9/11 Still Producing FDNY Casualties

At least four of those failed tests were tied to firefighters suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder due to their work on or shortly after 9/11, the firefighters union says.

9/11 Still Producing FDNY Casualties
Firehouse.com (subscription) - USA

REUVEN BLAU
Courtesy of The New York Post


John Schroeder lost everything on 9/11 - and now it's cost him his job as well.

As a hose man for Engine Co. 10, Schroeder was one of the first firefighters to respond to both the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, reaching the 23rd floor of the north tower during the latter catastrophe.

"I saw more people die that day than anyone can imagine," he told The Post.

Afterward, he struggled to cope with the staggering loss of 55 friends and colleagues. "I turned to the drink, the whole department did," he said.

Now Schroeder, 49, is one of several scarred firefighters fighting to keep their pensions because of failed drug tests, caught between the sympathy of their colleagues and the zero-tolerance policy of the Fire Department.

Schroeder tested positive for cocaine during a random FDNY drug sweep on Oct. 24, 2004. He denies using cocaine and claims he's been sober for more than a year. His lawyers argue he's a victim of a flawed test.

The department moved to fire Schroeder through a disciplinary hearing. In a highly unusual ruling, an administrative-law judge in August 2007 recommended that the 18-year veteran be allowed to retire with dignity.

Judge Kevin Casey didn't comment on the drug-test results but suggested the FDNY allow the decorated firefighter to complete his application for a disability pension. That way, Casey said, Schroeder, who suffers from lung disease that he believes came from breathing toxic Ground Zero air, could keep his health benefits.

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Austrailian Soldier suicide linked to drugs and PTSD

Soldier suicide linked to drugs: inquiry
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney, New South Wales,Australia

A special forces soldier hanged himself as a result of drug and alcohol dependence, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder caused by his service in Afghanistan, an inquiry has found.

But the Department of Defence inquiry found no evidence that Captain Andrew Paljakka, 27, had experienced a traumatic event during his six weeks in Afghanistan in 2006.

"The inquiry concluded it was the compound effect of all the difficulties Captain Paljakka was experiencing, including alcohol and drug dependence, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), depression, and his personal problems, that led him to take his own life," Defence said.

"Captain Paljakka developed traumatic memories which were an elaboration of what he had heard and been told about during his six-week service in Afghanistan.

"This is a recognised phenomenon suffered by some individuals with PTSD," the inquiry found.
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Remembrance Day 2008: Combating Addictions

Veteran Substance Abuse
Remembrance Day 2008: Combating Addictions
© Karen Stephenson

Oct 25, 2008

Their tour of duty has ended but for thousands of servicemen and women, the battle for sanity can last a lifetime. Substance abuse and PTSD takes it toll on our veterans.

Demanding environments that leave images of human carnage, shrills of horror and the stench of burned flesh transforms a healthy mind into one that desperately needs help.

In a 2003 report, Veteran Affairs (VA) in the U.S. reported that 81% of veterans had a serious psychiatric or substance abuse disorder. 33% suffered from both. Although accurate numbers are difficult to verify, the VA estimates that nearly 200,000 veterans are homeless on any given night, 42 % of those served in Vietnam.

Kathie Costos, an IOFC Senior Ordained Chaplain has spent twenty-five years of her life dedicated to helping those American servicemen and women who fought for freedom and democracy. Ms. Costos states: “Veterans are misdiagnosed as being alcoholic or drug addicts, but the truth is they are not addicted to the chemicals.” She says that veterans are seeking relief from the pain that combat has left them with. Ms. Costos also says that many veterans are treated as addicts without getting to the root of the real problem, post traumatic stress disorder.
go here for more
http://substanceabuse.suite101.com/article.cfm/veteran_substance_abuse

Another PTSD soldier with "less than honorable" discharge

Ex-soldier fights for normal life
The Post-Standard - Syracuse.com - Syracuse,NY,USA
Sunday, August 31, 2008
DICK CASE
POST-STANDARD COLUMNIST

David Marr is coming out of a closet filled with demons.

He's talking about being messed up on drugs, being homeless, being divorced from his wife and losing custody of his children. He's also talking about his 20 years of experience in the military and how he turned his life around, finally.

David credits the Rescue Mission and the Department of Veterans Affairs with giving him the help he needed.

"My heart went out to him." Randy Crichlow explains. Randy manages the Mission's independent living program. "We watched him stay with us and stabilize. I'd say he had plenty of issues and a low level of trust when he came to us in November 2007. Now we're fast friends."

David and Randy have an ongoing pingpong tournament at the Mission, even though he checked out in May. David's ahead, 20 to 16 games.

