Suicides Went Up Because of CSF Contagious Stigma Feeder

How the Army Killed Off Hope
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
October 30, 2015


This question came from an article on the New York Times about the 2/7 Battalion. They lost 20 to war but so far 13 more to suicide.

Q. Are multiple combat deployments a contributing factor to suicide?

Dave Philipps: The data suggest there is little or no added suicide risk associated with multiple deployments, but those studies have been unable to address the amount of combat seen. Second, no study has looked at this question after active duty. We simply don’t know. Anecdotally, nine of 13 members of the 2/7 who killed themselves did multiple tours. And I think it is important to note the quick succession of these tours, with less than a year between.

The answer is, redeployments have a lot to do with the suicides and the Army knew it back in 2006

The report also found a doubling of suicides among soldiers serving in the Iraq war from 2004 to 2005, the latest period for which data are available. Twenty-two soldiers took their own lives in Iraq and Kuwait in 2005, compared with 11 in 2004 and 25 in 2003, Army officials said.

That was from the Washington Post Repeat Iraq Tours Raise Risk of PTSD Army Finds

U.S. soldiers serving repeated Iraq deployments are 50 percent more likely than those with one tour to suffer from acute combat stress, raising their risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Army's first survey exploring how today's multiple war-zone rotations affect soldiers' mental health.

Earlier Army studies have shown that up to 30 percent of troops deployed to Iraq suffer from depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with the latter accounting for about 10 percent.

The findings reflect the fact that some soldiers -- many of whom are now spending only about a year at home between deployments -- are returning to battle while still suffering from the psychological scars of earlier combat tours, the report said.

If you are serious about understanding any of this, I strongly suggest you go and read the whole report that is still active online. All the answers came from what the Army started and the Marines paid for along with the Airmen and Sailors.


How a Marine Unit’s High Suicide Rate Got That Way
New York Times
By DAVE PHILIPPS
OCT. 29, 2015

The funeral for Eduardo Bojorquez, a member of the Second Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment, who committed suicide in June. Credit Todd Heisler/The New York Times

Since coming back from Afghanistan in 2008, the hard-hit Second Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment has struggled to adjust. The battalion, known as the 2/7, lost 20 men in war. In the years since, it has lost 13 more to suicide. The battalion now has a suicide rate 14 times that for all Americans.

The New York Times asked Dr. Charles Engel, of the RAND Corporation, and two Marines who served with the battalion in Afghanistan, Arthur Karell and Keith Branch, to answer readers’ questions about the devastating effects of combat and the high suicide rate among veterans. The conversation took place on Facebook in October, moderated by Dave Philipps, a reporter for The Times who covers veterans’ affairs. Here are some of the questions and answers, which have been condensed and edited. read more here This is another important piece on the report

A.K.: The events of the past inform the outlook for the future. When the events of the past repeatedly trigger an anguish that doesn’t abate, it may cause a veteran to question what kind of future they have in store. I’ve heard of post-combat stress described as a response to deep moral trauma, as war is just about the most intense and certainly the largest-scale moral trauma humans inflict on one another. For veterans, post-military activities, pursuits and/or careers that involve or embody a shared purpose, go a long way toward recovery from that moral trauma.

That stigma is due to the program that had been sold as the answer to not just to preventing suicides, but in preventing PTSD. It is called Comprehensive Soldier Fitness.

OVERVIEW
Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness (CSF2) is designed to build resilience and enhance performance of the Army Family — Soldiers, their Families, and Army Civilians. CSF2 does this by providing hands-on training and self-development tools so that members of the Army Family are better able to cope with adversity, perform better in stressful situations, and thrive in life.

It didn't take long to understand this program has in fact fed the stigma and should have been ended as soon as suicides increased after its implementation in 2009. Even I knew it would and predicted the inevitable outcome of increasing suicides. Telling them they could take this training to become resilient managed to translate into their thinking that if they ended up with PTSD, they were mentally weak and didn't train right.

Instead of ending this fubar farce, they pushed it harder. It didn't matter it was an unproven research project.

The Dark Side of “Comprehensive Soldier Fitness”
Mandatory "resilience training" program for all U.S. soldiers raises concerns.
Psychology Today
Roy Eidelson Ph.D. Roy Eidelson Ph.D.
Dangerous Ideas
Posted Mar 25, 2011

Although its advocates prefer to describe Comprehensive Soldier Fitness as a training program, it is indisputably a research project of enormous size and scope, one in which a million soldiers are required to participate. Reivich, Seligman, and McBride write in one of the special issue articles, "We hypothesize that these skills will enhance soldiers' ability to handle adversity, prevent depression and anxiety, prevent PTSD, and enhance overall well-being and performance" (p. 26, emphasis added). This is the very core of the entire CSF program, yet it is merely a hypothesis - a tentative explanation or prediction that can only be confirmed through further research.

This is yet another good place to learn some facts because as the Army tends to point toward the high number of non-deployed soldiers committing suicide, they fail to mention this program was so insufficient that it could even keep them alive, refusing to even consider the fact they expected it to work on those with multiple deployments.

Top that off with the other factor of the high number of young veterans receiving this training only to commit suicide stateside after surviving combat overseas and you get the idea they failed to see.

When you hear someone saying they are "raising awareness" make sure they are made aware of this since so far few have a clue of what I knew would happen after listening to them complain about Battlemind, the predecessor to CSF. As for Congress, they just kept paying for it, over and over and over again along with all the other money they have spent over the years to produce more deaths after combat than during it. It should have been called Contagious Stigma Feeder because that is exactly what it did!

The Army managed to explain less about the facts on PTSD. They don't know what PTSD is, why they have it or the simple fact that it does not mean they are stuck suffering the way they are today.

PTSD is set of by trauma, not them. They are not weak. As a matter of fact it is the strength of their emotional core that causes them to feel everything more deeply than others.  Feel more love and feel a lot more pain.

They can heal and the sooner they get it the better when it is mild and most can be reversed.

None of this is new and Vietnam veterans pushed for all the research going back to the 70"s.

We learned a lot because of what they started yet it appears the Army is still loading the same old BS they used when Patton slapped a soldier.

US Military Deliberately Neglects PTSD-Inflicted Veterans

If you read Wounded Times you know how they are treated at the same time the DOD tells us they are doing all they can. In other words, you know it is about time someone did the right thing for their sake! The only reason the stigma of PTSD lives on is the DOD has kept it well fed.

US Military Deliberately Neglects PTSD-Inflicted Veterans: The Need for Reform
The Jurist
by Cassandra Baubie
Wednesday 23 September 2015

JURIST Guest Columnist Devin Cohen from St. John's University School of Law Class of 2015, is the first author in a twelve-part series from the staffers of the Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development. Cohen discusses the problems surrounding Veterans suffering PTSD and their right to receive military benefits

Individuals who enlist in the US Army are fully aware that they are risking their lives for their nation. While they are voluntarily subjecting themselves to being in the crosshairs of fire, they are not waiving their rights as American citizens. One in every five soldiers suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however the military has failed to properly care for those who suffer from the disease.

Individuals with PTSD constantly battle sleeplessness, anger, anxiety and a sense of isolation, making it extremely difficult to live what would be considered a normal life. Soldiers encounter countless traumatic incidents while in the line of duty, and hence many develop PTSD. The US Department of Veterans Affairs reports that 11 to 12 percent of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan war and about 30 percent of Vietnam veterans suffer from the disease.

The correlation between PTSD and military tenure is indisputable and yet the military has failed to follow the laws that oblige them to properly care for the veterans who have been inflicted with the disease. 10 U.S.C. § 1201 requires the Army to retire and provide certain benefits to individuals who suffer from PTSD; the permanent nature and stability of PTSD qualifies the condition under § 1201, thus requiring benefits. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held "if an individual meets section 1201's requirements, payment of benefits is mandatory, not discretionary."

