Awareness key as soldiers return home

Awareness key as soldiers return home
Natchaug Hospital spreading word on mental health hurdles

By Judy Benson Published on 6/11/2009



New London - Of the 1.5 million soldiers deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001, an estimated 5 to 10 percent have mild traumatic brain injury, and up to 60 percent of those also have post-traumatic stress disorder.

Navy psychiatrist Dr. Craig Martin recited those statistics Wednesday to impress on his audience the need for families, communities, mental health professionals and servicemen themselves to understand and recognize these conditions so those affected can get help.

Martin, who treats patients at a seven-month-old clinic at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton for servicemen after deployment from throughout the Northeast, included those figures in a talk on traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder to a roomful of Natchaug Hospital staff, board members and hospital supporters at the mental health hospital's 55th annual meeting Wednesday at the Coast Guard Academy. Located in Mansfield, with satellite outpatient facilities throughout the region, Natchaug provides mental health services to adults and children from throughout Eastern Connecticut.
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http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=4dd04c29-c622-4c1b-bc92-7d00440a2f4a

There are over 20 videos that I've made on PTSD. There are two I would like you to watch to help you understand this. You can watch them direct from Great Americans or on the sidebar of this blog.

This is one of the first videos I made. The only difference between then and now is the numbers are a lot higher.

Wounded Minds Veterans and PTSD (27:35) The wound of PTSD is not new. It has been documented since the start of recorded history under different names, but the result is the same.

PTSD I Grieve (8:39) National Guards men and women are reporting with PTSD at 50%. Most of them return to the police force or fire departments

If you want to really know about PTSD, try to find a little over half and hour to learn what it took me over 25 years to learn. I made it easy for you.

Lawmakers want faster progress on TBI, PTSD

Well Comgressman Murtha is getting it right,,,I didn't need to post the rant after all.

Lawmakers want faster progress on TBI, PTSD
ArmyTimes.com - Springfield,VA,USA
Lawmakers want faster progress on TBI, PTSD

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 3, 2009 16:03:36 EST

A hearing meant to give Defense Department officials a chance to explain their plans for spending $900 million allocated for mental health care quickly turned into a debate on how that money should be spent.

As yet, military experts on post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries are still working out which studies should be funded, which treatment methods should be adopted and which pilot programs should be put in place.

“We keep getting studies,” Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House defense appropriations panel, said at a hearing Tuesday. “That’s the problem with the Defense Department — they study it to death.”

“I would say that you’ve helped us significantly,” Ellen Embrey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for force health readiness and protection, told Murtha and other lawmakers. “I would like to report in future hearings what we’re doing with that money.”

Lawmakers had plenty of ideas of their own: Buy more helicopters to get wounded troops out of Afghanistan faster; begin treating traumatic brain injuries immediately using hyperbaric oxygen chambers; and, most importantly, quit spending so much time studying options that never become reality.
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PTSD? It's normal to be strange

by
Chaplain Kathie

When fires claimed the lives of over 170 in Australia at last count, the media was reporting on the survivors facing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Recently we've been reading about what's been happening in New Orleans and the survivors of Hurricane Katrina facing everyday with the aftermath long after the cameras and reporters had returned home. We still read about the survivors of 9-11 in New York City and what they've been going through. In cities and towns across America and the rest of the world, local stories focus on survivors of tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, floods, mudslides, mass murders, violent crimes and terrorist attacks. The aftermath of all of these traumatic events is all too often PTSD. To have the events change you is normal considering what you survived and where you came from. The only problem is, the only other people your wound is normal to are other survivors of traumatic events. They are the only people capable of understanding what you're dealing with.

PTSD is a normal reaction to abnormal events. It's as simple as that. When a town is hit by a tornado, the town right next to it is left untouched. They will never know what it was like to see everything wiped out in a matter of seconds. They will remember the tornado coming into the area and the immediate sense of urgency worrying about it hitting them, but they walk away after with everything they had still there. They do not look over their shoulder every time the same kind of cloud appears in the sky or worry about where the rest of their family is at every moment of the day. They do not obsess about weather reports or weep going shopping to replace the things they lost wondering how they will pay for any of it while they try to rebuild their lives. They cannot understand why you "freak out" every time you see lightning bolts.

When you happen to be a combat veteran you are just as strange as a gorilla in a zoo to the rest of the people passing by. With a population of over 300 million in America, you are a rarity among only 24 million veterans and even less of them are combat veterans. If you happen to have been wounded by what you endured and have PTSD, you are even more rare but it's all normal to others with PTSD and the people that were where you came back from. Among other PTSD veterans, you are normal. If you are standing next to someone that never deployed into combat zones, you may look the same as they do, wear the same uniform, but what is inside of you, your memories and the changes that developed are something they will never fully understand. They will never know where you came from.

You could be back home and having a reunion with the members of your unit, talking about people you knew, events that happened and wonder why it seems they walked away untouched by all of it. They seem to enjoy telling stories about funny events almost as if they can't remember that your buddy lost a limb or how many were shipped back to the states with a flag draped coffin. When you remember them, a tear comes as your heart sinks deeper with the weight of the pain remembering them. If you mention their name, you notice the mood of the veteran you're talking to suddenly changes and they change the subject or end the conversation entirely. It's not that they didn't care but they couldn't care at the same depth you did.