David says he came to the Rescue Mission a broken man, unable to admit it. He'd been kicked out of the Army, after 20 years, because of a cocaine habit. His wife of 17 years, Laura, divorced him. She has custody of their three children - David III, 17, Valerie, 13, and Lauren, 10.

Now he's off drugs, although still taking medication, after a successful rehabilitation program at Canandaigua Veterans Hospital. He's got a place to live, with his girlfriend in Mattydale. His ex lives on the same street and he sees the kids often. His son, David, just started as a freshman at State University College at Oneonta.

And David's a college student himself, about to start the third semester of a program in emergency management at Onondaga Community Collge. He talks about working for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and running for office.

We sat under a tree in the front yard of the home where he lives on a quiet street off Malden Road. The tranquility is interrupted occasionally by a speeding car and the roar of a plane out of Hancock Field nearby.

I ask David if the aircraft noise brings back memories of his service in civil affairs (in the 403rd Civil Affairs unit) in Bosnia, North Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan.
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What new veterans need to know about old veterans

Alcohol Abuse Rampant Amongst Returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans
This week I’ve been seeing a lot of reporting on substance abuse and service members. This is not at all surprising following the highly publicized death of Joseph Dwyer coupled with new studies and a few revelations about Veterans health care in general.

Alarm bells were already sounding last spring when Newsweek investigated a rash of overdoses. These are of course the most extreme examples of war veterans turning to substance dependency for relief. However there is now a far greater and more common problem that is coming to light, alcohol abuse amongst veterans.
As a veteran who has been a member of various veteran’s organizations for several years now (meaning as soon as I was eligible and stateside) I can say that I have seen this first hand. Drinking is a strong institution in most veteran’s organizations. Every VFW and American Legion Post I can think of has a well stocked bar. This is of course the way that most of these organizations gain their operating funds, and has been since they were founded. I’m not blaming these organizations for “enabling” because many veterans (including myself) want to drink, the problem is a few amongst us that are driven to, and feel a need to drink. The real problem here is a lack of resources and education available to returning veterans.

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My comment

:

Kathie Costos Says:
August 17th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
You are correct, however missing the big picture. New veterans are a lot better off than the ones who began the DAV, VFW, American Legion, Vietnam Veterans, and so on. They came back and had nothing but alcohol and whatever else they could find to self-medicate. They didn’t have veteran’s centers or counseling for PTSD. The only thing they had was courage to fight the government to make sure they were taken care of and all those who would come after them. The media didn’t care and frankly, they still don’t about the older veterans.

They came home suffering the same as the new veterans do and their families suffered, but no one knew about it. By 1986, Vietnam claimed another 117,000 lives because of suicide alone and this does not include the ones no one knew about because so many were abandoned by their families, ended up homeless, endured being called “crazy Nam vet” avoided because they were “just another drunk” or “just another druggie” when they were wounded inside. These men and women fought all these years so that their wounds would be taken care of and all the accomplishments and advancements happened because of them. Sure there is a lot more, too much work to be done, but because of them, the new veteran stand a lot better chance of not only surviving but healing as well.

By the way, I’m married to a Vietnam vet with PTSD. I’ve been doing outreach work for over 25 years now and I can testify that as hard as people fight for the Vietnam veterans, we are fighting just as hard for all the new ones.

I just wanted you to be aware that as bad as it is for the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, it would be a lot worse without them.

I could have said a lot more like the alarm bells were being sounded all across the country before both occupations began but no one listened.

“A quart of beer is cheaper than the medication they need, so they self-medicate.”

A quart of beer is cheaper than the medication they need, so they self-medicate,” he said.

That is part of the problem right there. If people, not just veterans, get the medications they need, they won't have to resort to finding their own way to "medicate" their condition with. When we see a "drunk" on the street, we just assume they are an alcoholic. While that is true in some cases, it is not true in all cases. Veterans with no history of alcoholism find they cannot make it through the day without reaching for beer or other alcohol to kill off feelings they don't want to feel. While they are fully aware there is something not right going on inside of them, they are unaware of what the "it" is. We've come a long way in reach out work attempting to make them all aware that sometimes the war comes home with them but we still have a long, long way to go until they all know what PTSD is.

Some of these veterans may have mild PTSD symptoms for now. They decide to just "deal" with it on their own. They are unaware that as they attempt to "deal with it" their own way, PTSD is eating away at them. When their life becomes out of control, often it's too late to stop the cycle. They lose jobs. Financial strains added onto strains on their relationships are further challenged because of drugs and alcohol. With no compensation from the VA for their condition and treatment to heal, their lost incomes and estranged families, they become homeless. While they may manage to find friends still willing to take them in, their welcome is worn out sooner or later and no one wants them around. They end up drinking more, trying to establish a thing to "blame" for how they ended up where they are. Instead of acknowledging the wound they carry and find the strength to fight to heal, they fight on the streets to stay alive becoming bitter, angry added onto being drunk.

