We've known for a while that the head trauma from playing football can lead to the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Now it turns out that some (many?) US Navy SEALS also have an unusual pattern of brain damage. It is traumatic brain injury due to repeatedly being exposed to blast waves, which occur from firing their own weapons or enemy action.
In 2016 a team of doctors put a name to the pattern of brain damage - interface astroglial scarring. It can result in such symptoms as gaps in memory, deteriorating memory, mood swings, headaches, impulsiveness, fatigue, and anxiety. The brain damage is not found in the brains of civilians, or in people exposed to a single massive explosion (e.g., from a roadside bomb). It is not PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).
Unfortunately, at least 12 former Navy SEALS with this brain damage have committed suicide in the past decade. They were an average age of 43. None of them had been wounded by enemy fire, but all had spent years firing a wide variety of weapons and using explosives.
Many SEALS now alive say they are suffering from the same set of symptoms showing deteriorating brain function. A recent study confirmed this - the more blast exposure, the more symptoms and brain injury.
It is unknown how the military will deal with this issue, and whether and how training of SEALS will change.
Excerpts from an excellent article. Also read the online comments after the article. From NY Times: Pattern of Brain Damage Is Pervasive in Navy SEALs Who Died by Suicide
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.” ...continue reading "Brain Damage From Repeated Blast Exposures During Military Training"