There are some people that put themselves first. It's just the way they are. They are self-centered. They are the kind of people that will somehow always manage to turn any conversation into one focused on them. Then there are the middle kind of person that will care about others as well as themselves but never manage to grasp the emotional tug of someone else's pain. Then there is the type that you are. You are the kind of person heroes are usually made of. Most of you were the type of kid that would find a bird with a broken wing and rushed back to the house to take care of it. If the bird died, you'd hold a funeral for it as if the bird had been a part of your life for years instead of a day.

As a teenager, you had enough courage in you to take on the school bully when he was going after a tiny kid. You always seemed to rush to help someone else while your friends wanted to walk away. Helping was all normal to you but strange to them. Something they may have respected in you but never seemed to manage to understand why you were the way you were.

Being sensitive is a part of you and because of it, because you could feel the pain of someone else, you ended up with all of it wounding your spirit. You took on their pain within you. Over and over again as you saw the traumatic events of combat before your own eyes, each time it dug deeper and deeper inside of you. You still found the courage to do your duty, watch out for your brothers risking their lives and risked your own life for their sake. Later you found it very hard to understand that being courageous and sensitive were all part of what made you, you. You began to doubt if you were tough enough, brave enough or had enough courage to overcome it but that's because you misunderstand exactly what courage is and see being sensitive as a sign of weakness.

Courage is what compels us to set ourselves aside and put others first as humans. Firefighters have it within them to rush into burning buildings to save the life of someone else or even to save the life of a pet dog or cat. Police officers have it within them to be able to face off with a criminal who cares nothing for the life of someone else knowing it could be their moment to die in the line of duty. They have the courage to chase another car, pull them over and walk up to the driver knowing they could pull out a gun and kill them without hesitation. Warriors have that same courage. It gives you the ability to be willing to lay down your own life for the sake of someone else. Some of your brothers or sisters in the military are more self-centered than you are. They seem to have the ability to shrug off what happened while you carry it away with you because you have the ability to feel it all more deeply.

Just as you feel pain more deeply you also had the ability to feel good things more deeply. I tell the story often of my husband. I had watched him dying a slow death, trying to kill off feelings he did not want to feel at the same time he also killed off the feelings that were good. He began to heal with therapy and medication after years of suffering. While PTSD is still in him and the dark days still come along with nightmares and flashbacks, he is able to appreciate good things now as well. He will go out to the deck of our pool and scream for me to come and see the sunset lighting up the sky with spectacular dashes of color. Other people, well they would just look at the same sunset and forget about it without being touched by the wonder of it.

When it comes to walking away from traumatic events, especially in combat, you are normal considering where you came from if you are touched by it, wounded by it within you because you have the ability to feel things more deeply, good as well as bad. You are only strange to people that have never been like you.

DOD suicide prevention conference under way

DOD suicide prevention conference under way
by Michael Tolzmann
Defense Media Activity-San Antonio

1/13/2009 - SAN ANTONIO (AFNS) -- An Army staff sergeant who had lost Soldiers in the war zone was called a coward, a wimp and a wuss from a leader when he mentioned he might need psychological help.

It is this type of stigma from toxic leadership that can kill, and that is being examined by scientists, clinicians and specialists in an attempt to eliminate it, said Army Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Loree K. Sutton, who is the Army's highest ranking psychiatrist.

Dr. Sutton described the staff sergeant's real experience during her opening remarks of the 2009 Department of Defense/Veterans Affairs Annual Suicide Prevention Conference being held Jan. 12 through 15 in San Antonio. More than 750 people -- specialists from the military, VA, and civilian social workers, chaplains, researchers, and family members effected by suicide -- gathered with a common goal of finding ways to reduce suicide.

"The secretary of Defense and chairman of the joint chiefs have both emphasized, 'seeking help is a sign of profound courage and strength. Truly, psychological and spiritual health are just as important for readiness as one's physical health,'" said Dr. Sutton, who is the special assistant to the assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury director.

Dr. Sutton said a Soldier's ethos of never leaving a fallen comrade behind applies to those with wounds you can't see. She encouraged others to be kinder than necessary, because everyone is battling some kind of problem, and to reach out and intervene early. She said she is concerned with a recent rise in suicide in the Army and Marine Corps.

The four-day conference is filled with breakout session workshops and training focusing on a myriad of suicide-related topics such as crisis negotiation of a suicide in progress, resilience as it relates to suicide prevention, or overall VA suicide prevention strategies and mental health strategic initiatives.
click link above for more

PTSD, an equal generational stalker

If you watched Ken Burns The War, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. PTSD has not changed since the beginning of time other than the name they call this stalker.

stalker
–verb (used without object) 1. to pursue or approach prey, quarry, etc., stealthily.
2. to walk with measured, stiff, or haughty strides: He was so angry he stalked away without saying goodbye.
3. to proceed in a steady, deliberate, or sinister manner: Famine stalked through the nation.
4. Obsolete. to walk or go stealthily along.
–verb (used with object) 5. to pursue (game, a person, etc.) stealthily.
6. to proceed through (an area) in search of prey or quarry: to stalk the woods for game.
7. to proceed or spread through in a steady or sinister manner: Disease stalked the land.
–noun 8. an act or course of stalking quarry, prey, or the like: We shot the mountain goat after a five-hour stalk.
9. a slow, stiff stride or gait.


