Ignoring increased risk of PTSD in redeployed at our peril

Repeat Iraq Tours Raise Risk of PTSD, Army Finds
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 20, 2006; Page A19
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........

Searching for quotes for a new video, I kept finding the report of the increased risk associated with redeployments missing in action. Why? How could a report like this drop off the reports on PTSD when so many of them are coming out? Is this no longer important to the media considering some are on their fifth tour right now? How could they just drop this from their attention?

Easy. It does not fit in with the illusion of the "all volunteer" Army, the Marines, the Air Force or the National Guard. Think about it. Bush keeps saying "well their all volunteers" and this paints a picture in our minds that these men and women have no issues about going back over and over again. It paints a picture of everyone happily carrying out his orders.

We are sending back seriously wounded people. We need to remember they are people. Humans not machines of war. What do you see when you look into their eyes? If they have PTSD, you see a person haunted. It is deeper than being tired. Deeper than being homesick. Deeper than personal issues back home. All of these things are insignificant to what is behind those eyes. It is not something to mess around with. It is not something to ignore any more than it is something to treat with some pills, pat them on the head and send them back to be traumatized all over again.

They may have walked away from the first deployment without PTSD. They may have walked away from the second. Perhaps even the third but the odds are a lot greater they brought the combat back home with them as surely as they did their duffel bag. They are being forced to play a game of Russian roulette with their minds and their lives. Every time they go back, the risk of PTSD is 50% greater to them. Yet as the media have been reluctant to report on this crisis, the report drops off to the distant memories of the people getting the air time on cable news. You certainly won't hear any of the people supporting Bush's delusion discussing it.

The next time you hear any more figures, usually low balled, remember why the numbers are going up and then keep in mind, sometimes they won't show signs of PTSD until years later. Where will the reporters be then? Remember when they came home from Vietnam and the media ignored their problems. Less than ten years later, local newspapers were reporting on them in the obituary pages and the crime logs. Twenty years later they were reporting still in these sections but then occasionally finding the compassion to report on the homelessness of Vietnam Veterans. If we do nothing right now, if we do not keep the attention of the media right where it needs to be so that they are taken care of, how many of them will they be reporting on in the obituary pages and the crime logs ten years from now? Five years from now? Later on this year? How many families will pay the price as they watch someone they love helplessly fall apart and die a slow death? How many of them will come home one day and find they were actually a fatality of combat long after they stopped wearing their uniform?



Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington


***I'm posting this on both blogs since the media stopped reporting on this someone has to.***

Department of Defense to Armed Forces:It's your fault

Treating the trauma of war – fairly
In relabeling cases of PTSD as 'personality disorder,' the US military avoids paying for treatment.
By Judith Schwartz
from the August 20, 2007 edition

Bennington, Vt. - The high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among soldiers returning from Iraq is one of the many "inconvenient truths" of this war. Inconvenient largely because it is costly: The most effective and humane means of treating PTSD are time-intensive and long-term.

The military, however, has changed the terms and given many thousands of enlisted men and women a new diagnosis: "personality disorder." While the government would be obliged to care for veterans suffering from combat-related trauma, a personality disorder – defined as an ingrained, maladaptive way of orienting oneself to the world – predates a soldier's tour of duty (read: preexisting condition). This absolves Uncle Sam of any responsibility for the person's mental suffering.

The new diagnostic label sends the message: This suffering is your fault, not a result of the war. On one level, it's hard not to see this as another example of the government falling short on its care for Iraq war veterans. Yet there's another, more insidious, bit of sophistry at work. The implication is that a healthy person would be resistant to the psychological pressures of war. Someone who succumbs to the flashbacks, panic, and anger that haunt many former soldiers must have something inherently wrong with him. It's the psychological side of warrior macho: If you're tough, you can take it. Of course, we know this is not true. Wars forever change the lives of those who fight them and can leave deep scars.

click post title for the rest

Kansas National Guard gets help to heal

Counseling center helps military veterans deal with depression, suicidal thoughts
By Mike Belt

August 17, 2007
A Lawrence counseling center is working with the Kansas National Guard to prevent suicides among military veterans.

Headquarters Counseling Center, 211 E. Eighth St., has information about resources available that are specific to veterans and their families when they call for help, director Marcia Epstein said. That information was developed in cooperation with the Guard.

“We definitely have had calls from people who are in the military with concerns about depression and suicide,” Epstein said.

A new Pentagon study found there were 99 Army suicides last year — nearly half of them soldiers who hadn’t reached their 25th birthdays, about a third of them serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

click post title for the rest

Upset about the 99 military suicides last year? What about the other 6,000?

