Bond – Boxer – Lieberman Bill will Improve Treatment of Troops, Military Families

When President Obama was a Senator and running for the office, he made a promise to the family of Spc. Chris Dana and the Montana National Guard. He said if he ended up elected, he would take their PTSD program nationally. It looks like this is the start of honoring that promise. Read about Chris Dana below.

United States Senate

WASHINGTON, DC



For Immediate Release Shana Marchio - Bond: (202) 224-0309

WEDNESDAY, April 1, 2009 David Frey - Boxer: (202)224- 8120

Erika Masonhall - Lieberman: (202) 224-4041



Bond – Boxer – Lieberman Bill will Improve Treatment of Troops, Military Families





WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senators Kit Bond (R-MO), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) along with a bipartisan coalition of Senators, introduced the Honoring Our Nation’s Obligations to Returning Warriors Act (HONOR) to improve treatment for our service members and veterans suffering with invisible injuries like PTSD and TBI and increase care for military families. Additional original co-sponsors of the bill include Sam Brownback (R-KS), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Arlen Specter (R-PA).



Senator Bond said, “The government pledged to provide care for our troops and veterans who served America honorably in combat and their families but to date the Pentagon’s response to the suffering of our troops returning home with ‘invisible injuries’ has been deeply disappointing. We can’t continue to wait for the Pentagon to do the right thing, Congress must act now and this bipartisan bill is a critical first step.”



Senator Boxer said, “This bipartisan bill will help ensure the best possible care for those brave individuals who incurred traumatic brain and mental injuries while serving their country. We also help provide for the loved ones of those lost to suicide. I look forward to working with Senator Bond, Senator Lieberman and my other colleagues to see this bill become law.”



Senator Lieberman said, "We have no greater obligation than to care for our wounded service members. Our troops put their lives on the line for our nation – we must fulfill our duty to provide them with the support they need to recover from mental health problems and resume normal lives. If we provide the right care at the right time, we will not only be protecting them, but making our military stronger and more effective.”


As the Senate’s leading advocates for improving the mental health care our troops receive, Bond, Boxer, and Lieberman reintroduced the HONOR Act to address the immediate needs of those suffering with invisible injuries and to make a long-term fix to the military’s mental health care system. The Senators are hopeful for swift passage and Administration support since President Obama was one of the HONOR Act’s strongest supporters in the Senate last year.



According to the RAND Institute an estimated 620,000 returning service members suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, (PTSD) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), or both. Despite this figure, which represents about 30 percent of those who have served in combat, the Pentagon’s response to the suffering of these troops and their families has been inadequate. The Senators stressed that the current military mental health system is underfunded, understaffed, and extremely difficult to navigate. Compounding this problem, there is a silent stigma on these “invisible injuries” that prevents many service members from seeking mental health treatment.

Provisions in the Bond-Boxer-Lieberman bill will:



Give active duty service members access to Vet Centers – the community-based counseling centers veterans use for mental health care services;


Extend survivor benefits to families of military personnel who commit suicide and have service-related mental health conditions, including PTSD and TBI;


Establish a scholarship for service members who have served in a combat zone to seek professional degrees in behavioral sciences to provide assistance to active and former service members afflicted with psychological mental health conditions connected with traumatic events during combat;


Create a program to employ and train combat veterans as psychiatric technicians and nurses to provide counseling for active duty service members in immediate need of treatment;


Establish an annual joint review and report on the effectiveness of re-integration programs from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.


The HONOR Act also has support from our veterans and military groups. Wayne Frost, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of Military Spouses of America said the HONOR Act is “one of the necessary steps that our nation must take in order to provide for the adequate and deserved care of our active duty military personnel and veterans who have become post traumatic stress, or traumatic brain injury war casualties.”



Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said “Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is pleased to offer our support for the ‘HONOR Act’. This legislation provides incentives for retiring or separating military personnel and combat veterans to pursue an advanced degree in the behavioral health field, alleviating the shortage of mental health specialists serving our active service members and veterans.”

The Importance of the HONOR Act: Chris Dana’s Story
At 23 years old, Chris Dana returned home with the 163rd Infantry Battalion, Montana National Guard. With an Iraq combat deployment and a world of experiences behind him, Dana was ready to transition from warrior to civilian. In November 2005, he came home to the peaceful town of Helena, Montana to rejoin his family, his friends, and his old job.
Like many before him, Dana honorably served his country and returned full of pride. Nevertheless, he began to struggle with the world around him, grappling with the inescapable memories of war. Chris'
loved ones began to notice his distant behavior, a striking departure from his usual outgoing demeanor. Although Chris was never physically injured in combat and his uniform was adorned with multiple stacks of ribbons, his psychological injuries festered under the surface. One of his brothers, Matt Kuntz, said Chris seemed to be melting from the inside. His father noticed that his eyes had lost their shine, reflecting the slow withdrawal from the joys of living.
Too many of our returning warriors come home with the same obstacles and face large uphill battles. These invisible injuries manifest themselves from numerous traumatic events which are often exacerbated by the lack of effective treatment at home. Chris was no different. Struggling with Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder (PTSD), he distanced himself from those closest to him, and his unit failed to reach out to him.
Today, many returning war fighters are unfamiliar with the mental and physical occupational hazards of war. In effect, military leaders struggle to grasp the toll that combat takes on the human body, and fail to reach out to their subordinates and those around them. All too often there exists an environment plagued by a stigma that punishes the returning service member for seeking help and rewarding those who "suck it up."
As a result, our Armed Forces continue to lose our most precious assets to suicide from PTSD and other psychological disorders. The spike in suicides is alarming, and the month of January 2009 solidified our worst fears. That month, suicide rates eclipsed combat fatalities from both Iraq and Afghanistan. The services have responded with audacious plans and resolute intensity to find a way to fix the suicide epidemic. A significant contributor to the inflated suicide rate is the inadequacy of mental health treatment for invisible injuries among service members, all too often compounded by a stigma that discourages seeking help. For example, in many units seeking mental health treatment is silently portrayed as a sign of weakness. One common phrase is that "our men and women knew what they were signing up for." Many cases of PTSD are never reported because service members are asphyxiated by the formidable impression of losing their job or more importantly, losing the respect of their colleagues.
Soon, Chris Dana drew further away from his family. He began screening his calls, he quit his job, and he stopped showing up at drill with the National Guard. Members of Chris' family felt that his unit failed to offer him an acceptable level of care, which ultimately pushed him further away. In the end, he was unable to be saved. Chris lost his battle to PTSD when he took his own life.
Chris' was buried with honors at a VA cemetery in his home state of Montana. The ceremony was filled with state officials, Montana National Guardsmen, and throngs of family. The National Guard honored Chris Dana's service by extending survivor benefits to his family. As a result, his brother was able to attend college and carry on the legacy his brother left behind.
Under current law, survivor benefits are not extended to former service members who commit suicide. The Honor Act introduced by Senators Bond, Boxer, Lieberman, Brownback, Grassley, McCaskill, Murkowski, Schumer, and Specter will extend survivor benefits to EVERY former service member who commits suicide and has a medical history of PTSD connected to combat. No military family should be left behind with nothing to honor and remember the legacy of their fallen loved one.

Combat Veterans with PTSD need to beware of a hack

It gives me no pleasure to read what Sue Frazier has to say about PTSD or veterans. It is because of the harm people like her cause, masquerading as advocates for veterans, that force me once again to address her rants.

From: Sue Frasier
Subject: Re:PTSD: REPLY

PTSD is a real and valid cause
but not the way many of you
are putting it out.

PTSD only effects a small and
teeny percentage of the population
some 17% and getting smaller,
and out of that number, many
are cured or recovered along
they way (the Veterans themselves
say so).

PTSD is not even the leading
psychiatric diagnoses in the
VA system --- schizophrenia
is and that does make a lot
more sense to me as I do
see more of that than any
real PTSD in my travels.
Schizophrenia is organic
and means they either had
it when they were drafted or
acquired it from long term
drug abuse. It's the doper
crowd who are clouding the issue.
take care everybody and
have a nice day.
Sue Frasier, albany ny

combatvetswithptsd : Message: Re: [Combat Vets with PTSD] Who is Susan Frasier ?

Frazier or Frasier, has attacked veterans on the Combat Vets with PTSD group. Think of what she said to them and then think about the truth. Below are the causes of both illnesses, which she has no idea about.

