VA’S DESTRUCTION OF PTSD DOCUMENTS

VAWatchdog posted this and so did Veterans For Common Sense because it is important. Will CNN? Will FOX? Will MSNBC? Doubt it. They are too busy talking about Don't Ask Don't Tell. In this case the government doesn't want anyone to ask what happened.

The bulk of the employees in the VA do it because they care and for this person to be protected makes the rest of them look bad. Let the truth come out so that the rest of the VA employees can do what they took the job to do, take care of the veterans.

CREW SEEKS RELIEF FOR VA’S DESTRUCTION OF PTSD DOCUMENTS
1 Feb 2010 // Washington, D.C. - Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a brief seeking discovery after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) admitted to destroying documents responsive to CREW’s May 2008 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in CREW v. U.S. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs (D.D.C.). This lawsuit stems from CREW’s FOIA request for documents related to the VA’s policy of under-diagnosing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), after an email was revealed in which VA employee Norma Perez discussed this policy.

Since this issue first came to light, the VA has resisted providing any documents. Most recently the VA claimed it had produced everything it had despite the fact that it had not even turned over Norma Perez’s email or – despite public outcry and congressional hearings on the matter – any other records referring to the email. As a result, CREW argued the VA’s search clearly had been inadequate and, amazingly, the agency said that it couldn’t locate the email because it was destroyed in 2008, months after CREW filed both its FOIA request and this lawsuit. In fact, all the VA’s backup tapes were destroyed, including the one containing the Perez email. The VA says it cannot produce any emails predating December 9, 2008.
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http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/44048

Veteran Attempts Self-Immolation at VA Hospital in Missouri

Veteran Attempts Self-Immolation at VA Hospital in Missouri
Written by Michelle Friedrich
Friday, 29 January 2010 21:34
Man Sets Self on Fire Outside Poplar Bluff VA Medical Center

January 29, 2010, Poplar Bluff, Missouri (Daily American Republic) - Authorities believe a patient of the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center attempted to commit suicide Thursday afternoon on the hospital's property by lighting himself on fire with gasoline.

The 52-year-old Poplar Bluff veteran was flown to St. John's Mercy Medical Center just before 5 p.m. after initially being treated at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. The man, according to hospital personnel, is a patient in the burn unit at the St. Louis hospital and is listed in critical condition.

The Poplar Bluff Police Department was notified at 3:02 p.m. of an "individual who was dousing himself in gas," explained Deputy Police Chief Jeff Rolland. "Naturally, we dispatched officers to the VA property.
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Veteran Attempts Self-Immolation at VA Hospital in Missouri

PBS’ Favorite Unsung Heroine for 2009 Abandoned for Speaking Out

A tale of two military sides


Maybe as the cable news stations are fixated on Don't Ask Don't Tell regarding gay people serving in the military, someone can come up with something to make families attractive enough to report on as well. Considering how many members in the military are gay vs how many families there are in the military but not serving themselves, there are a hell of a lot more of them.

We don't see reports on CNN covering PTSD or suicides with as much devotion as they have been doing since the earthquake in Haiti, but it is a crisis right here, right now claiming more lives after war than during it, plus taking whole families down with it. Once in a while they do a brief report almost as if they felt they had to then they just move on to cover the latest news everyone else is jumping on. Tabloid journalism at it's finest hiding under humanitarian coverage.

Should they report on the fact bodies are being dumped into piles barely covered by dirt instead of shown some respect? Absolutely but considering we're burying bodies of servicemen and women taken by suicide, they should be shown some respect as well.

Maybe I'm wrong but I thought the job of journalists was to inform about what was going on in the world, including this country and telling stories that should be in the spotlight so that people will be informed enough to know they should care.

Had some gay people not been brave enough to seek justice for themselves and others, this issue would still be a deep dark secret and no one would really care if a gay service member was kicked out once in a while. Then it didn't matter if this was right or wrong because it just wasn't personal to most Americans. Now it is. It is because we know some of their stories.

With military families we know their stories way too late to do much at all. We read about the suicides and how the families are grieving as they beg for privacy or others traveling to Washington to try to stop other families from feeling their pain. We read about the numbers of divorces, but we don't know their stories except for very few willing to talk after to a reporter willing to ask.

Well, here we have a story of a woman who used to be of interest to reporters when they needed her to help them put together an article they could just right and move on from. Not that most of them were ever personally involved in any of this, or they would have not been able to walk away from any of this. This military wife didn't walk away. She was shoved away.

