A reporter finally gets it on VA PTSD numbers

A reporter finally gets it on VA PTSD numbers
by
Chaplain Kathie

Jo Hartley gets it! With all the reports coming out on the numbers of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans coming home with PTSD, very few reporters actually get what the real numbers are and what they mean for the future. While I've slammed reporters in the past, it feels wonderful to pat one on the back.

It disgusts me that the VA is unable to keep up with the veterans seeking treatment for PTSD at the same time they claim to be doing outreach efforts to reach the veterans that have been living with PTSD but did not know what it was. Again, one more case of bureaucracy gone insane. What were they thinking when it came to providing the information veterans need about this wound if there is no one there to take care of them? Did they think the veterans they finally reached would say, "Hey great! I know what's wrong with me." and then do absolutely nothing to have it treated and compensated for? The natural outcome is an influx of veterans seeking treatment and compensation! Their lives were damaged by this wound!

They saw they could no longer keep jobs when nightmares and flashbacks, twitches and overreactions to what co-workers did made working impossible.

They saw their kids turn away from them. Some were even hated by their kids because of what unknown PTSD was doing to them. They saw these same kids end up with secondary PTSD because of the traumatic stress of living with a PTSD veteran and not knowing what it was.

They saw the love of their life turning away from them, avoiding them, being angry and crying because of what PTSD did in the household and to their relationship. They saw divorce lawyers and wondered how things ever got so bad.

Then they wondered if they would ever be able to actually feel love ever again. Would they ever feel joy? Would they ever wake up happy to be alive? Would they ever have hopes for better days when they could laugh the way they used to without being drunk? Would they ever be able to enjoy the things the used to like going to a movie or eating in a restaurant without having to fear where they would be seated? Would they ever have a night when they were not afraid to fall asleep because they didn't want the nightmares to take them back into combat? Would they ever be able to drive down the street without having a flashback spawn from a trash bag left behind?

These are just some of the things PTSD veterans live with. When it comes to female veterans they have all of this but even more. For those that survived sexual assaults it's even worse. They end up wondering if they will ever be able to view the hands of a man without fear ever again.

To think that there would not be a wave of veterans turning to the VA, that prides itself on having the best PTSD programs, is the definition of incompetence.

Outreach work is reaching them. Not just the tiny efforts the VA has been producing but by people like me all across the nation. The Internet has blessed us with the opportunity to share what we know and provide vital information that was not available when Vietnam veterans came home. For all the hours I put in on a daily basis, all the stories I read, all the heartbreaking emails I receive, I am profoundly hopeful because the older veterans are reaching out for help instead of suffering in silence. I have never seen it this bad but in a way, it's a good thing. They would still be suffering but now they have hope. Hope of healing to the point where they find their own kind of normal and a peaceful coexistence with this ghost of combat. Yet because of the ineptitude of the past leaders in the VA coupled with the past ambivalence of Congress, no one has been there to sustain the hope.

Ever wonder what it's like for them to finally discover why their lives have been sent on some kind of trip from hell, knowing it was all because they served this nation, when the same nation turns them away? Add to that the fact the VA tells them to seek help for PTSD and then turns down their claims then charges them for their treatment because their claim has not been approved and Congress gave them the right to collect for any non-service connected treatment. That's right! No approved claim means even if PTSD is linked to combat by their own doctors, it's considered non-service connected until that claim is approved by the same VA. Nice twist on honoring the veterans isn't it?

What makes this all worse is that for all the claims approved and all the backlogged claims that have even more PTSD veterans within those claims waiting for help, are even more not seeking help from the VA. They gave up. It just wasn't worth being tortured even more than they already were. Then there is the issue of the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Bill that says they cannot keep their guns if they are found to have PTSD. This Bill was supposed to be about saving lives but ended up keeping veterans from seeking help. No one thought about the veterans that have jobs requiring guns. No one thought about the veterans that are not dangerous to themselves or others but have relied on their guns for protection and to help them feel safer. Did anyone think that while they were in combat, their weapon was their protection? Take flashbacks and all that comes with PTSD and then tell them they are back home safe now and don't need their guns anymore. Did anyone think that it would be better to have a PTSD veteran in treatment, getting help while they had guns than it would be to have PTSD veterans with guns and not getting help? Well that's exactly what happened.

I did a presentation for a group of veterans on PTSD. During the time for questions and answers, the only question they had was about this bill and the fact they would have to surrender their guns. Often talking about PTSD will cause a flashback and an emotional tsunami flooding over them. I was standing in a room filled with armed veterans talking to them about PTSD and had absolutely no fear at all.

I am not stupid and I know the means of choice for suicide is a weapon. But I'm also very, very aware of the fact if they do not have a weapon, they find another way of doing it. What causes someone to commit suicide is the loss of hope and not the wound itself. When they lose hope of healing, snatched away from them at the same time they seek help with the DOD or the VA, they lose the reason to live another day. Taking away their guns does more harm than good when the obvious answer to the suicide epidemic is to treat the wound and stop torturing the wounded.

Six months without compensation to live on, being charged for treatment and being tortured! Would you feel this was a grateful nation?

VA Strains to Meet the Needs of our Veterans
Natural News.com - Phoenix,AZ,USA
Thursday, February 05, 2009 by: Jo Hartley, citizen journalist
(NaturalNews) The number of veterans needing health care is rising, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is having difficulty meeting the needs of our veterans.

New statistics released from the Department of Defense and the VA reveal that US casualties are rising. Injuries and deaths connected to Iraq and Afghanistan assignments are at 81,361 now. This is an increase from 72,043 from one year ago.

Veteran patients increased from 263,909 in December 2007 to 400,304 currently.

Mental illness is the number one ailment for the soldiers inundating the VA. Forty-five percent of the current VA patients have mental health diagnoses. This includes 105,000 diagnoses of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These numbers do not include the unknown number of veterans who are mentally ill but have not sought treatment through the VA.

Thanks to legislative changes and funding increases, health care for our veterans has improved over the last year. Recently, the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act was passed. This act entitles veterans to up to five years of free health care for all military-related health conditions. Additionally, there have also been significant improvements to VA facilities, increased health care research, and improvements to the existing claims processing system.

Despite these improvements, however, there remain problems that prevent adequate care and compensation for veterans. This is particularly true for veterans who need disability benefits. It is commonplace for these benefits to be either delayed or denied. For veterans diagnosed with PTSD, 59 percent are awaiting approval for benefits. This means that they are still waiting for their claims to be processed or they have not filed a claim because of the many deterrents that exist within the system.

Over 809,000 veterans are awaiting claim decisions at this time. The average processing time for veteran claims is over six months. PTSD patients typically have longer delays. Current economic woes are making this waiting period even more difficult for veterans. Often veterans are not able to work due to their disabilities and for this reason, their financial circumstances become crises.