Newtown first responders may not get enough time to heal

After Newtown Shootings, Push On To Expand Workers' Compensation For First-Responders December 21, 2012
By DAVE ALTIMARI and JON LENDER
The Hartford Courant

In light of the Newtown school massacre, a state lawmaker said Friday that he will propose legislation to expand the circumstances in which emergency responders can receive workers' compensation.

"This is something that I've already discussed," said Rep. Stephen D. Dargan, D-West Haven, the co-chairman of the legislature's public safety committee. "I'm sure right after the holiday that this is going to be one of the bills that I am going to issue" for consideration in the session that starts Jan. 9.

The idea of expanding the workers' compensation law has been discussed before, with a big concern being the potential cost, Dargan said. "But if you limit the scope of it" to the sort of dire circumstances encountered by police at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Dargan said it might be possible.

For several years, state law has provided workers' compensation benefits to pay for counseling for police officers who are mentally or emotionally impaired by "use of deadly force or subjection to deadly force in the line of duty." Earlier this year, legislators added a similar provision for firefighters who witness the death of another firefighter on duty.
read more here

Thankful for inner peace today

Thankful for inner peace today
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
November 22, 2012

Best Norman Rockwell Art

When we have bad memories, the whole world can look pretty bleak until somehow we get past the memories and move on. I doubt there is a single person on this earth without a bad memory. The human spirit thrives on the expression "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger" so it is very hard for people to understand what living with PTSD is like. They got over what happened in their lives so why can't you?

The truth is, they really didn't get over it. When I am talking to a group of regular civilians trying to get them to understand the difference between PTSD and temporary shock, I get them to remember events in their own lives so they can begin to understand. My past came with me even if I didn't notice it chasing me.

There is usually at least one event a person can connect to when I mention it and often, they connect to several but have managed to put the even out of their thoughts. A car accident, sudden death of someone they loved, verbal or physical abuse, crimes, witnessing something horrific, getting fired or laid off and divorce. The list goes on.

Once they are connected to something in their own life, I ask them to remember how it felt. Then I ask them what it would be like for them if that event happened over and over again and when it was not happening they had to worry about being repeated.

That's what it is like for the troops and that is how they end up not being able to just get over it. As the audience re-experience their own events and discover they have not really gotten past them, what they have discovered is that they have made peace with that part of their lives.

My Mom was born 11-21-21 and passed away in 2007. Yesterday I was depressed thinking about my youth and how hard it was growing up. My Dad was a Korean War veteran and a violent alcoholic. I made peace with him when he stopped drinking when I was 13. My Mom never really did. My brothers didn't forgive him and they died younger than they should have with all that anger. I don't think about those times until I am reminded of them by an anniversary date or holiday reminds me. For the rest of the year, I'm ok but the bad memories never really go away.

I don't remember the bad times in my marriage when PTSD was trying to destroy my husband until I have to take a look at it especially when I am talking to another veteran or a family member or when I have to talk about my book. Ten years ago forcing myself to remember all of it was the hardest thing I even had to do, but when it was done, I let it go for most of the time, yet all that pain is still there even if I do not feel it on a daily basis. I have too many things to be happy about now. The darkest times in my life are not gone but I have made peace with them just like I did with my Dad.

For veterans, depending on what they went through, most of the time they are able to "move on" but all the memories are still there. For them it never really ends because there are constant reminders of the hardest times in their lives. It is very hard for them because they have not been told how to make peace with that part of their lives. We expect them to do what we do and just get over it because that is what we were able to do. Yet when we are honest with ourselves we realize that we didn't really get over times in our own lives either.

When my Dad was drinking, it was horrible and I couldn't forgive him because there was the constant threat of him coming home drunk and starting fights with my oldest brother or arguing with my Mom. I couldn't start to forgive him until I for the most part I knew there was no danger of repeats. That came slowly and took years before I was able to trust he wouldn't drink again.

In 1980 after a series of heart attacks and strokes, he was told that he was on borrowed time because his heart was so weak. Even knowing he was dying, he refused to drink because he didn't want to hurt his family again. He lived until 1987.

I have made peace with every rotten thing that has happened in my life but I have not really forgotten them. I bet you haven't either. Today take a look at what is still haunting you and try to make peace with it. The veterans I help start to heal when they do. So many times they are angry with me because they think they are getting worse because they cry. Crying is a good thing because it releases all the pain we are feeling and then we all start healing. Forgiving what others did to us as much as we forgive what they wouldn't do for us helps us find peace but forgiving ourselves is often the hardest thing to do. When we manage to do that, then we find real peace within our memories.