Carissa is a dear friend and there have been very few advocates for the servicemen and women coming from within. She broke the unspoken rule of telling the truth about what was going on and she gained the media spotlight so fast it was a testament to her talent as well as her work. To see what has happened to her in a little over a year should be an alarm bell to every reporter out there that there is a serious problem this nation has and it stems from the military culture itself.

How many divorces could have been prevented if the military had resources that worked? How many suicides could have been prevented if the military families were given enough educational weapons to fight the ghosts soldiers bring back from battle? Ever wonder?

We have spouses willing to drop their own lives and careers to be married to someone willing to lay down their lives for this country. We have kids settling for going without making any long lasting friends because they have to move too often. We have men and women deployed worrying about what it happening back home because their spouse is too lonely and no one seems to care. They move away from their extended families so they can be with their military spouse but then when they deploy, where are they supposed to go with kids in school and families hundreds of miles away? Working? How can they find a job when they may be transferred? There are only so many jobs on base or temp jobs in traveling distance.

So when we read about divorces in the military, read this and then maybe the next time you hear some numbers it'll be a bit more personal to you because you will see what happened to a wife after she cared enough to try to change what was wrong.

PBS’ Favorite Unsung Heroine for 2009 Abandoned for Speaking Out
February 2, 2010 by Robert L. Hanafin ·
Last December I posted an article Military Divorces continue to increase, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) said that,

“Every marriage has controllable and uncontrollable factors, but when you interject eight years of war, preparing for war, being at war, coming home and having to think about going back to war again, and when you have children, it just has a tremendous impact on the family unit.” However, the VFW also said that the military prides itself on taking care of military families.

As a retired military officer who served in two services the Army and Air Force, I can assure you that WE do take care of our own as long as our own stays in line, and does not make wave. However, what happens to military spouses once their uniformed husband or wife decides that that the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines is their real family during a war that our nation is not committed to?

Yes, we can say that before a man or women marries someone in uniform they must agree to the Soldier’s Creed, Airmen’s Creed or whatever creed, even the one made up for Military Spouses to place ‘the mission’ above all else including family, but that does nothing for the spouse and children that the military member, and the Pentagon abandons.

Despite being a licensed attorney in good standing with the bar in MD, having been named a national unsung heroine by PBS for women’s history month in 2009 AND being an being an unpaid advocate for Wounded Warriors and Military Families, plus an active duty spouse for nearly eight years, she has not been able to find a job despite her best efforts.

She has been applying for jobs since April of 2009, and now she, like many other spouses enduring military divorces, is desperate for help. She is being forced into the streets with her two sons (ages 6 and 9), because she has to move out of her on-post housing by March 8.

She is willing to relocate ANYWHERE in the country and she is now open to any position even if she is overqualified.

Simply put no military spouse rather they decide to permanently marry the military or not should have to send out such a desperate plea for help.

Frankly, I should not even have to be posting this, because this lady and thousands like her feel abandoned.

If anyone has any ideas how to approach the over issue of how military spouses once divorced are mistreated and abandoned, or can at least help this lady with job prospects, please contact me.

read more here

Favorite Unsung Heroine for 2009 Abandoned for Speaking Out

Is America Getting Over Keith Olbermann

Dear Keith,
When no one was talking about the men and women deployed into Afghanistan and Iraq, you were.
When the reason they were sent into Iraq was finally being reported, you were doing it.
When they were not getting the equipment they needed, you reported it.
When they were not being treated properly by the DOD or the VA, you reported it.
You reported on the increase in homeless veterans, had on many advocates for the veterans and showed how much you cared.
These reports of your's were not about politics, but about doing the right thing. You were passionate about the men and women in the military as well as the National Guards and Reservists.
Over the years you've reported on many things that regular Americans face and we knew there was someone caring about all of us and not just politically connected.
You also did Oddball with a lot more stories and managed to usually have something from Florida in that part of your show.

The thing is Keith, I haven't been watching your show lately either. While it is important to report on what is going on in Washington and get the truth out, there are more stories out there you used to report on. That's the thing you need to return to. Be passionate! When something big happens in politics, report it but don't let that be the only thing you talk about. We've had enough being put into boxes by FOX telling the majority of Americans they are not worthy to watch their shows while constantly being attacked and to have Countdown do the same makes people turn to CNN. FOX is FOX and seen in every part of the country. So is CNN. As I travel, I usually can't find MSNBC on hotel feeds. Your show will do fine if you return to what made people watch you in the first place. You're smart, well informed, trying to make a difference but above all, you really do care, so put that care into good use and limit the rants that divide instead of talking about what just human/Americans need talked about.

