Pentagon Perpetuates Stigma of Needing Help for PTSD

This is what Wounded Times has been screaming about for the last decade! 


Pentagon perpetuates stigma of mental health counseling, study says 
USA TODAY
Gregg Zoroyav May 5, 2016

Even as troop suicides remain at record levels, the Pentagon has failed to persuade servicemembers to seek counseling without fears that they'll damage their careers, a stinging government review concludes.

Despite six major Pentagon or independent studies from 2007 through 2014 that urged action to end the persistent stigma linked to mental health counseling, little has changed, analysts said in the April report by the Government Accountability Office.

"The potential for inconsistent decision making by commanders and leaders in suspending clearances or removing individuals from sensitive positions may further impede the department's efforts to address stigma," the report said.One key problem is that many Defense Department policies covering job assignments and security clearances still discriminate against anyone who receives mental health care, the report said.

The Pentagon largely agreed with all the conclusions and recommendations. Air Force Maj. Benjamin Sakrisson acknowledged that the problems described in the report can cause servicemembers to pay for their own counseling to keep it "off the books."

Among other findings:
A 2014 RAND study identified 203 Pentagon policies that may contribute to stigma and need to be reviewed, but nothing has been done about them, in part, because they are not a big enough priority for the Pentagon.
Despite a 2012 directive from the secretary of Defense that seeking mental health care should not adversely impact security clearances, this practice continues. Analysts found that people who see a therapist are at least temporarily losing their access to classified information.
Department of Defense civilians who deploy overseas are not asked about whether stigma is a problem, so it is impossible to gauge whether they are also avoiding mental health care because of it.
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Senate Finally Figures Out All Generations of Caregivers Should Matter?

If you asked older veterans if Post-9-11 veterans should be treated like they have been, they'd say "hell no" but I have to tell you, they are pissed off they are being ignored in all of this.

Senators want caregiver benefits phased in for older veterans
Stars and Stripes
By Tom Philpott
Special to Stars and Stripes
Published: May 5, 2016

There are problems with the program, but the VA alone isn’t to blame, said Adrian Atizado, deputy legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, whose national service officers field caregiver complaints. Congress underfunded it. 

A showpiece of the Veterans First package that the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee unveiled last week is a multibillion-dollar initiative to phase in for older generations of severely injured veterans robust caregiver benefits first enacted in 2010 only for the post-9/11 generation.

Though it’s only part of a huge omnibus bill containing many veteran reform measures that senators previously introduced as separate bills, the plan to expand caregiver benefit coverage carries the biggest price tag. The early estimate is $3.1 billion over its first five years.

For in-home caregivers of thousands of vets with severe physical or mental injuries, it would mean cash stipends for their time and effort, health insurance if caregivers have none, guaranteed periods of paid respite to avoid caregiver burnout and training to enhance patient safety.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., prime architect of the caregiver expansion plan, negotiated with Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., the committee chairman, to secure a modified plan that could be funded with budget offsets and gain bipartisan support on the committee. That should improve its chances of becoming law despite still formidable obstacles ahead.
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Older veterans came home with the same wounds and the same long waits for Congress to fix the VA. After all, Congress has had since 1946 to fix it. While you have salamanders running the show then running from their own records, at the same time they want to send veterans away from the VA while screaming about how bad civilian healthcare is, you get a predicted outcome. Much like salamanders can be used to protect, they can also be deadly and that is what we really need to talk about.

Did you know that older veterans are the majority of the backlog of claims? They are also the largest percentage of veterans committing suicide. Top that off with the fact that no wound created with military service is new and the toll on families is just as harsh for us, but we've been struggling for decades while fighting for the generations coming after us.

Seems like we did a pretty good job on that end but as for taking care of our own, we pretty much suck at it. We let the Caregivers Bill be pushed through Congress even though it didn't include us.  We let all these neophytes running around the country screaming about raising awareness when they didn't even bother to get a clue first that when it comes to the problems veterans face, they are new to the road all too well traveled.  There isn't much they have to teach us and they don't care about what we want to teach them so they have it all easier.

What makes all this taste even more bitter is that no one in our generation wants them to lose anything.  We want them to have what they paid for and what they wouldn't need if they did not risk their lives serving this country.

Given the choice between letting them have it all or no one getting anything, older veterans would step out of line but in a nation with so many bumper slogans about how much our veterans mean to the rest of the country, it seems reprehensible they would ever have to face a choice like that at all.