On Veterans Day, remembering the victims of PTSD

I have a problem with the word "victim" especially when discussing veterans. They are not victims. They are survivors. The only time "victim" really applies is when a crime has been committed. The fact is, no matter what the trauma was, they are all survivors!

On Veterans Day, remembering the victims of PTSD
Trauma lingers for soldiers, victims of natural disasters
BY DR. MELISSA EARLE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
PUBLISHED: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2012

On this Veterans Day, as we continue to recover from Hurricane Sandy and welcome returning soldiers home from combat zones, it’s an ideal time to recognize that both soldiers and storm victims are often affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

While ongoing wars and brief natural disasters are obviously different, both can cause a post-traumatic response — and must be recognized as such and treated.

Traumatic events, by their very nature, represent a direct threat both physically and psychologically. On a physical level, human beings are programmed to react to a threat by either fighting or fleeing.

Psychologically, the reactions can range from denial, to anxiety, anger and even feelings of guilt.

While not every returning vet experiences it, they are obviously more prone to PTSD than civilians. These brave men and women were threatened with physical harm every day. The danger is that they continue to use the coping skills they needed to survive in Afghanistan and Iraq after they have come back home.

For many, it takes a long time to realize they are removed from imminent danger and that a physical and psychological response to a perceived threat is no longer necessary.
read more here

Station Nightclub fire survivors battle depression, PTSD

Study: Station survivors battle depression, PTSD
By: NBC 10 News
Published: October 22, 2012

A recently released study found a high percentage of Station nightclub survivors are battling depression and post traumatic stress disorder.

The study, conducted by Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Harvard Medical School, found that nearly just as many survivors are battling those problems, whether they were burned in the fire or not.
read more here
at 7:13 the fire starts

The Station nightclub fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Station" redirects here. For the online sketch channel, see The Station (YouTube).

The fire at 40 seconds. Daniel Biechele is facing camera at right.
Date February 20, 2003
Time 11:07 pm
Location West Warwick, Rhode Island
Injuries 200+
Death(s) 100
The Station nightclub fire was the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in American history, killing 100 people. The fire began at 11:07 PM EST, on Thursday, February 20, 2003, at The Station, a glam metal and rock and roll themed nightclub located at 211 Cowesett Avenue in West Warwick, Rhode Island.

Working to prevent PTSD,,,,again

If I had a dollar for every time I read something like this, I'd never need another dime in donations!

Working to prevent PTSD
September 5, 2012

(NECN/NBC News: Erika Edwards) - When most people hear the term "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," they automatically think of the military, but PTSD doesn't discriminate.

Anyone can develop the condition.

Researchers at Emory University are looking at trauma patients who never stepped foot on a battlefield with the hope of preventing PTSD from developing.

Susan Cash has spent most of her adult life looking for healing after surviving a violent rape and shooting as a young woman.

"My own father could not even hug me, I would lay in bed and pray my husband would not touch me. It was awful, and everyday was a challenge," she says.

After years of trying different forms of therapy Susan was eventually diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Dr. Barbara Rothbaum of Emory University says most people think PTSD is a soldier's disease, but civilians are also greatly affected.

"About 70 percent of us will be exposed to a traumatic event that could result in PTSD," Dr. Rothbaum says.

She and her colleagues are trying to prevent ptsd by starting therapy immediately after a traumatic event.
read more here

IMPORTANT EVENTS IN NIMH HISTORY
1946—On July 3 President Harry Truman signed the National Mental Health Act, which called for the establishment of a National Institute of Mental Health. The first meeting of the National Advisory Mental Health Council was held on August 15. Because no federal funds had yet been appropriated for the new institute, the Greentree Foundation financed the meeting.

There is the place to start. Crisis response started because Vietnam veterans started the research in what happens after trauma. Yep, those guys. This is not new, has been researched all over the world for a very, very long time.

Crisis intervention teams are fairly new but not what is done after someone is exposed to traumatic events. Talking about what happened helps the healing process by taking that time of fear and translating it while in a safe place so that moment replaces the moment of terror. In other words, brings things back to "normal" again. Leaving that pain along with all of the responses the body goes through during the event leaves the survivor still in the fight.

I've read about this for 30 years but lived with it. My family talked about everything especially when something went wrong, which was a "normal" occurrence for us. Long story short, with an abundance of traumatic events I survived, I do not have PTSD simply because I had someone to talk to right after it happened.

This is one of the reasons why I did so much Crisis Intervention training from 2008-2010. It works! But it is far from new.