Is America Getting Over Keith Olbermann?
By JEFF BERCOVICI
Posted 5:57 PM 01/29/10 People, Media
Keith Olbermann was already a renowned sportscaster when he rose to prominence as a political commentator. This was during the Bush Administration, when the left was badly in need of a forceful voice to rally around. Such was his popularity that MSNBC reoriented its entire primetime lineup around it.

But now the Democrats control Congress and the White House, and there are creeping indications that the world may not have quite as much need of -- or patience for -- Olbermann and his shtick as it once did.

Ratings for Olbermann's Countdown have been soft recently, and the 8 p.m. shows on CNN and HLN have narrowed the gap. In the important demographic of adults 25 to 54 -- the group advertisers are looking to reach -- Countdown was down 44% year-over-year in January. It averaged 268,000 viewers in that demo, only 3,000 more than Nancy Grace's show on HLN, and 12,000 more than CNN's Campbell Brown. Fox News's O'Reilly Factor dominated the hour with 964,000 viewers age 25 to 54, and was the only cable news show in the time period to increase its audience, by 55%.

But there are also more subjective signs that Olbermann's stridency and lack of proportion are alienating some of his natural allies. Quite a few eyebrows elevated last week when Jon Stewart, in a parody of one of Olbermann's "Special Comment" segments, called out the newsman for going way over the top in his denunciations of Republican Senator-elect Scott Brown of Massachusetts. The criticism was all the more remarkable, given that Stewart and Olbermann usually take the same side on most issues, especially when it comes to Fox News and the Republicans.
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Is America Getting Over Keith Olbermann

Repeat tours take invisible toll

This cannot be repeated enough! PTSD is a wound to the spirit/soul. If we dismiss the importance of Chaplains and members of the clergy back home, we are heading to the point where there will be no real return from Iraq or Afghanistan. The bulk of the men and women we send over and over again will live out the rest of their lives adding to the ranks of homeless veterans as well as graveyards. No, this is no melodramatic rant. We've already seen the evidence of this. Suicides have risen every year no matter what the military has tried to do. Divorces among military families have gone up. Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been adding to the homeless veteran population every year as well as the "couch homeless" sleeping on the couches of friends for as long as they can.

The military has set up "spiritual resilience" campuses at the U.S. bases where soldiers return from deployments. Screened for symptoms of PTSD, they are supposed to begin treatment within two weeks of a diagnosis. The military also has started a suicide hot line with an online chat option. The Minnesota Guard's Beyond the Yellow Ribbon campaign is considered a leader in requiring participation in post-deployment programs intended to address problems like PTSD. In a pioneering study, the Guard is partnering with the Minneapolis VA Medical Center to study PTSD among soldiers deployed from 2006 to 2007, examining them before, during and after their overseas service.

Causes of Mental Illness
What are the causes of mental illness? Although the exact cause of most mental illnesses is not known, it is becoming clear through research that many of these conditions are caused by a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental factors.

What Biological Factors Are Involved in Mental Illness?
Some mental illnesses have been linked to an abnormal balance of special chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters help nerve cells in the brain communicate with each other. If these chemicals are out of balance or are not working properly, messages may not make it through the brain correctly, leading to symptoms of mental illness. In addition, defects in or injury to certain areas of the brain have also been linked to some mental conditions.

Other biological factors that may be involved in the development of mental illness include:

Genetics (heredity): Many mental illnesses run in families, suggesting that people who have a family member with a mental illness are more likely to develop a mental illness. Susceptibility is passed on in families through genes. Experts believe many mental illnesses are linked to abnormalities in many genes -- not just one. That is why a person inherits a susceptibility to a mental illness and doesn't necessarily develop the illness. Mental illness itself occurs from the interaction of multiple genes and other factors --such as stress, abuse, or a traumatic event -- which can influence, or trigger, an illness in a person who has an inherited susceptibility to it.
Infections: Certain infections have been linked to brain damage and the development of mental illness or the worsening of its symptoms. For example, a condition known as pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder (PANDA) associated with the Streptococcus bacteria has been linked to the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder and other mental illnesses in children.
Brain defects or injury: Defects in or injury to certain areas of the brain have also been linked to some mental illnesses.
Prenatal damage: Some evidence suggests that a disruption of early fetal brain development or trauma that occurs at the time of birth -- for example, loss of oxygen to the brain -- may be a factor in the development of certain conditions, such as autism.
Substance abuse: Long-term substance abuse, in particular, has been linked to anxiety, depression, and paranoia.
Other factors: Poor nutrition and exposure to toxins, such as lead, may play a role in the development of mental illnesses.

http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/mental-health-causes-mental-illness

There are many causes of mental illness, but there is only one way PTSD comes and that is after trauma. It is an invader, attacking the emotional part of the brain regarded as an anxiety disorder.

