PTSD and veterans on NOW

About the Show
Video: Veterans of PTSD
Bouts of fierce anger, depression, and anxiety that previous generations of soldiers described as "shell shock" or "combat/battle fatigue" now earn a clinical diagnosis: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. But the relatively new medical label doesn't guarantee soldiers will get the care they need. NOW looks at how America's newest crop of returning soldiers is coping with the emotional scars of war, and some new and innovative treatments for them.In the show, we spent time with Iraq War veteran Michael Zacchea, a Marine lieutenant colonel who trained Iraqi troops and fought in the battle of Fallujah. Haunted by the violence he saw there, Zacchea and other soldiers diagnosed with PTSD now face what could be a lifelong struggle to leave the horrors of war behind and reclaim their once-peaceful lives.

PTSD Facts and Figures

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur after one experiences a traumatic event. The disorder is characterized by flashbacks of the event, nightmares, anxiety, avoidance, and social withdrawal. PTSD may take months or years to manifest.

Facts and Figures


The following factors increase the likelihood of PTSD: Youth, a history of depression or trauma, multiple deployments, and relentless exposure to violence.


30.9% of Vietnam veterans in one study had developed PTSD during their lifetimes.


Between 1999 and 2004, the number of veterans seeking benefits for PTSD increased 79%.


In Iraq, roughly one in six combatants has experienced PTSD.


35 percent of Iraq veterans sought psychological counseling within a year of coming home, according to the Department of Defense.
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/339/index.html

I think this is a great program, but I can't say for sure. The video was cutting out after six minutes. I'll check back later on this.

One thing that really bothers the hell out of me is that they never talk about veterans coming back from Afghanistan. What they do not fully understand is that many serving are doing it in two occpations. They may be in Iraq one year and in Afghanistan the next. It is not just Iraq and it's about time everyone in this country remembered we have two occupations going on while we only fight about one of them.

Non Mortal Casualties,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Army Navy Marines Air Force Total
Wounded - No Medical Air Transport Required 567... 22...... 0 ..........35.......... 624
Wounded - Medical Air Transport Required ,,,,,,,719..... 11..... 81........ 37.......... 848
Non-Hostile Injuries - Medical Air Transport
Required,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 1,095.... 11..... 181...... 37........ 1,538
Diseases - Medical Air Transport Required,,,,,,,, 3,280... 187.... 203.... 654........ 4,324
TOTAL - WOUNDED,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 1,286.... 11...... 103..... 72........ 1,472
TOTAL - MEDICAL AIR TRANSPORTED,,,,,,,, 4,353.. 270..... 339.... 878........ 5,844
TOTAL - MEDICAL AIR TRANSPORTS
(HOSTILE AND NON-HOSTILE),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 5,094.... 281.... 420... 915........ 6,710


Period US Other Total
+ 2007 88 96 184
+ 2006 98 93 191
+ 2005 99 31 130
+ 2004 52 6 58
+ 2003 48 9 57
+ 2002 48 20 68
+ 2001 12 0 12
Total 445 255 700
http://www.icasualties.org/oef/

I am glad there are people speaking out and the seventy percent of the people of this country think what was done to Iraq is wrong. Unlike what Rush has to say about it, the majority of the people are on the side of doing the right thing even though the impulse to label people anti-war is repeated by the media as well as the congress. It's a good tool to use to divide people. What I am not glad about is that Afghanistan keeps getting ignored as if it never happened.

NATO's Afghanistan gains could be lost: commander
Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:51am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Hardfought gains by NATO troops this year could be lost in coming months if Afghan forces fail to hold ground seized from the Taliban, the NATO commander in Afghanistan said in an interview broadcast on Friday.
U.S. General Dan McNeill, who commands the alliance's 35,000-strong force, said NATO had scored successes this year in driving Taliban fighters from mountain valleys in the southern Helmand province, an opium-producing Taliban heartland.
The NATO forces in the area are mostly British troops who arrived in large numbers only last year. They say they have recaptured much of the Helmand River valley from the Taliban over the past six months.
But McNeill said Afghan troops had not yet performed as well as hoped in holding the ground after it was cleared, and there was a chance the Taliban could regroup and return.

go here for the rest of this and for links to other reports

http://www.icasualties.org/oef/

Is Afghanistan ignored because it is no longer being controlled by the US?

Nato takes control of operations in Afghanistan
30 Sep 2006, 0039 hrs IST,AP

PORTOROZ (SLOVENIA): Nato decided on Thursday to take control of military operations across all of Afghanistan a move that US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld hailed as a "bold step forward" for the alliance.

Under the new arrangements, as many as 12,000 additional American troops will be put under foreign battlefield command, a number that US officials said could be the most since World War II. The move is expected to take place in the next few weeks, Nato spokesman James Appathurai said.
go here for the rest of this
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2047643.cms

Alabama Veterans Stands Up for Stand Down

Event helps veterans get services, counseling
Dothan Eagle - Dothan,AL,USA

Thursday, Sep 27, 2007 - 06:59 PM
By Jim Cook

When he left the Navy 10 years ago, Byron Wright couldn’t readjust to civilian life. His marriage ended in divorce and he developed a drug abuse problem. He now lives at the House of Benjamin, a facility designed to help struggling veterans get back on their feet.


“Everybody goes through different things,” Wright said. “It was hard for me. I felt sorry for myself.”


Wright’s story is all too common among veterans, an estimated 200,000 of whom are homeless.