Origin:
1250–1300; ME stalken (v.), repr. the base of OE bestealcian to move stealthily, stealcung stalking (ger.); akin to steal

You heard the stories of the men addressing the horrors of combat held so freshly in their minds that these events could have happened yesterday. These elderly people very well could be the same people having trouble remembering if they took their medication or not along with a lot of other memory problems, but not the memories of combat and the traumatic events they lived thru.

When you read history books encountering stories about combat, you find the same ability to report on events as if you were there in that moment through their vivid retelling. Combat does not leave them just because they leave combat. It follows them home. No matter what generation they belong to, what nation they fight for, some will be stalked by the ghosts others left behind.

The WWII veterans, Korean veterans, Vietnam veterans, Gulf War veterans and veterans of Bosnia, Somalia are no different than the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans making the news today. The difference is, the media has finally discovered they are worthy of telling their stories covering what happens when they come home.

VA therapy gives elderly vets chance to talk

By Dan Olson - Minnesota Public Radio News
Posted : Tuesday Jan 13, 2009 10:24:17 EST

RICHFIELD, Minn. — Eighty-six-year-old Don Frederick sits in the Ranger room in his Richfield home. It’s where he keeps his World War II mementos — maps, flags, photos, emblems, diaries, medals, books and more.

His war stories run the gamut. They include warm memories of welcome wartime respites in scenic Italian seaside towns to recollections of brutal training, bad food, terrible weather and the horrors of combat.

Frederick was a Ranger in the Army’s 4th Ranger Battalion. He recalls an assignment in a raid on a German base in North Africa to capture 10 prisoners for interrogation. Not many of the enemy soldiers surrendered willingly.

“A lot of them were shot, a lot of them were bayoneted, a lot of them were grenaded with hand grenades,” he said. “If they didn’t give up right away, why, they were put aside.”

“Put aside” means killed.

Several years ago, the Veterans Administration realized some older veterans are troubled by the memories of war like these, even more than 60 years later. The VA estimates that one in 20 older veterans have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from traumatic war-time experiences. click link for more

General Carter Ham, hero in fight to heal

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it, this man is a hero to all the troops and veterans because he's an example this is nothing to be ashamed of by showing no shame in himself. It's a human, normal reaction to abnormal events. Thinking, feeling people are often wounded by what they see and do.

A general battles post-combat stress
By Nancy Montgomery, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, January 11, 2009
HEIDELBERG, Germany — Just back from a year in Iraq, Gen. Carter Ham got into the car with his wife, Christi, and began a strangely silent, cross-country drive.

“I probably said three words,” Ham recently recalled of the trip four years ago from Washington state to Washington, D.C.

His time in Iraq, what the future held for them, the sites along the way — that was a lot not to talk about, Christi thought, for her usually communicative husband.

It was almost like he resented being home.

“I sensed a huge feeling on his part that there wasn’t a huge purpose to his being here (with her) and there were important things being done (in Iraq), and that he wasn’t part of it,” she said.

The trip provided the first of several signs that would eventually persuade Ham that what had happened during his year in Mosul in 2004 had left him a changed man — and that to recover, he needed to talk.

Now the commander of U.S. Army Europe, Ham, along with his wife, discussed his post-combat difficulties in an interview just before Christmas. It was the second interview the pair have given to a newspaper. Their willingness to speak publicly about the issue is rare in traditional military culture, but they appeared entirely comfortable.

“Frankly, it’s a little weird to me that people are making a big deal about it,” Ham said of the response to his openness. “Like lots of soldiers I needed a little help, and I got a little help.” click link for more

More than Two Thirds of Americans Unaware of PTSD

This does not surprise me at all. The problem is no one wants to talk about it or listen. It's almost as if they hear about it, they will be aware of the fact it could happen to them as well. PTSD hits humans exposed to traumatic events. Everyone knows they cannot prevent traumatic events. It's out of their control. What really gets me is that the families of the men and women serving and of our veterans don't want to hear it. Military wives tell me they have enough to worry about and they don't want to think about it. It takes a lot of convincing for them to understand they are on the front lines when their husbands come home. They'll be the first to notice the signs of PTSD but if they don't know what the signs are, they will ignore what the changes mean. They will delude themselves in thinking the warrior will just get over it with time. In the process time that could have been spent on the warrior healing ends up being lost time as PTSD eats away at them and the family.

As hard as it is to convince the families they need to pay attention, it's harder to get the clergy involved. This is imperative especially with the National Guards and Reservists coming home to communities around the nation. When the mind-body-spirit are all treated the healing rate is greatly increased. There are not enough psychologist and mental health professionals to go around and then when you add in claims being tied up, the clergy could play a vital role in filling in the gaps. The problem is when you try to talk to most of them, their eyes glaze over as if you're speaking in a foreign language.

It's been over a 26 year battle for me to get the information out there and with that I also have to add that I have never had so much hope for our veterans. They are coming forward and talking about it to the media finally willing to cover it and give PTSD the attention it deserves, even if it is sparse.

I left this comment on Veteran's For Common Sense after reading this.

