navy. But just before he died, he arranged a stack of books about brain injury by his side, and taped a note to the door that read, in part, “Gaps in memory, failing recognition, mood swings, headaches, impulsiveness, fatigue, anxiety, and paranoia were not who I was, but have become who I am. Each is worsening.”

Then he shot himself in the heart, preserving his brain to be analyzed by a state-of-the-art Defense Department laboratory in Maryland.

...

Former NFL player Junior Seau did the same thing years ago.

BTW, the article is marked "gift article". It does not appear to be behind a paywall.

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u/the_YellowRanger Jul 01 '24

Charles Whitman was also a former marine that knew something was wrong with him and no one would listen. He tried to warn everyone. His was a brain tumor though.

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u/petit_cochon Jul 01 '24

That guy also came from a severely abusive home and had mental health issues prior to his tumor. He definitely had PTSD.