Schizophrenia
Introduction
Experts now agree that schizophrenia develops as a result of interplay between biological predisposition (for example, inheriting certain genes) and the kind of environment a person is exposed to.

These lines of research are converging: brain development disruption is now known to be the result of genetic predisposition and environmental stressors early in development (during pregnancy or early childhood), leading to subtle alterations in the brain that make a person susceptible to developing schizophrenia. Environmental factors later in life (during early childhood and adolescence) can either damage the brain further and thereby increase the risk of schizophrenia, or lessen the expression of genetic or neurodevelopmental defects and decrease the risk of schizophrenia.

The Path to Schizophrenia - The diagram above shows how genetic and prenatal factors are believed to create a vulnerability to schizophrenia. Additional envronmental exposures (for example, frequent or ongoing social stress and/or isolation during childhood, drug abuse, etc.) then further increase the risk or trigger the onset of psychosis and schizophrenia. Early signs of schizophrenia risk include neurocognitive impairments, social anxiety (shyness) and isolation and "odd ideas". (note: "abuse of DA drugs" referes to dopamine affecting (DA) drugs). Source: Presentation by Dr. Ira Glick,"New Schizophrenia Treatments" Read below for an indepth explanation of the genetic and environmental factors linked to schizophrenia.
Neither of these two categories is completely determinant, and there is no specified amount of genetic or environmental input that will ensure someone will or will not develop schizophrenia. Moreover, risk factors may be different for different individuals - while one person may develop schizophrenia due largely to a strong family history of mental illness (i.e. a high level of genetic risk), someone else with much less genetic vulnerability may also develop the disease due to a more significant combination of prepregnancy factors, pregnancy stress, other prenatal factors, social stress, family stress or environmental factors that they experience during their childhood, teen or early adult years.
http://www.schizophrenia.com/hypo.php

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, or military combat. More about PTSD »
Signs & Symptoms
People with PTSD have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal and feel emotionally numb, especially with people they were once close to. They may experience sleep problems, feel detached or numb, or be easily startled. More about Signs & Symptoms »
Treatment
Effective treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder are available, and research is yielding new, improved therapies that can help most people with PTSD and other anxiety disorders lead productive, fulfilling lives. More about Treatment »
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml

What she fails to understand is that PTSD is caused by trauma. That is why it's called Post-traumatic-stress-disorder. Obvious to anyone paying even minimal attention to this. It is not caused by the person. I have my suspicions about people like this "advocate" and put her in line with fellow dispensers of bitchery like Sally Satel, who have done more harm to the already wounded than should be forgiven.

When you are attacked by people, telling you that PTSD is not such a big problem, turn to the experts and find the tools you need to help you recover. Hacks will only make it worse for you. Go to the Veteran's Administration for facts.
http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/index.jsp

Do not turn to hacks pretending to give a crap when they end up attacking you.

PTSD is not cured. You can recover and heal your life, but you are never totally free of it.

At least 3.6 percent of U.S. adults (5.2 million Americans) have PTSD during the course of a year.

About 30 percent of the men and women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD.

One million war veterans developed PTSD after serving in Vietnam.

PTSD has also been detected among veterans of the Persian Gulf War, with some estimates running as high as 8 percent.
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/ptsd

As you can see the percentage is not tiny and not getting smaller. It is one out of three for combat veterans.

ASD
Acute Stress Disorder
If PTSD is the most severe form of deployment-related stress problem, then the closely related Acute Stress Disorder, ASD, is the second most severe form. Both involve exposure to a significant traumatic event and a response of intense emotions. Overall ASD looks and feels a lot like PTSD. There are, however, a few very important differences.

First, ASD does not last as long as PTSD. In most cases, ASD lasts less than 1 month. If symptoms last longer than that, then the person may have PTSD rather than ASD. Second, in addition to the re-experiencing, avoiding, and being "keyed-up" that is associated with PTSD, people who have ASD also experience "dissociation." Basically, dissociation occurs when the mind and the body part company for a while. Examples of dissociation are listed in the following table.
(click link for table)
http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/deployment/Guides/RedeploymentTri-Fold/Deployment_Related_Stress.pdf

What is also not addressed is that the Army released their own study about the redeployments and they increase the risk of PTSD by 50%.

There are too many people in this country putting out false information for their own reasons, but none of the reasons are good or for the sake of those who serve this country.

Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com

"60 Minutes" provided wrong information on Combat PTSD

"60 Minutes" provided wrong information on Combat PTSD
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 14, 2014

When we depend on reporters to get it right we assume they understand enough about the topic they are covering to be able to ask the proper questions. Unfortunately, most of the time they lack a basic understanding and have not taken the time to do any research. This happened again with a "60 Minutes" report from November.

I received a link to a video on exposure therapy for combat veterans. It is a powerful report but not because of the reporter. Pelley didn't know the basic questions to ask.

The power comes from these veterans talking about what they have been going through.

CBS 60 Minutes Nov 24, 2013

60 Minutes gets a rare look inside new therapy sessions that are changing the lives of vets who suffer from PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. Scott Pelley reports.

If Pelley understood anything on "Redeployment" at 30 seconds into the report he would have asked why the military continued to redeploy even after the Army acknowledge redeployments increase the risk of PTSD by 50% for each redeployment in 2006.

"U.S. soldiers serving repeated Iraq deployments are 50 percent more likely than those with one tour to suffer from acute combat stress, raising their risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Army's first survey exploring how today's multiple war-zone rotations affect soldiers' mental health.

More than 650,000 soldiers have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001 -- including more than 170,000 now in the Army who have served multiple tours -- so the survey's finding of increased risk from repeated exposure to combat has potentially widespread implications for the all-volunteer force. Earlier Army studies have shown that up to 30 percent of troops deployed to Iraq suffer from depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with the latter accounting for about 10 percent
(Repeat Iraq Tours Raise Risk of PTSD, Army Finds, Washington Post By Ann Scott Tyson December 20, 2006)

The claim of one out of five have PTSD is also wrong.

About 30 percent of the men and women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD. An additional 20 to 25 percent have had partial PTSD at some point in their lives. More than half of all male Vietnam veterans and almost half of all female Vietnam veterans have experienced “clinically serious stress reaction symptoms.” PTSD has also been detected among veterans of other wars. Estimates of PTSD from the Gulf War are as high as 10%. Estimates from the war in Afghanistan are between 6 and 11%. Current estimates of PTSD in military personnel who served in Iraq range from 12% to 20%.
(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Nebraska Department of Veterans Affairs)

New treatments designed for rape victims is not "new" for them either.

The British Journal of Psychiatry published this in 2000.

Exposure therapies can also be combined with cognitive processing interventions (e.g. Resick and Schnicke, 1993), stress inoculation and relaxation techniques, and anxiety management training (Rothbaum and Foa, 1996). Both exposure and cognitive restructuring techniques seem to be effective, and are more effective than relaxation alone (Marks et al, 1998). Another form of exposure therapy employs cognitive reprocessing combined with saccadic eye-movements (eye-movement desensitisation and reprocessing, EMDR). Recent studies suggest that this strategy can be effective with combat veterans, and survivors of child abuse and disasters. (Psychological therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder, GWEN ADSHEAD, MRCPsych)

Prolonged exposure, not new and does not work because they are forced to relive all of it over and over again but there is no closure. There is no peace. They are going after the symptoms but not the cause.

Do they really think rape is the same as combat?

There have been reports this "treatment" helps rape survivors and victims of abuse but the two traumas are not the same. Until they treat Combat PTSD differently, we will keep seeing the same results of higher suicides, more homelessness and more suffering when they could be healing.

Three types of trauma were classified: combat- related, rape or assault-related, and a category reflecting a mix of various trauma or another trauma. Across the 59 trials that reported trauma type, 51% involved combat-related trauma only, 19% rape or assault-related trauma only, and 30% a mix of trauma or other trauma. Within each treatment condition (for conditions with three or more trials), mean effect sizes did not significantly differ across trauma types, ps 4 0.1.

Until the cause of PTSD is treated differently, we will keep seeing the same deadly results. Until reporters learn enough to know what questions to ask, we will keep repeating the same mistakes.

DOD and VA "efforts" made having PTSD worse

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
June 21, 2014

Military/veteran families and civilian families live in a different worlds. They settle for what the press tells them but we walk around with our eyes bugging out and brows raised so high they almost hit our hair line. My forehead wrinkles get deeper every years but that is just the way it. While we know what we live with the rest of the population think they have just discovered our pain,,,,again. How could they keep forgetting what they read last year or the year before or the year before that? How could they keep forgetting being upset for us over and over again?