Congress should pass a statute or the Department of Defense should adopt a new regulation mandating the consideration of more evidence including post-discharge evidence by review boards. These reforms would abide by the existing obligation under 10 U.S.C. § 1201 to provide proper benefits to veterans with PTSD.

read more here

Will American Sniper Trial Feed PTSD Stigma or Will Reporters Do It?

'American Sniper' trial likely to increase stigma of PTSD but this has been brought up by reporters for a long time. No, not just since this trial but for decades. It seems they just keep making statements without noticing they are the ones feeding the stigma instead of helping to end it.

"The jury got it right — that helps to some degree to destigmatize PTSD," said Harry Croft, a San Antonio-based psychiatrist who evaluates veterans with post-traumatic stress. "The bad news is: The headlines before the trial was that PTSD will be used as a defense. Unfortunately, that's the message many people will remember."

Pathetic! I am so sick and tired of reporters spinning this instead of actually telling folks what is really going on. If veterans think this famous trial will feed the stigma, they need to actually stop reacting and start thinking.

When Vietnam veterans came home, like generations before them, combat tagged along for the rest of their lives. They were not about go quietly into the abyss most folks were ready to help them into. They were called crazy, druggies, along with baby killers plus a lot of other things not fit for publication. They turned around, fought every established veterans service organizations, every politician, every psychiatrists and reporter getting in their way. The battle they fought after they came home managed to save a lot more lives, not just for their own sake but for all generations of veterans and civilians alike.

Crisis Intervention Strategies, By Richard James, Burl Gilliland gives credit to where credit is due for what happens when all of us are faced with traumatic events. Support groups and crisis intervention specialists ready to help us right away. (Ok, so I am one of those responders. I was certified in programs from 2008 to 2010 when I took just about every class I could.) These steps were established simply because Vietnam veterans pushed for all the research.

Then there are the Veterans centers. Those started in the 70's as well. Vietnam veterans didn't have a choice. They were not welcomed by other veterans. They did it without the internet and Facebook.

It wasn't until the Vietnam Memorial Wall was built that they were finally being honored for their service.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands as a symbol of America's honor and recognition of the men and women who served and sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War. Inscribed on the black granite walls are the names of more than 58,000 men and women who gave their lives or remain missing. Yet the Memorial itself is dedicated to honor the "courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty and country" of all who answered the call to serve during the longest war in U.S. history. The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Fund, Inc. is the 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 1980 to fund and build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Incorporated on April 27, 1979 by a group of veterans led by Jan C. Scruggs, who was wounded and decorated for service in Vietnam, the organization sought a tangible symbol of recognition from the American people for those who served in the war.

By separating the issue of individuals serving in the military during the Vietnam era and U.S. policy carried out there, VVMF hoped to begin a process of national reconciliation. Two members of the U.S. Senate, Charles Mathias (R-Md.) and John Warner (R-Va.), took the lead in Congress to enact legislation providing three acres in the northwest corner of the National Mall as a site for the Memorial. It was dedicated on Nov. 13, 1982.

If the stigma is still strong then you can thank reporters for feeding it all these years.

This came out in 2009.

Some military commanders still stuck on stupid when it comes to PTSD

"Our goal is to eradicate the stigma," he said. "We're not there yet."

Encouraging more soldiers to seek help, and training leaders to spot signs of trouble, have taken on new urgency since the fatal shooting last Monday of five U.S. service members at a counseling center at Baghdad's Camp Liberty.

Army Sgt. John M. Russell has been charged with five counts of murder. He was finishing his third tour in Iraq and had been ordered to seek counseling at the center, the Army said.

Sergeants on their third or fourth assignments to Iraq or Afghanistan are more than twice as likely to suffer mental health problems as those on their first assignment to a combat zone, according an Army study last year.

You can also thank them for letting military leaders get away with claims without being challenged like the one General Ray Odierno made back in 2014,

"First, inherently what we do is stressful. Why do I think some people are able to deal with stress differently than others? There are a lot of different factors. Some of it is just personal make-up. Intestinal fortitude. Mental toughness that ensures that people are able to deal with stressful situations.

But it also has to do with where you come from. I came from a loving family, one who gave lots of positive reinforcement, who built up psychologically who I was, who I am, what I might want to do. It built confidence in myself, and I believe that enables you to better deal with stress. It enables you to cope more easily than maybe some other people.

This pathetic attitude was carried over as the public was finally made aware of what was going on in Warrior Transition Units and those seeking help faced the ultimate betrayal.

Guess Odierno didn't remember Ty Carter or the Medal of Honor he had around his neck after he not only showed "intestinal fortitude" in combat but then had to show it even more with his battle to heal PTSD to the point where he went on a mission to have the "D" dropped from the term to help fight the stigma being fed by the military all these years after Vietnam Veterans fought to have it treated.

In the battle that earned him the nation's highest military honor, an outpost in Afghanistan's Nuristan Province was surrounded by almost 300 insurgents who opened fire with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades the morning of Oct. 3, 2009. Fifty-three Americans were stationed there; eight were killed in battle, and 25 were wounded, including Carter, who suffered hearing loss, shrapnel injuries and a concussion.

Guess he forgot about Dakota Meyer and all the others over all these years coming out also with the Medal of Honor on their necks and trying to save lives proving that having PTSD was nothing to be ashamed of.

Guess he forgot about the Generals coming out admitting they struggled with PTSD and speaking up for soldiers with their own battles to heal and prove that it was ok to talk about PTSD.

The stigma of PTSD is alive because far too many people want it that way. If everyone understood what it was and how long it has been going on, then they'd all be fighting the right battles toward healing. But hey, why bother to point out that PTSD isn't just about veterans but because of them, civilians have treatment to recover from traumatic events as well?

UPDATE Example of Crisis Intervention teams and what they do.

Girl's police call exposes trail of death: 7 killed in 4 Missouri homes

Classes for the district's 1,000 students are in session Friday, in part to give them a sense of normalcy, he said.

"We do have counselors available, and other offers from other districts to help out. As a small town, we all cry together. My principals are all assessing the situation now, and we will make a determination on what to do next," Dill said.

IAVA and VFW Call for Action After Warrior Transition Unit Reports

Veterans organizations call for action on wounded soldiers’ complaints
Dallas Morning News
By DAVID TARRANT, SCOTT FRIEDMAN and EVA PARKS
Published: 10 December 2014

Two of the nation’s largest veterans organizations are calling for Congress and the Pentagon to address the mistreatment of wounded soldiers in the Army’s Warrior Transition Units — a problem that came to light in a joint investigation by The Dallas Morning News and KXAS-TV (NBC5).

Congress and the Pentagon need to do more to protect those assigned to special units to treat injured service members, said spokesmen for both the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

“These are guys and gals who put their lives on the line to defend their country, so they need to be treated with respect, and they need to be treated with a certain amount of compassion,” said Brendon Gehrke, senior legislative associate with the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Washington, D.C.

Hundreds of current or former soldiers have complained of harassment and intimidation by leadership at three Texas-based Warrior Transition Units, or WTUs, according to hundreds of documents and interviews with soldiers and medical experts.

The complaints were reported in “Injured Heroes, Broken Promises,” a two-part series published and broadcast last month by NBC5 and The News.
read more here

Related
Part 1: Wounded soldiers allege mistreatment in the units
Part 2: Transition leaders disrespectful, say soldiers; unit defends selection, training
Complaints about wounded warriors’ treatment pile up
He sought to help, but PTSD hindered him

From NBC

No Excuse For Fort Hood Mistreatment of Soldiers With PTSD

The news was stunning to many. NBC 5 and Dallas Morning News teamed up to investigate reports of wounded soldiers being mistreated at Fort Hood, Fort Sam Houston and Fort Bliss.

