Taking the D out of PTSD but not the way you think

Taking the D out of PTSD but not the way you think
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 31, 2013

This is what the military tells them

Punitive Articles of the UCMJ Article 134—General article

“Though not specifically mentioned in this chapter, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special, or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and shall be punished at the discretion of that court.”

But this is what disorder means when part of Post Traumatic Stress

Definition of DISORDER
1: to disturb the order of
2: to disturb the regular or normal functions of

Medal of Honor Recipient Ty Carter Says Drop the ‘D’ from PTSD. Carter addresses stigmas associated with PTSD on 'Morning Joe' but think about what else still going on. The stigma is still alive and strong while too many are not alive and more are not feeling so strong about seeking help.

I'll give away the date of this report below.

Army fights stigma of mental care By ROBERT H. REID – 2 hours ago

BAGHDAD (AP) — A military culture that values strength and a "can do" spirit is discouraging thousands of soldiers from seeking help to heal the emotional scars of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite top-level efforts to overcome the stigma, commanders and veterans say.

Up to one-fifth of the more than 1.7 million military members who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan are believed to have symptoms of anxiety, depression and other emotional problems. Some studies show that about half of those who need help do not seek it.

"It's a reality that for some — certainly not all, but for some — there's a stigma to stepping forward for behavioral health," Maj. David Cabrera, who runs counseling services at a military hospital in Germany, told The Associated Press.

"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.

This wasn't last week last month or even last year. It was in 2009. The same year Ty's heroic efforts saved lives.

Specialist Ty M. Carter distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Scout with Bravo Troop, 3d Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, during combat operations against an armed enemy in Kamdesh District, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan on October 3, 2009

This goes to show that as for providing the troops with awareness of what PTSD is, they have not done their job. As for taking the "D" out of PTSD, we need to start taking the "dumb" out of how the military views it and then the letter won't matter as much. The label has been changed far too many times already and as we've seen by the results, didn't do any good before.

PTSD veteran sues after being set on fire in VA operating room

“They Set Me on Fire”
Lawyers and Settlements
By Brenda Craig
August 31, 2013

Stafford, WV: American military vet Steven Anthony was already living a life compromised by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) when he was suffered another blow to his already fragile mind at a Veteran’s hospital in Martinsburg, Virginia. Steven became a victim of veteran medical malpractice.

Several months ago, Anthony was admitted for some routine surgery. The plan was to give Anthony a general anesthetic for knee surgery, and while he was in the operating room, remove a lesion on his forehead.

“As I lay on the operating table, my mind was telling me I was getting hot. I woke up to see flames all around me,” says Anthony. “I reached up and pulled fire from my face.”

The operating room team had been using an electric cauterizing device to control bleeding during the removal of the lesion. It ignited Anthony’s oxygen supply and caused the cotton gauze around his face to catch fire.

“Everyone else backed off and Steven burnt his hands as he tore the burning material from his face,” says his attorney Anthony Williams, who is a former marine and judge advocate, and has represented members of the military on a variety of issues. “He suffered some superficial burns on his face and hands but the real issue aggravated his PTSD.”
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Suicides and Combat: Who to believe?

Suicides and Combat: Who to believe?
Statesman.com
By Jeremy Schwartz
Aug. 30, 2013

Earlier this month, a much publicized Department of Defense study loudly proclaimed that there is no link between wartime deployments or combat and the sharp increase in military suicides since 2005. Instead, the authors blame an apparent increase in mental disorders among U.S. service members -- disorders stemming not from combat, but from “indirect cumulative occupational stresses across both deployed and home-station environments over years of war.”

On closer examination, the study has some obvious limitations. It studied service members between 2001 and 2008; for the beginning of that time period few of those who died of suicide would have deployed to war (troop levels were low in the first years of the war in Afghanistan and the Iraq war didn't begin until 2003). And despite making much of the fact that the study included 151,560 current and former military personnel, it analyzed just 83 suicides.

The study was published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, and careful readers of the publication can be excused for being thoroughly confused on the issue of military suicide. Just two months earlier the journal published another study that concluded that traumatic brain injuries – the signature wound of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts – are indeed associated with a greater risk of suicide and that the suicide risk increases with the number of brain injuries sustained by service members.
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My comment

Thank you is not enough to say for writing this. The DOD wants us to believe combat has nothing to do with the suicides but no one ever asks them to explain things.

The most obvious question is "If they were not deployed but committed suicide, what is wrong with the mental health evaluations they give to recruits?" No one asks that or when they discharged troops with "personality disorders" instead of treating them. They don't talk about hazing, sexual assaults or training itself being traumatic. They don't talk about or have to account for the rise in OEF OIF veterans killing themselves after discharge even though their "resilience training" were part of what they had. They also don't want to talk about attempted suicides.