The DOD and the VA can't prove if their "efforts" to address PTSD work, but then again, they say they just don't even know. That is the problem. All these years the DOD has been pushing Comprehensive Soldier Fitness. Before that, it was Battlemind. These "efforts" actually make PTSD worse while preventing servicemen and women from seeking help. Why? Because when soldiers are told they can "train their brains to be mentally tough" that translates into "if I have PTSD then I am mentally weak."

It seems that everyone is shocked by the report from Institute of Medicine except veterans and families. None of us are shocked at all. What is shocking is it took them so long to report on what we've been living with all these years.

IOM REPORT: DEFENSE/VA HAVE NO CLUE IF $9.3 BILLION WORTH OF PTSD TREATMENT WORKS
Nextgov
Bob Brewin
June 20, 2014

The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments spent $9.3 billion to treat post-traumatic stress disorder from 2010 through 2012, but neither knows whether this staggering sum resulted in effective or adequate care, the Institute of Medicine reported today.

DOD spent $789.1 million on PTSD treatment from 2010 through 2012. During that same time period, VA spent $8.5 billion, with $1.7 billion treating 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

DOD lacks a mechanism for the systematic collection, analysis and dissemination of data for assessing the quality of PTSD care, and VA does not track the PTSD treatments a patient receives, other than medications, in its electronic health record, IOM said in the congressionally mandated 301-page report, “Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Military and Veteran Populations: Final Assessment.”

IOM estimated 5 percent of all service members have PTSD. Eight percent of those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have been diagnosed with the condition. The number of veterans of all eras who sought care from VA more than doubled from 2003 to 2012 -- from approximately 190,000 veterans (4.3 percent of all VA users) in 2003 to more than a half million veterans (9.2 percent of all VA users) in 2012.

For those treated for PTSD in the VA system in 2012, 23.6 percent (119,500) were veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
read more here

BATTLEMIND-RESILIENCE-COMPREHENSIVE UNFITNESS
Kathie Costos, posted on Wounded Times and in the book, THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR

If the military had ordered weapons that turned out to be more dangerous for the troops than they were for the enemy, they would have canceled the contracts. In the case of contracts and programs to prevent Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and reduce military suicides, they did not come to the obvious conclusion these programs were more dangerous than doing nothing.

BATTLEMIND was the granddaddy. This program was later called Resilience Training and Comprehensive Soldier Fitness.

This was the claim made in 2009 about Battlemind

“The study found that in Soldiers who had seen extensive combat, Battlemind training resulted in a 14 percent reduction in severity of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.

And while 60 percent of Soldiers without the training reported sleep problems, just 30 percent of those who'd had the Battlemind class said they were having trouble sleeping after returning home.

Validation claim
Adler said the study validates the efficacy of the training, which aims to prevent or reduce psychological problems by giving Soldiers detailed information about what to expect, how to deal with problems and assurance that their experiences are both shared and manageable.

"It's not just the events you might be exposed to," she said. "It's also the thoughts you might have, feelings you might have...it helps put the experience in perspective."

Adler did not say whether the study had determined the training's effects on other commonly reported difficulties, such as irritability or depression.

The Battlemind material was developed after years of gathering data about deployments and reintegration. More than 80,000 troops filled out surveys since at least 2003 providing data on the typical effects of combat and the typical problems after coming home.

"What's normal, what you can expect," Adler said.

Battlemind Training was devised by psychologist COL Carl Castro, along with a colleague. It is based on the psychological theory of expectation, said Castro, now director of Medical Research and Materiel Command's Military Operational Medicine Research Program.

"Everyone does better when they know what to expect," Castro said. "So we said, 'What would be useful to know, based on evidence we had already collected?'"

That the study of the training's effectiveness, conducted in 2005 and 2006 on some 2,000 Soldiers in combat brigade teams, showed modest mental-health gains was expected, Castro said.

"It opens up the door," he said, to more psychological-health training throughout an Army career and, eventually, larger mental-health gains.“ (Study Shows Battlemind Training Effective, Nancy Montgomery, Stars and Stripes)

“Every Soldier headed to Iraq and Afghanistan receives “Battlemind” training designed to help him deal with combat experiences, but few know the science behind the program. Dr. Amy Adler, a senior research psychologist with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research's U.S. Army Medical Research Unit Europe visited Patch Barracks here to explain the support and intervention program to an audience of medical, mental health and family support professionals.” (Battlemind Program seeks to help soldiers deal with combat experiences, Susan Huseman, US Army Garrison Stuttgart Public Affairs Office, January 4, 2008)

A year later, Gregg Zoroya of USA Today interviewed Josh Barber’s widow. Josh drove to Fort Lewis “to kill himself and prove a point.” Kelly Barber went on to say that, “The "smell of death" he experienced in Iraq continued to haunt him, his wife says. He was embittered about the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that crippled him, the Army's failure to treat it, and the strains the disorder put on his marriage.” Barber would have had Battlemind Training, but like most of the men and women committing suicide in the military or because of it, this program was the push into the abyss.

In 2007 Charles Figley, Ph.D, Florida State university professor, “College of Social Work and director of “Traumatology Institute and Psychosocial Stress Research Program” was talking about OEF and OIF troops under combat stress. He said "We need to move from an obsession with PTSD to focus on combat stress, injury prevention, and management."

After addressing his thoughts on changing the term from PTSD to “combat stress injury” Figley went on to add “However, prevention and management must begin early, he said. Troops should acknowledge the likelihood and fact of injury beginning in boot camp. Before they are wounded, troops believe they are invulnerable and even after physical injury, often deny they are hurt. To a soldier, injury, whether physical or psychological, is a source of embarrassment. They have to move from denial to needing to talk about their injuries.” (American Psychiatric News, May 4, 2007) Comprehensive Soldier Fitness has just about the same type of claims.

According to reporters at the time, CSF was $125 million dollar failure, however, that was just the original cost.

The $125-million Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program
requires soldiers to undergo the kind of mental pre-deployment tests and training that they have always had to undergo physically. Already, more than 1.1 million have had the mental assessments. (By Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times December 26, 2011)

From Amazon about Warrior MindSet by Dr. Michael Asken, Loren W. Christensen, Dave Grossman and Human Factor Research Group.
January 1, 2010

“Mental toughness is essential for elite human performance and especially in high stress situations. While mental toughness is a singular value in both military and law enforcement training and missions, too often, there is a disconnect between talking about and actually training it. Warrior MindSet defines mental toughness and describes its critical need and function in the face of the performance degrading effects of combat, mission or response stress. Warrior MindSet provides the psychological skills that comprise mental toughness to optimize performance, success, safety and survival in the field.”

Human Factor Research Group Leadership members are Bruce Siddel, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, Dr. Steven Stahle and Mark Glueck. According to their website these are among some of their clients.

United States Department of Army SOTF (Delta Force), Ft. Bragg, NC
United States Department of Army Ranger Training Battalion
United States Department of Army Military Disciplinary Barracks, Ft. Leavenworth, KS
United States Department of Army Survival, Escape, Evasion and Resistance School - John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School
United States Department of Army Ranger Training Battalion, Ft. Benning, GA
United States Department of Navy Redcell, Littlecreek, VA
United States Department of Defense Camp Peary, VA
22nd Regiment, SAS, Minister of Defense Hereford, England

In 2006, the Army documented 2,100 attempted suicides; an average of more than five per day. In comparison, there were 350 attempts in 2002, the year before the war in Iraq began.

The method of choice was a firearm. There is no firm data on Soldiers who had thoughts of suicide. (Suicide Gets Army’s Attention, Army, Debbie Sheehan, Fort Monmouth Public Affairs October 14, 2009)

In 2007, the Army experienced its highest desertion rate since 1980, an 80 percent increase since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. The warning signs of future retention problems are increasingly apparent: suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, divorce, domestic violence, and murder within the force are on the rise. Recent attention has focused on the growing number of suicides, with the Marine Corps experiencing more suicides in 2008 than since the war began and the Army logging its highest monthly total in January 2009 since it began counting in 1980. Not surprisingly, PTSD rates are highest among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who saw extensive combat (28 percent). However, military health care officials are seeing a spectrum of psychological issues, even among those without much combat experience. Various surveys provide a range of estimates, with up to half of returning National Guard and Reservists, 38 percent of Soldiers, and 31 percent of Marines reporting mental health problems. (Mind Fitness, Improving Operational Effectiveness and Building Warrior Resilience, Elizabeth A. Stanley and Amishi P. Jha, Army, October 30, 2009)

Battlemind and Comprehensive Soldier Fitness failed. In 2009 I wrote that if they pushed this program suicides would go up.