Yes, civilians can understand combat PTSD

Yes, civilians can understand combat PTSD
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
September 1, 2012

How can a civilian understand what it is like going into combat?
It is not as hard as you think it is. While we may not know what it is like to watch friends die, bombs blow up, or what it is like to pull the trigger of a machine gun, we can understand what it is like to experience trauma. That is part of the way we learn what it is like for them. Thirty years ago, I didn't think I'd ever be able to understand.

For me, when I speak to civilians, like me, I usually point out to when I was young. I start with as a four year old always doing the wrong thing at the wrong time, I got away from my older brothers at a drive-in movie playground. I went up the high slide they usually took me too but this time, all by myself, I got scared. My hands grabbed hold of the railing and the kid behind me got tired of waiting. He tried to push me down it but ended up pushing me over the side. I fell onto concrete headfirst. My oldest brother came looking for me and saw me hit the ground. He thought I was dead.

The part I try to leave out is that before that I was introduced to trauma by my father. He was a violent alcoholic until I was 13. I hate talking about those days because once he stopped drinking he never touched another drop. Two different traumas, both caused by other humans but two totally different circumstances. One was not personal but the other was because of my Dad.

Then there was a car accident, health crisis, an ex-husband tried to kill me and then stalked me for a year, and far too many deaths.

I make the people I talk to think of their own times of trauma and remind them of how they felt. Once they begin to remember those terrible feelings they had, then I tell them combat trauma is like that only instead of once time in their lives, it is a constant threat during the whole time they are deployed and when they come home, they think about being redeployed. This gets them to open up to understanding the rest of what I have to tell them about Combat and PTSD.

This video will help you once you are able to put yourself in their place even just a little bit.


I've been doing this for 30 years and there is no way I will ever totally know what they went through any more than they will ever understand what I've gone through. That's the point. It is about being human and having experiences that changed us. Changed the way we think, feel, look at life and how we can help each other heal.

Once trauma came into our lives, we changed. It is human nature to change but do we become better people or do we let it finally claim our lives. PTSD doesn't have to win and if we put up a united front, join forces and find strength from each other, it can't win.

Just try to think of an event in your life when you wondered if you would survive it and then take that dark day, multiply it, then you'll come closer to understanding them.

Women at War, Sisters After War
September 10, 2009
About the Video: Part of a series of videos on women at war. This one is a tribute to my friend Capt. Agnes "Irish" Breneahan, a Vietnam era veteran from Fort McClellan. She suffered from PTSD and Agent Orange, but never stopped fighting for all veterans. A true unsung hero. She passed away after a hearing on her claim in Washington on March 11, 2009 without ever seeing justice for herself. This is a tribute to her and all the female veterans she fought so hard for.

For more of my videos on PTSD, go hereMy videos on Great Americans

Teens suffer PTSD too, even more when they go into combat

Teens suffer PTSD too, even more when they go into combat
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
August 18, 2012

When it comes to PTSD, I read just about everything that comes out. I am searching for answers and hoping one day something new will come out that hasn't been done before. Once in a while I read a great report that illustrates the basic design of the brain is the same in everyone. PTSD is caused by trauma but everyone exposed to the same event will not develop PTSD. The more I learn about PTSD, age appears to be a huge factor.

There is a great report on NPR PTSD Isn't Just A War Wound; Teens Suffer, Too talking about how 4 percent of teenager boys and 6 percent of teenage girls have it.

'A Total Nightmare'

The night Stephanie Romero turned 23, she and a friend were attacked by a stranger.

"My friend went outside to have a cigarette, and there was this guy — he came out; he was harassing us," she says.

The man hit her and her friend, leaving Romero shocked.

"It was just a total nightmare," she says. "I think about it all the time. I've never gone through anything like that."

After the attack, Romero's friends and family noticed she was acting differently. She didn't go out as often. Her weight started changing. She was really depressed. Later, doctors diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I was like, PTSD? I thought it was just for veterans," Romero says. "But I found out it's not; it's for anyone who's experienced an event where you keep thinking about it and it takes over your life."

There are two things to point out here. One is that PTSD is caused by a traumatic event.

PTSD Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff

You can develop post-traumatic stress disorder when you go through, see or learn about an event that causes intense fear, helplessness or horror.

Doctors aren't sure why some people get post-traumatic stress disorder. As with most mental health problems, PTSD is probably caused by a complex mix of:

Your inherited mental health risks, such as an increased risk of anxiety and depression
Your life experiences, including the amount and severity of trauma you've gone through since early childhood
The inherited aspects of your personality — often called your temperament The way your brain regulates the chemicals and hormones your body releases in response to stress

It is considered a "mental illness" because it hits the brain.