The cycle does not end there. Sometimes they take their families with them. Even in their absence from the family unit the damage is being done on a daily basis. The spouse will drive down the street and see the person they thought they would spend the rest of their life with begging for spare change. A child will shrink away from talking about their parent no longer in the house and all too often trying to find ways to ease the anger they feel toward them. They will turn that anger inward wondering what is wrong with them that their own parent no longer "loved them enough to stop drinking" and they have to cope with the loss of income from the missing parent. It happens all the time.

When people with mental illness go untreated, it is not just them suffering. The entire community does. The problem is, too many communities are unwilling to deal with the problem and address it instead of just trying to keep the homeless people away from their neighborhood.

Coos Bay deserves a lot of credit for taking a good hard look at the problem as well as what they can do about it. KC

“Trying to pinpoint cause, solution to homelessness
By Alexander Rich, Staff Writer
Friday, August 01, 2008

COOS BAY — Determining the cause of homelessness can be somewhat like asking — which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Some argue it’s a lack of affordable housing and family-wage jobs. Others blame addiction, which makes landlords and employers leery of providing shelter or jobs to such people.

Some say the health-care system drives people into debt and then onto the streets. And others contend not enough has been done to provide veterans a way to return home and re-adjust to civilian life.

The simple answer is there is no one reason for homelessness here. And at a meeting Thursday night at Southwestern Oregon Community College, a gathering of concerned citizens brainstormed on ways to find people homes.

It was the first of three meetings scheduled to discuss homelessness in Coos County and ways it can be ended. The topic was homeless families, though it veered off into discussions of veteran issues and mental health concerns.

Facilitated by Crystal Shoji, the meeting gave participants a chance to share their understanding of problems homeless families face and programs could be put into place to resolve them.

The recurring theme was there is a lack of affordable housing and the increasing number of landlords who resist renting to tenants with poor rental, credit and criminal histories.
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PTSD:After the Battle, Fighting the Bottle at Home

After the Battle, Fighting the Bottle at Home

By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Published: July 8, 2008
Most nights when Anthony Klecker, a former marine, finally slept, he found himself back on the battlefields of Iraq. He would awake in a panic, and struggle futilely to return to sleep.


Days were scarcely better. Car alarms shattered his nerves. Flashbacks came unexpectedly, at the whiff of certain cleaning chemicals. Bar fights seemed unavoidable; he nearly attacked a man for not washing his hands in the bathroom.

Desperate for sleep and relief, Mr. Klecker, 30, drank heavily. One morning, his parents found him in the driveway slumped over the wheel of his car, the door wide open, wipers scraping back and forth. Another time, they found him curled in a fetal position in his closet.

Yet only after his drunken driving caused the death of a 16-year-old cheerleader did Mr. Klecker acknowledge the depth of his problem: His eight months at war had profoundly damaged his psyche.

On Oct. 28, 2006, he drunkenly drove into a highway divider, trapping Deanna Casey, 16, in her small car.

“I was trying to be the tough marine I was trained to be — not to talk about problems, not to cry,” said Mr. Klecker, who has since been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. “I imprisoned myself in my own mind.”

Mr. Klecker’s case is part of a growing body of evidence that alcohol abuse is rising among veterans of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, many of them trying to deaden the repercussions of war and disorientation of home. While the numbers remain relatively small, experts say and studies indicate that the problem is particularly prevalent among those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, as it was after Vietnam. Studies indicate that illegal drug use, much less common than heavy drinking in the military, is up slightly, too.

Increasingly, these troubled veterans are spilling into the criminal justice system. A small fraction wind up in prison for homicides or other major crimes. Far more, though, are involved in drunken bar fights, reckless driving and alcohol-fueled domestic violence. Whatever the particulars, their stories often spool out in unwitting victims, ruptured families, lost jobs and crushing debt.

With the rising awareness of the problem has come mounting concern about the access to treatment and whether enough combat veterans are receiving the help that is available to them.

By last March, he had seen enough. He ordered the base’s newspaper, The Fort Drum Blizzard, to publish the names and photographs of all soldiers charged with drunken driving. To date, at least 116 have appeared. Half were combat veterans who had returned in the last year, the general said, though others may have deployed earlier.

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In part, this dynamic is rooted in the warrior code. Trained to be tough and ignore their fear, many combat veterans are reluctant to acknowledge psychic wounds. Or they worry that getting help will damage their careers. And so, like Mr. Klecker, they treat themselves with the liquor bottle or illegal drugs.