The soldiers returned home injured, both physically and mentally, and were once again under attack as they were ridiculed, harassed and threatened by commanders assigned to help the recover.

It was one thing to know what was going on and quite another to read how many more were being treated like this.

"Howard said the WTU medical staff tried to help but the unit’s non-medical commanders treated him more like a drunk and a troublemaker who needed to be punished, not a soldier suffering from PTSD who needed compassion."

It was so bad a psychiatrist quit.

Dr. Stephen M. Stahl, a psychiatrist who worked closely with the transition program at Fort Hood, left disillusioned with the Army’s understanding of PTSD. The sense was the disorder wasn’t real or that it was a weakness, he said.

While the general public hears that the military is doing this and that to help PTSD soldiers, the "this" is above and "that" that is a sin. But hey, why have a story like this hit the 24-7 news stations on a national level? Why let the American public know what is actually going on in this country and why they are seeing more and more veterans suffering right in their own communities?

Here are just a few of the stories tied to Fort Hood this year.

Specialist Gage Schellin Age 22 Investigation into Specialist Gage Schellin’s death continues at Fort Hood, where he was stationed. He had joined the Army two years earlier and returned in the spring from an 8-month deployment in Afghanistan.

Spc. Adrian Orlando Maganacasanova age 28 FORT HOOD — Officials released the name of a soldier found unresponsive Friday in his Killeen residence. Spc. Adrian Orlando Maganacasanova, 28, whose home of record is listed as Palmdale, Calif., entered active-duty service in February 2008 as a petroleum supply specialist. He was assigned to 615th Aviation Support Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood since February 2011.

Omar J. Gonzalez Only five months after a senior neuropsychologist in charge of Fort Hood’s outpatient psychiatry clinic revealed to WND a crisis in psychological testing and treatment at the U.S. Army post, a decorated war veteran who sought therapy at the installation is now in federal custody for jumping the White House fence and bursting through the executive mansion doors. On Sept. 19, Omar J. Gonzalez, a 42-year-old Army veteran who had deployed to Iraq three times and was injured by a homemade bomb, jumped over the north fence, sprinted across the lawn and was stopped only after he entered the White House doors.

Sgt. Triston James Johnson, 23, Houston, entered active duty service in October 2009 as a combat engineer, according to a news release from the post. He had been assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, since November 2012. Johnson deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn from April 2010 to March 2011.

Sgt. Kameron Alexander Womack, 24, of St. Louis, Mo., entered active-duty service in August 2008, as a combat engineer. He was assigned to 8th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, since June 2014.

Sgt. Gene Robert Brandes Jr., a 28-year-old native of Oak Ridge, was found unresponsive in his barracks room at Fort Hood, Texas on May 27. Sgt. Brandes has served in the military for nearly 8 years, entering in August of 2006 as a PATRIOT Launching Station enhanced operator/maintainer, according to a press release issued by the public affairs office. He was assigned to 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade in Fort Hood since April 2014.

Staff Sgt. Heidi Lynn Ruh 32 Fort Hood soldier has died of injuries suffered last week in a noncombat-related incident in Kosovo. Fort Hood officials on Tuesday announced the death of Staff Sgt. Heidi Lynn Ruh of Barrington, Illinois. She died at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo following an incident May 9. No other details were available Tuesday. The matter is under investigation by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command. Ruh joined the military in January 2003 as a biomedical equipment specialist and was assigned to the 1st Medical Brigade at Fort Hood. She was attached to Kosovo Force's Multinational Battle Group-East.

Chief Warrant Officer Deric M. Rasmussen, 33, of Oceanside, California, died May 11, in Mazar E Sharif, Afghanistan, as the result of a non-combat incident. He was assigned to the Company C, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, Fort Hood,

Shooting at Fort Hood Spc. Ivan A. Lopez, 34, the alleged shooter, also wounded 16 other military personnel. Investigators are still piecing together a motive for his deadly spree.

Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Ferguson, 39, threw his body against the entryway of a door and became a human shield during the shooting. Sgt. Timothy Owens, 37, and Staff Sgt. Carlos Lazaney-Rodriguez, 38, were also killed in the violent incident.

Now, we can keep settling for the national press to zero in on what they want to focus on, or we can let them know what we expect out of them. If we do nothing, if we say nothing, if we demand nothing, then nothing will change for the men and women we claim to support.

If you are still wondering why suicides are so high go to the links and watch the videos. If you're still wondering why someone doesn't do something, then you failed to pay attention to what they already did. They told us one thing while shafting soldiers and that, that should have caused all of us to scream so loudly no one could ignore us.

Soldiers in WTU with PTSD degraded and told to "man up"

Why do they not go for help? Why do they feel as if there is still a reason to be ashamed? The answer is because of the attitude of too many in the military.

"Howard said the WTU medical staff tried to help but the unit’s non-medical commanders treated him more like a drunk and a troublemaker who needed to be punished, not a soldier suffering from PTSD who needed compassion."

This is the result of "resilience training" telling them it was their fault. When brass told soldiers it is to make them mentally tough, that meant they were mentally weak. When brass told them this, it was because of what they actually believed no matter how many years have proven them wrong.

Injured Heroes, Broken Promises: Injured Soldiers Question Training of WTU Leaders
Soldier with PTSD questions being given leadership role inside WTU
NBC 5 and Dallas Morning News
By Scott Friedman, Eva Parks and David Tarrant
November 24, 2014

NBC 5 Investigates found hundreds of injured soldiers complain of harassment and verbal abuse inside the Army’s Warrior Transition Unit’s (WTUs) that were designed to help active duty soldiers heal.

Now, more questions have surfaced about how the Army chooses WTU commanders and how much training they’re receiving to care for injured soldiers.

NBC 5 Investigates teamed up with The Dallas Morning News for a six month investigation to uncover stunning allegations described by soldiers recovering in Texas from the wounds of war.

Spc. Michael Howard returned home to Texas Dec. 24, 2011. It was the moment every family waits for. “Life was perfect that day,” said Robin Howard, Michael’s wife.

But for Robin and Michael Howard, the homecoming wasn’t the happy ending it appeared to be.

Michael Howard served as an Army medic in Southeastern Iraq and the images of combat traveled home with him.

Suffering from post-traumatic stress he tried to erase the memories by self-medicating with alcohol to get rid of the pain.

The Army sent Howard to the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Hood, which is one of more than 20 special units created across the country to treat mentally and physically injured soldiers.

When Howard first arrived at the unit he said he was expecting to find relief but instead found nothing but stress.

Howard said the WTU medical staff tried to help but the unit’s non-medical commanders treated him more like a drunk and a troublemaker who needed to be punished, not a soldier suffering from PTSD who needed compassion.

He said commanders told him to “man-up” and “get over it,” even calling him degrading and offensive names.
read more here

Part One

While You Were in Vietnam, Michael Savage Was Hugging Trees!

In case you've been unplugged since last week, you may have missed Michael Savage's latest group to hate. Our troops and veterans with PTSD. He went on a rant about saying this nation needs more men like him. He said he was tired of the celebration of weakness after a caller said he was a veteran with PTSD. Savage didn't understand PTSD any more than he understood that someone could become a veteran by 20.

Guess he never heard of these

The youngest person ever to receive the Medal of Honor was probably William "Willie" Johnston, who earned the Medal during the Civil War just prior to his 12th birthday and received his award 6 weeks after his 13th. The oldest recipient was probably General Douglas MacArthur who was 62 years old when he earned the Medal. World War II hero Jack Lucas became the youngest man in THIS CENTURY to receive the award when he threw is body over TWO grenades at Iwo Jima just 5 days after his 17th birthday. (At the time of his heroism he had already been in the Marine Corps for THREE years.