Types of Mental Illness Anxiety disorders: People with anxiety disorders respond to certain objects or situations with fear and dread, as well as with physical signs of anxiety or nervousness, such as a rapid heartbeat and sweating. An anxiety disorder is diagnosed if the person's response is not appropriate for the situation, if the person cannot control the response, or if the anxiety interferes with normal functioning. Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias.

This list goes on to discuss

Mood Disorders, Psychotic disorders, Eating disorders, Impulse control and addiction disorders, Personality disorders, Adjustment disorder, Dissociative disorders, Factitious disorders, Sexual and gender disorders Somatoform disorders and Tic disorders: Other diseases or conditions, including various sleep-related problems and many forms of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, are sometimes classified as mental illnesses, because they involve the brain.

The second point is that the age of males and females entering into the military usually begins at 18. By the time they are at emotional maturity they could very well have been deployed a couple of times exposed to many traumatic events.

Tossing in the latest headlines serves no one with PTSD

How Trauma Is Impacting Our Culture and What We Can Do to Help
Posted: 08/06/2012
Lisa Firestone

Psychology expert on relationships, parenting, self-destructive thoughts and suicide; author, 'Conquer Your Critical Voice'

Here's a place to start. Understand what you are writing about first. I keep reading something like this hoping to discover something new but again and again, it turned out to be a lot of what has been reported on to death. And yes, I do mean death.


Firestone quotes old studies but even they are rehashed from what has been learned over the last 40 years. Nowhere in the article does she point out "what we can do to help" that would really help. So here are just a few suggestions.

Train more people in Crisis Intervention or Critical Incident Stress Management or DEEP Disaster and Extreme Event Preparedness just for a start. Average people can assist others. As a matter of fact they are better at it as average citizens since survivors open up more easily when they are talking to a peer and not a "professional" thus opening the door for them to seek professional help if needed. Next actually tell the difference between the initial "stress reaction" most people go through and the 30 day rule of a time when they need to seek out professional help because it could develop into PTSD.

My certifications including DEEP are hanging on my wall. I spent two years taking training in Crisis Intervention because I've seen the flip side of it when no one was there to talk to veterans right after combat. I'm just an average person and know the differences between survivors and participants but they keep getting lumped in together as if they are all the same.

I am not just a responder. I am a survivor of multiple traumatic events. Natural disasters, (Hurricanes Charlie, Francis and Jeanne) car accident, domestic abuse, (my Dad was a violent alcoholic. He liked to beat one of my brothers up) domestic violence (my ex-husband tried to kill me) and three medial emergency trips to the hospital no one thought I'd survive, with one of them caused by a stranger assault when I was 4 years old. I have also spent the last 30 years of my life with a Vietnam Veteran with Combat PTSD, yet I do not have Secondary PTSD, something else experts do not talk much about.

For all of these reasons my life has been dedicated to researching PTSD. I wanted to help my husband as much as I wanted to understand why I didn't have it. Then I wanted to make sure that I would be there to help someone else after trauma.

Anyway, that's just a start on how to help civilians. The next part is how to help participants.


When we lump combat veterans and police officers in the same category as survivors of crime, accidents or natural disasters, we fail them. When we do not take into account the fact that military life in times of combat exposes them to extreme violent events over and over again coupled with the fact they have to respond with weapons and violence, we fail them. If we do not take into account police officers are of the same participants group, we fail them as well.

It is just as bad as when we treat firefighters the same as the people they save. For the life saved, it is one time but for the firefighters they risk their lives over and over again. The type of PTSD they have is much different than "survivor" PTSD. But again, experts don't address this either.

Next step is to stop writing an article like the one in the above link. Tossing in the latest headlines getting attention serves no one with PTSD.

When you look up Firestone's bio, you know she is no dummy. She's a lot smarter than I am and has had a lot more education,

Education
Firestone received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from California School of Professional Psychology in 1991.[1] She is involved in clinical training and research related to the assessment of suicide and violence potential.[2]

Career
Firestone works as a clinical psychologist in private practice and with The Glendon Association as the Director of Research and Education.[3] She is a former adjunct faculty member at the University of California, Santa Barbara Gevirtz Graduate School of Education.[4] Firestone partnered with her father, Robert W. Firestone, and developed the Firestone Assessment of Self-destructive Thoughts (FAST), a scale that assesses suicide potential [5] and the Firestone Assessment of Violent Thoughts (FAVT), a scale that assesses potential for violence.[6] Firestone is also a regular contributor to The Huffington Post and www.PsychAlive.org.