Self-medicating is what they call it. They may seek out drug and alcohol rehabs when their families demand it or their civilian bosses, but they do not work. They do not work for one very simple reason for most. They are not addicted to the chemicals but are trying to kill off the feelings they do not want to feel.

When PTSD spiraled out of control, my husband checked into several rehabs. None of them worked. AA didn't work. He would dry out, get angry and jumpy, then start self-medicating all over again. He had a mentor from an AA group once, another Vietnam Vet like him. He told my husband that AA worked in his case because he was in fact an alcoholic but did not have PTSD. My husband didn't stop drinking until the treatment from the VA began to work with a combination of medication and talk therapy. That was when he began to get his life back.

It's one of the biggest problems families face when they come home with PTSD. We have to deal with the changes in someone we love; acknowledge the fact they have become strangers to us; deal with walking on egg shells afraid to set them off; try to keep the house calm so they don't freak out; live on edge wondering if they will be having a good day or another bad one and then have to worry about yet another night of their nightmares freaking out the entire household. Oh, but that isn't the worst.

When they are self-medicating, we go from worrying about the doorbell ringing to tell us they were killed in action, to worrying about it being a police officer to tell us they were killed in an accident, or killed someone else. We get to a point when their runaway days of taking off, not knowing where they are or what shape they will come home in, to not wanting them to come home at all. While they are away from there house, there is normalcy in the house. At least that is what we think because we cannot see the wound we ourselves carry within us.

We change as well. It's very hard to not change when you live on a roller coaster ride of emotional turmoil constantly. One day they seem like their old self but the next they are strangers again. One moment they could be talking to us the way they used to but say the wrong word conjuring up the wrong image in their mind and they explode. Sometimes they feel so badly about themselves they are actually looking for an argument or fight just to be able to rationalize how badly they feel inside. Then we have to deal with the fact love, compassion, passion, has all dried up inside of them. We know it's there somewhere within them but we just can't find it.

You can't find it until they are being treated for the wound and even then, it's not the same as it was before they were wounded. We adjust. We find what works as we try to understand what makes things worse. We get used to doing things alone we used to do with them like shopping, going to family functions, to the movies, out to dinner. We have to handle the finances and make the decision because they are no longer capable of making rational choices. Then there is the short term memory loss frustrating the hell out of us. They can remember something that happened twenty years ago but can't remember a conversation we had with them just this morning.

The hopeful thing is that when they are being treated for PTSD, things get better. There is no cure for it and there is no undoing the parts of them that are lost forever, but we find a way for it to work if we are willing. Some of us can't do it. Some of us can and then we make a commitment to understand we are no long living with a normal person but living with a wounded one instead. How can they be "normal" when they lived through what they did? We've been married almost 24 years. I've spent more than half my life with him. My husband is living proof treatment works but I had to be willing to stick it out. It's a joint effort. He was willing to receive help and the VA was there to help him once his claim was approved and I was willing to stay.

What about the veterans who have no one left to stand by their side? They end up being homeless without an advocate taking care of what a spouse would. They have no one to calm them down or worry about their well being. There are too many of them left to fight alone. They end up in jail because no one is there to get them into the help they need but feel they do not deserve or when they do not trust anything associated with the government. Without support, emotionally or financially, they do whatever it takes to get the relief they need. Crimes and violence all play into this.

In a perfect world they would all be taken care of automatically. In a perfect world there would always be someone standing by their side watching their back as they had while deployed. This is far from a perfect world. We have yet to come close to taking care of them and even further away from taking care of the families. We need support to stay and forgiveness when we cannot. Whenever you read a story about a veteran falling through the cracks, you need to acknowledge there is also a family dropping off the face of the normal earth with them. Senator Clinton wrote a book called It Takes A Village, but in this case, when it's PTSD, it takes an army to care for the wounded.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
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

When drinking is a symptom and not the problem with PTSD

Triple threat: Young macho men with serious injuries often abuse alcohol
Men with serious injuries, such as traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, must deal with a range of emotions. If these men have strong traditional masculine ideas and abuse alcohol, it becomes even more difficult to help them heal and come to terms with their emotions and situations. A University of Missouri psychology researcher studied these challenging factors to find better ways to understand and treat men who fit this mold, such as the injured soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Alcohol Intervention - Effective Alcohol Intervention. Inpatient Rehab Program Available.
www.DrugRehabCenter.com

“It is really a triple whammy,” said Glenn Good, professor of educational, school and counseling psychology in the MU College of Education. “Counselors face many challenges when it comes to helping men deal with emotions surrounding serious injuries. Newly injured men often face adjustments in the level of personal assistance they require, and this may result in struggles with some aspect of the traditional masculine role, such as a ‘go it alone’ mentality. When three factors - injury, traditional male role and alcohol abuse - occur together, the rehabilitation process may be a challenge. In this study, we examined the combination of all three factors with the aim of better understanding how to treat men with several challenges.”
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http://www.physorg.com/news127057610.html

When drinking is a symptom and not the problem with PTSD


This article is very good but it misses something that really gets forgotten when the problem is actually PTSD and not an addiction.