What Are the Types of Anxiety Disorders?
There are several recognized types of anxiety disorders, including:
Panic disorder : People with this condition have feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning. Other symptoms of a panic attack include sweating, chest pain, palpitations (irregular heartbeats), and a feeling of choking, which may make the person feel like he or she is having a heart attack or "going crazy."
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) : People with OCD are plagued by constant thoughts or fears that cause them to perform certain rituals or routines. The disturbing thoughts are called obsessions, and the rituals are called compulsions. An example is a person with an unreasonable fear of germs who constantly washes his or her hands.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) : PTSD is a condition that can develop following a traumatic and/or terrifying event, such as a sexual or physical assault, the unexpected death of a loved one, or a natural disaster. People with PTSD often have lasting and frightening thoughts and memories of the event, and tend to be emotionally numb.
Social anxiety disorder : Also called social phobia, social anxiety disorder involves overwhelming worry and self-consciousness about everyday social situations. The worry often centers on a fear of being judged by others, or behaving in a way that might cause embarrassment or lead to ridicule.
Specific phobias : A specific phobia is an intense fear of a specific object or situation, such as snakes, heights, or flying. The level of fear usually is inappropriate to the situation and may cause the person to avoid common, everyday situations.
Generalized anxiety disorder : This disorder involves excessive, unrealistic worry and tension, even if there is little or nothing to provoke the anxiety.

After traumatic events people will walk away either believing God spared them or just point His finger at them and sent the trauma to them. Our beliefs play an important part of who we are, what we think, how we react and interact, but above all, how we recover from life's events.

The beliefs we have are all called into question and then we question everything.

For the men and women in the military, there was a theory Vietnam veterans developed PTSD because of the way they were treated when they came home. While it may have contributed to the numbers, it was not the cause. WWI and WWII veterans were inflicted with PTSD even though they were welcomed home with open arms, parades, appreciation, housing projects, educational aid and VA healthcare.

It was not that Vietnam veterans were assaulted with PTSD more, but that it was the Vietnam veterans pushing for the research and treatment of it that we noticed it in them more. Older veterans suffered but back then it was a deep dark secret when "shell shocked" men returned home, became workaholics and then drank too much when they were finally home at the end of the day. Their families reported them as being cold, distant, moody, as well as reporting the nightmares. The only real difference was that no one was talking about it. Veterans with severe PTSD were institutionalized or sent to live on farms where they would be taken care of for the rest of their lives, hidden from the public's eye so they would not be reminded the price of war does not end when they come home again.

PTSD came to them. It came because they cared deeply, felt deeply and thus, were wounded spiritually more deeply than others around them. With each event piling onto the others, the wound dug deeper into their spirit. This must begin to be treated spiritually if there will be successful healing. Even though there has been no evidence of curing, there has been centuries of healing, when the healed end up being better than they were before. The key is to address the whole person, medically for the mind and body and spiritually. If the soul is ignored, then the healing can only go so far.

Please read the following, all the pages, if you want to learn more. It's a great piece of reporting.

Montevideo's Sgt. Phil Jensen knows the psychological scars of multiple deployments.

By MARK BRUNSWICK , Star Tribune

Last update: February 1, 2010 - 11:24 PM
CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN -- Never-ending wars are exacting a price from the never-done warriors.

Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from 10 months in Iraq, Sgt. Phil Jensen was nevertheless ruled fit to go to Afghanistan for his latest deployment. Jensen, 25, didn't want to go, but he didn't want to disappoint the soldiers in his new unit.

"After the first or second drill with these guys, I didn't want to let them down," he said. "It's that brotherhood; for me, they're family."

The scrapbook Jensen's mother keeps for him at home in Montevideo includes the picture of the first time he put on the uniform of the Minnesota Army National Guard. It has come to hold pictures of other young men in the eight years since: The New York Guard member with whom Jensen trained who died in Iraq and the Guard member from the Montevideo area who killed himself after returning home. The last pages include a People Magazine photo layout of fallen soldiers that features Specialist George Cauley.

Jensen was several trucks behind Cauley's during an October supply run when a mine explosion blew Cauley out of his vehicle.
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Repeat tours take invisible toll