So how is it she doesn't know what other trauma experts have separated a long time ago? There is a huge difference in what the event was.

First paragraph she has the two headlines lumped together, Colorado mass murder and military suicides.

In some ways it seems that to grasp the prevalence of trauma experienced in our society, one need only look as far as the past few weeks' headlines. The devastating shooting in Aurora, Colo. marked an extreme act of violence that truly shocked our nation. Time magazine's painful cover story "One a Day" brought attention to the high rate of military suicides in 2012, which have exceeded the number of U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan this year by about 50 percent. The rate of military personnel and veterans who suffer from PTSD after prolonged and repeated tours of duty in dangerous, violent conditions have mental health professionals asking how we can get traumatized individuals the help they so greatly need.

Why? What was the point? It would be great if Firestone at least mentioned the fact that while crisis intervention responders showed up right away in Colorado to help the survivors, they don't do it when soldiers are going back to their bases and outposts in combat, but no where was this addressed.

Then in the next paragraph Firestone wrote about child abuse.

Yet, events that spark psychological symptoms of trauma don't always take place in the public eye. Child abuse and domestic abuses occur behind closed doors and at rates that are startling, to say the least. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, in 2010 there were 3.3 million reports of child abuse made in the United States involving the maltreatment of nearly 6 million children. A July report from the journal Pediatrics showed an increase in child abuse may be linked with the recent recession. With events that could lead to "simple" to "complex" trauma taking place every day, it is invaluable for us to gain a better understanding of trauma and how we can recognize and treat those affected.

Again, what was the point of putting this in? This is a totally different type of trauma.

Again here Firestone lumps Colorado mass murder with military suicides.

It's clear from our emotional reactions to events like the Colorado shootings or the high rate of military suicide that we are all impacted by even hearing about trauma, let alone experiencing it directly.

But this is not what got to me the most. Finally she managed to write this,

It is important to note that different types of trauma require different types of treatment.

Then reverted back to lumping them all together again.

Compared to someone like Firestone, I am nothing and I'm sure if she read this that is exactly what she'd think but what she'd miss is the fact that people like me turn to "experts" all the time so that we can figure out what they know as well as what other experts know. So while they get headlines, we are on the front lines trying to figure out how all of this got so bad and wondering when the day will come when all the experts all know the same thing at the same time? By the way, Combat PTSD has been studied since the 70's. One more thing she got wrong on top of missing the fact that trauma was only begun to be studied because Vietnam veterans pushed for combat trauma to be studied.

I could have just let this article go, made my life easier by moving onto something else but considering the families of the "suicides" she mentioned are blaming themselves for all of this, an article like this served no one.

Dr. Drew says after trauma, don't isolate!

Dr. Drew was talking about the mass murder at the movie theater in Aurora Colorado making a very clear case about the dangers of isolating after an event like this.

Drew talked about faith in your higher power, talking to other people and not shutting yourself off.

Dr. Drew: 'Trauma changes our brains'
By Dr. Drew staff
updated 7:04 AM EDT, Tue July 24, 2012
NEED TO KNOW

'If you isolate and sit with your fears … you increase your risk for psychiatric/psychological problems later,' Dr. Drew says

Aurora is bracing for another emotional week as families begin making funeral arrangements for the loves ones they lost in the horrific Colorado theater shooting.

On Monday night, HLN’s Dr. Drew dedicated his entire show to helping people understand how to overcome such distress.

“Trauma changes our brains,” he said. “It changes our brains permanently and that is why we have to have professional intervention. There's healing, but it’s about re-wiring and changing how the brain functions.”
read more here

Isn't it great advice? That's what the civilian world does with traumatic events.

While we see hundreds of reporters show up after something like this, there is also an army of crisis responders rushing out to help. The goal, get people to talk about it so they can begin to heal. Have a conversation with someone that will not judge them so they can talk it out.

Traumatic events are not part of a "normal" life. People are not trained to cope with it especially when it is something like this. Something like this is not personal yet somehow they wonder if it is because of them. Well meaning "friends" will come out with something totally stupid like "God never gives us more than we can handle." as if God not only made them go to that movie, at that time, in that theater and then sent the gunman in to punish them or test them.

God didn't send the murder in. This was not personal. He opened fire on kids, teens, young adults and everyone else he thought may be easy to hit.

Mass murder is not personal. It wasn't personal on 9-11 anymore than it was in Colorado. That may be the hardest thing to overcome. The randomness of the suffering makes people feel very unsafe from that moment on. People will go to the movies and remember what happened just as millions of people around this country went to work in large buildings thinking about the planes that took down other buildings.