In the article

In a speech before the international affairs organization the Atlantic Council on Thursday, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey laid out the virtues of the newly formed initiative, which he called Comprehensive Soldier Fitness.

"We have been looking very hard at ways to develop coping skills and resilience in soldiers, and we will be coming out in July with a new program called Comprehensive Soldier Fitness," said Casey. "And what we will attempt to do is raise mental fitness to the same level that we now give to physical fitness. Because it is scientifically proven, you can build resilience."

If you need proof CSF failed, here it is.

2008 Army = 140; Air Force = 45; Navy = 41; Marine Corps = 42 total 268
2009 Army = 164; Air Force = 46; Navy = 47; Marine Corps = 52 total 309
2010 Army = 160; Air Force = 59; Navy = 39; Marine Corps = 37 total 295
2011 Army = 167; Air Force = 50; Navy = 52; Marine Corps = 32 total 301
A total of 915 Service Members attempted suicide in 2011 (Air Force = 241, Army = 432, Marine Corps = 156, Navy = 86). DoDSERs were submitted for 935 suicide attempts (Air Force = 251, Army = 440, Marine Corps = 157, Navy = 87). Of the 915 Service Members who attempted suicide, 896 had one attempt, 18 had two attempts, and 1 had three attempts.

2012: Army 185, 93 Army National Guard and 47 Army Reserve, but the reports left out the citizen soldiers when they included 48 Marines, 59 Air Force, 60 Navy, total 492

RAND Corp took a hard look at this program and found that resilience training did not even fit with military culture.

Medal of Honor heroes talked about having PTSD, after this training. Dakota Meyer tried to commit suicide. Special Forces veterans talked about having PTSD after this training and some of them committed suicide. Some were discharged like Sgt. Ben Driftmyer.

Those returning are facing serious combat related mental health issues. According to a study conducted by RAND Corp. last year, one in three combat veterans will return home with PTSD, traumatic brain injury or major depression requiring treatment.

"I had spent eight years serving the military. I never got in trouble. Never did anything bad. And I got treated like I was a piece of crap because of it," said Ben Driftmyer, discharged U.S. Army Sergeant and Cottage Grove resident.

Driftmyer was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder by Eugene doctors after he was chaptered out from the special forces unit in Baghdad. He suffered several mental breakdowns during his service, but his discharge was classified as "other than medical."

"Because the military didn't want to pay for me for the rest of my life," said Driftmyer.

The other factor in all of this are similar to what Driftmyer faced. Bad paper discharges. Here are the numbers from 2013.

Army

Data obtained by The Associated Press show that the number of officers who left the Army due to misconduct more than tripled in the past three years. The number of enlisted soldiers forced out for drugs, alcohol, crimes and other misconduct shot up from about 5,600 in 2007, as the Iraq war peaked, to more than 11,000 last year.

Navy

The Navy went through a similar process. When the decision was made to cut the size of the 370,000-strong naval force in 2004, the number of sailors who left due to misconduct and other behavior issues grew. In 2006, more than 8,400 sailors left due to conduct issues.

Air Force

The Air Force, which is smaller than the Navy and Army, reported far fewer cases of airmen leaving for misconduct, both for officers and enlisted service members. The number of officers separated from service since 2000 due to a court-martial ranged from a low of 20 in 2001 to a high of 68 in 2007. For enlisted airmen, the number ranged from a high of nearly 4,500 in 2002 to a low of almost 2,900 in 2013.

Marines

Data for the Marine Corps, the military’s smallest service, were not broken out by officers and enlisted personnel. Overall, it showed that Marines leaving the service due to misconduct was about 4,400 in 2007, but has declined to a bit more than 3,000 last year. Those forced to leave for commission “of a serious offense” has nearly doubled from about 260 to more than 500 in the past seven years. The number of Marines who left after court-martial has dropped from more than 1,300 in 2007 to about 250 last year. The Marine Corps also grew in size during the peak war years, and is reducing its ranks.

Yet in all of this every year the DOD says that most of the suicides were committed by servicemembers with no history of deployments.

This is the most important question of all. If Comprehensive Soldier Fitness didnt' work for the troops without being deployed, how did they expect it to work for the troops being sent into combat over and over again?

Simple question they don't seem to want to answer.

One of the latests Medal of Honor heroes from the Vietnam War is Melvin Morris. I met him last month at a fundraiser for a double amputee. We talked for a long time and while he and his wife have been married for 53 years, they told me that he not only has PTSD, but wants to talk to the younger soldiers and veterans to prove to them once and for all that PTSD is not the end of their story. It is just a part of it.

PTSD is caused by trauma and changes lives but the truth is, it doesn't mean they cannot change again. They can heal even though PTSD is a part of them for the rest of their lives, they can live better lives. Their marriages don't have to end. Heck, I've been married to my Vietnam veteran with PTSD for 30 years. Melvin is one example of how the military got it wrong on resilience training.

You can't get more "resilient" than doing what it takes to earn the Medal of Honor. You can't be more resilient than to not just be willing to die for others, but to push past the pain of PTSD until after your buddies are out of danger. Their lives are yet one more scandal but this one has claimed more lives than anything else the VA and the DOD have done. They tried to prevent something they never understood in the first place.

Dakota Meyer's story is yet one more example. Most know his story when he had the Medal of Honor placed on his neck but few knew what happened when he came home. He tried to kill himself.

Meyer got some post-traumatic stress counseling, and moved back in with his father, Mike, on the farm where he grew up in the Kentucky hills.

"You come home to this peaceful place in the country," said Martin. "About as far removed from war as you can get. What was it like coming home?"

"A shocker," Meyer said. "It's hard living here. It's easy fighting, you know, 'cause it's, it's simple. Like, war simplifies life in my mind."

Meyer was home, but his father could see the war was still with his son.

Meyer's father said Dakota asked for new locks on the doors. "Make sure the house was locked up every night. . . . He'd always want to have one or two guns in every vehicle."

"So he always wanted a weapon close," he said, noting that for three months Meyer slept with a weapon - a pistol on his chest.

"Did you try to talk to anybody about it?" Martin asked.

"What's there to talk about?" Dakota replied.

"Get it out of your own mind and into somebody else's?"

"You know, why bother somebody else with it?" Meyer said. "It's just part of it."

Believing he had become a burden to his family, Dakota turned to the bottle. One night driving home he stopped his truck and pulled out a gun.

So many Medal of Honor Heroes have come out about their own battles they should never have to fight that what you read about today is nowhere close to the way it actually is.

COMBAT PTSD Act, H.R. 952 to try to rectify this wrong

It has been wrong for so long it's really hard to envision a day where we get this right. Veterans still see the denials come in the mail as they wait, suffer and are yet again, forced to fight. This fight was one they never should have had to do battle with, because this fight, has been against the very government they were willing to die for. Imagine that! The blessing is that people are finally talking about PTSD as if it is as normal as it is. It is a wound that comes after traumatic events. Ask any combat veteran about trauma and they won't have to say a word. You'll be able to see it in their eyes.

Now imagine flashbacks and nightmares following them back home after they risked their lives, then being told, the images they are being haunted by are not connected to the service they delivered on. Not connected to the battles they were sent to fight on behalf of this nation. Tell them that when they know what the images are and where they came from as their lives fall apart and PTSD claims more and more of who they were. Tell a spouse that the warrior is really suffering because of their service at the same time the VA is denying any responsibility of it and the spouse has to just "deal with it" as the warrior dies a slow death of their soul.

Is part of this financial? Sure it is. But if they were not suffering from this wound, you need to understand that they would make a lot more money working for a living instead of getting a check for this. They have bills to pay and food to buy just like everyone else but unlike everyone else that would receive Workman's Compensation for work related injuries, they worked for the government and must rely on the government to take care of them financially as well as treat their wound. Without an approved "service connected disability rating" from the VA, they are responsible to pay for their medical care. It is a double edge sword wounding the already wounded.

Opening Statement of Hon. John J. Hall, Chairman, Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs
Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman:

Would you please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance? Flags are located in the front and back of the room.