Vietnam veterans went in and out of drug and alcohol rehabs in droves for years. None of the programs worked and they went right back to their drug of choice all over again. In this case, the drug of choice is actually a replacement for the medication they need. This is called self-medicating. Most think that if they drink to get drunk, they're drunks or if they use drugs, they're drug addicts. When they also happen to have PTSD, they are addicted to the relief they get by killing off feelings and calming down jumping nerves.

Culture, especially in this age group, does in fact leave them feeling indestructible, especially when they have just survived combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. Additional problems not addressed nearly enough is reckless driving, endangering others as well as their own lives. Speeding in a car and on motorcycles have lead to many deaths yet very few are looking at the cause behind these kinds of impaired decisions. Part of it could be the age but part of it could be PTSD when decision making skills are lost in translation.

If a combat veteran with PTSD is not treated for PTSD, then this leads to all kinds of additional problems as well as medical attention that will not work properly. AA works great for people addicted to alcohol and there have been reports through the years that this kind of approach also works with PTSD veterans but these are reports and very little controlled studies have been done on relief that comes without the traditional treatments for PTSD. What really needs to be known first is what the mental health of the individual is to know if there are other problems other than just being reckless, irresponsible and lacking self control.

Military Mom, one son on 3rd tour, other son PTSD put him in jail

These are our soldiers. Why do we forget that? The photo is of troops in Iraq not the subject of the following piece.

Self-medicating to kill off what they do not want to feel again.


From MyFox Kansas City

PTSD More of a Problem for Returning Soldiers

Last Edited: Wednesday, 30 Jan 2008, 3:57 PM CST


OLATHE, KAN. -- A military study reached a new conclusion about returning soldiers who have memory loss, irritability and trouble sleeping. The cause, more often, may be due to depression and post traumatic stress disorder than blast related concussions.

Olathe mom Cindy Goforth knows about the problem first hand. She has two sons. One who's back from Iraq, 19-year-old David, and the other who's serving his third tour there.

She said her younger son is in jail because of PTSD and she hopes the new study will help convince him he can be treated.

"The night before he come home on R and R one of his best buddies was killed and he did not handle that well. He didn't handle that one well at all," said Goforth.

That was in October. He was supposed to go back in November, but went AWOL at the airport.

"Did he ever get mental health treatment when he came home? No, of course they teach them to be Army strong. Well, they're Army strong. The only problem is these kids don't realize they've got problems," said Goforth.

Goforth said that her son's PTSD was so bad, that David was so sensitive to noise, that simply turning on a computer, a sound you probably barely notice, caused him to the hit the ground for cover.

Angry and constantly unnerved, she said David turned to drugs when he got home. A week ago, he was arrested on drug charges.

"I've told my son that if I get you out of there, you aren't coming home. You're going to the VA. Any arguments, I'll leave you there. He's like 'Mom, I'll go to the VA,' Now, I'm getting the point of what you were saying," Goforth said.
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This is why I do what I do. This is why there are over a thousand just like me doing what we do. David Goforth didn't know what was wrong with him. Maybe he took it as if he would "get over it" and go back to the way he was before. Maybe he thought that if anyone knew what was going on in his mind, they would lock him up. After all, when they don't know what PTSD is, this is what usually happens.

When they do finally understand what PTSD is and that is a normal reaction to all they went through in the abnormal world of combat and carnage, they seek help but end up in a pile of claims 650,000 deep with 147,000 more on appeal. These are wounded veterans being tortured by the system unable, unprepared thanks to Nicholson and the Bush Administration not valuing the men and women they sent to risk their lives.

VA urged to use advanced technology to cut backlog of benefit claimsBy Bob Brewin bbrewin@govexec.com January 30, 2008
Advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence could help the Veterans Affairs Department reduce a backlog of disability claims that has spiked past 1 million, according to computer experts and veterans advocates.