With help, the right kind of help, days of normal-ness will take the fear away.

Psychologist say that after trauma there is a 30 day window. If the aftereffects do not get weaker as time passes, then they need to get more help to overcome it. That does not mean that everything inside will "get over it" but just means the trauma won't win. If you need help go for it. Don't listen to anyone saying anything that makes you feel worse afterwards.

Lifetime Traumatic Stress Linked to Heightened Inflammation

Lifetime Traumatic Stress Linked to Heightened Inflammation
By TRACI PEDERSEN
Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 31, 2012

The more traumatic stress a person is exposed to over the course of a lifetime, the greater the chances the person has elevated levels of inflammatory markers in his or her bloodstream, say researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) and the University of California, San Francisco.

The study is the first to examine the association between cumulative traumatic stress and inflammation. For the study, researchers looked at 979 patients (ages 45 to 90) with stable heart disease and analyzed their exposures to 18 different types of traumatic events, all of which involved either experiencing or watching a direct threat to life or physical integrity.

Next, researchers measured several clinical markers of inflammation that circulate in the bloodstream, and found a direct correlation between lifetime stress exposure and inflammation levels. “This may be significant for people with cardiovascular disease, because we know that heart disease patients with higher levels of inflammation tend to have worse outcomes,” said lead author Aoife O’Donovan, a fellow in psychiatry at UCSF. Five years later, researchers measured the surviving patients’ inflammation markers again, and discovered that the participants who had originally reported the highest levels of trauma still had the highest levels of inflammation. read more here

Northern Ireland stress disorder world's highest

NI stress disorder world's highest


Northern Ireland has the highest rate of post-traumatic stress disorder in the world, ahead of war-hit regions such as Israel and Lebanon, according to a major new report.

The cost of treating PTSD in the region is about £175m every year, with £46m being spent directly on helping those with problems linked to the Troubles.

Almost 40% of people questioned have experienced a conflict-related traumatic experience.

The findings are contained in a major new report by the Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Well, based at the University of Ulster and the Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma and Transformation (NICTT).

The study involved more than 30 countries, including nations with a recent history of civil conflict.
read more here

Traumatic injury pay now covers genital trauma

Traumatic injury pay now covers genital trauma
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Dec 2, 2011 15:53:29 EST
Veterans whose genitals have been severely injured as a result of trauma are now eligible for a lump-sum payment under the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance Traumatic Injury program, or TSGLI.

For males, the loss of one testicle would result in a $25,000 payment; of both, $50,000. The anatomical loss of a penis — or damage to the organ so severe it results in the complete loss of the ability to have sex — a $50,000 payment.

Women who lose external sexual organs, their uterus or vaginal canal would receive $50,000. Loss of one ovary would result in a $25,000 payment; of both, $50,000.

The VA announced the changes to the TSGLI schedule of losses Dec. 2. The change is due in part to the increase of these injuries among Afghanistan combat veterans, who conduct foot patrols and are vulnerable to attack from trailside improvised explosive devices.
read more here

Healing is about moving ahead in spite of the pain

Sept. 11, 2001, anniversary key to healing
Published: Sept. 5, 2011 at 4:37 AM
By ALEX CUKAN, United Press International

"Healing is about moving ahead in spite of the pain that might always be there to some degree," Wolford said. "People learn to reach out to others, to reconnect with those who might have gone through the same or similar traumatic events."

Even if people avoid the televised 10th anniversary remembrances from New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pa., the date alone will be enough to trigger memories.

Sept. 11, 2001.

"Sept. 11 marks such a deep and tragic loss for our country, there is no doubt that this year's anniversary in particular will be significant for many people not just because it is the 10th anniversary but for other reasons as well," Karen Wolford, a licensed psychologist, board certified expert in traumatic stress and professor at the State University of New York at Oswego, told UPI in an interview.

This year's anniversary of the terror attacks may also be more difficult due to recent events -- the recent earthquake and hurricane impacting the Northeast and New York, people may already be under increased stress, Wolford said.
read more here

9/11 attacks lead to more study of post-traumatic stress disorder

9/11 attacks lead to more study of post-traumatic stress disorder
There are widespread symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder among those connected to the attacks. Mental-health professionals have a greater understanding of the disorder from studying them.

Two women hold each other as they watch the World Trade Center burn on Sept. 11, 2001. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder have been seen in a number of people affected by the attacks. (Ernesto Mora / Associated Press / September 5, 2011)

By Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times
September 5, 2011
For New York City resident Esperanza Muñoz, the attack on the World Trade Centers is not over 10 years later — not by a long shot. At odd moments, the stench of death still rises to her nose, and the 55-year-old woman slides into a haze of nausea and tears. She suffers headaches and is awakened several times a week by nightmares of headless bodies and shoes with bits of feet left inside. She dreads the sound of sirens or a passing plane.

