Saturday, December 12, 2009
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.
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
Vietnam Vet, ex-POW, Robert Purcell
Vietnam veteran spent nearly eight years as a POW, keeping his honor and sense of humor
By CHRIS VAUGHN
cvaughn@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH — Sometimes the measure of a man comes from the stories people tell about him.
And there are a lot of stories circulating now about Robert Purcell, an Air Force pilot who spent an almost incomprehensible time — July 27, 1965, to Feb. 12, 1973 — in a North Vietnamese prison.
Col. Purcell — Percy to those who knew him — died in his home in Fort Worth on Sunday.
Here’s one of those stories.
A prison guard came into Col. Purcell and retired Air Force Col. Bernard Talley’s cell one day. He wanted them to bow.
Col. Purcell wouldn’t. Following his lead, Talley refused, too.
The guard slapped Purcell. Then he slapped him again harder. Then again.
"Why don’t you hit me harder?" Col. Purcell said.
The guard closed his fist and struck. Punch after punch followed.
Col. Purcell repeated his request. The guard kept complying, until he quit because his hands hurt.
When the guard left their cell, Col. Purcell asked Talley to tap out a message to the other prisoners using the code they developed to communicate with one another through walls.
"Tell them Magoo understands English," Col. Purcell said, using the nickname for that guard.
That was Col. Purcell to all who knew him — stubborn, tough as nails, loyal and witty in the darkest hours.
He’d had more than his fair share of dark hours.
After a fall he took at home the last day of 2005, Col. Purcell was paralyzed and considerably weakened physically. A bout of pneumonia finally took its toll last weekend. He was 78.
No one ever heard him complain.
read more
http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1817490.html
By CHRIS VAUGHN
cvaughn@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH — Sometimes the measure of a man comes from the stories people tell about him.
And there are a lot of stories circulating now about Robert Purcell, an Air Force pilot who spent an almost incomprehensible time — July 27, 1965, to Feb. 12, 1973 — in a North Vietnamese prison.
Col. Purcell — Percy to those who knew him — died in his home in Fort Worth on Sunday.
Here’s one of those stories.
A prison guard came into Col. Purcell and retired Air Force Col. Bernard Talley’s cell one day. He wanted them to bow.
Col. Purcell wouldn’t. Following his lead, Talley refused, too.
The guard slapped Purcell. Then he slapped him again harder. Then again.
"Why don’t you hit me harder?" Col. Purcell said.
The guard closed his fist and struck. Punch after punch followed.
Col. Purcell repeated his request. The guard kept complying, until he quit because his hands hurt.
When the guard left their cell, Col. Purcell asked Talley to tap out a message to the other prisoners using the code they developed to communicate with one another through walls.
"Tell them Magoo understands English," Col. Purcell said, using the nickname for that guard.
That was Col. Purcell to all who knew him — stubborn, tough as nails, loyal and witty in the darkest hours.
He’d had more than his fair share of dark hours.
After a fall he took at home the last day of 2005, Col. Purcell was paralyzed and considerably weakened physically. A bout of pneumonia finally took its toll last weekend. He was 78.
No one ever heard him complain.
read more
http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1817490.html
PTSD on Trial:Iraq veteran sentenced to state hospital
Jamie Francis, The Oregonian
In Grant County Circuit Court in Canyon City, three miles from the murder scene in John Day, Iraq war veteran Jessie Bratcher (center) and his attorney, Markku Sario (left), listen during sentencing for Bratcher's murder conviction.
Iraq veteran sentenced to state hospital in PTSD murder case
By Julie Sullivan, The Oregonian
December 07, 2009, 10:33PM
CANYON CITY -- One of the first Iraq veterans in the U.S. -- and the first in Oregon -- to successfully claim post-traumatic stress disorder as a defense for murder was sentenced to the Oregon State Hospital on Monday instead of a nationally recognized veterans treatment center.
Judge William D. Cramer Jr. placed Jessie Bratcher, 27, under the supervision of the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board for life. He recommended that the board consider sending the Iraq veteran to a special Los Angeles facility, but not before making its own evaluation.
Bratcher was facing 25 years in prison for the 2008 murder of Jose Ceja Medina when a Grant County jury found him guilty but insane due to PTSD in October. The former Oregon Army National Guard soldier was being treated and compensated for disabilities from his service in Iraq, mostly for PTSD, when he shot an unarmed man during a war flashback.
The case is at the leading edge of courts considering war experience as a mitigating factor. Last week, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that, in death penalty cases involving veterans, lawyers must present evidence of PTSD from military service.
"That was a huge step, coming from the Supreme Court," said National Veterans Foundation President Shad Meshad. "But it's just one step. We're going to have one of these PTSD cases after another, and the question for the military and the Department of Defense is, 'How do we prevent it, and how do we deal with it once it's there?'"
read more here
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/post_34.html
Friday, December 11, 2009
Protocol may change on condolence letters to families of troops after suicide
Military condolence letter review to conclude 'shortly'
By Elaine Quijano, CNN
December 10, 2009 4:56 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Protocol dates to Clinton administration; some families think it needs to be changed
Father, mother of soldier who committed suicide in Iraq are among them
Lack of letter leaves feeling that family "somehow [made] less of a sacrifice," father says
Washington (CNN) -- The White House says its review of a long-standing policy not to send condolence letters to the families of military suicide victims should "hopefully" conclude "shortly."
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president himself asked for the review, with Gibbs telling reporters at the White House briefing on Wednesday, "If the president didn't care, the policy would remain unchanged and unexamined."
The protocol dates as far back as the Clinton administration. But now, some military families, including the Keesling family of Indiana, believe the policy needs to be changed.
In June, 25-year-old Army Spc. Chancellor Keesling shot and killed himself in Iraq. His parents, Gregg and Jannett, eventually set up a memorial wall in their home, leaving space for what they thought would be a condolence letter from the commander in chief.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/10/condolence.letters/
By Elaine Quijano, CNN
December 10, 2009 4:56 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Protocol dates to Clinton administration; some families think it needs to be changed
Father, mother of soldier who committed suicide in Iraq are among them
Lack of letter leaves feeling that family "somehow [made] less of a sacrifice," father says
Washington (CNN) -- The White House says its review of a long-standing policy not to send condolence letters to the families of military suicide victims should "hopefully" conclude "shortly."
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president himself asked for the review, with Gibbs telling reporters at the White House briefing on Wednesday, "If the president didn't care, the policy would remain unchanged and unexamined."
The protocol dates as far back as the Clinton administration. But now, some military families, including the Keesling family of Indiana, believe the policy needs to be changed.
In June, 25-year-old Army Spc. Chancellor Keesling shot and killed himself in Iraq. His parents, Gregg and Jannett, eventually set up a memorial wall in their home, leaving space for what they thought would be a condolence letter from the commander in chief.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/10/condolence.letters/
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