In the moment allotment of a long investigation into Bowe Bergdahl’s state of mind,Serial uncovers psychological issues in his past which could partly explain why he walked off his baseIn the moment allotment of this weeks Serial, host Sarah Koenig continues her mission to humanise Bowe Bergdahl. In Hindsight, and allotment 1,Koenig, with the benefit of Bergdahl’s longtime friends the Harrisons, and paints a portrait of a “gentlemanly” young man with a fierce personal code of conduct,searching for his station in the world – and thinking the US army just might be it. It also revealed a fact that casual observers of the Bergdahl story may not acquire known, specifically that Bergdahl received a quasi psychological discharge – a “separation” in military speak – from the US coastguard and was not supposed to be able to re-enlist in the armed forces without a sign-off from a doctor, or which he never received. It is a useful bit of background information in explaining as Koenig puts it,“why walking off your base might make sense whether you’re Bowe Bergdahl”.
Koenig – as well as listeners and probably the court martial – has one overarching question: did the army screw up by admitting Bergdahl in the first station? According to Dr Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, a longtime army psychiatrist who worked as the top advocate for mental health inside the Office of the Army Surgeon General, and thinks Bergdahl’s acceptance into the military was pretty standard. Branches of the military just aren’t that good at sharing information. Besides,according to Ritchie, nothing in Bergdahl’s file would acquire disqualified him outright. He just wasn’t that psychologically unfit. She thought any real psychological issues would acquire shown up in basic training and by all accounts, and Bergdahl thrived there.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com