The Veterans Benefits Administration, which processes the claims, has a backlog of 650,000 pending claims and another 147,000 that are under appeal and working their way through a process that "is paper intensive, complex to understand, difficult to manage and takes years to learn," Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., chairman of the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability and Memorial Affairs, said at a Jan. 29 hearing of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

Training an employee to rate VBA claims can take two to three years and many leave within five years, Hall said. Experienced raters can adjudicate only about three claims a day, spending two to three hours on each claim. He said the VA should consider the use of artificial intelligence technologies, such as automated decision-support tools that can determine disability payments, which would speed up claims processing.

Computer experts who testified at the hearing said technology exists today that can automate the claims process and eliminate the backlog.

VBA repeatedly loses paper records submitted by claimants. Robin Cleveland, wife of retired Marine Gunnery Sgt. Tai Cleveland, told the hearing that since November 2005, she has submitted multiple copies of Tai's medical record and was told that the VBA could not find the records and she needed to resubmit them. She said her husband, a paraplegic after injuries incurred in August 2003 during a hand-to-hand training exercise in Kuwait, only started to receive benefit payments this month after Congress intervened.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0108/013008bb1.htm

Years ago, when veterans came to me to understand PTSD, I would explain it to them and their families, get the idea of it having anything to do with them out of their mind, support them until they were ready to go for help and then send them to it. Now I have no place to send them. This is especially hard for veterans in rural areas of the country. Help is often too far away. The suicide prevention lines are helping. The veteran can reach out in the middle of the night to talk to someone but unless they get into treatment with an approved claim, they find themselves either being billed for their treatment or being pushed back so that veterans with approved claims can be seen.

Between the time they come back and understand what PTSD is, vital time is lost. The sooner they begin treatment PTSD stops getting worse. It's like an infection that spreads untreated. The system is adding stress to them on a daily basis as they have to wait to have their claims approved. It's like a knife in their back when their claim is denied and they have to file an appeal.

With the changes in the new VA Bill providing five years of free care to returning forces, this will help in having them treated without charging them but it does not address the income stress they and their families face when most of the time, they are unable to work in the condition PTSD puts them in.

650,000 backlogged claims and 147,000 on appeal means they are just one of 797,000 veterans suffering for their service to this country and countless family members suffering right along with them.

Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
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

Student chaplains guide and listen to vets in rehab

Circle of healing, learning

Student chaplains guide and listen to vets in rehab

By Carrie A. Moore
Deseret Morning News



As the stone is passed from hand to hand, there is a peace that permeates what has become something of a sacred space for those who have found themselves here, moving beyond the daily fix, the fidgeting and the shame that always appears once the "high" has worn off.

Adapted from American Indian spiritual practices, the "rock ceremony" signifies the quest for a permanent change in the lives and hearts of those who have been trapped inside drug and alcohol addiction, with an emphasis on truth-telling. It is one benchmark along the path toward a new beginning for those participating in residential substance abuse treatment.

Yet this day, at the Veterans Administration Hospital, there are participants who haven't been addicted, haven't been to war, haven't felt the despair that engulfs those who have entered the depths of hell on earth.

But they've observed it.
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http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfJAN08/nf012008-5.htm

Up to half of all PTSD patients treated also have a substance abuse problem

Dec-07-2007 05:17
PTSD and Psychosis Among Army Psychiatrists
Dr. Phillip Leveque Salem-News.com
Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician, Toxicologist and Pharmacologist.


(MOLALLA, Ore.) - I was a combat infantryman for about 18 months in WWII where things were really crazy with various levels of officers demanding of their underlings (anyone of lower rank) that such and such a military objective be taken even if it killed every attacking soldier.

If that isn't psychosis, what is?

I was also stationed in General Eisenhower's headquarters for about six months. Of about 15,000 personnel, half officers, half enlisted, they acted like there wasn't a war.

If such a psychic denial isn't psychosis, what is?

The current seeming denial of PTSD and drug use on the highest army medical levels MUST BE a further example of psychosis.

I was absolutely flabbergasted that on ABC News 20/20 Col. Elspeth Ritchie, the psychiatry consultant to the U.S. Army Surgeon General, implied that there is no battle-induced PTSD causing drug use by soldiers, but like all other people using drugs, there were other "reasons".

I was reminded that in WWI the Army swept it under the rug too, naming PTSD as "homesickness" or saying that the soldiers "missed their mothers". What comes to my mind is SNAFU, FUBAR and even JANFU.

The VA's own information says up to half of all PTSD patients treated also have a substance abuse problem.
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Family tragedy living with PTSD

This report is not about combat, but living with PTSD. It shows what it is like for the family. Maybe after reading it, you can get out of your own mind what you envision the type of person who suffers with PTSD is. This woman is married to a successful doctor. They live in a mansion. Educated people among the elite. Yet this woman, living with the horrors of sexual abuse, is responsible for the death of someone else. While drunk driving, she killed a mailman.