Dec 1: More than Two Thirds of Americans Unaware of Post Traumatic ...
By contact@veteransforcommonsense.org

Ad Council and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America


Army Times

Dec 01, 2008


December 1, 2008 - In a survey conducted Oct. 24-27, most of the 1,008 respondents said they had never even heard of the acronym PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Of the respondents, 9% answered "Yes, I have heard of it but am not sure what it stands for."

24% said "yes, I have heard of it and know what it stands for," and a whopping 68% of respondents stated "no, I have never heard of it."

* Veterans for Common Sense note: We need your help to get the word out that PTSD is real, that one-in-five (or more) of our Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans may return home with PTSD, that it is OK for veterans to seek care for PTSD, and that DoD and VA need to hire more doctors to meet the tidal wave of demand for PTSD treatment and recovery.

Liberty University student talks about experience in Iraq at PTSD awareness event

Student talks about experience in Iraq at PTSD awareness event
Liberty News - Lynchburg,VA,USA

Thursday, November 13, 2008 by Teresa Dunham in General News

"How was Iraq? Did you like it over there?"

Liberty University student Jesse Hogan can’t count the number of times someone has asked him those generalized questions.

“I didn’t mind answering questions for people that were specific things. The thing that made me mad and got me really frustrated was when people were asking me because they thought they needed to ask me. They really didn’t want to know anything,” said Spc. Hogan, 22, who served with the Army National Guard in Iraq.

Speaking candidly to students at a Tuesday evening Post Traumatic Stress Disorder awareness event as part of LU’s Military Appreciation Week, Hogan tried to bridge the gap of understanding between civilians and returning veterans

He told the group gathered in the Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center that vague questions made him feel like no one really understood what he was going through when he first came home, and often the questions made him want to be alone.

Nowadays he’s enjoying everyday life, but he admitted that it wasn’t easy when he first came home. While he was in Iraq, he longed to see his friends and family again — but the excitement quickly wore off when he returned to the U.S.

“I felt like I was losing control over here, and things were slipping out of my hands. I was disappointing people. I wasn’t meeting people’s expectations,” he said, explaining that his life in Iraq involved highly structured missions that he could succeed at by following a checklist of motions.

Human relationships weren’t so easy to navigate, he said, and he was having trouble flipping the switch from soldier to ordinary life. People wanted him to be OK right away, as though they could “fix him” or explain to him what was wrong, but Hogan said what he really needed was space.
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Seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder

Seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder
El Paso Times - El Paso,TX,USA


Seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder
Dr. Robert L. Anders / Special to the Times
Article Launched: 11/10/2008 12:00:00 AM MST


EL PASO -- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has received a significant amount of attention as a result of recent reports outlining the increasing number of men and women returning from war zones with PTSD.

PTSD is an anxiety disorder associated with a dramatic event in which the person experiences the threat of death or serious injury.

In spring 2007, the RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research reported that of the 1.64 million military service members deployed to war zones, 14 percent have screened positive for PTSD and another 14 percent for major depression.

However, the disorder is not limited to soldiers in war zones. In the United States, the most common cause for PTSD exposure is automobile accidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 2.5 million people are injured in automobile accidents annually. It is estimated that about 20 percent of those in automobile accidents suffer from the disorder.

PTSD is a biological disorder which can be manifested from exposure to excessive levels of stress. Basically, the body's stress response system is overloaded.

Symptoms of PTSD include insomnia, nightmares, flashbacks of the traumatic event, startling easily, avoiding a situation that reminds the individual of the traumatic episode, difficulty in concentrating, emotional withdrawal, aggression and irritability.

According to a recent study by the Geisinger Health Systems, Vietnam veterans with a history of PTSD had a 50 percent chance of dying from heart disease in their 50s compared to those veterans without the disorder. Many individuals with PTSD delay treatment and thus may manage their symptoms with drugs and/or alcohol.
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PTSD:Maj. General David Blackledge shows what courage is back home

Photo by AP
In this photograph provided by Maj. Gen. David Blackledge, Blackledge, right, stands next to then U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad in Iraq in this undated photograph. From Boston Herald

PTSD News: After Two Iraq War Deployments, Army Major General Steps Forward, Breaks Culture of Silence on Mental Health

Pauline Jelinek


Associated Press

Nov 08, 2008

November 8, 2008, Washington, DC (AP) — It takes a brave soldier to do what Army Maj. Gen. David Blackledge did in Iraq.

It takes as much bravery to do what he did when he got home.

Blackledge got psychiatric counseling to deal with wartime trauma, and now he is defying the military's culture of silence on the subject of mental health problems and treatment.

"It's part of our profession ... nobody wants to admit that they've got a weakness in this area," Blackledge said of mental health problems among troops returning from America's two wars.

"I have dealt with it. I'm dealing with it now," said Blackledge, who came home with post-traumatic stress. "We need to be able to talk about it."

As the nation marks another Veterans Day, thousands of troops are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with anxiety, depression and other emotional problems.

Up to 20 percent of the more than 1.7 million who've served in the wars are estimated to have symptoms. In a sign of how tough it may be to change attitudes, roughly half of those who need help aren't seeking it, studies have found.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/11596

PTSD:A Plague of War

Trained for battle, toughened, ready to fight, courage, patriotism, many different words they hear as they prepare to risk their lives. What they don't hear is the word "human" in the vocabulary of military speak. Then they come home changed. Some, temporary, others forever. While our experiences go into who we are and we move on with memories of normal daily lives, the combat veterans have to live with the memories of war. They still have the words used to train them reverberating in their minds and none of those words fit in with seeking help.