You can catch up on the rest of what Savage had to say using junk science on combat and PTSD

These are the most important things you really need to know when it comes to the source of the rant.

Michael Savage Old Enough to Serve, Didn't

It is amazing what you can find online. This one from 2009 about the hater holds a lot of information.

First, he hates a lot of different groups so much so that this happened
Profile: Michael Savage, the US shock jock banned from Britain

"Get Aids and die, you pig," the American radio "shock jock" told a purportedly homosexual man who once badmouthed his teeth.

Latinos "breed like rabbits"

Muslims "need deporting"

autistic children, "in 99 per cent of cases it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out".

Instead of going to Vietnam he was doing this

After being awarded a biology degree and seeking to emulate his hero, Charles Darwin, he moved to Hawaii in the 1960s where he earned master's degrees in anthropology and botany, travelling the South Pacific investigating the medicinal properties of plants. (Being abroad, he missed the Vietnam draft).

An expert on herbology and homeopathy, he has written 18 books, including one in which he advocated the therapeutic uses of marijuana and another about the importance of re-greening America in which he wrote about our "plant allies" and called for every state to have a "tree czar".

Angry that no publisher wanted a book he had written blaming Asian immigrants for bringing in infectious diseases, he recorded a mock radio show with his wife, Janet, and two of his friends acting as callers.

So there you have it. While Vietnam veterans, most of them under 21, which Savage thinks is strange, were risking their lives,,,,Savage was hugging trees and pushing for tree czars.

So much for the claim this nation needs more men like him while slams veterans with PTSD. Now you know where he's coming from even though he has no clue where you were or why you have PTSD.

Junk Science Behind Michael Savage's Attacks On Military Troops With PTSD

I can't write some of the words used by veterans when we talked about Michael Savage attacking veterans. I got about as bad as I could get when I posted Veterans Fed Up With Michael Savage After PTSD Rant

There is an article over on Media Matters that pretty much summed up where the crap Savage came up with came from. No, it wasn't in his own delusional-dysfunctional head. It is nothing more than, as Lisa Reed put it, "junk science" we've all been fighting against for the last 40 years.

The Junk Science Behind Michael Savage's Attacks On Military Troops With PTSD
Media Matters
Lisa Reed
October 26, 2014

Last week, Michael Savage leveled his latest in a long string of attacks on Americans with mental illness and the medical community that works to help them. After a veteran caller with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) expressed support for the city of San Francisco naming a bridge after the late Robin Williams, the right-wing radio host announced that he is "so sick and tired of everyone with their complaints about PTSD, depression," asserting that it's a sign of a "weak, sick, broken nation."

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), approximately 5.2 million adults have PTSD within a given year. As of 2012, mental illness was the leading reason for active-duty hospitalizations in the military, and the VA estimates that up to 20 percent of veterans who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars since 2001 suffer from PTSD. For veterans who left the military between October 2002 and July 2011, nearly 200,000 had a provisional diagnosis for PTSD, not including those who went undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. And the Institute of Medicine reported in June that "PTSD is the third most common major service-connected disability after hearing loss and ringing of the ears."

PTSD isn't just a combat-related injury. It can result from various traumatic incidents, ranging from child abuse to car accidents to muggings to sexual assault. A fight-or-flight response can be triggered by things that remind the survivor of her trauma, or things that catch the person off-guard, like bright lights or loud noises. Often those with PTSD experience flashbacks, where memories and feelings associated with past trauma come rushing back as if the trauma was happening all over again.

In an interview with CNN, former U.S. Navy Seal Brandon Webb said that he had observed significant improvements in the way PTSD is reported and discussed within the military, but pointed out an even larger challenge that veterans face:

WEBB: Most of the veterans and active duty folks I speak to, actually their biggest fear is that this stigma is created in the media and elsewhere that these veterans, as they're transitioning from active duty to civilian life, that there's this stigma that they're damaged goods.

Webb also pointed out the positive qualities that veterans, even those with PTSD, can bring to the civilian working world that are often overlooked by the media: "They're leaders, they can think on their feet, and make incredibly tough decisions under extreme amounts of pressure." read more here

I wonder if Savage has the balls to tell off a Navy SEAL and tell him he's a crybaby while explaining how exactly he celebrates weakness.

Seven years of troops being told PTSD and Suicides is your fault

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 10, 2014

Last year David Wood of Huffington Post interviewed General Ray Odierno on military suicides. The interview told more about why they were committing suicide and it had more to do with his attitude than anything else. Odierno blamed the troops for being mentally weak and not having supportive families.

"First, inherently what we do is stressful. Why do I think some people are able to deal with stress differently than others? There are a lot of different factors. Some of it is just personal make-up. Intestinal fortitude. Mental toughness that ensures that people are able to deal with stressful situations.

But it also has to do with where you come from. I came from a loving family, one who gave lots of positive reinforcement, who built up psychologically who I was, who I am, what I might want to do. It built confidence in myself, and I believe that enables you to better deal with stress. It enables you to cope more easily than maybe some other people.

Where did he get such an irrational idea? Same place most military leaders did.

Seven years ago today I started Wounded Times keeping a promise to a Marine serving in Iraq. He liked reading my other site because of PTSD but didn't like political posts. Most people don't like politics and I have kept my promise to him ever since then. I don't like politicians. Easy to see if you read Wounded Times with any regularity. None of them live up to what they promise they will do if they get elected. I told the Marine the only time he'd read about a politician was when they did something for or to veterans.

I've been thinking a lot about the day this started. After the post about the new site, it was followed by a post on a Veterans Center healing invisible wounds. East Valley Tribune reported it out of Arizona.

For Mike Saye and Daryl Cox, it was the Iraq War that unearthed the horrors of combat. The Vietnam veterans struggled for nearly 30 years with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, but never sought help until young Americans started fighting, and dying, in the Middle East.

They were gathered Thursday at a new Veterans Readjustment Center near Fiesta Mall in Mesa, getting help for their own demons and hoping to give younger veterans the benefit of their experience.

“It triggered everything in me. I started dreaming about it again,” Saye, of Mesa, said of the Iraq War.

“I was a candidate for PTSD for years and years, but I thought I could handle it,” he said, even as he struggled through four marriages and some 30 jobs.

“But I can’t, and they can’t either. I don’t want them to wait as long as I did to get help.”

Though a trickle of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are finding their way to the new center, team leader Patrick Ryan knows many more are out there.

“We’re certainly trying to do outreach, but we’d like to see more of them,” Ryan said. “The stigma is not what it used to be, but it’s still there.”

Over the years far too many veterans did not get the care they needed to heal. They committed suicide. The number of suicides among veterans increased dramatically by 2007. A few days after Wounded Times began, I released a post I had done on my older blog Why isn't the press on suicide watch? The press counted, as well as they could, the number of suicides within the military however, never seemed to link veterans committing suicide to those numbers. After all, veterans were in fact created by the military but they were no longer Department of Defense's problem.

Tracking news reports across the country has been heartbreaking. Major national news sources ignored most of these suicides just as much as they ignored veterans facing off with police and SWAT Teams after families called for to get the veteran help. The vast majority ended with the veteran being killed instead of helped.

The other thing the national news reporters ignored was as funds to prevent suicides increased to billions a year, suicides increased as well. The reason became clear in 2009 as the Army announced they would be using a program called "Comprehensive Soldier Fitness."

By 2009, it was clear that if they pushed this program suicides would go up.