Do we really care about our veterans or don't we?

Veteran Admits He Lied To Collect VA Benefits

Veteran admits lying for over $121,000 in benefits
Toledo Blade
May 3, 2016

An Army veteran who received more than $121,000 in benefits intended for low-income, disabled veterans admitted in federal court Monday that he lied in his application for benefits about his income and ability to work.

Antonio Estrada, 65, of Toledo pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary to theft of government money and property of more than $1,000. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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Good Samaritan Marine Killed By Fort Hood Solider

UPDATE
May 29, 2016
The wife of the shooter is being blamed by some?

ARLINGTON A Walgreens employee who was shot in the leg by her abusive husband said she is getting blamed on social media for the death of a Good Samaritan who tried to intervene in the shooting.

Quinisha Johnson, 22, has apologized several times on local TV stations since her husband, who was an active-duty soldier, drove 2 1/2 hours from Fort Hood to Arlington to confront her about a Facebook photo and ended up killing an Arlington CrossFit coach.

Seriously? I was the victim of domestic violence. My ex-husband tried to kill be after we had been married for about 18 months. I know what it like to go through it as much as I know what happens afterwards. In my case, I had a lawyer file for divorce the next day. My ex spent the night in jail and then was free to do what he wanted. A restraining order did nothing but allow him to show up at my apartment, my parents house when I moved back with them and at work. He stalked me for a year that I knew of and even longer after that when I didn't know he was there. He introduced himself over 30 years ago to my current husband, so we assumed he was still following me.

What if it had turned out differently for me and he had tried to kill me again? To blame the wife of the man who pulled the trigger on her as well as Antell, who thought her life was worth risking his for, is pathetic.

Marine Dies as Good Samaritan in Arlington Shooting: Police
Suspected shooter later surrendered to DPS Troopers in Hillsboro, police say
NBC 5 News
By Ken Kalthoff
May 3, 2016

Police said Antell's wife watched him die. Friends said the couple have three children and that Antell owned a CrossFit gym in Arlington, where people gathered to grieve Monday evening.

A Marine was shot and killed by an Army soldier while trying to intervene in a domestic shooting Monday in North Texas, according to Arlington police.

The shooting happened around 11:50 a.m. outside a Walgreens store on Green Oaks Boulevard at New York Aformevenue in Arlington.

Police identified the suspect as 22-year-old Ricci Chambless Bradden, a U.S. Army soldier at Fort Hood, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Anthony Antell Jr., 35, saw the confrontation in the parking lot as his wife sat in their car. Police said Antell, a Marine, got out his gun and tried to stop Bradden from leaving, acting as a good Samaritan.

"At that point, the suspect exits the vehicle, shoots the good Samaritan. The good Samaritan is pronounced deceased at the scene," said Arlington police Lt. Christopher Cook.
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Dark Horse Amputee Marine Takes Hill With A Little Help From Brothers

Marine amputee climbs Pendleton's First Sergeant's Hill to honor his fallen comrades
Marine Corps Times
Lance M. Bacon
May 3, 2016

It was evident the bond and brotherhood fostered by the page would be needed long after the Marines returned home, Soto said, so the page never shut down.

Marine veteran Cpl. Josue Barron, an amputee who climbed First Sergeant's Hill at Camp Pendleton, Calif., said he hopes others who see him overcome his challenges will think twice about overcoming theirs.

(Photo: courtesy of Mark Soto and The Honor Group)

Some would say the two-minute video captures everything that is best about the Marine Corps — a one-legged vet pushing through immense pain to conquer a colossal hill that memorializes fallen comrades. Beside him, brothers in arms shout words of encouragement and motivation. Within him, the memory of lost Marines provides strength to endure.

The climb was part of a five-year reunion that honored the Marines and families of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, which completed Afghanistan’s deadliest deployment in 2011.

The “Dark Horse” battalion made great gains, but at great cost, when it deployed in and around the town of Sangin, in Afghanistan's embattled Helmand province. In seven months, the battalion saw 25 Marines killed in action and another 184 wounded. Nearly three dozen of the wounded returned home as single, double and triple amputees.

Among them is former Cpl. Josue Barron, who lost a leg and his left eye in the conflict, and is shown in the April 30 video.
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