How many times does it take for some in the media to actually report on what the VA said in their testimonies before they connect the dots? The VA stated over and over again they have 1,000 in their system alone committing suicide every year. They also said there are another 5,000 veterans outside of their system committing suicide every year and those are just the ones they are aware of.


Should we be upset about the 99 the DOD admitted to? Absolutely. As "reporters" all over the country manage to copy and paste this report, they have failed to pay attention to it while they use these suicides to fill the gap of "if it bleeds, it leads" mob mentality. This report from AP has hit every blogger from here to Timbuktu and I have to wonder why. Why would they jump all over this when they are avoiding the 6,000 others who committed suicide last year because of the military, because of war and combat and because we sent them? They also avoid the simple fact the DOD only admits to what they have to admit to. The 99 are only part of the story. They hide the rest in categories like, "under investigation" and if that isn't bad enough, they are now not releasing the names of those killed when they report on the non-combat death.

How many were on my post Non-combat deaths that have not been added to the death count? Too many. Granted the majority of those who did in fact die while deployed were there, it took a lot of work to find those who committed suicide back home and deployed in different nations. As it is, I only managed to find about 150 known to be suicides. At least a quarter of the posted deaths were last reported under investigation.

The media thinks 99 is a big story, but I happen to think all of them are a big story and they have been ignored for far too long.

Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/


This is what I mean. These are just from one alert


Counseling center helps military veterans deal with depression ...Lawrence Journal World - Lawrence,KS,USA"We definitely have had calls from people who are in the military with concerns about depression and suicide," Epstein said. A new Pentagon study found ...See all stories on this topic

Soldier Suicide Rate GrowingWLNS - Lansing,MI,USAA new military report says suicide rates for US military personnel are the highest in 26 years, with at least 99 confirmed last year. ...See all stories on this topic

Suicide attacks, mosque operation linked, Senate toldDaily Times - Lahore,PakistanKhan said all constitutional and legal norms were met before launching the military operation. However, he made it clear that President Musharraf or the US ...See all stories on this topic

Military Suicide Rate Reaches 26-year HighMorons.org - USAThe Defense Manpower Data Center has produced a report showing the military's suicide rate has shot up to 17.3 deaths per 100000 personnel, ...See all stories on this topic

When murder is just plain murderEconomist - UKOn August 14th suicide-bombers detonated at least four large car and lorry bombs in the villages of Qataniya and Adnaniya, near the city of Mosul in ...See all stories on this topic

MFSO Responds To Army's Report on SuicideCommon Dreams (press release) - Portland,ME,USABOSTON - AUGUST 16 - Today Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) responded to a US Army report revealing that troops committed suicide last year at the highest ...See all stories on this topic


Army Suicide Problem Nothing NewBy Wisco(Wisco) In December of 2003, the Baltimore Sun ran a headline -- "Army's Suicide Rate has Outside Experts Alarmed." In that article, we were told, "A report by a 12-member team of military and civilian mental health professionals dispatched to ...Griper Blade - http://griperblade.blogspot.com/

Military Suicide Rate Highest in 26 yearsThe military establishment revealed that the rate of suicide among its members is the highest it's been in years, in part due to the increased number of months services members are deployed in war zones: (Washington Post) ...TheDemoMemo - http://thedemomemo.com/

Army's Suicide Rate At 26-Year HighBy forums@www.military-quotes.com (Team Infidel) ... By Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than a quarter did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a military report. ...International Military Forums - http://www.military-quotes.com/

ARMY SUICIDE RATES AT ALL-TIME HIGH.By Kay Steiger(Kay Steiger) This is true, but relationship stress I'm sure isn't the only cause of suicide. I think soldiers being in a place where they could be blown up at any given moment by a car bomb (known in military language as an IED) has something to do ...Kay Steiger - http://kaysteiger.blogspot.com/

Army Suicide Rate and Random VariationBy James Joyner Marc Danziger, whose son has recently enlisted in the military, has done some calculations and found that the Army suicide rate, even at this peak, is actually lower than for their civilian cohorts. That's interesting indeed and speaks ...Outside The Beltway OTB - http://www.outsidethebeltway.com

Army Suicide Rates at 26-Year HighBut many of the suicides came from soldiers who were not deployed, and as CNN notes, the suicide rate in the Army (17.3 per 100000) is still lower than that among US men aged 17 to 45 in the general population (21.1 per 100000). ...TIME: The Ag - http://time-blog.com/theag/

Army Suicide Rate Peaks Amid Deployment StrainThat's the highest total since 1991, when 102 soldiers committed suicide during the height of the Gulf War. Several trends suggest the strain the Iraq war is putting on the US military is trickling down to the individual soldier, ...The Gate - http://nationaljournal.com/thegate/

Army Suicide Rate at Quarter-Century HighBy editor@truthdig.com(editor@truthdig.com) According to the US military, 99 active-duty soldiers committed suicide in 2006, a number that may rise after ongoing investigations into other cases conclude, making last year's suicide rate the highest in 26 years. ...Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines - http://www.truthdig.com/
Google Web Alert for: military suicide

Army Suicides Highest in 26 Years - washingtonpost.comWASHINGTON -- Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 ... while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new military report.