Today we are here to consider legislation, the Compensation Owed for Mental Health Based on Activities in Theater Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Act or the COMBAT PTSD Act, H.R. 952. During the 110th Congress and most recently during an oversight hearing held on March 24, 2009, the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs revisited Congress’ intent in establishing presumptive provisions to provide compensation to combat veterans under Section 1154(b) of title 38.

We have heard testimony on how Congress in 1941, when it adopted the original provisions under Section 1154, seemed to explicitly express its desire to overcome the adverse effects of not having an official record. Moreover, that it wanted to be more liberal in its service pension law by extending full cooperation to the veteran when it enacted this provision.

However, based on this Subcommittee’s review, it seems that VA has acted to thwart the congressional intent of Section 1154(b) with its internal procedures for adjudication, primarily those contained in its M-21-1s and General Counsel opinions. This has resulted in VA being more restrictive in its application of section 1154(b) by placing an unnecessary burden on veterans diagnosed with Post-traumatic stress disorder – PTSD and other conditions - to prove their combat stressors. Instead of helping these veterans reach an optimal point of social and emotional homeostasis, as described in the RAND Report, Invisible Wounds of War, VA’s procedures are an obstacle to this end--inflicting upon the most noble of our citizens a process that feels accusatory and doubtful of their service.

We also know from the RAND report that one out every five service members who served in OEF or OIF suffers from symptoms of PTSD. A large portion of these claims unnecessarily comprise VA’s claims backlog as VBA personnel labors to corroborate the stressors of combat veterans. As the Institute of Medicine stated in 2007 in its seminal report on PTSD: the process to adjudicate disability claims is complex, legalistic and protracted, and particularly difficult for veterans because of the stresses and uncertainties involved while facing skeptical and cynical attitudes of VA staff. As I think most will agree, this statement goes double for veterans filing PTSD claims, which require additional evidence of exposure to a stressful event while serving in combat.

This is an injustice that has gone on six decades too long. The hoops and hassles veterans must endure today appear to be far beyond Congress’ imagination when it authorized the 1933 and 1945 Rating Schedules, which simply required the notation of an expedition or occupation for a combat presumption to have existed.

That is why I reintroduced my bill the COMBAT PTSD Act, H.R. 952 to try to rectify this wrong. My bill would do so by clarifying and expanding the definition of “combat with the enemy” found in section 1154(b) to include a theater of combat operations during a period of war or in combat against a hostile force during a period of hostilities. This language is consistent with other provisions of title 38 and those contained within the National Defense Authorization Act. I also firmly believe that this bill is consistent with the original intent of Congress in 1941 and should not be viewed as adding a new entitlement. I am grateful to my 42 colleagues who are already cosponsors of HR 952.

I am glad to welcome to this hearing the veteran service organizations and legal representatives who can shed more light on the difficulties the current statute interpretation creates for so many of our men and women whose service in combat theaters goes unrecognized and the impact denials have had on their lives. I am particularly honored to have famed author and my constituent Norman Bussel join us today. Norman is an ex-POW from World War II and a volunteer service officer for the American Ex-Prisoners of War who has first-hand knowledge of the hardships that many of his fellow veterans face when filing PTSD and other claims for disability benefits.

I also look forward to hearing more from the Department’s witness on how this provision could be better tailored to meet its evidentiary needs to properly adjudicate claims while alleviating the often overwhelming evidence burdens that stymie many of our combat veterans through no fault of their own.

The 111th Congress shares the same responsibility to disabled veterans as its colleagues of the 77th Congress. The vision then was to ease the bureaucratic burdens placed on returning war veterans, so that they would receive the benefits they deserve. My hope is that we will enact H.R. 952 to restore this noble end.

I now yield to Ranking Member Lamborn for his Opening Statement.
Opening Statements
Hon. John J. Hall, Chairman, Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs
Hon. Ciro D. Rodriguez, a Representative in Congress from the State of Texas
Witness Testimonies
Panel 1
John Wilson, Associate National Legislative Director, Disabled American Veterans
Barton F. Stichman, Joint Executive Director, National Veterans Legal Services Program
Norman Bussel, National Service Officer, American Ex-Prisoners of War
Richard Paul Cohen, Executive Director, National Organization of Veterans' Advocates, Inc.
Panel 2
Bradley G. Mayes, Director, Compensation and Pension Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans
Accompanied By:
Richard Hipolit, Assistant General Counsel, Office of General Counsel, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
linked from MIWatch.org

If a "dummy" like me knew why didn't the experts?

If a "dummy" like me knew why didn't the experts?

by
Chaplain Kathie

There are many things I just don't understand. No one would ever ask me how to fix a car but I drive one. No one would ask me to do a tax return even though I did accounting for over 20 years I never really understood the tax rules. No one would ask me to do a lot of things most people do on a normal basis but PTSD is what I do know about and it's all normal to me. It's been my life for over 27 years now. I live with it, study it, track it and do my best to share the wealth of knowledge gained along with how to avoid making the same mistakes I made. It is because of this I knew PTSD would get worse, harder to treat because no one was ready for what was coming, had very little understanding of the cause of PTSD even though they were trying to "cure it" and worse, trying to prevent it. So why didn't the experts know?

This is the part that always gets me angry. I am an average person living a very un-average life. Even with the news reports lately on PTSD, most people have not heard a word about what it is. Yesterday I was doing a presentation to a group of women for a college alumni. When I do these for non-veterans, I try to make the presentation fit into their own lives. I explain about traumatic events and how those events never really leave them so they can remember the depth of pain they felt and then begin to understand PTSD when it comes to our military men and women along with the veterans.

Once they understand how memories take hold, they can understand the reality of flashbacks when the response is fully physically involved as the mind travels back in time to the event itself. When the group begin to think of events in their own lives, they end up opening up with their own pain coming closer to understanding the depth of PTSD turmoil. Arriving at this place of awareness, they were shocked to hear about the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides. Common sense told them that since we've been trying to address PTSD since 1978, we should be a lot better at addressing it and the numbers should have gone down instead of up. If the experts really knew what they needed to know, there would be very few active military suicides and even less veteran suicides. All the signs are pointing to a massive failure with no accountability.

Healing the Wounds of War Downtown
“Once you go through an experience like [combat] you are permanently changed,” said Iraq war vet Eduard H.R. Gluck, a Worth Street resident and photojournalist who receives counseling at the Vet Center. “But you don’t have to allow it to change you just in a negative way. You have to work towards trying to find balance and peace.”

The Vet Center program began in 1979, a recognition by the government that Vietnam veterans still faced adjustment problems years after the war had ended.

From Veterans For Common Sense

Suicides: Today the Department of Veterans Affairs released data to the Associated Press indicating that the suicide rate increased 26 percent for veterans aged 18 to 29, an issue first publicized by Veterans for Common Sense and CBS Evening News in November 2007.

We here at VCS extend our condolences to the families of our veterans who completed suicide. VCS calls upon President Obama, Defense Secretary Gates, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Shinseki to immediately implement a strategic casualty plan with a significant mental health component.

A long-term casualty care effort must start with quickly hiring more mental health professionals, examining every soldier before and after deployment (as required by law), and providing prompt access to high-quality care. This is critical because multiple deployments to war increase the risk of PTSD (and therefore suicide) by three-fold.

VCS also recommends that VA and DoD expand their anti-stigma efforts and encourage our service members and veterans with mental health symptoms to seek care soon, when treatment is most effective and least expensive.

In addition, Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense, said, "VCS remains deeply concerned about the enormous physical and psychological strain repeated deployments to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are causing our troops. As many as 800,000, or 40 percent, of the two million troops sent to the two conflicts deployed twice or more, according to the Department of Defense."

Sullivan also said, "VCS urges the Department of Defense and the VA to implement a casualty plan for our military and veterans. Such a plan should include hiring more mental health professionals immediately to perform medical exams on all troops before and after deployment to spot medical problems early, when treatment is most effective and least expensive. The Department of Defense and the VA must also expand their anti-stigma efforts, especially with training for both officers and non-commissioned officers so they know how to spot brain injury or other mental health symptoms and then promptly refer soldiers for treatment."

Read more about multiple deployments, PTSD, and suicide plus our VCS advocacy for our soldiers and veterans.

This was what they knew a year ago and we have to ask what they have learned since then when the numbers kept going up.