Muñoz lives in the New York City borough of Queens, and can't — or won't — go into Manhattan, even to attend her support group for Latinas still scarred by the events of Sept. 11, 2001. She went to a meeting a few blocks from the site of the former World Trade Center once, six or seven years ago, but she became so panicked she had to leave.

Muñoz has a classic case of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, even though she is not a classic victim of the disorder. She has not survived a violent crime, warfare or even a clear sense that her life was threatened. She watched the fiery collapse of the World Trade Center towers from the roof of her apartment building in Queens, horrified but safe.

Two days later, the office and residential cleaning company that employed Muñoz assigned her to the blocks surrounding ground zero, where she picked up office mementos, charred debris and body parts from the ground almost every day for nearly four years. By 2009, the woman who had left a peaceful life in Colombia so she could send her son to college had twice attempted suicide.
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Seven Signs That You Need to See a Mental Health Professional

Seven Signs That You Need to See a Mental Health Professional
By LAURA L. SMITH, PH.D.

Everyone has bad days. And many have bad weeks. But when feeling depressed, stressed, or anxious stretches out over a period of several weeks and begins to interfere with daily life, then mental health professionals may need to be involved. Here are some signs that you or someone you care about need evaluation and possibly treatment:

1.Suicidal thoughts or plans.
2.Feeling defeated and hopeless
3.Unable to work or play because of overwhelming emotional distress.
4.Changes in sleep.
5.Changes in appetite.
6.Changes in mood that last for longer than a few weeks.
7.Lack of interest and withdrawal.

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Usually the rule is 30 days "for better or worse" meaning if the symptoms seem to be less each day, then you are more than likely "working it out" but if they do not ease up or get stronger, seek help. As pointed out in this article, make sure the therapist you are planning on seeing is an expert on trauma or you may find yourself with the wrong diagnosis or not getting the help you should.

They shared a moment of crisis, and the anguish that remained

9/11 IN FOCUS
They shared a moment of crisis, and the anguish that remained
ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY
OLD BRIDGE, N.J.— From Monday's Globe and Mail
Published Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011

Deputy U.S. marshal Dominic Guadagnoli helps a women after she was injured in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York, Sept. 11, 2001. The Injured woman was later identified as Donna Spera. —Gulnara Smoilova/AP

It wasn’t until she collapsed outside the building that the pain took over.

Throughout the 78-storey trek to the bottom of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, Donna Spera was unaware of her surroundings, the passage of time or her own condition.

She remembers blood on the stairs, but didn’t think it was hers. She recalls crawling over an elevator smashed through the stairwell, but not how her legs became lacerated. She couldn’t figure out why a friend wrapped his shirt around her hand.

But once outside, she became aware of the scorched and melted skin on her arms and back; of her gashed knees, shattered hand and bloody scalp.

And that’s when Dominic Guadagnoli grabbed her.

The deputy marshal, who’d been working in a courthouse nearby, made a dash for the World Trade Center shortly after the planes hit.

The people he helped out of the towers came in waves of escalating injury: First the relatively unscathed; then the dust-caked, the water-soaked, the shell-shocked and slightly battered. And then Ms. Spera.

“I just scooped her up and ran. ... I said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I got you.’ ”
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First responders tell of 9/11, aftermath at Fresh Kills landfill

In documentary, first responders tell of 9/11, aftermath at Fresh Kills landfill
Published: Friday, August 05, 2011
ISLANDIA, N.Y. — Anthony Yacapino was sitting at home, watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon in 2004 when he felt the first signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. “My heart felt like it was leaping out of my chest. I thought I was dying. It was seriously scary,” he recalls.

The retired New York City police detective, like thousands of colleagues, worked for months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks dealing with the aftermath. He interviewed relatives of the dead at a bereavement center and later searched for human remains and victims’ belongings at the former Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island.

After that first scare, Yacapino remained silent for months, trying to avoid letting on to his superiors that he was ailing years after working near Ground Zero. Then he had to go to court one day in lower Manhattan, not far from the World Trade Center site, and he went into a panic attack.
That’s when he finally decided to seek medical help, enlisting in a program run by Stony Brook University on New York’s Long Island. “The best move I ever made,” he admits.
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First responders tell of 9/11, aftermath at Fresh Kills landfill

Teams deliver ‘psychological first aid’ on the street

July 29, 2011
Teams deliver ‘psychological first aid’ on the street
By Emily Younker
news@joplinglobe.com

JOPLIN, Mo. — When Daryl Whitecotton came to his front door on Wednesday, he was greeted by his new friend, Susan Myers.

