“I realized I was hearing the story of Achilles over and over again." Dr. Jonathan Shay on PTSD

Open Focus: Shelburne’s Jonathan Shay increased awareness of PTSD, ‘moral injury’

Greenfield Recorder
By RICHIE DAVIS
For the Recorder
Published: 1/12/2020

Shay, who moved to Franklin County from Newton nearly a decade ago, is a Harvard-trained doctor with a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania whose medical work shifted from neuropathology to treating combat veterans at the Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Boston. There, he says, “the veterans simply kidnapped me” with their compelling accounts of battle.

Shelburne resident Jonathan Shay holds a copy of his 1994 book, “Achilles in Vietnam.” For the Recorder/Richie Davis

It wasn’t until he was in his 40s that Jonathan Shay began reading ancient Greek author Homer’s landmark classics, “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.”

Just a few years later, as a psychiatrist for the Veterans Administration in Boston, he heard the horrendous Vietnam War experiences of his clients as hauntingly similar to those of Homer’s characters Achilles and Odysseus.

“I realized I was hearing the story of Achilles over and over again,” the 78-year-old retired Shelburne psychiatrist recalls. “The Iliad is about the enduring themes of what really happens to soldiers in war.”

Even though Homer’s Greek tragedies were written 2,700 years ago, they reflect perfectly the moral and social world that today’s soldiers live through, Shay says

An audio version of Shay’s 1994 landmark book, “Achilles in Vietnam,” has been released, narrated by Academy Award nominee (“Good Night and Good Luck”) David Strathairn, while his 2002 sequel, “Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming,” has already been recorded by Strathairn — both of them at Armadillo Audio Group Studio in Pelham.

Shay, who moved to Franklin County from Newton nearly a decade ago, is a Harvard-trained doctor with a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania whose medical work shifted from neuropathology to treating combat veterans at the Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Boston. There, he says, “the veterans simply kidnapped me” with their compelling accounts of battle.

The 2010 recipient of the Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice, for building acceptance of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a serious, bona fide war injury, the former psychiatrist disputes the label of PTSD as an illness, disease or sickness. Instead, he argues, saying those veterans have suffered a severe injury as serious as any physical wound from the battlefield.
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New York soldier fought in Iraq and Afghanistan...and in his neighborhood?

Army member allegedly ‘shoots up’ block with AR-15 claiming wife cheated

New York Post
By Andrew Denney, Joseph Konig and Aaron Feis
January 12, 2020

“He was very calm,” the neighbor added. “He took the gun apart, left it on the porch and called the cops on himself.”

Harold Beard's Dyker Heights home. Kevin C Downs for the New York Post

A US Army member turned his quiet Brooklyn block into a shooting range, firing his AR-15 into his own car and a neighbor’s home while accusing his wife of infidelity, authorities allege.

Harold Beard, a veteran of campaigns in both Iraq and Afghanistan, allegedly pointed his assault rifle out of the second-floor window of his Dyker Heights home at around 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 7, squeezing off at least 29 rounds, officials said.

“My wife is cheating on me,” Beard, 28, told responding cops, according to a criminal complaint. “I have an AR-15, I shot at my car, I shot it out of the window.”

No injuries were reported, but two rounds punched into Beard’s Cadillac as more sailed across 82nd Street and blew out a pair of windows at a neighbor’s home, authorities said.
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Voices unite to fight mental health crisis

Mental health crisis: We must speak with one powerful voice in 2020

The Hill
BY FORMER REP. PATRICK KENNEDY (D-R.I.), OPINION CONTRIBUTOR
01/13/20

The systemic change we need to address our nation’s mental health crisis truly will not happen unless families, advocates, providers, and policymakers unite in support of a roadmap for change — and demand action from elected leaders.

For many, the start of a new year represents a clean slate — a chance to take stock of what truly matters in life and course correct in search of a better path.

Human resiliency is a powerful thing. Mental health and addiction professionals often say it’s why they do what they do. People can recover from their challenges and go on to lead productive, meaningful lives.

But resiliency alone is not enough for the one in six Californians who have a mental health condition or the 2.7 million Californians who meet the criteria for a substance use disorder. Access to quality, evidence-based care, and community support are equally as important.

However, as Californians know all too well, such care and support are not always easy to come by, often leading to tragic outcomes. Overdose deaths from opioids and methamphetamines continue to devastate families across the state. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for Californians age 18-34.

Jails and prisons serve as de facto “treatment centers” for some, and homelessness has hit epidemic proportions, primarily due to a combination of untreated mental health and substance use disorders and California’s affordable housing crisis.

Many who seek care using private health insurance face enormous roadblocks. A recent report by the actuarial firm Milliman found huge out-of-network utilization disparities between mental health/addiction and medical/surgical care for inpatient facilities, outpatient facilities, and office visits.

This means insured individuals are paying more out-of-pocket for mental health/addiction care than they are for medical care — mostly because health plans continue to reimburse mental health/addiction providers far less than their primary care/specialist counterparts, causing those providers to stop accepting insurance altogether.
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Take the time to add your voice to this fight! I did! Go to Mental Health For US

EMS workers suffer trauma too

Cleveland EMS workers suffer trauma, too — so why won’t city help its helpers?

The Plain Dealer
By Andrea Simakis
January 12, 2020

Chuck followed them, fighting the tears building in his eyes. Then it was on to the next call.

Former Cleveland paramedic Charles Cali sits in his kitchen January 8, 2019. Cali left his job because the city won't agree to common sense mental health protections for its EMS workers. Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio — When the call came in, paramedic Chuck Cali and his partner hoped it was a mistake, or some feeble attempt to get the fire department there faster: “Neighbors report there’s a man on fire walking down the street.”

Then they turned a corner.

He was just standing there, not waving his hands or yelling. All his hair had been burned away. So had his clothes. Naked and still smoldering, everything that had made him recognizable was gone. Everything but his wide eyes.

“Am I going to die?”

As he spoke, part of his lip broke and flaked off.

The 23-year-old had suffered more burns than the decorated Cleveland paramedic had seen on some cadavers, and yet here he was, talking to them.

He wouldn’t tell them who had tied him up and set him on fire. If he told, they’d promised to do the same to everyone in his family.

“Please call my Dad.”

“Not now,” Chuck answered. “We need to get you to the hospital.”

A doctor took one look at him and declared him dead. “He’s still talking, sir,” Chuck replied. Three nurses left the room, crying.

Chuck followed them, fighting the tears building in his eyes. Then it was on to the next call.

There was no time to decompress, to make sure their heads were clear enough to treat the next critical patient.
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39 Army Rangers are women!

Pennsylvania female soldier breaks barriers

21 News
by Brian Sheehan
January 9th 2020

While Farber is the first National Guard member in Pennsylvania to enlist and graduate, 38 other women from across the county are also U.S. Army Rangers.

As the United States military continues moving towards gender equality in the workforce, more women are serving in combat positions.

Sgt. Danielle Farber is the first female National Guard soldier in Pennsylvania who enlisted and graduated U.S. Army Ranger School.

In 2013, the Pentagon lifted the ban on women serving in combat positions.

Farber graduated in December.

She’s originally from Chester County, but is stationed at Fort Indiantown Gap where she currently works as a medic.
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