Soldier Suicides In Afghanistan Rose Sharply Last Year
WAR STRESS
By MATTHEW KAUFFMAN The Hartford Courant
January 14, 2009
Soldiers in Afghanistan committed suicide in record numbers in 2008, in step with a dramatic spike in combat deaths in the country, new military figures show.Seven Army soldiers committed suicide in Afghanistan last year, compared with 15 suicides in total during the previous 75 months of Operation Enduring Freedom, according to figures from the Defense Manpower Data Center.Col. Elspeth Ritchie, a top Army psychiatrist, said military officials during the past several years have tracked an increase in mental health problems among soldiers serving in Afghanistan. In 2004, she said, anxiety and depression were far less common among soldiers in Afghanistan, compared with those in Iraq. But by 2007 and early 2008, soldiers in Afghanistan were suffering depression and anxiety at the same rates as their counterparts in Iraq, she said."In Afghanistan, there are considerable barriers for providers getting to the troops due to the difficulties in travel and weather, compared to Iraq," Ritchie said.click link above for more

We knew about the risk of redeploying them in 2006!

Repeat Iraq Tours Raise Risk of PTSD, Army Finds

By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 20, 2006
U.S. soldiers serving repeated Iraq deployments are 50 percent more likely than those with one tour to suffer from acute combat stress, raising their risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Army's first survey exploring how today's multiple war-zone rotations affect soldiers' mental health.
More than 650,000 soldiers have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001 -- including more than 170,000 now in the Army who have served multiple tours -- so the survey's finding of increased risk from repeated exposure to combat has potentially widespread implications for the all-volunteer force. Earlier Army studies have shown that up to 30 percent of troops deployed to Iraq suffer from depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with the latter accounting for about 10 percent.
The findings reflect the fact that some soldiers -- many of whom are now spending only about a year at home between deployments -- are returning to battle while still suffering from the psychological scars of earlier combat tours, the report said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901659.html

VA diagnosing higher rates of PTSD
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jan 16, 2009 16:18:25 EST
More than 44 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who have sought treatment at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility have been diagnosed with one or more possible mental disorders, according to the agency’s most recent summary of veteran health care.
click link for more

Then we have the issue of what happened at Fort Hood and the fact a Major did the shooting. Did Major Hasan have anything to do with these deaths? More? What did he tell the soldiers seeking help to heal? Did he give wrong medication? What did he tell the soldiers he treated?

Fort Hood investigating death of another soldier in barracks

Dallas Morning News - Dallas,TX,USA05:47 PM CST on Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Associated Press
FORT HOOD, Texas – Army officials are investigating the death of a soldier found in his barracks at Fort Hood on New Year's Day.Staff Sgt. Kevin M. Marsh, 41, of Friedens, Pa., was found dead the night of Jan. 1 by officers from his unit after a concerned call from a family member, said Maj. David Shoupe, a Fort Hood spokesman.Marsh was assigned in June to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Rear-Detachment. He served twice in Iraq, in 2003-04 and in 2005-06, as a gunner and vehicle commander.His medals and awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Combat Action Badge.Authorities were already investigating at least five deaths at Fort Hood from late July to September at the sprawling post that's home to about 52,000 troops.
click link above for more

Substance abuse? We knew about this a long time ago too!

Links between PTSD, substance abuse explored,,dah!
I'm really sorry but I can't help myself,,,,,dah! They've had over thirty years to notice this....It's called self-medicating and has been documented since the Vietnam Veterans came home!

Links between PTSD, substance abuse explored

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writerPosted : Wednesday Jan 7, 2009 18:20:34 ESTAt a two-day conference for civilian and military researchers, doctors produced one idea after another for treating and preventing substance abuse in service members with post-traumatic stress disorder.As the ideas bounced from person to person, they tried to tie them together in ways that could make sense in a military setting: They must be accessible to many people at once, they must be cheap, they must be proven, and they must be easy.

Better than nothing does more harm than good but did they learn anything?

BATTLEMIND: A Guide to PTSD for Military Members and their Spouses
by: Combat Infantry Bunny
Sat Dec 29, 2007 at 13:48:29 PM EST
.........From my understanding from those deployed, they are already requiring soldiers about to redeploy this, but my friend said it was just lumped in with all the other random redeployment briefings and no one really cared.
In addition, PTSD is a post-deployment thing and a refresher is sometimes necessary. Anyway, reading this brochure and explanations for PTSD really made sense, especially when I realized I pretty much fit every description re: PTSD behavior. Again, it made me realize I had made the right decision to seek help and I hope that everyone that reads this will forward it to any military personnel they know who may have PTSD and/or to their families who may be trying to understand what their soldier is going through, I think the following explains it very well:
Battlemind is the Soldier's inner strength to face fear and adversity with courage. Key components include:
• Self confidence: taking calculated risks and handling challenges.
• Mental toughness: overcoming obstacles or setbacks and maintainingpositive thoughts during times of adversity and challenge.Batttlemind skills helped you survive in combat, but maycause you problems if not adapted when you get home.
Every letter in B-A-T-T-L-E-M-I-N-D, refers to a different behavior, as shown below:
Buddies (Cohesion) vs. Withdrawal
Accountability vs. Controlling
Targeted Aggression vs. Inappropriate Aggression
Tactical Awareness vs. Hypervigilance
Lethally Armed vs. "Locked and Loaded" at Home
Emotional Control vs. Anger/Detachment
Mission Operational Security vs. Secretiveness
Individual Responsibility vs. Guilt
Non-defensive (combat) driving vs. Aggressive Driving
Discipline and Ordering vs. Conflict

While he does say that Battlemind does have some good points the first point made was that it was introduced lumped in with a bunch of other stuff. This was first reported by the BBC that uncovered only 11 1/2 minutes of Battlemind are provided when they arrive "in country" along with the two days of operational briefings they have to get through.They will be left thinking they can toughen their minds enough to not have to face PTSD and that also means that if anyone does, they are not tough enough. This includes their buddies and some of the others in their unit they may not happen to like very much and if they should end up wounded by it, well then, they must not be tough enough either. This is why Battlemind does not work and as a matter of fact very well could contribute to the increase in suicides and attempted suicides.

Army suicides rise as time spent in combat increases
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAYFORT LEWIS, Wash. — Josh Barber, former combat soldier, parked outside the Army hospital here one morning last August armed for war.A cook at the dining facility, Barber sat in his truck wearing battle fatigues, earplugs and a camouflage hood on his head. He had an arsenal: seven loaded guns, nearly 1,000 rounds of ammunition, knives in his pockets. On the front seat, an AK-47had a bullet in the chamber.The "smell of death" he experienced in Iraq continued to haunt him, his wife says. He was embittered about the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that crippled him, the Army's failure to treat it, and the strains the disorder put on his marriage.Despite the firepower he brought with him, Barber, 31, took only one life that day. He killed himself with a shot to the head."He went to Fort Lewis to kill himself to prove a point," Kelly Barber says. " 'Here I am. I was a soldier. You guys didn't help me.' "

None of this is new. Because it keeps getting worse, all of it, reports produce nothing much other than a lot of talk and bad results, we should be asking what they have learned and why they still have not learned what was known over 30 years ago.

Give healing PTSD as a Christmas Gift this year

Give healing PTSD as a Christmas Gift this year
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
December 12, 2012

This morning I opened an email from a woman telling me of her life with her Vietnam Veteran father and what the family went through. Her Dad ended his own life committing suicide days after September 11, 2001. He became part of my greatest fears coming true. Her Dad was one of the reasons I self published my book For the Love of Jack, His War/My Battle because by then I knew what was coming for Vietnam Veterans and their families. The book was finished and I spent over a year trying to find a publisher, but PTSD was not big news and few cared about Vietnam veterans.

When was finished, I was not thinking about troops being sent into Afghanistan or Iraq because 9-11 hadn't happened yet. All I was thinking about was families like mine. They needed to know what I learned just as an average person trying to keep my husband alive and my family together living lives too many others suffered in silence with believing no one else could understand.

By 2002 the troops were in Afghanistan for several months yet the government had not prepared for what combat would do to those we sent or to warn their families ahead of time so they could prepare for homecomings all over the country. I revised the book to add in 9-11 and the troops in Afghanistan along with talk of sending them into Iraq.

A few years later I released it for free on my old website so that no one had to pay for it. Back then I had a paycheck from a job and was doing ok financially. Plus the goal of the book was not to make money but to make families heal. That is still my goal but since I have a non-profit few people offer financial support. That doesn't bother me as much as the fact I am contacted too many times by families after their veterans have committed suicide and face writing another book about something that didn't have to happen.