For all the times we've heard about the concern for phony claims in the VA with PTSD, what we need to remember is that the vast majority of veterans with PTSD, never go for help at all. Ask a Vietnam vet and understand that help was for the weak in their mind and this is something the "tough" will not tolerate. The stigma lives on. They don't understand that it takes a lot of courage and tenacity to fight the government to have claims approved, have the wounds treated and begin to heal. Courage to no longer care what some uneducated fool has to say about a brave veteran seeking help for this wound. Enough knowledge to know that no one has to just suck it up and deal with it as their lives fall apart.

I tell this story often about how one day at the VA in Orlando, waiting for my husband to come out after his appointment, I talked to two Marines back from Iraq. They were trying to fill out paperwork for their claims. I had on a Chaplain T-shirt so they knew who they were talking to. One Marine began to cry. He apologized to me. He talked about his training and how Marines were supposed to be tough but he was showing his weakness in front of me. We talked for a long time and I reminded him that he was sitting there after the battle was done, after he did his duty, after he followed orders, after his buddies needed him and he did all of this carrying the wound of PTSD eating away at him. There was nothing to be ashamed of. He showed exactly how brave, tough and committed he was and it was time for him to heal.

When we hear about a soldier with a bullet wound still fighting off the enemy, we think of how brave he was but when the wound they fight with is inside of them, no one ever thinks twice about what kind of courage that takes. We award the physically wounded with medals of heroism yet we brand the PTSD wounded with animosity. Who decided there should be anything to be ashamed of when a human is touched by all they endure during combat? People die in front of their eyes. They lose friends. They see horrific results of bombs blowing up. They have to kill. People will tend to have a lot more compassion for some civilian after a natural disaster than they do a soldier after hundreds of traumatic events.

We've come a long way but there are so many battles to fight against the people standing in the way of our men and women in the military and especially the National Guards seeking help to heal from what they went thru. The question is, when do we get there?
Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

A plague of war
Asbury Park Press - Asbury Park,NJ,USA
As veterans return from Iraq, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has become common. Its treatment presents challenges.
By Michael Amsel • STAFF WRITER • November 9, 2008
They can't sleep at night, constantly tossing and turning. The slightest rumbling
reminds them of an improvised explosive device. They can't connect with their loved
ones. A feeling of despair is impossible to shake, shadowing their every move,
triggering thoughts of suicide. And the nightmares, so dark and turbulent.

These are symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, an anxiety disorder that has afflicted tens of thousands of soldiers in this country after their exposure to
traumatic events of war. During World War I, PTSD was called "shell shock." During
World War II, it became known as "combat fatigue."

Now, it is universally referred to as PTSD and is as prevalent as ever, given the
ongoing five-year Iraq War.

Estimates of the rate of PTSD among veterans returning from Iraq range from 12 to 20 percent, according to a 2007 survey taken by the American Public Health Association. The Department of Veterans Affairs has treated more than 52,000 persons; with deployment now over 1.5 million, the numbers are expected to increase sharply in the years ahead, experts say.

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder really came to light back in 1980 when a group of Vietnam veterans began showing up with the same cluster of symptoms," said Thomas Lozinski, a licensed psychologist from Manasquan who is recognized as a local pioneer in treating the disorder. "Many of them, when they woke up, didn't know where they were and turned violent. They had these feelings of alienation, which we call psychic withdrawal. They guarded their emotions. They couldn't enjoy themselves, an inability known as anhedonia. Their symptoms read like a big Chinese menu — one from Column A, three from Column B."

Many veterans, upon returning home, are unable to make the adjustment to civilian life. They have marital problems. They can't find jobs. They experience behavioral problems and are unable to control their anger.

The symptoms of PTSD fester in their minds, often lying dormant for years at a time, wreaking havoc with their lives. Many are simply too proud to ask for help. Much denial is inherent in the disorder, and soldiers are worried about being stigmatized.

click link for more

Shaking your dust off my feet

LUKE 9:5-6

5 And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.
6 And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.

I've been doing outreach work with Veterans since 1982, long before some of my readers were born. In 2000, my book, For The Love Of Jack, was finished and in 2001, I tried to find a publisher. This was long before all the press coverage of PTSD. No one was really interested in what Vietnam veterans were going thru, almost as if they had nothing to learn. When September 11, 2001 came, I knew there would be a lot more veterans suffering from PTSD, who up until that point, coped with it. 9-11 brought a "secondary stressor" far too few psychologists address. I gave up trying to find a publisher, realizing the urgency of providing the information in my book, I decided to self-publish. I received very little help but if you look online there are a lot of links to this book still up. The book is online for free from this blog on the side bar. It opens in Adobe.

Think about how much this book could have helped families back then, before the media finally decided that it was an important story. 18 years of our life are that book covering how my husband's PTSD was mild when we met, but the secondary stressor sent him over the edge. A secondary stressor is like giving un-addressed PTSD a shot of steroid. It happens that quickly. It also contained 18 years of researching what I had learned. Most of the studies they are doing right now, have already been done. What if the researchers had bothered to check with the families already living with it, coping with it and used their experiences to help the new generation? Think of how many lost years could have been spent on new research.