Think Progress >> Army suicide rate highest in 26 years.This suicide rate IS directly proportional the the disgusting abuse coming from the decider. The WH could give a sh!t about the military...just so they can ...

Depression linked to events and genetic causes

Genes and life events predict depression (August 6, 2007) --
GRANADA, Spain, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A group of Spanish scientists has identified a specific combination of genetic and environmental factors that lead to the onset of depression.

A single variation in a gene controlling the transport of the neurotransmitter serotonin, combined with exposure to threatening life events, led to clinical depression in their patient sample.
click link for more

Brain blood flow helps treat depression (August 13, 2007) -- Israeli scientists have confirmed the usefulness of established molecular imaging approaches in the treatment of depression. Individuals in a ... > full story
click link for more

Depression may be over diagnosed, say some (August 17, 2007) -- Two Australian psychiatrists disagree on whether too many people are being diagnosed with depression. Gordon Parker, of the University of New South ... > full story
click link for more

In all three of these, the events cause depression as well as genetics. There is a huge difference between feeling depressed and having clinical depression. There is also a difference between having PTSD and having a genetic mental illness. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is after trauma and that is where the term came from. It is after trauma.
Kathie Costos

University of Pennsylvania assistant professor thinks depression in PTSD is new?

Depression Taking Toll on Returning U.S. Vets

By E.J. Mundell
HealthDay Reporter
Friday, August 17, 2007; 12:00 AM

FRIDAY, Aug. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Depression may be a largely unrecognized problem for many U.S. soldiers returning from duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, placing a tremendous strain on them and their families, a new study suggests.

Researchers studied the home life of 168 soldiers diagnosed with psychological symptoms upon their return home from deployment. Nearly half -- 42 percent -- of these veterans said they now felt like a "guest in their own home," and one in five felt their children did not respond warmly to them, or were even afraid of them.


In many of these cases, depression or another psychological problem, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), played a major role, the researchers said.

The PTSD finding has been observed in other studies, but the link between returning veterans' depression and family trouble is new, experts said. (Bull! Read below for this part)

"It seems like other kinds of mental health issues, besides PTSD, are also resulting in family problems," said lead researcher Steven Sayers, an assistant professor of psychology in psychiatry and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

click post title for the rest

Depression is new according to the experts? Who the hell are the "experts" saying depression in PTSD wounded is new? Ask any Vietnam Veteran with PTSD and they will tell you that it has always been that way. Ask any wife/spouse and they will tell you it has always been a part of the life of PTSD. It is not new. Family problems are not new either. The average PTSD vet gets divorced many times. The stress of PTSD in a family is very hard to live with. Add in the self-medicating and you have a time bomb. I should know that depression is not new at all. Do these "experts" ever read the signs of PTSD before they open their mouths? Where do they get these people to interview from anyway?

I'm really surprised this came out of the Washington Post after all the great reporting they have done on PTSD up until now. I just hope they return to asking the people living with it what the truth is and what a "expert" claims it is.

Kathie Costos

Senator to explore military mental healthcare

Senator to explore military mental healthcare

By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Aug 16, 2007 22:16:39 EDT

The Army’s report on the increase in suicides among soldiers has altered the course of a Senate hearing scheduled in Tacoma, Wash., on Friday.

Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, had scheduled the hearing in her home state to explore the unmet mental healthcare needs of service members and veterans.

With the release Thursday of the Army’s report, the suicide issue has now taken center stage.

The Army report indicates that suicides among soldiers has reached a 26-year high, with as many as 101 suicides during 2006, compared with 88 during 2005, 67 in 2004 and 79 in 2003.

click post title for the rest and remember, even those numbers are not all of them as bad as they are.

Fort Drum soldier waits in jail for PTSD treatment?

Soldier awaits psychiatric treatment in jail

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Aug 15, 2007 22:05:29 EDT

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A Fort Drum soldier who walked into a police station threatening officers with what appeared to be an assault rifle must remain in jail.

Onondaga County Judge William Walsh rejected a defense request Tuesday to have Spc. Matthew Campbell released to U.S. Army officials so he could return to Fort Drum for psychiatric treatment.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Alison Fineberg objected to the release unless the Army had a specific treatment plan set up for Campbell. Walsh agreed, ordering Campbell jailed until the Army provides more detailed information about treating him.

click post title for the rest

Katrina victims struggle mentally

Katrina victims struggle mentally
By Marilyn Elias, USA TODAY
Many Gulf Coast residents still feel the wallop of Hurricane Katrina nearly two years later.
Mental illness is double the pre-storm levels, rising numbers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and there is a surge in adults who say they're thinking of suicide.