Some will read this and think she needs to be locked away for the rest of her life. After all, an innocent man is dead because of her. I read it and thought about all the other families out there dealing with PTSD in someone they love.

In Jack's dark days, he would take off for hours at a time. We never knew where he was but we knew how he would come home, drunk. Jack didn't drive if he had too much to drink. For that, I am grateful. He did drink and drive, but when he knew he had too much, he would walk home or get a ride. A few times, he couldn't remember exactly where he left the car. One time he remembered where the car was, but lost his set of keys, including the keys he needed for work.

What we need to remember is that you cannot force someone to seek help. You can support them in seeking it,but in the end it is up to them. We can make sure the help is there when they finally reach out for it. In the case of this doctor's wife, I'm sure they can get her all the help she wants but they key word is "want" which she does not accept.

You need to understand that while most do in fact want help, some don't. Some are in such denial they will never overcome it. Others will feel they don't deserve it.

This report from the Hartford Courant offers a window on a family not falling into the notion of what a person with PTSD is. If we are ever going to defeat the ravages of PTSD, we need to see it as what it is. It is a human illness caused by trauma. Maybe after reading this you can better understand what our combat veterans are going through and what their families go through as well.

Some families can survive it, like our's did. We've been married 23 years. Some will fall apart. We need to end the stigma of PTSD, educate everyone on what PTSD is, make sure help is there when they seek it and we also need to remember to support the families. They need all the help and compassion they can get. kc

He said her alcoholism stems from post-traumatic stress disorder, a byproduct of sexual abuse she suffered as a child. When Watson "consumed a crazy amount of alcohol, this was to try, in a very desperate way, to silence the demons in her head," he said.

Woman Gets Four Years
Caused Fatal Accident And Fled In 2003; Violated Probation In April Car Crash
By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY Courant Staff Writer
November 30, 2007

MANCHESTER — - Aubrey Watson seemed incredulous Thursday when Judge Raymond Norko abruptly ordered her mother, Tracy Watson, to prison for four years for violating her probation, part of her sentence for a 2003 hit-and-run accident that killed a mailman.

But when his words sank in, the 16-year-old wailed in Superior Court in Manchester. Her father, Dr. H. Kirk Watson, tried to console her, but he, too, was shaken.

"No, no!" he said. "Oh my God."
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctwatson1130.artnov30,0,2903305.story

'Coming Home: Soldiers and Drugs'

Coming Home: Soldiers and Drugs

Spc. William Swenson was on his final mission in Iraq when his vehicle drove over a 200-pound improvised explosive device. The blast injured Swenson's spine, and he developed syringomyelia. When a laundry list of prescribed painkillers proved ineffective, Swenson says he turned to marijuana.

Back home, Swenson tested positive for marijuana and cocaine, he told ABC News. The Army court-martialed him and threw him in jail for 20 days.

Spc. Alan Hartmann was a gunner on a Chinook helicopter, flying missions from Kuwait into Iraq and ferrying the dead bodies of U.S. soldiers killed in combat.

After surviving his third crash, Hartmann returned home with chronic neck pain, fatigue and nightmares. He traded his prescribed anti-depressants and painkillers for methamphetamines. Hartmann eventually checked himself into rehab and is now clean.

Spc. Jeffrey Smith worked as a medic in a Baghdad ER, where he witnessed the "complete insanity" that would stay with him long after he retured to the homefront. "We saw everything from gunshot wounds to people missing legs, arms, pieces of their face," he told ABC News.

Smith said to escape from the daily "insanity," if even for a short time, many soldiers working in the hospital began to abuse Ambien, Percocet and Prozac, as well as prescription painkillers available on the black market in Baghdad.

Smith told ABC News he self-medicated himself with alcohol, marjuana, cocaine and ecstasy. Smith even attempted suicide, he said. Although he sought help, Smith said he was kicked out of the Army without benefits after testing positive for cocaine twice and marijuana once.

Spc. Matthew McKane worked as a medic in the Baghdad ER. He says his worst day was when a suicide bomber drove a car into a Baghdad orphanage, injuring dozens of children, some younger than five. Like many of his co-workers, McKane turned to drugs to numb his senses. When those weren't enough, McKane said he and a fellow medic tried propofol, a powerful anesthetic. His comrade overdosed and died.

When McKane returned to Fort Carson, he said he tested positive for cocaine. He is currently in prison awaiting a court-martial on misconduct charges. McKane believes he will soon be dismissed from the Army because of his drug use.