I am not a powerful person. I am not a rich person. I am just like every other average American trying to make a difference to a lot of hurting people. While I know a lot of powerful people, very few of them had faith in me, my knowledge or my experience. I asked them to help me help the veterans and their families. While they said they would, they never did.

I was asked to become certified with the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists years ago but I said I wanted to stay right by the side of veterans and their families as one of them. In my mind there were enough professionals at the time but the veterans needed someone to show them the way on a equal level. I knew I would be able to charge people for what I did had I opted to become certified, but that was not what the veterans needed. So I worked a regular job and did the outreach work in my spare time.

As the numbers of veterans were growing and too little was being done, no one with the power to address it was listening to people like me. Letters to Senators and Congressmen were responded to with a form letter telling me they cared about the issue but they did nothing. I was never asked to speak to them, inform them or offer all those years of experience with my own husband and hundreds of veterans at that point. I was screaming about the growing need, but no one heard me.

In 2006 I came up with the idea to reach veterans the way the new veterans where they were, on Google and YouTube. I started doing videos on PTSD, combining music, pictures and a message, so they would not have to read too much but get the point that PTSD is a wound, is a normal reaction to abnormal events and that there was hope in healing if they reached out for help.

Over twenty videos later, thousands of hits on videos covering all forms of trauma, videos for Vietnam veterans, veterans families, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, along with others living with the aftermath of trauma, still these powerful people will not listen. I've traveled with these videos but considering the need out there to share information with the veterans and their families who still don't know what PTSD is, especially the National Guards and Reservists, I've been turned down on doing presentations. People will watch the videos, come up to me and ask me if I would be interested in doing another presentation and when I agree, I never hear from them again. Churches have turned down my offer to help their congregations understand what PTSD is so they can help the veterans and their families.

What I do, which is taking up 16 hours a day, I do for free. I ask for donations but the people who can afford to donate, use my work without feeling any need to donate, yet the people who have very little money will donate what they can. With this, there is no money to spend on advertising my work. I have to trust word of mouth to spread the videos and the kindness of strangers who value it enough to pass it on. I deeply appreciate everyone who has taken the time to help me with this work.

For a long time, I could not understand why the people with the power to help me wouldn't. I've never been wrong because I pay attention to all of this as if my life depended on it, simply because it does. All the warnings I tried to give have been proven to have come true yet leaders of many different groups would not provide me with the time of day to share the information before it all came to pass when something could have been done to prevent the suffering of thousands and their families.

Now I think I finally figured it out. It's not that I don't know what I'm talking about or have trouble articulating any of it. It's not that any of the information is wrong, because it's all supported with research and links. It's because they are blind to it all. The VA only sees what they are shown. They are dedicated people but they will not spend this kind of time researching any of this. They do not talk to people across the country and the world. They only talk to the people who come to them or read whatever the VA puts out. The service organizations also know they have a problem but they are reluctant to act to address it and when it is presented to them, they take offense as if they are being attacked. I've had many arguments with them over the years and when I do, I tell them that what I do would not do anyone any good unless they were there to treat, diagnose and assist the veterans with their claims. I need them where they are but I also need them to open their eyes and know what is coming and what they can do to get ahead of it for a change.

I know that if I happened to be a Republican, I would have all the support in the world. This is not a baseless claim. I've seen it when someone will watch one of my videos, call me a hero online one day and then slam me the next when they find out I'm not one of them. I've tried to help out on message boards and get involved with some of the military groups online, but have been turned down.

None of my PTSD videos are political but politics constantly plays into this. I help all veterans no matter what political party they happen to be in because they have my heart and tug at my soul. I fully support them because they are willing to risk their lives for the sake of this nation and it's not up to them where they go. They all need help and to avoid someone who happens to be a Democrat who can help them with this devastating wound is an injury to them. It would be one thing if they disagreed with my political view but supported my work but they will not even bother to notice that when I address PTSD, there is nothing political involved because PTSD does not care what political party they happen to be in.

When I come out and slam a politician it is not because of their political party, but it's because there is an assumption only Republicans support veterans, when their voting records prove that to be a false assumption. I slam John McCain because he claims he supports veterans but his record proves he does not whenever he's had the chance to prove it. He made the claim that he doesn't need lessons on what veterans need because he is such a supporter of them. This claim was allowed to just stand when he has an abysmal record on proving it.

What the Republicans do not see is that I will slam anyone who does not do the right thing for veterans, just as I did when Bill Clinton was president and would not address the backlog of claims or the issue that congress passed a stupid law that allowed the VA to collect for "non-service connected" treatments never once considering that any claim not approved was tagged as "non-service connected" even if the veteran had lost a leg to a bomb. No approved claim meant they would have to pay until a claim was approved. The ramifications of this rule had such far reaching affects that veterans have been suffering not just financially but feeling betrayed by the very same country they were wounded while serving.

As I said, I know a lot of powerful people who will not give me the time of day when it comes to this. They look at me as if I am not worthy of their help to help veterans, as ironic as that sounds. So now I'm shaking the dust off my feet when it comes to all of them. I'm done trying to get them to put politics aside and focus on what the veterans need and what can be done. I'm tired of acting as if they are more important than I am in this just because they have received the support to get them into the positions they are in. When people put politics first someone suffers. The veterans have been suffering needlessly because of this.