For a few minutes, Myers drilled him on his post-tornado living conditions. Did he need more ice? More water? Any help in getting some of his utilities hooked up?

And then came a question Whitecotton likely wasn’t expecting: Had she given him a stress ball yet?

“I ain’t got stress,” he joked, accepting the red ball and squeezing it in his right hand as he talked.

Whitecotton is one of about 21,000 people across Joplin who have received “psychological and emotional first aid” from Healing Joplin, a collaborative effort led by Ozark Center to help tornado survivors put their lives back together, said Debbie Fitzgerald, project manager.

Additional support

U.S. Navy Chief Stanley “Mike” Wade will discuss his experience with post-traumatic stress disorder in talks this weekend. Wade was diagnosed with — and has since overcome — the disorder following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and several military deployments.

Wade’s presentation is set for 10 a.m. today in the Justice Center at the Missouri Southern State University, 3950 E. Newman Road. Residents who think they might be experiencing psychological effects from the tornado are encouraged to attend.

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Teams deliver psychological first aid on the street

A year after Deepwater Horizon explosion, 3 survivors still struggling

This happened after one traumatic event in their lives. For all the veterans out there still finding it hard to accept the reality of PTSD in them, count the number of times your life was on the line and then wonder no more. You were just a human before you went into combat, still human during it and still human after it. You saw more, did more and endured more hardship than anyone else, so there is nothing to be ashamed of unless you think your ability to feel things deeply is wrong.

A year after Deepwater Horizon explosion, 3 survivors still struggling

By Chuck Hadad, CNN
April 21, 2011 5:34 a.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Survivors say the scars from the disaster have taken their lives away
Medical records: Survivors have been diagnosed with multiple mental issues
One says he wakes up screaming from nightmares
Transocean says its focus is on providing support for employees

(CNN) -- For some survivors of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, escaping the inferno of the doomed rig made them feel like they'd cheated death.

But living with the scars of what they witnessed that night, and the memory of the 11 men who perished when the rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana a year ago, has in many ways taken their lives away.

"I remember feeling invincible when it first happened. I remember driving in my truck on the way home after the rig exploded and (I) pushed the gas (pedal) to the floor and never let off it," says Daniel Barron.

But the high Barron felt from surviving didn't last long.

"You have that guilty conscience of, 'Okay, I made it, that's great, but then these guys didn't.' Was there something I could have done to save more people?"
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A year after Deepwater Horizon explosion

Military had better be ready after tornadoes for mental healthcare

700 from Fort Bragg are getting ready to deploy into Afghanistan.

Bragg deals with aftermath of tumultuous storms
Staff report
Posted : Sunday Apr 17, 2011 18:16:38 EDT
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Fort Bragg officials announced on Facebook that the base will operate on a two-hour delay on Monday except for adverse weather personnel, who are to report at normal duty hours or as directed. Civilian employees and schools will also operate on a two-hour delayed schedule.

The base remained closed Sunday except for key and essential personnel after severe weather damaged buildings and cut off power to the installation Saturday.

There are no reports of loss of life or significant injuries on post, according to a statement posted to Fort Bragg’s Facebook page Saturday night. Power was restored to the majority of the base late Sunday morning, officials said in a statement. Progress Energy utility crews were working to restore power to the Linden Oaks community and Simmons Army Airfield.
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Bragg deals with aftermath of tumultuous storms

Imagine packing to leave your family after the tornadoes. Then imagine you will spend a year worrying about them on top of your own life.

Camp Lejeune homes destroyed and damaged by tornado
Onslow County tornado damage, Camp Lejeune homes destroyed

By CHRIS BROWN
Published: April 16, 2011

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Base officials say 10 to 12 homes were destroyed, 40 to 60 homes were significantly damaged and 40 to 60 more homes have suffered minor damage including broken windows, siding, gutters and trees in the yard. A 23-month old child was flown to Pitt Memorial Hospital Saturday night and is still listed in critical condition with multiple trauma related injuries.
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Camp Lejeune homes destroyed and damaged by tornado

How many are still deployed with this going on back home?

When you remember the shootings at Fort Hood, what you may not have noticed was the increase in mental healthcare demands. Their safety was taken away from them. The tornadoes brought one more kind of trauma beyond combat and the military had better be ready for what will follow from military families in crisis and needing help.