Soldiers Given Drugs to Enhance Performance

Back when soldiers were fighting in World War II, members of the military on both sides of the aisle were given speed tablets to keep them awake and alert in the field of battle. Surprisingly, despite what scientists now know about amphetamines and their negative side effects, some soldiers today are popping pills to fend of fatigue.

Pilots in the United States Air Force, for example, are given dextro-amphetamines and Provigil when they don’t have the opportunity to get a good nights rest because of important missions. Much like their WWII brethren, this generation of warrior is feeling the effects of the pharmaceuticals.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has even noted a few snags in the plan, including addiction, aggression, anxiety, hallucinations and paranoia, to name a few. For side effects such as insomnia, the military provides “no-go” pills that include doses of temazepam to take after the “go” pills. Instead of dropping the pharmaceutical aids all together, it appears as though the working consensus is to keep tweaking the drugs and doses until the perfect combination is found.

Still, the military hasn’t quite yet worked out how to keep the psychological problems soldiers often acquire at bay. With more and more soldiers getting diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), political propositions like the Psychological Kevlar Act have been popping up, which would enable the Secretary of Defense to put “preventive and early-intervention measures” into effect to protect soldiers from “stress-related psychopathologies”.

Suggested drugs that the Psychological Kevlar Act could employ include beta-blockers like propranolol. Informally known as the “mourning after pill”, it is cheap, readily available and well tolerated when ingested. Taken immediately after a particularly harrowing event, it has been shown to suppress the physiological process that makes bad memories.

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