I will still go where I'm asked to go, but I'm done trying to be invited. I will no longer send updates on videos that I do to help to organizations who have failed to share them. I will no longer contact anyone or support any organization that cannot put the needs of the veterans above what political party I happen to belong to. I will no longer put up with being viewed as someone who is less patriotic or of lesser value than they are.

Above all I am done being hurt by people who question my faith because I take the words of Christ so seriously that I cannot take the easy road agreeing with people who are not following His word and treating people the way He said they should be treated. I am so serious about being a Christian that I was the head of Christian Education for a church for two years and became a Chaplain so that I could be of service the way Christ was. He helped all people no matter what faith they belonged to. Chaplains are not supposed to be about evangelizing. That is the job of the clergy and it's high time the evangelizing got out of the military and they returned to taking care of the spiritual needs of all no matter what faith they hold or if they hold no faith at all.

This also gets me slammed by the far right as well as other Christians who cannot understand that if one branch of the Christian faith is allowed to evangelize, that leaves them out. Do they ever stop to consider how many branches there are of Christianity? Do they notice that all Christians do not hold the same doctrine? If they noticed these glaring facts, they would have a problem with evangelizing in the military as well. It's also another reason why I'm asked to help a certain group one day and the next ignored.

I know this was a long rant but it's taken me a lot of years of frustration to reach this point. After 26 years doing this, you'd think that I would have had a lot more support than I do and I'm tired of fighting them wasting time I could have been just fighting for veterans.

NOTE: You know who this is addressed to and you have only yourself to blame. You would not help me to get the information I have to the veterans needing it, so all the veterans who contacted me when they are suicidal, remember there are many more who never found my work in time.
Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/

PTSD, hope and forgiveness

Spouse Calls:
PTSD, hope and forgiveness
By Terri Barnes, Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes Scene, Sunday, October, 19 2008



Post traumatic stress syndrome is part of the fallout of war. Toxic and sometimes deadly, it forever changes the lives of its sufferers and their loved ones. Some military families survive these injuries of heart and mind. These families possess an extraordinary measure of devotion, which they express through love and acceptance.

An Army wife named Ann posted this comment on the Spouse Calls blog:

I was reading the blog about the woman who, after 12 years of marriage, divorced her husband because he came back from Iraq angry and mean. I know how she felt. Mine came back the same way, nothing I did or said was good enough for him.

One day he crossed the line. He put his hands on me. Two days in jail, $3,500, and two months later he is attending anger management classes, seeing a personal counselor.

We are in marriage counseling, and he still apologizes. Everyone tells me to run, get out while I can — no forgiveness. But for most, they do not understand why he is so angry and mean.

He does not understand why he is so angry, either. His counselor diagnosed him with PTSD and depression. He stopped drinking. That was only adding to the problems.

Even more important to it all, he started talking to God again — one thing that he stopped doing after his first tour to Iraq. He believed he was no longer worthy of forgiveness, and his actions would never be forgiven.

We forget that the Army takes our loved ones and turns them into mass murderers, with no conscience or hope. We forget that they either find God or turn their backs on Him. They become a large ball of anger and hate that only sleeps, eats, and does what it is told. They have no other way of living and forget that there is something other than war.
go here for more
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=140&article=58236

Vietnam veterans' wives had the same issues. While their hair is a bit grayer and their bellies a bit larger, there isn't much difference between the Vietnam veterans and the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. Their struggles and what they bring home after combat is the same as it always was since the beginning of time.

The heart of the warrior is tugged between duty and humanity. They are trained to do what they do, prepared to find the courage within them but none of them are trained to really heal from what they had to endure.

24 years ago I married the Vietnam war when I married my love. Within all of these years, there has been many times when I had to forgive him for what he did and could not do, for what he said and what he could not say. Understanding what PTSD is helped me to not only understand the root of all of this but helped me to forgive him and myself.

If I think about it long enough, I can remember all the times when he did things totally out of character, but I've learned to live for today. I've learned to forgive and not allow memories to get in the way of what is and was good between us. I won't rehash what I've already written at this point but if you want to know what 18 years of a marriage with PTSD is, you can read it right from this blog on the side bar. Just look for Free Book, For the Love of Jack, and know that it is not just the veteran wounded by war but the people who love them as well.

For the 26 years I've done outreach work with veterans, one of the most telling statements they make is that they have a problem with their connection to God. No matter what faith they claim as their own, their humanity still wages war with war itself. They have a hard time thinking that God can forgive them as well as finding the ability to forgive themselves for what they had to do and what they could not prevent.

If any marriage can survive, we are an example of how it can be done. I do not resent him for any of what we had to go through any more than I would regret the decision I made to stay. Today I see him as a man who has overcome so much to be at the point he is at today. His strength of character and courage to fight the wound eating away at him has returned him to a state of "life" living a life instead of just existing in it.

There are still times when I say to him "Can't stand ya!" because some of the PTSD issues are extremely frustrating. Short term memory loss and paranoia cause him to look for things to worry about but I get over it easier than I did in the beginning. That came from understanding and practice.