The DOD Suicide Event Report for 2012 has still not been released. For 2011 there were over 900 suicide attempts. Again, they don't have an answer for them or the fact 2012 was the deadliest year on record. So thank you very much for not being part of the problem. Truth is always part of the solution.

This got me thinking about all the stuff that keeps happening. Not even touching the suicides back here, the obvious is what has been happening all along. They are using muskets against tanks.

Military suicide research nothing more than pure bullshit! Can I prove it? The research proves it but after all these years what proves it even more are the questions not being asked.

In 2009 this report came out.

Officials: Army suicides at 3-decade high
The Associated Press
By PAULINE JELINEK – 1 hour ago
January 29, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense officials say suicide among U.S. soldiers increased again last year and is at a nearly three-decade high.

The Army plans to announce figures later Thursday, but senior officials told The Associated Press that at least 128 soldiers killed themselves last year.

Obvious question: Since this happened right when the "resilience training" started, how did it get worse after this "record high" was reported?

According to the latest suicide report from the Army there were 185 suicides in the Army plus 93 National Guardsmen and 47 Army Reservists in 2012. For 2013 as of the end of July there were 94 suicides in the Army, 58 National Guardsmen and 32 Army Reservists.

So they went from 128 in 2009 to 325 in 2012 after spending billions a year on "preventing" them.

Obvious question: Since the number of suicides went up what is wrong with the training that has been pushed all these years to prevent them?

There are over 900 suicide prevention programs!

The survey by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America were based on about 4,000 veterans who responded to a survey the association sent to its 120,000 members in February. About a third of respondents said they had considered taking their own life at some point. A slightly larger percentage said they knew someone who had committed suicide. Forty-five percent say they know an Iraq or Afghanistan veteran who has attempted suicide. Two-thirds say they have veteran friends who need mental health counseling.

The DOD claims most commit suicide without being deployed (as stated above) but the DOD has been clueless on what to do about military suicides and PTSD. Expecting them to be able to un-break soldiers is ridiculous because their job has been to break them down to train them for combat. It is in the DNA of the DOD.

Obvious question: Why hasn't the DOD been able to figure out what they have been doing, paying for and pushing has not worked?

Battlefield medicine has advanced so far there are several quadruple amputees along with single and double amputees.

Obvious question: Why hasn't mental health advanced a fraction of the way? Had the DOD received faulty weapons, the contracts would have been canceled however they do not seem willing to cancel contracts and funding for providers of their programs despite massive failures.

We know that billions have been spent on these failures but we don't know who is going to be held accountable for them. We know that the DOD shows no sign of changing what they do but we don't know why they refuse to acknowledge any of this.

The last obvious question: If they commit suicide without being deployed into combat, how lousy is the resilience training they can't even keep them alive here?

Police Officer, OEF OIF veteran wins judgement after disgraceful treatment

Jury awards former West Palm Beach officer, fired on PTSD rumors, $880,000
Palm Beach Post
By Jane Musgrave
Staff Writer
August 30, 2013

WEST PALM BEACH — For three years, Matthew Ladd insisted that his military service in Iraq and Afghanistan shouldn’t have disqualified him from the ranks of the city’s police force.

Late Friday, a Palm Beach County jury agreed, ordering West Palm Beach to pay the 28-year-old Army veteran $880,000 for firing him on the basis of rumors that he had post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I’m stunned,” Ladd said shortly after the verdict was announced. “I’ve just been so stressed out about this case. Finally, I can get some sleep. My wife can get some sleep.”

His attorney Sid Garcia said Ladd was the victim of “malicious gossips” who lied about the trauma the rookie officer suffered while serving in the Middle East. They ultimately persuaded then-Police Chief Delsa Bush that Ladd was a danger to himself and others even though a psychiatrist who examined the rookie officer at the request of police brass found no evidence of mental distress and declared him fit for duty.

“Former Chief Bush did not take time to treat him like a human being,” Garcia said. Instead of believing the doctor, he said, she believed a vicious memo a sergeant wrote, claiming Ladd was mentally ill.
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Vietnam Veteran on vacation in Europe informed son killed in Afghanistan

U.S. Soldier Killed In Afghanistan Was Son Of Vietnam Veteran (Video)
KPBS News
By Beth Ford Roth
August 30, 2013

Army Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, 24, died August 28, in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. The young soldier was killed when insurgents attacked his unit with what the Department of Defense reports as "an improvised explosive device, small arms and indirect fire."

Ollis was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light) at Fort Drum in New York.
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