In 2007 I started this blog and tried to warn families of what was coming.
When war comes home, battle begins for spouse

"When they come home from combat with the horrors imbedded in them, it is often up to the wives or husbands to begin the fighting. We have to fight for them to get help at the same time we fight them to understand they need help. Denial is the first battle. The mood swings and detachment plant the idea it's our fault in the backs of our own minds as we try to understand what's happening. Short term memory loss and poor judgement skills turn us into parents having to watch every move they make. This is what happens when they come home with wounded minds. Can there be any wonder why so many of these marriages fall apart? Most of them crumble like burnt toast when the facts about PTSD are unknown to them. A lot of marriages with Vietnam veterans ended because of this and because so little was known when they came home.

As much as I love my own husband, as much as I learned about PTSD over the last 25 years, our marriage nearly fell apart more times than I can even remember. The frustration of it all becomes too much too often even now. Our marriage license is in half English and half Greek. I tell my husband the adoption orders are on the Greek side of it when I feel as if I am no longer a married woman but a parent to a child 8 years older than me. I was a single parent in all the years of taking control, making sure the government took care of their responsibility to my husband. This is our job.

We become caretakers, nursing their wounds, holding their shaking bodies, comforting their broken image of themselves and trying with all our might to reassure them they are still loved and needed. We adjust to daily prayers of healing as Jesus instantaneously healed the mad man; for patience; for restoration of compassion when self-needs get too strong; for the right words to use when logic is not enough to combat illogic; and above all for the ability to be reassured the person we love is still in there beneath the stranger we see with our eyes.

As spouses take control, we also face financial disasters while claims are "being processed" only to be turned down and appeals have to be filed within the deadlines we have to live with but the VA does not. Employment for these veterans is sporadic at best, but bills are constant. Then there is the astronomical cost of the self-medication they turn to with alcohol and drugs. We loose time at work when they were up all night with nightmares or to take them to the VA for appointments because they cannot bring themselves in the beginning. We loose time at work when we have to take them for hearings and to see the service organizations helping with the claims because they cannot manage to get themselves there without us.

All of this at the same time we have to try to keep hope alive in them, reassure them that truth will win and their claim will be approved so that we can at least keep our homes and pay our bills. We also loose income when their jobs are lost. The income they get from the VA, if and when their claims are finally honored, is a lot less than they would make, along with our own loss of income. We had to have several mortgage "forbearance" arrangements to keep our house, borrowed from family, at the same time I had to work more to keep the roof over our heads. This was a lot of fun when I had to worry about our daughter and my husband needing constant supervision. A tiny crisis left him unable to think often. One time a toilet was overflowing. He called me at work in a panic, not knowing what to do, instead of just shutting off the water flow to the tank and using a plunger, which he had done often before. It was just one of those days for him to face.

We are a huge Army of love, fighting for those who risked their lives but forgotten behind the battle lines. Each day is a new experience. I tell my husband there is never a dull moment in our marriage because I never know what to expect. Sometimes he even surprises himself. Most of the worst days are far behind us. We have adjusted to our own sense of what "normal" is and most days, they are good days. We still have times when my frustration reaches its limit and we have a huge argument, but over the years, they happen a lot less. I learned to deal with the fact he has to recheck the door I just locked and the repeated questions I've already answered twelve times before.

We had our 23 anniversary last month. Marriages do not have to end if the tools are available. That's why I've been working so hard all these years. I'm positive that if I didn't know what PTSD was, there is no way I would be able to cope with any of this. Life does not have to be about existing day to day, but living lives with tiny blessings. It can be about holding hands wherever we go because we held onto our hearts. Yes, we still hold hands!

(Honesty time; I get a little mean every now and then. His short term memory loss opens the door for a little mind game I play every now and then. I will remind him of a conversation we really did have and then toss in something we never talked about. We've gone out to eat a lot because I convince him he promised to take me out. While we're eating, I admit what I did. He laughs and then hands me the bill.)

If you are dealing with a combat veteran with PTSD, learn all you can about it and welcome to this Army of love. The war we fight for them now, will never end, but battles can be won and peace can be declared within our own homes."

In October of 2007 news came out that 148,000 Vietnam Vets sought help in last 18 months
Back then my PTSD videos were on Google and YouTube.

I started doing videos in February of 2006. Is this a coincidence? From the emails I get, it is part of it. It was the goal anyway.

When War Comes Home PTSD
views 2418


Veterans and PTSD version 1
All time views:14,283

Wounded Minds Veterans and PTSD version 2
1567

Wounded Minds PTSD and Veterans version 3
7777

PTSD After Trauma on Google
1709

End The Silence of PTSD on Youtube
Views: 2,919

Hero After War Combat Vets and PTSD on Google
3697
Views: 1,772 on Youtube

Coming Out of The Dark of PTSD on Google
889

Coming Out Of The Dark-PTSD and Veterans on Youtube
Views: 4,304

Death Because They Served PTSD Suicides
1442

These videos are all available on Great Americans at the above tab.

When I think of what was known so long ago emails make me cry because I know the pain all too well but I also know the joy of living with a healing veteran once the darkness of PTSD has been defeated. He is not cured but he is healing and we've been married 28 years. This month marks the 30th anniversary of my work on combat and PTSD. Over half my life has been dedicated to this cause.

If you know someone going through this, give them a Christmas gift that can help them heal. Let them know they are not alone. The price is only $10.00 so that people can afford to buy it.

PTSD and Purple Heart requires knowledge

American soldiers who suffer post traumatic stress disorder would be awarded Purple Heart medals, usually given to those who are wounded in action, under a controversial plan being actively considered by the Pentagon. 40,000 American troops have been diagnosed with PTSD since 2003.

By Tim Shipman

Nine decades after soldiers were executed for "cowardice" brought on by what was then called shellshock during the First World War, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan may be the first to have their mental injuries treated the same as battlefield wounds.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has urged Pentagon advisers responsible for battlefield awards to study the proposal after Army psychologists said widening the criteria for a Purple Heart would increase the acceptance of soldiers suffering from PTSD, and persuade more to seek help for their problems.

Pentagon figures show that 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress since 2003 but it is classified as an illness not an injury, making it ineligible for a Purple Heart under current rules...




Officials say one in eight combat troops in Iraq and one in six of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants like Prozac or sleeping pills.

John Fortunato, a military psychologist at Fort Bliss, Texas first suggested Purple Hearts for PTSD last month. "These guys have paid at least as high a price as anybody with a traumatic brain injury, as anybody with shrapnel wound," he said.

Mr Gates immediately proclaimed it an "interesting idea" that needed to be looked into." But the plan has sparked a fierce and impassioned debate among the US military, with a flurry of comments in the pages and on the websites of publications like Stars and Stripes and the Army Times.

Ray Kimball, an Army major who helped found the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America support group, is a strong supporter. He believes the move would have "huge impacts on the perception of mental health issues in both the Armed Forces and society as a whole".

He said: "PTSD is a combat wound. We already treat it as such for the purposes of medical evacuation, readiness for combat, and post-service disability assessments. So let's take it one step further."

But an anonymous Army intelligence officer told Army Times: "It's an insult to those who have suffered real injury on the battlefield."

The veterans group whose mission is to help those who have won the Purple Heart is opposed to the proposal because the medal is supposed to be awarded to those wounded as a result of enemy action. Jack Leonard, of the Military Order of the Purple Heart who won the medal in Vietnam, told Stars and Stripes that there would always be confusion about the origins of post traumatic stress.

"Did it occur in boot camp? Did it occur because of the rough air flight into theatre? Or did it occur because an individual saw the results of the Taliban massacre of a village? I can't answer that," he said.

Mr Leonard said that his own father suffered from PTSD fighting in the Second World War and again in Korea and was close to suicide at the end of his life but he insisted it was right that his father did not receive a Purple Heart. "There's no physical manifestation that he ever shed blood," Leonard said.

Older veterans groups like the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars agree. For the most part it is those with experience of fighting the war on terror that are pushing for a change.

But even some older veterans have been convinced. Marine Master Sergeant Jack Perry told Marine Times: "I have suffered from PTSD every day for the past 35 years. I am a Vietnam vet, I'm 58 and I have been clinically diagnosed with PTSD. I never once thought I should have received the Purple Heart.