When a spouse contacts me I explain that most of what they are going through is all part of PTSD. Once they understand why they act the way they do, they find it easier to cope within the marriage, but above all, forgive. When we are able to forgive them, they find it easier to forgive themselves but when they believe within their soul God has forgiven them for whatever they feel they need to be forgiven for, miracles happen.

I am not advocating staying in a marriage that has become dangerous. Whenever a spouse is in danger, they do need to remove themselves from the danger. This does not mean they have to remove themselves from the veteran entirely. They need to understand what PTSD once they are in a safe place out of danger so that they will not spend the rest of their lives blaming themselves for any of it. They can also forgive the veteran which is also important because carrying around the anger is not good for anyone. Even after a divorce has taken place, the spouse should understand how much this wound played a role in what happened to their marriage.

I've seen families restored and relationships rebuilt between veteran and child. This also helps the children to understand that they had little to do with the way the veteran acted. Understanding helps them heal their own wound of feeling less worthy of a parent's love.

In all of this understanding is enabling the one thing ignorance cannot provide. Forgiveness.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Stay Strong new CD message of hope for PTSD

Powerful 'Stay Strong' CD Sends a Message of Hope and Support for Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan
Anthem and Campaign Raise Awareness About Dramatic Rise in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Last update: 8:15 a.m. EDT Oct. 9, 2008
KAHULUI, Hawaii, Oct 09, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- "Stay Strong" is a moving, forceful reminder to our servicemen and women that the nation respects and reveres them and will not forget them when they return home. The song is designed to raise awareness about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and to raise money to build a state-of-the-art PTSD treatment facility in Hawaii for returning combat vets who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Stay Strong" is co-written by Keith Crosby, a decorated combat veteran who served in Vietnam. The featured vocalist is Charles Cook, a vet who served on active duty in Afghanistan and Iraq and toured at military bases as a member of "Tops in Blue," a traveling USAF entertainment group comprised of soldiers.

"Stay Strong's" powerful message comes at a time when there are mounting concerns that the incidence of traumatic brain injury is producing a high number of cases of PTSD. According to the latest Pentagon estimates, tens of thousands may develop debilitating long-term problems.
The $3.99 "Stay Strong" CD comes with a postcard that can be filled out and returned to the song's executive producers at StayStrongNation.org. They will distribute these messages of support to the soldiers, posting them in mess halls and other places where the troops congregate. Consumers can order the CD by going on the organization's website -- http://www.staystrongnation.org

StayStrongNation.org has received a congratulatory letter from the White House on behalf of President George W. Bush.
In addition, the proceeds from the CD sales will go to raise money for a re-entry and PTSD treatment facility in Hawaii. Expected to cost some $15 million, the center will provide soldiers returning from combat zones and diagnosed with stress any necessary therapy within a relaxed environment, along with their families.
The project is the vision of Keith Crosby and Gresford Lewishall, president and vice president -- respectively -- of the music label Boo You Back Productions, who have formed StayStrongNation.org and filed for a 501(c)(3) charitable status. This grassroots effort reflects their commitment to the more than 1.65 million service members deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. For these men, "Stay Strong" is a chance to make a real difference in the lives of our combat veterans.
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Vietnam Vet credits detective for help in police standoff

Video On Demand

Veteran credits detective for help in standoff
"All of a sudden I was out on the Thruway and I had no control of the situation," said Gilchriese.
James Gilchriese has spent the past five months in jail after causing an armed standoff that closed the river section of the Thruway for hours back in May.

His friend Thomas Magee said, "The guy on the Thruway is not the Jim Gilchriese I know."
Detective Teague was the one who spent an hour on the phone with Gilchriese trying to keep him calm and to put his gun down.
Also on WIVB.com

More on veteran credits detective for help in standoff
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A big turn of events Friday surrounding the man who held police at bay along the 190 and put a neighborhood under siege for hours earlier this year.

A Judge has given James Gilchriese a second chance for his plea on a felony weapons charge. Gilchriese apologized Friday, thanked police, and one detective in particular.

"I don't know. All of a sudden I was out on the Thruway and I had no control of the situation," said Gilchriese.

James Gilchriese has spent the past five months in jail after causing an armed standoff that closed the river section of the Thruway for hours back in May.

He was sentenced Friday to time served, and five years probation. The judge took into account the fact that he's 66, has no record of violence, and is very active with Vietnam veterans groups where he lives in Florida.

His friend Thomas Magee said, "The guy on the Thruway is not the Jim Gilchriese I know."
Gilchriese said he had been drinking, and was fighting with his girlfriend. "I had somewhat of a flashback to Vietnam but I can't use that as an excuse."

Detective Gary Teague from Buffalo Police said, "There were times when he'd talk about Vietnam. He said he was a veteran, he was trained in firearms and things of that nature."
Detective Teague was the one who spent an hour on the phone with Gilchriese trying to keep him calm and to put his gun down.

"And him I will never forget," said Gilchriese.

Gilchriese credits him for keeping it under control. "Absolutely, it was him. I would only talk to him," as Teague's respond was, "I'm pleased. Not very often people really thank us for what we do."

He adds, "It wasn't just me alone. It was a collaborative effort." Gilchriese could've received up to a seven-year sentence.

Please read the attached story to learn about how the New York State Police Thruway division was involved in the standoff.
Story by George Richert, WIVB
click links for all of this and learn what law enforcement officers across the nation need to understand to save more lives of these veterans.