If you promote this program the way Battlemind was promoted, count on the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides to go up instead of down. It's just one more deadly mistake after another and just as dangerous as sending them into Iraq without the armor needed to protect them.

It was not a guess on my part. It was already proven when numbers increased after the other failed attempt called "Battlemind" leaving the troops blaming themselves for being mentally weak and not training right. All the military had to do was actually talk to these men and women to discover these attempts were making it worse than it had to be for them.

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness was a research project to give school aged kids a better sense of self worth. It was still in the research stage when it was sold to the Department of Defense as training to prevent PTSD and then decrease suicides. It was pushed throughout the military afterwards with absolutely no proof of the validity of the claims made by the creator, Martin Seligman.

Army Times reported on a publication from Coalition for Ethical Psychology titled "Dark Side of Comprehensive Soldier Fitness"

Worse, say members of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology, these programs could undermine coping mechanisms developed by troops who already successfully handle stress.

Created in 2008 to address alarming trends in soldier behavior, such as rising suicides, alcohol and drug abuse, and behavioral health problems, CSF is based on the teachings of Martin Seligman, a University of Pennsylvania professor and proponent of positive psychology. He says an optimistic outlook can affect all aspects of life and ward off anxiety and depression.

The training, and the program's annual measurement test, the Global Assessment Tool, is mandatory for all soldiers. Since 2009, 8,000 officers and enlisted personnel have attended master resilience courses. They in turn teach CSF at the unit level.

Eidelson and psychologist Stephen Soldz said they believe the Army's conclusions of success are "deeply flawed" because they are based solely on self-assessment and do not include validated measures of the program's effects on post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicides or psychological disorders.

The Army said its next report, due later this year, will examine the impact of CSF on these behaviors.

"I can understand the desire for a primary prevention program, but the fact that the suicide rate is up this year, after this program has been in place for a while, does suggest it's not producing any miracles," Soldz said.

We were all proven right years later when RAND Corp took a look at these "programs" discovering they did not fit with military culture and people cannot be taught to be resilient.

Most programs have been implemented before evidence of their effectiveness has been established. Programs often are modified for each client or context, making it difficult to design studies that will provide evidence of effectiveness for all military populations and situations. New scientific studies have recently been funded and are in the planning or initial data collection stages, but, as with most quasi-experimental or controlled studies, it will be a number of years before evidence of their effectiveness is fully established. As these studies with evaluative data progress, they should be encouraged to publish their results.

Conduct More Rigorous Program Evaluation
Although there are many programs available to the military and civilian communities, there is very little empirical evidence that these programs effectively build resilience.

Similarly, there are a number of factors related to resilience, but there is almost no evidence that resilience can be taught or produced. Results from both the literature review and the program review echo the need for more program evaluation, as identified as one of the missions of the DCoE. As noted, only 11 documents in the literature review are based on RCT evaluation design, and only five of the programs reviewed have formally evaluated program success, yet programs are often rolled out before evidence of their effectiveness has been established and are modified for each client or context, making it difficult to provide evidence for effectiveness across populations and situations.

Other evidence has proven RAND Corp and other experts right but what we just ended up with is the American Psychological Association releasing another report that blames the troops for having "pre-existing mental health problems.

Suicide risk among soldiers may be rooted in their past
USA TODAY
Sharon Jayson
August 9, 2014

Experiencing child abuse, being sexually victimized and exhibiting suicidal behavior before enlisting are significant risk factors for suicide, according to recent studies from the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah.

WASHINGTON — The high suicide rates among military veterans and current servicemembers may be more likely a result of past traumatic experiences rather than combat and multiple deployments, suggest new findings presented Saturday at the American Psychological Association's annual convention.

Experiencing child abuse, being sexually victimized and exhibiting suicidal behavior before enlisting are significant risk factors for suicide, according to recent studies from the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah.

Findings show that traumatic experiences before military service make current and former military personnel more vulnerable to suicidal behavior.

"Combat exposure and deployment at times may be a risk factor, but it's relatively low in comparison to these other demographic characteristics. That war causes an extreme amount of distress, which leads to suicide -- I believe that's questionable, given some of the results that we have," Griffith says.
read more here

They want to blame the troops still no matter how much evidence has come out over the years. While blaming the troops, they ignore all they have done to "prevent" military suicides has failed. They ignore the fact that their mental health evaluations prior to enlistments must have failed if they did not discover mental health issues they now claim to be factors.

If their testing and training have failed, there are no excuses left and blaming the troops feeds the stigma preventing them from seeking help to heal.

Seven years of posting their stories has proven beyond a doubt the military refuses to accept responsibility for what they have done to the men and women they command.

MOH Staff Sgt. Ty Carter faces digital doubles

Creating My Digital Self
Armed with Science
by jtozer
Posted on January 16, 2014

Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sgt. Ty Carter recently spent the day at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies answering questions about post-traumatic stress.

“I don’t call it post-traumatic stress disorder, because any time I hear disorder I think of a mental deficiency or chemical imbalance,” said Carter speaking at the institute. “Post-traumatic stress is your body and mind’s instinctive and natural reaction to survive.”

The topic is nothing new to Carter, who has been lauded for showing extraordinary courage both in battle and in speaking publically about his struggles with PTS. He has traveled across the country sharing his story, encouraging people to seek care and working to reduce the stigma that surrounds mental health issues.

read more here

How Congress Can Help Our Veterans With Words

How Congress Can Help Our Veterans With Words
Commentary
By L.J. Rittenhouse
Dec. 19, 2013

Suicide rates for veterans are growing. Returning soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder are treated with painkillers, an expedient yet inadequate treatment for overcoming war-related traumas.

Since Congress is authorized to declare war, shouldn’t they take some responsibility for helping returning soldiers transition to civilian life?

What has Congress done this year? During the October shutdown, it played partisan games with veteran funding. What can they do? Our elected representatives could lead. They could start by creating new conversations about our veterans. They can study the history of labels that have described past U.S. post-war traumas:

Introduced during the Vietnam War and employed for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the PTSD label is clinical, crisp and impersonal. It could as well be used to describe an additive we put in our cars for improved performance. Worse, the word “disorder” in this acronym implies that something is wrong with the veteran — not the experience he or she has been through. Who would not be disordered by the choice each day to kill or be killed? PTSD denies the truth of the veteran’s experience; it reveals a culture of denial.

In World War II, veterans returned home with “battle fatigue,” a euphemism that reduced the horrors of war to extreme weariness. In the 1947 film, “The Best Years of Our Lives,” three veterans struggle as they transition to civilian life. One veteran, Homer Parrish, is played by Harold Russell, a real life solider who lost his hands in the war. When his mother has to take off his prosthetic hooks before he goes to bed, Homer wonders aloud if his fiancée will want to do this. The film won seven Oscars in 1947, including Best Picture. Moviegoers were not deterred by this realistic drama. Adjusted for inflation, it remains one of the top 100 grossing films of all time.
read more here

Military feeding the stigma of Combat PTSD

If you want to know what is really going on with military suicides and the stigma being fed, watch this video.
 

Medal of Honor recipient fights to remove stigma of PTSD

Medal of Honor recipient fights to remove stigma of PTSD
The Denver Post
By Austin Briggs
POSTED: 12/01/2013

Staff Sgt. Ty Carter, a Medal of Honor recipient, is pictured at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, where he spoke Sunday at the VFW Post 1 Founders Day Banquet. Carter earned the nation's highest military honor in Afghanistan.
(Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

A therapist usually isn't on the list of people someone gives thanks to in an acceptance speech.

The acknowledgment is even more striking when it comes from a Medal of Honor recipient whom President Barack Obama called "as tough as they come."

For 33-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Ty Carter, it seemed only natural to thank his support group, including mental health professionals, which helped him cope with psychological wounds he suffered after surviving one of the most intense firefights in the Afghan war.

