This article, “What is RD-4895 and how does it relate to trauma and PTSD,” contains spoilers regarding the Amazon original series The Terminal List season 1.
Access recaps, reviews and news from The Terminal List.
An important subplot of The list of terminals is exactly what is RD-4895? This ties in with the theme of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the military. A fact little known to the public is that trauma often has an ambiguous definition. According to the Center for Health Care Strategies (2016), there is no universal definition of trauma. The most widely used and respected definition comes from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) which states that “individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances experienced by an individual such as physically or emotionally. harmful or life-threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on a person’s mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual functioning and well-being” (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 2014).
In fact, trauma was not officially introduced into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) until 1980 (Short, 2015). In other words, more or less, one or two generations and AFTER the Vietnam War and the two world wars. Yet the introduction of the subject of trauma was controversial at the time. It wasn’t until 2013 that PTSD was further defined when PTSD was introduced into a new category – trauma and stress-related disorders. (Pai et al., 2017)
According to the National Center of PTSD (2022), for every 100 veterans, 30% have suffered from PTSD in their lifetime, 12% of Gulf War veterans and up to 20% of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom suffer from the condition within a given time frame. year. This does not even cover the financial burden. The Committee on Evaluating Continuing Efforts in the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (2012) estimates the cost of PTSD to the Department of Defense at $294 million and that of veterans at $3 billion ( about $9 per person in the US) on PTSD Veterans and Retired Military.
The list of terminals season 1 – what is RD-4895 and how does it relate to trauma and PTSD?
The drug RD-4895 is an inotrope designed to disable the pathway between the hippocampus (essential for memory) and the amygdala (the central gray matter process in each hemisphere that processes frightening and threatening stimuli). In other words, Nubellum and Capstone Industries want to shut down this connection. This is an optimization so soldiers are immune to trauma that can lead to PTSD.
Does the RD-4895 work?
No. In fact, in The list of terminals, the blind study performed on the Navy SEAL team has unintended consequences. Of what exactly? The drug causes terminal cancer in their subjects. This makes the topic of trauma, PTSD and the treatment of conditions so prevalent in The list of terminals. Commander Reece often has nightmares, flashbacks, and hallucinations (symptoms of PTSD) of the ambush to catch Kahani. He uses the scene of the starling crashing into the window to avoid (another sign) the death of his family. The most reliable way to treat trauma and PTSD is to provide trauma-informed care. This is where trust and rapport begin to build between mental health professionals and the patient.
Here, Steve Horn and Secretary Hartely want a quick fix to cut mental health care costs and other factors. For example, they will be able to reduce the number of troops to a record number. How? There will be fewer active soldiers because there will be less need to replace those suffering from mental trauma. It will also significantly reduce the cost of the $3.3 billion it costs to cover mental health. Blind testing violates trust. It is a therapeutic alliance between the patient and health professionals. This is essential to put the patient back on the right path.
The idea was a quick and cost effective solution. However, this places less emphasis on veterans as people and more as monetized commodities.
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