A government survey released Wednesday to USA TODAY shows no improvement in mental health from a year ago.

About 14% have symptoms of severe mental illness. An additional 20% have mild to moderate mental illness, says Ronald Kessler of Harvard Medical School, who led the study.

The big surprise: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which typically goes away in a year for most disaster survivors, has increased: 21% have the symptoms vs. 16% in 2006. Common symptoms include the inability to stop thinking about the hurricane, nightmares and emotional numbness. go here for the rest
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-16-neworleans-illness_N.htm

You have got to be kidding! PTSD does not go away in a year. A would like to know where they got that idea from. It gets worse unless it is treated.

How is PTSD diagnosed?
A diagnosis of PTSD is made when symptoms in the main clusters (re-experiencing, numbing, avoidance, and arousal) are present for an extended period and are interfering with normal life. The first step in getting treatment is getting a diagnosis. This can be difficult for a number of reasons:
symptoms may occur months or years after the traumatic event and may not be recognized as being related to the trauma beliefs that people "should be able to get over it" or "shouldn't have such a reaction" or "should solve their own problems" may delay treatment being sought guilt, blame, embarrassment or pain may interfere with a person seeking help avoidance of anything associated with the trauma may result in an inability to recognize the need for treatment
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/post_traumatic_stress_disorder_symptoms_treatment.htm#diagnosis

Hurricanes Puts Countless Americans At Risk for PTSD
As survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struggle to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives, the reality of just how much things have changed for them is setting in. While early in the diaster they may have been running on adrenaline and coping well with events, they are now finding it harder and harder to go about their daily lives. Sleep is disturbed and anxiety levels remain high. They may feel depression and deep despair over their losses. As with any survivor of a traumatic event, they are at strong risk of developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

What Is PTSD?
The American Counseling Association, offers us 10 criteria for recognizing PTSD:

Re-experiencing the event through vivid memories or flash backs
Feeling “emotionally numb”
Feeling overwhelmed by what would normally be considered everyday situations and diminished interest in performing normal tasks or pursuing usual interests
Crying uncontrollably
Isolating oneself from family and friends and avoiding social situations
Relying increasingly on alcohol or drugs to get through the day
Feeling extremely moody, irritable, angry, suspicious or frightened
Having difficulty falling or staying asleep, sleeping too much and experiencing nightmares
Feeling guilty about surviving the event or being unable to solve the problem, change the event or prevent the disaster
Feeling fears and sense of doom about the future
http://depression.about.com/od/naturaldisasters/a/ptsd.htm

Psychosocial Consequences of Natural Disasters in Developing Countries: What Does Past Research Tell Us About the Potential Effects of the 2004 Tsunami?Fran H. Norris, Ph.D.
http://depression.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=depression&cdn=health&tm=28&
amp;gps=182_781_869_567&f=00&su=p247.3.140.
ip_p284.8.150.ip_&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_tsunami_research.html

It has gotten to the point where even people trying to help get the word out about people suffering from PTSD, put out false information without even knowing it. I'm glad they did this story on the Katrina survivors, but they really should have gotten the whole thing right.
We have a bunch of humans suffering and dying because people still don't understand what PTSD is. The people in New Orleans suffered from what happened during and after a hurricane. The people, the men and women we call "troops" suffer from the trauma of combat. The people in Iraq, the Iraqis, suffer from what is happening in their country. People all over the world suffer from all kinds of causes but the two things they have in common keeps getting missed. They are all humans exposed to trauma.

Soldier medically unfit for fifth deployment

Soldier who fought fifth deployment to war deemed medically unfit
Lawyer says soldier wants honorable discharge and release from IRR
By Lisa Burgess
Stars and Stripes Mideast edition
August 16, 2007

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Florida reservist who asked federal courts to block the Army from sending him to Iraq on a fifth deployment was excused from active service after being found medically unfit. He is still seeking an honorable discharge to prevent another call-up, according to his lawyer.

“Now we’re working to put the icing on the cake and get him out of the IRR,” or Individual Ready Reserve, Fayetteville, N.C.-based attorney Mark Waple said.

Sgt. Erik Botta, 26, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., won’t be finished with his eight-year obligation until October 2008, so he is asking for the discharge to ensure he will not get another call-up to Iraq, Waple said.

Chances of that happening are slim, Waple said.

“I think there’s one chance in 1,000 that he’d get mobilized,” Waple said. “I don’t think any Human Resource Command [official] would dare do that.”
read more here