Carter was a guest speaker at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1 114th annual Founders Day Banquet on Sunday evening at the Brown Palace Hotel. In an interview before the banquet, Carter spoke about his work in removing the stigma associated with post- traumatic stress disorder.

He has toured the country and spoken to countless media outlets since Obama placed the medal around his neck Aug. 26. He wants to see the D removed from PTSD.

"Because by calling it a disorder, individuals believe that 'if I have this, then there's something wrong with me,' " Carter said. "With PTS you just had a bad experience and you're trying to learn from it and trying to reintegrate how you live your life with it, because that trauma will never go away."

In the battle that earned him the nation's highest military honor, an outpost in Afghanistan's Nuristan Province was surrounded by almost 300 insurgents who opened fire with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades the morning of Oct. 3, 2009. Fifty-three Americans were stationed there; eight were killed in battle, and 25 were wounded, including Carter, who suffered hearing loss, shrapnel injuries and a concussion.
read more here

Researchers on the wrong side of history on PTSD

I posted Label Them Survivors In July of 2011 "There is a lot of talk about dropping the "D" from PTSD as if changing it again would do any good. Forgetting about the Disorder part of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder will do about as much good as changing the name in the past. The list of terms used has been growing since the Revolutionary War here in the US. The condition is still the same. The only thing that has really changed is in the way they are treated. There was a time in this country when they were shot for being cowards." There was more to it and you can read it by clicking on the link but the point is, changing the name is really nothing new. It didn't work before and it won't work now.

Dropping the D from PTSD won't change stigma, study says
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
USA TODAY
Gregg Zoroya
August 22, 2013

Researchers found no scientific proof supporting an Army idea to drop the word "disorder" from the term post-traumatic stress disorder as a means of removing the stigma from the disease, according to a RAND study released Thursday.

Claiming that soldiers would more willingly seek help for the illness if it was called post-traumatic stress or post-traumatic stress injury, the Army asked the American Psychiatric Association to change the name in its official manual of mental illnesses.

The association declined to do so in 2011.

The illness stems from experiencing traumatic events such as sexual assault, traffic accidents or combat. Symptoms include distressing persistent memories of the trauma, feelings of intense anxiety, negative moods, a sense of emotional numbness and an avoidance of anything triggering flashbacks.

Even after the association refused to change the name of the illness, the Army has continued using the shorter term "post-traumatic stress." The service has even begun to use the term in place of PTSD in official documents, RAND researchers found.

But scientists found no studies suggesting that people suffering the disease would be any more inclined to seek treatment if the name was changed. Using the shorter term could also create confusion since labeling it a "stress," something typically short-lived, contrasts with "disorder," which more accurately describes the illness' persistent symptoms, scientists said.
read more here

So why was I so angry all day now that researchers finally agree with what I've been saying all this time? Because I've been saying it all this time. I read the article first thing this morning and went hunting in my archive of over 19,000 posts. Then at 6:00 I had to head off to yet another temp job. I got home about an hour ago, ate dinner searching some more wondering how is it possible that I could know so much yet it seems paid, highly paid researchers are years behind where I am?

Leaving my ego out of this, my biggest issues is, they are supposed to know what they are talking about but our troops and veterans keep suffering needlessly because they don't have a clue what they are talking about. WTF! How many more have to die before these people figure out they are on the wrong side of history?

PTSD Level Black

Special Report: One soldier's struggle with PTSD
(Pt.1)
Posted:May 20, 2013
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow)

They fight for our country, but the price they pay for protecting our freedoms is sometimes their peace of mind. According to the Army, 5 - 25% of all soldiers who have been deployed to combat zones develop post-traumatic stress disorder. But Army officials say only 8% of soldiers who were deployed between 2001 and 2011 have been diagnosed.

Studies have reported that perhaps as many as two-thirds of all soldiers suffering from PTSD are not getting any treatment.

One Schofield Barracks' soldier is breaking the silence, and hopefully stigma, of living with PTSD. Staff Sergeant Billy Caviness is a Purple Heart recipient, who has proudly served his country for 16 years and is now struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. He shared his story with Army videographer Staff Sergeant Robert Ham in the documentary

"Level Black: PTSD and the War at Home".

This is their story behind the story:

SSgt Billy Caviness says he couldn't shake the feeling something horrible was going to happen.

"I knew. I knew that morning when I walked out on the battlefield, on the COP, I knew it was coming and I did what I had to do," described SSgt Caviness. "Bottom line, I had a job to do."

It was SSgt Caviness' fourth, and ultimately final, tour of duty.
read more here

Not Alone slamming McDonalds for parody

There are few guilty pleasures I have, or should I say had, because one of them will no longer taste as good in my mouth. The McDonalds ad for Big Mac has left a very bitter taste in my mouth.

"You're not alone" is the message I have been giving to veterans when they suffer after combat. It is a message most Vietnam veterans didn't hear until the last decade with the Internet and even now. many still have not heard it is not their fault. It is the message I give to families falling apart because they feel alone with what is happening in their homes. I give it to grieving parents when they have to bury their sons and daughters after they came home from combat but couldn't survive here.

To read those words attached to Big Mac is something my stomach just can't deal with.

McDonald's pulls regional ad parody of mental illness
Bruce Horovitz
USA TODAY
April 11, 2013



McDonald's has killed a regional ad that seems to poke fun at mental illness, but some critics say the fast-food chain may not be doing enough.

McDonald's is not lovin' it.

Following consumer complaints, a regional ad for its Big Mac that parodies mental illness -- featuring a familiar photo of a woman who appears to be crying with her head in her hand -- has been yanked by the fast-food giant from Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway trains. The headline in the ad states: "You're not alone." But the small print underneath says, "Millions of people love the Big Mac."

Worst of all: The ad includes a toll-free phone number that connects consumers to McDonald's customer satisfaction line. A recording asks consumers if they want to share an "experience" that they had at a McDonald's restaurant.

"The worst possible situation is if someone in an emotional crisis were to see that image and call that number," says Bob Carolla, spokesman for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. "It would be a cruel mistake."
read more here

PTSD on driver's license bad idea

If they really wanted to help then they should have done it in a way that would help as well as honor. I posted on this before that they should have just put on "Combat Vet" instead of PTSD.

Veterans groups complain of stigma
Law aims to aid in stressful situations
By Kyle Martin
Staff Writer
Friday, July 23, 2010
Reaction is mixed to a new law that allows service members and veterans to have a notation on their driver's license that they've been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.

Advocates say it's a way to warn law enforcement at a traffic stop that the driver has a sensitive condition and should be treated with care.

Critics argue that it reinforces the stigma that veterans with PTSD are ticking time bombs and could foster discrimination against people with mental illness.

The law, which went into effect July 1, requires veterans to bring paperwork from their doctor or psychologist proving their condition.
read more here
Veterans groups complain of stigma

Even now stigma of PTSD lives on

How is this possible? How is it still possible for some people to actually think PTSD is bogus? Can they really be that hard to educate? Considering there are generals talking about their own PTSD, it is really stupefying how isolated some troops remain when it comes to the knowledge the vast majority of the troops have gained.

The rest of the population in the country has woken up to the fact trauma does need to be addressed as a preventive measure and we see this everyday. Crisis teams rush in so they are available to address anyone needing help. PTSD is an emotional wound, not a weakness, but caused by an outside force and it attacks because of the strength of ones compassion. How can anyone say it's bogus? How many times have these deniers talked to combat veterans, POW's or any other veteran? How many books have they read beginning with the Bible itself showing the strains of trauma effected even the most fierce fighter?