(ABC News)

Hidden Wounds Lead to Drugs
Part Three of the Series: 'Coming Home: Soldiers and Drugs'

By ROBERT LEWIS and KATE MCCARTHY
Nov. 28, 2007

Editor's Note from Brian Ross: In the third year of a joint project with the nonprofit Carnegie Corporation, six leading graduate school journalism students were again selected to spend the summer working with the ABC News investigative unit.
Editor's Note from Brian Ross: In the third year of a joint project with the nonprofit Carnegie Corporation, six leading graduate school journalism students were again selected to spend the summer working with the ABC News investigative unit.

In His Own Words: Spc. Alan Hartmann (go to link for video)

This year's project involved an examination of whether, as happened in the wake of the Vietnam War, Iraqi war veterans were turning to drugs as a result of the trauma and pain of war.

The U.S. military maintains the percentage of soldiers abusing drugs is extremely small and has not increased as a result of Iraq.

The students' assignment was to get the unofficial side of the story from soldiers, young men of their own generation.


Today's report is the third in a series of five reports.

As more U.S. service members return home from Iraq and Afghanistan after witnessing the horrors of war, more will turn to drugs and alcohol to cope.

That's according to mental health experts who say there is a strong correlation between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, and substance abuse. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that afflicts people who have been through a traumatic event.

Photos
Coming Home: Soldiers and DrugsDr. Phillip Ballard, a psychiatrist at Penrose-St. Francis Health Services in Colorado Springs, Colo., said he has seen a significant increase of soldiers from nearby Fort Carson seeking inpatient treatment for substance abuse.

"PTSD has as part of its core diagnosis the use of substances as self-medication for the relief of depression, anxiety, whatever feeling they may have," Ballard said. "Sometimes it's considered to be a weakness or a less than manly thing to ask for assistance or ask for help so they do the best they can do with what they have available...they use the chemicals and drugs they've used in the past to numb feelings up."

go here for the rest
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=3921499&page=1



Tale of Three Medics

High at the Mountain Post

This is a good report.

When my husband's nephew came home from Vietnam, he was already addicted to heroin. It was self-medication that he was hooked on. He didn't want to get high. He wanted to kill off feelings he did not want to ever feel again and if it meant he would kill off any good feelings with them, so be it. To him, not feeling that kind of pain was worth any price.

That price sent him to jail for a long time. When he got out, eventually, he fell in love with a good woman with a sharp mind. A professional woman, independent and wealthy by some standards. She helped him begin to heal enough that he was willing to get clean. She made sure he went to the VA to be treated and he was. Eventually his claim was approved. He had shrapnel still imbedded in his body and a lot of back pain, along with a diagnosis of PTSD. All those years, he never knew what it was. He didn't have much of a sense of it until my husband was diagnosed and began to share with his nephew. Andy, well he was just a few months younger than my husband Jack. Both of them enlisted in the Army the same year.

Back then MRI's were very dangerous for anyone with metal in their body. The VA wanted him to have an MRI. He though they were trying to kill him. The next attack came when he sent for his records from the DOD. The response came back that the unit he served in, never existed. Andy had been living with blaming himself for a couple of his buddies getting blown up. The denial meant that the government was also denying his friends died. If the unit never existed, then neither did they.

All that work, all that time of healing, was over with a few days later when he contacted his ex-dealer. He was back on heroin. Not long after, he bought enough for ten men to die. He checked himself into a motel room. Locked the door. Pushed furniture up against the door so that no one could get in. He used all the heroin. He knew what he was doing.

This country can say it as many times as they want but what all of this boils down to is that no one really looks at the soldiers and Marines as human. If they ever did they wouldn't see them as being any different than themselves. They would have to take a good, long, hard look at what we ask all of them to go through when we send them to war. Logical people would understand that in sending them, we should accept the responsibility for them, since they are necessary for the security of this nation. We are not a logical nation. We are an emotional one. We are a judgmental one. For all the talk of being compassionate, while the majority of the people are, those who lead it are not.

A lot of people want to just blame Bush for all of this, but Andy committed suicide when Clinton was in office and it was not Bush in office when Andy and my husband came home. Bush however is in office right now. He did in fact send the troops into two different nations to risk their lives. Debate the righteousness all you want but what is not and should never be open to debate is taking care of them. Bush didn't cause the problems with the VA, he increased them. He did not cause all the wounded veterans, but he added to them and failed to take care of them. The VA was already backlogged and under-funded as well as under-staffed before Afghanistan was invaded and well before Iraq was even being addressed. No one did anything about it.

Now as Iraq and Afghanistan veterans receive preferential treatment, as abysmal as it is, the older veterans are pushed aside. Will we ever get any of this right? Will we ever live up to what we say? kc