"But after reading the article and knowing and understanding what I have lived with and went through, I am appalled at anyone who believes PTSD is not a war wound and does not deserve to be awarded the Purple Heart."

Earlier this month Col. Lorree Sutton, an Army psychiatrist who runs a new facility to treat PTSD, revealed that she has persuaded senior military officers to record video testimonies of the their own emotional struggles after combat. The videos will be posted on YouTube and MySpace later this year to try to reduce the stigma of PTSD.
go here for more
http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3106


I've been posting on this for a while now and as I always point out, trauma is Greek for wound! Knowledge of what PTSD is key to addressing this issue. The Purple Heart was not created for a wound, but was changed to be given for being wounded in combat. Can you think of anything else more traumatic than combat? So what's the issue here? Lack of knowledge of what PTSD is, what causes it and to stop treating PTSD as a wound of a lesser degree.

PTSD Awareness is everyday here

PTSD Awareness is everyday here
by
Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog June 30, 2012

Here at Wounded Times Blog PTSD awareness is everyday. There are no days off. There are no slow news days. It doesn't take a day off and deserves attention everyday, not just one. People need to pay attention to the men and women suffering from Combat PTSD more than anyone else if researchers will ever really be able to come up with plans of actions that will work.

There is a huge difference between what civilian survivors of trauma suffer from and what veterans end up with. Police come close to this type of PTSD but in all these years, I've read few reports from experts pointing out there is a difference.

This is the last day of PTSD Awareness month and it took a lot of restraint to avoid highlighting it. There were some posts about this month just as the last couple of days a few mentioning the "day" that was set aside for it.

This is how the bill reads from California

Filed Secretary of State May 31, 2012.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 107, Eng. PTSD Awareness Day.
This measure would recognize June 27, 2012, as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day.
DIGEST KEY
Fiscal Committee: no
BILL TEXT
WHEREAS, Throughout our nation’s history, the men and women of the United States Armed Forces have preserved our freedom, protected our security, and upheld our democratic values; from the battles of the American Revolution through the crucible of two world wars to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan today, our men and women in uniform have stood proudly in defense of the United States and the cause of liberty; and
WHEREAS, The brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces, who proudly serve the United States, risk their lives to protect the freedom of the United States and deserve the investment of every reasonable resource to ensure their lasting physical, mental, and emotional well-being; and
WHEREAS, The incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in members of the military is rising as the United States Armed Forces conducts two wars, exposing hundreds of thousands of soldiers to traumatic life-threatening events; and WHEREAS, The federal Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that as many as 95 percent of veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have some form of PTSD; and
WHEREAS, Symptoms include nightmares, feeling numb, having difficulty experiencing love or closeness with others, feeling jittery or overly alert, having difficulty sleeping, experiencing anger or irritability, having difficulty concentrating, substance problems, and having feelings of despair or hopelessness; and
WHEREAS, Although the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs have made significant advances in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of PTSD and the symptoms of PTSD, many challenges remain; and
WHEREAS, According to the National Institute for Mental Health, PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened; and
WHEREAS, The Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense should continue to work to educate service members, veterans, the families of service members and veterans, and the public about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of PTSD; and
WHEREAS, It is important to all citizens of the State of California, that those who served our country in the military are aware of the symptoms of PTSD and are able to seek help; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature pause in its deliberations to memorialize Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., and to proclaim June 27, 2012, as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day in the state, fully confident that such procedure mirrors our shared commitment to preserve, to ensure, and to yet effect that patrimony of freedom which is our American Heritage; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.

There is a difference and if we forget that, if we still have not been able to understand that, then all the research and money in the world will not stop the suicides of the combat survivors.

How can the anyone in the general public understand this, understand the men and women coming home, if we are still not making them aware how very different Combat PTSD is from a one time event in the general public?

This is the last day of "PTSD awareness" month and there are still 19 needless funerals everyday of the month. Looks like awareness is not always a good thing when they are made aware of failures passing off as a treatment.

Nitty-Gritty-Pesky Facts Skipped on PTSD Reporting

Yet One More Infomercial on PTSD Program
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 26, 2016

This is the claim being made. "A ground-breaking program hopes to help soldiers with PTSD like no one has ever has done before." Ok, well then I guess everyone in this for the last four decades did not exist. That is when all the real "ground breaking" started. Since then, it has been more like digging a hole in the ground and veterans falling into it.

Just a reminder, I wrote about the "collateral damage" being done to our troops and spawning the suffering of millions of veterans right along with their families back in 2015. It got into the nitty gritty pesky things called facts and historical reports tying most of the results to the deplorable "resilience training" our troops were receiving. 

The number of enlisted was higher, yet the number of suicides were lower before they started this. There were also two full-force wars being fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. Top that off with the fact the DOD kept saying most of the suicides happened with non-deployed troops taking their own lives. Yep, after getting the same "training" everyone else got.

The geniuses thought it would work on combat forces deployed multiple times when it didn't even work for stateside folks? But they kept doing it anyway. As the number of enlisted went down and the number of suicides went up, they pushed the training harder.

But the press never bothered to investigate why any of this was happening or the fact that Congress kept writing FUBAR bills that simply repeated what had already failed. Well, BOHICA on yet one more case of the press not doing their jobs with this latest report. It leaves so many questions it is hard to know what the goal of this was.

Packers Don Barclay hopes to spread word of his uncles’ ground-breaking PTSD therapy program
ABC News
By Aisha Morales
Published: December 23, 2016

Green Bay, Wis. (WBAY) – A new program and the only one of its kind is hoping to change the way veterans and active duty military members with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental health struggles are treated.

It’s a four-week intensive program based in Virginia created by Doctor Tim Barclay, uncle of Don Barclay of the Green Bay Packers.

Dr. Tim Barclay has seen the issue up close and personal and thinks it’s time to make a change.

“In treating veterans I’ve always been frustrated that not being able to deliver the type of care that is actually needed to treat like traumatic brain injury, PTSD, depression, and anxiety, and common things that they struggle with, simply because of insurance benefits are so limiting,” said Dr. Barclay.

This passion was the start of Collateral Damage Project, a non-profit program that will survive solely on donations.

“We’re hoping to launch our first group of participants in the Spring, so we’re just in our intensive fundraising mode to get all the things that we need to get in place,” said Dr. Barclay.
read more here

Specialized Intensive PTSD Programs (SIPPs) already exist.

SIPPs provide PTSD treatment services in an inpatient or residential setting. Length of stay varies across programs and is based on the needs of the Veteran. SIPPs include:

Evaluation and Brief PTSD Treatment Units (EBPTUs)
PTSD Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs (PTSD RRTP) and PTSD Domiciliary Programs (PTSD DOM)
Specialized Inpatient PTSD Units (SIPUs)
Women's Trauma Recovery Programs (WTRPs)

The Miami VA has something that is "intense" therapy for PTSD

Inpatient PTSD Programs include four basic types of services conducted while veterans reside in hospital units providing 24-hour nursing and psychiatry care:

Specialized Inpatient PTSD Units (SIPUs) provide trauma-focused evaluation, education, and psychotherapy for a period of 28 to 90 days of hospital admission.

Evaluation and Brief Treatment of PTSD Units (EBTPUs) provide PTSD evaluation, education, and psychotherapy for a briefer period ranging from 14 to 28 days.

PTSD Residential Rehabilitation Programs (PRRPs) provide PTSD evaluation, education, and counseling, and case management emphasizing resuming a productive involvement in community life. PRRP admissions tend to be 28 to 90 days.

PTSD Substance Use Programs (PSUs) provide combined evaluation, education, and counseling for substance use problems and PTSD. PSU admissions range from 14 to 90 days.

Yet, there were problems with this program.

A drug abuse rehabilitation program at Miami’s Veterans Affairs hospital failed to monitor patients, provide sufficient staff, control access to the facility or even curb illicit drug use among patients — culminating with the death of a combat veteran in his 20s who overdosed on cocaine and heroin, according to a federal report.

So, back to the claim being made. How is it that a program that hasn't even started get a headline like this? You read how they are looking for funding and want to find ten patients to do it in the spring. Where is the evidence? What exactly is different about this? The interview video is about looking for psychologist on top of everything else. Shouldn't the headline be more like, "Yet one more group jumps onto the bandwagon" for Heaven 's sake?

Our troops and veterans committing suicide after surviving combat should be an important enough topic that they merit real reporting instead of an infomercial.