They need to actually pay attention to the different people in their own lives, in their own circle to know they will have a buddy they all usually go to with their problems, just as they have one they can depend on to tell a great joke. They have one they can depend on to lend a hand doing things but may not talk very much. Each one of their friends brings something different to the friendship and all are valued. Its the same thing in the military. One is rock solid but not very emotional at all. You can count on him during a bar fight but he's not much good when you have a problem at home and need someone to talk to. Another of your friends may be the kind of cowboy, more apt to shoot first and figure out who he's shooting at later. They are usually the ones to walk away from traumatic events seemingly untouched. They just don't have the heart for it, unable to care, find compassion or really grieve. This is why they cannot understand PTSD in others. They have no capacity to feel anything for anyone else.

If they looked closely at their friends/buddies, they would understand what they were like before the first IED or firefight. They would know how they acted, what they said, what their sense of humor was like, what their entire character was like. If they change after, it is because of the trauma hitting them harder and all they need is to have someone watching their back, being there to listen and not judge, being there in case more help is needed and then getting them to the help they need. Otherwise, the problem is not with the veterans ending up with PTSD, the problem is when others deny the reality of it. They do more harm than good and frankly, make lousy friends in the first place if they cannot bring themselves to feel anything for someone they address as brother, buddy or friend.

A critical mission: mental health care for soldiers
DAVE PHILIPPS
THE GAZETTE
In the campaign to help soldiers find normalcy after returning from combat, Fort Carson is preparing for the toughest battle yet — the return this spring of the 4th Infantry’s 4th Brigade Combat Team.

Since 2005, Colorado Springs has seen a rash of crimes by returning troops. Fifteen soldiers from the post have been arrested in at least 12 murders since 2005. The majority of the arrests came from the 3,500 soldiers of the war-weary 4th Brigade, known as the 4-4, now in Afghanistan.

Correctly identifying which returning soldiers need help and giving them effective health care are crucial if the community is going to avoid another bout of violence, military and civilian leaders said.

U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., called caring for veterans “a matter of life and death for our service members — and civilians.”

Fort Carson officials say they are ready.

“Things have changed,” said Capt. Samuel Preston, the 4th Infantry Division psychiatrist. “This is not the Fort Carson of two years ago.”

Perhaps the most striking change is the post’s acknowledgement of the connection between combat, mental-health problems, suicide and crime.

“It used to be tight-lipped,” said Paul Sexton, director of Pikes Peak Behavioral Health Group, which has treated some Fort Carson soldiers. “Now, it is much more out in the open.”

But reversing the trend in violence has proved difficult. Crime and suicide statistics are at, or above, their highest levels — even with the 4th Brigade out of town. And the stigma that often keeps soldiers from seeking help seems to be alive and well.

The Gazette contacted more than a dozen 4th Brigade soldiers in remote outposts in Afghanistan recently via e-mail. While most said they had more chances for treatment and mental-health education, many said post-traumatic stress disorder is a bogus label used by wimps and scam artists.

A specialist in the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment wrote: “When you get 30 male infantryman all getting shot at by the same bullets and you go to combat stress (counseling), you look weak.”

A sergeant in the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment wrote that PTSD “is an excuse that someone came up with to get money out of the military.”

read more here

http://www.gazette.com/articles/soldiers-90692-mental-critical.html

Glenn Close Is Removing The Shame That Shadows Mental Illness

Regular people end up making celebrities heroes because everyone needs one. In this case, I do agree. Glenn Close could very well end up being a voice for millions of people but above all for those connected to the military, either by active duty or veteran, our real heroes.

It would have been wonderful if like Bob Dole talking about erectile dysfunction, there was another famous people talking about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder so that there would be more public knowledge of what it is and what it is not. Think of the millions of men seeking help for their own problems because Bob Dole showed them it was ok to talk about it. It didn't even matter if they liked him or not, the point was, he was publicly talking about it. This is what mental illness needed all along, especially when it comes to PTSD and the military. They are the first to go to help and the last to ask for help.

It would be wonderful if they could get the generals who came out publicly about their own war demons to do a commercial and show the others there is nothing to be ashamed of but until then, until someone in a position of power speaks out publicly, this will have to at least begin the conversation. So thank you Ron Howard and Glenn Close for doing this.

Glenn Close Is Removing The Shame That Shadows Mental Illness

October 29, 2009
by Elizabeth Willoughby

In an effort to bring mental illness into everyday dialogue, Glenn Close co-created the Bring Change 2 Mind campaign and, with the help of director Ron Howard, created a public service announcement pointing out how common such illnesses really are.

The first problem about awareness, even though one in six adults suffer from one form or another, is that mental illness is invisible. The other problem is the stigma attached to it.

“I think a lot of people will find that it’s kind of a relief to simply acknowledge that mental health issues are something every family deals with,” says Howard, “and yet it clearly does still remain stigmatized.”

The stigma is so powerful that it causes many sufferers of illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and post traumatic stress disorder to go undiagnosed, and therefore remain without the help that is available to them.
go here for more
Glenn Close Is Removing The Shame

GOP WAR AGAINST VETERANS: NO ACT TOO LOW

To top all of this off, she has no clue what she is quoting to congress.,,,This is part of her testimony to congress and in on the AEI website.....Satel was talking about not granting full disability to a young veteran because it would discourage him from healing and going back to work.

This is a good place to mention remission rates of PTSD. According to the National Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Study (NVVRS, 1988) fifty percent of those who develop the diagnosis of PTSD will recover fully over time. A recent re-analysis of the NVVRS, (Science, vol. 313 18 August 2006) found the lifetime rate of PTSD to be 18.7 percent vs. point prevalence (current) of 9.1 percent. Notably, those with a lifetime history of PTSD but not current PTSD exhibited virtually no lingering functional impairment at the time of assessment. Thus, to grant total disability compensation in light of a fifty percent chance of total remission (and a much higher chance of achieving partial or near-total remission) makes little sense.

http://www.aei.org/speech/28034

Yet read this. Either she out and out lied to congress about this report or she had no clue what it meant.


This is from the National Center for PTSD

Epidemiological Facts about PTSD
What causes Posttraumatic Stress Disorder? How common is it? Who gets it?
These questions are asked by epidemiologists, and two major epidemiological studies have produced some answers.

Several studies have been conducted in the history of the US to examine how prevalent PTSD is in the general population or in special populations. The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Survey (NVVRS), conducted between November 1986 and February 1988, comprised interviews of 3,016 American veterans selected to provide a representative sample of those who served in the armed forces during the Vietnam era. The National Comorbidity Survey (NCS), conducted between September 1990 and February 1992, comprised interviews of a representative national sample of 8,098 Americans aged 15 to 54 years. The most recent National Comorbidity Survey Report, published in 2005 on a newer sample, estimated lifetime prevalence of PTSD among adult Americans at 6.8%.

The earlier NCS data set estimated prevalence of lifetime PTSD to be 7.8% in the general adult population, with women (10.4%) twice as likely as men (5%) to have PTSD at some point in their lives. This represents a small portion of those who have experienced at least one traumatic event; 60.7% of men and 51.2% of women reported at least one traumatic event. The most frequently experienced traumas were:

Witnessing someone being badly injured or killed
Being involved in a fire, flood, or natural disaster
Being involved in a life-threatening accident
Combat exposure
The majority of the people in the NCS experienced two or more types of trauma. More than 10% of men and 6% of women reported four or more types of trauma during their lifetimes.

The traumatic events most often associated with PTSD in men were rape, combat exposure, childhood neglect, and childhood physical abuse. For women, the most common events were rape, sexual molestation, physical attack, being threatened with a weapon, and childhood physical abuse.

However, none of these events invariably produced PTSD in those exposed to it, and a particular type of traumatic event did not necessarily affect different sectors of the population in the same way.

The NCS report concluded that "PTSD is a highly prevalent lifetime disorder that often persists for years. The qualifying events for PTSD are also common, with many respondents reporting the occurrence of quite a few such events during their lifetimes."

The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Survey (NVVRS)
The NVVRS report provided the following information about Vietnam War veterans:

PTSD
The estimated lifetime prevalence of PTSD among American Vietnam theater veterans is 30.9% for men and 26.9% for women. An additional 22.5% of men and 21.2% of women have had partial PTSD at some point in their lives. Thus, more than half of all male Vietnam veterans and almost half of all female Vietnam veterans -about 1,700,000 Vietnam veterans in all- have experienced "clinically serious stress reaction symptoms."

15.2% of all male Vietnam theater veterans (479,000 out of 3,140,000 men who served in Vietnam) and 8.1% of all female Vietnam theater veterans (610 out of 7,200 women who served in Vietnam) are currently diagnosed with PTSD ("Currently" means 1986-88 when the survey was conducted).

Other problems of Vietnam veterans
Forty percent of Vietnam theater veteran men have been divorced at least once (10% had two or more divorces), 14.1% report high levels of marital problems, and 23.1% have high levels of parenting problems.

Almost half of all male Vietnam theater veterans currently suffering from PTSD had been arrested or in jail at least once -34.2% more than once- and 11.5% had been convicted of a felony.

The estimated lifetime prevalence of alcohol abuse or dependence among male theater veterans is 39.2%, and the estimate for current alcohol abuse or dependence is 11.2%. The estimated lifetime prevalence of drug abuse or dependence among male theater veterans is 5.7%, and the estimate for current drug abuse or dependence is 1.8%.

Because the NVVRS sample size underrepresented members of certain ethnic minorities, the Matsunaga Vietnam Veterans Project undertook further epidemiological research among Native American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander veterans. These findings are summarized in two separate National Center for PTSD fact sheets.

This Fact Sheet Was Based On:
Richard A. Kulka et al., Trauma and the Vietnam War Generation: Report of Findings from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1990; ISBN 0-87630-573-7)

Ronald C. Kessler et al., Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Archives of General Psychiatry, 52(12), 1048-1060 (December 1995)

http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_epidemiological.html

This piece is right to the point. Sally Satel has been an abomination. She has assaulted veterans from coast to coast with her insults and accusations, claiming PTSD is fake, even though police officers carry this wound as well. I would hate to be her if she gets pulled over for a DWI or speeding ticket and finds herself face to face with a cop on the beat she insulted when he was coming back from Iraq. Her refusal to acknowledge these remarkable men and women, our troops and our veterans, along with this wound they have carried within them, accusing them of looking for a free ride, after they were willing to die so that people like her could shoot their mouths off, is nothing less than treason to every man and woman that has laid down their lives for this nation.

What is worse is that she was held up as an expert on PTSD at the same time the troops and veterans were killing themselves instead of seeking help for PTSD. As an advisor and expert, she is responsible for what all of her advice lead to. People like her did more damage to our veterans than any enemy bullet ever could.

Op-Ed Contributor
For Some, the War Won't End

By Sally Satel
Published: March 1, 2006
Washington

ACCORDING to a report from its inspector general, the Department of Veterans Affairs is now paying compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder to nearly twice as many veterans as it did just six years ago, at an annual cost of $4.3 billion. What's more surprising is that the flood of recent applicants does not, for the most part, consist of young soldiers just returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. Rather they are Vietnam veterans in their 50's and 60's who claim to be psychologically crippled now by their service of decades ago.

This leads to an obvious question: Can it really take up to 40 years after a trauma before someone realizes he can no longer cope with the demands of civilian life? The answer: possibly, but it is often hard to know which applicants can be helped with short-term psychiatric care, which are seeking a free ride and which are truly deserving of the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and thus long-term care and payments of up to $2,300 a month for life. The task before the Veterans Affairs Department is to come up with criteria.

Medically speaking, there is some evidence to support what psychiatrists call "reactivated" post-traumatic stress disorder. The literature is dotted with cases of veterans of World War I, World War II and the Korean War who, after briefly showing signs of stress disorders in the immediate aftermath of their ordeals, led productive lives for decades before breaking down in their 60's and 70's. Little is known about the treatment of reactivated symptoms, but there is reason to be optimistic that patients will recover nicely in view of their having functioned well for so long.

But it's also very likely that some of the veteran baby boomers who have filed claims in recent years did so not out of medical need but out of a desire for financial security in their retirement years. Indeed, 40 percent of last year's claimants had been out of the military for 35 to 49 years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/01/opinion/01satel.html?_r=1

Is Satel suggesting that a Vietnam veteran returned, worked all these years and is so greedy they are willing to subject themselves to being called "crazy" by their friends? Does she understand the stigma still attached to this? It's because they are finally finding out what has been "wrong" with them all these years. I'm still contacted by Vietnam veterans just now hearing the term PTSD! It's not that they are finally deciding to show up at the VA to secure their old age. They already did that by working! There is no excuse for this from someone who worked for the VA.

Are there frauds? Yes. Some of their stories have been on this blog, but considering how low the percentage is, that is not the problem here. We have more veterans, as a matter of fact, half of the men and women with PTSD seek help, which means, half of them do not. Doesn't Satel get this?

Apparently not. While she is a psychiatrist, what was her training in? Is she among the ranking real experts on PTSD? The ones I trust, like Dr. Jonathan Shay? Or did the Bush Administration just need someone to slam the troops and the veterans? I've been asking that question for years wondering why it is that the experts I read never seemed to have been the people showing up to testify before Congress. Maybe this question has just been answered.

Special Report: THE GOP WAR AGAINST VETERANS: NO ACT TOO LOW
Posted on June 21, 2009 by gordonduff
THE AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE AND DR. SALLY SATEL

EVERY VET A MALINGERER AND PHONY

By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER

With the Keith Roberts hearing coming up, perhaps we should look at the mechanism that gave the government the ability to destroy veterans files, even imprison veterans who filed appeals, such as Keith Roberts.

Giving full aid and comfort to the enemies of America's veterans is the American Legion and VFW, two groups that stand, side by side with the Republican politicans and the conservative think tanks that work to eliminate veterans benefits and GI Bill enhancement.

THE AEI: NOMINEE FOR THE COVETED AIRPORT SPITTER AWARD

"Conservative" means "saving money" and "keeping soldiers as slaves onto death." Whether we are talking John McCain or Burr or Graham or two dozen others, these patriotic heroes have done nothing over the years but receive continual support from our favorite veterans groups for gutting military and veterans benefits.

With a series of "think tanks" selling pseudo science, most of them got their feet wet with decades of "smoking and lung cancer denial," or similar idiocy, the American Enterprise Institute stands out as the lead in the war against American heroes.

Even more maniacal and radical than the Heritiage Foundation, private "rubber stamp" for the schemes of Amway/Blackwater, Coors extremism and Richard Mellon Scaife, private funder for the failed Clinton impeachment, the AEI focuses on destroying veterans.

Their primary tool is a Doctor Sally Satel. Satel is an "odd duck" who believes that secret groups of extremist veterans, when not busy trying to overthrow the government or tap her telephone, plot to destroy the American economy by faking symptoms of PTSD after experiencing combat.

The Bush 2005 attempt to stop all payments to veterans receiving disability for PTSD was based on her politically inspired writing.

Standing against Satel, Bush and then VA director Nicholson was Senator Barak Obama, now president and under continual attack from, not only conservative groups, but clandestinely by mainstream veterans organizations.

Satel claims that the price for treating PTSD will go over $4 billion dollars and this will bankrupt the United States
go here for more
http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7413