The House of Benjamin, local veterans’ agencies and other civic organizations on Wednesday held a stand down, an event to help veterans like Wright gain access to counseling, health care services and the benefits they’re entitled to for serving their country. About 100 veterans showed up for the event before noon, and received services such as haircuts, flu shots, clothing and counseling.

click above for the rest

Canadian Soldier up a river without a paddle on PTSD excuse

New trial ordered for ex-soldier
Sep 27, 2007 06:29 PM
THE CANADIAN PRESS

WINNIPEG – A groundbreaking ruling that found a former soldier not criminally responsible for a sex assault he admitted to committing was overturned by the Manitoba Court of Appeal today.

The Appeal Court ordered a new trial for Roger Borsch, who did not face criminal penalties for breaking into a colleague's home in The Pas, Man., in 2004 and attacking her 13-year-old daughter.

Borsch argued that his mind was affected by atrocities he witnessed on a six-month tour of duty in Bosnia a decade earlier.

The original decision by Court of Queen's Bench Justice Nathan Nurgitz marked the first time a Canadian soldier successfully used post-traumatic stress disorder as a defence.

Borsch, 35, appeared tense – his brow furrowed, his head down – at today's court appearance at which the three-judge appeal panel released its reasons in a written report.

The panel said Nurgitz had to determine Borsch's state of mind at the time of the offences before he could find the accused not criminally responsible, the decision states.

"He failed to do this," it says.

Crown prosecutor Don Knight applauded the ruling.

"I guess you could say mission accomplished," Knight said outside court.

"The Crown's position at trial was he didn't suffer from (post-traumatic stress disorder) and even if he did, it's still not an excuse for committing crimes."

Borsch, who was working as a jail guard at the time of the assault, admitted to breaking into a co-worker's home, taping her 13-year-old daughter's mouth shut and then sexually assaulting her.

Borsch testified he only remembered waking up hours later in a canoe with no paddles on the Saskatchewan River.

go here for the rest
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/261321

Vietnam Vet gets over seven years for suicide by cop attempt

Man sentenced to 7 1/2 years for pulling gun on police officer
ELIZABETH EVANS The York Dispatch

Fifteen Newberry Township police officers and their chief sat unmoved in York County Courtroom No. 11 Wednesday morning, listening to an Etters-area man explain why he pulled a gun on township Sgt. Andrew Knaub and threatened to kill him during a DUI traffic stop.

A mental-health counselor told the judge that David Alan Martin -- a Marine who served in Vietnam -- suffers post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol problems.

Martin, 54, of Pines Road in Newberry Township, said he never intended to shoot Knaub, but wanted Knaub to shoot him. In August, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and driving under the influence.

Then, police had their say. Newberry Lt. John Snyder explained to Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Brillhart what an officer goes through, looking down the barrel of a gun and hearing he's going to be killed.
go here for the rest
http://www.yorkdispatch.com/local/ci_7015104

To lay down his life for the sake of his friends.

Do you think God abandoned you still? Come on and admit that while you were in the center of the trauma, you either felt the hand of God on your shoulder, or more often, never felt further from Him. In natural disasters, we pray to God to protect us. Yet when it's over we wonder why He didn't make the hurricane hit someplace else or why the tornadoes came and destroyed what we had while leaving the neighbors house untouched. We wonder why He heals some people while the people we love suffer. It is human nature to wonder, search for answers and try to understand.

In times of combat, it is very hard to feel anything Godly. Humans are trying to kill other humans and the horrors of wars become an evil act. The absence of God becomes overwhelming. We wonder how a loving God who blessed us with Jesus, would allow the carnage of war. We wonder how He could possibly forgive us for being a part of it. For soldiers, this is often the hardest personal crisis they face.

They are raised to love God and to be told how much God loves them. For Christians, they are reminded of the gift of Jesus, yet in moments of crisis they forget most of what Jesus went through.

Here are a few lessons and you don't even have to go to church to hear them.

( Matthew 8:5-13)
As he entered Caper'na-um, a centurion came forward to him, beseeching him and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terrible distress." And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion answered him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth." And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; be it done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

This sounds like a great act Jesus did. You think about the Roman Centurion, powerful, commanding, able to lead men into combat, perhaps Jesus even knew of the other men this Centurion has killed. Yet this same man, capable of killing, was also capable of great compassion for what some regarded as a piece of property, his slave. He showed he didn't trust the pagan gods the Romans prayed to but was willing to trust Jesus.

Yet when you look deeper into this act, it proves that Jesus has compassion for the warriors. The life and death of Jesus were not surprises to Him. He knew from the very beginning how it would end. This is apparent throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament. He knew He would be betrayed, beaten, mocked, humiliated and nailed to the cross by the hands of Romans. Yet even knowing this would come, He had compassion for this Roman soldier. The Romans had tortured and killed the Jews since the beginning of their empire as well as other conquered people. The Roman soldiers believed in what they were doing, yet even with that, there was still documentation of them suffering for what they did.

Ancient historians documented the illness striking the Greeks, which is what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There is evidence this illness hit every generation of warriors. Jesus would be aware that saving the Centurion's slave, because of the faith and trust He placed in Jesus, would be reported from soldier to soldier. Jesus showed compassion even to the Romans.

How can we think that He would not show compassion to today's soldiers? How can we think that He would look any differently on them than He did toward the soldiers who would nail Him to the Cross?

God didn't send you into combat. Another human did. God however created who you are inside. The ability to be willing to lay down your life for the sake of others was in you the day you were born. While God allows freewill, for good and for evil, He also has a place in His heart for all of His children. We humans however let go of His hand at the time we need to hold onto it the most.

When tragedy and trauma strike, we wonder where God was that He allowed it to happen. Then we blame ourselves. We do the "if" and " but" over and over again in our own minds thinking it was our fault and the trauma was a judgment from God. Yet we do not consider that God could very well be the reason we survived it all.

PTSD is a double edge cut to the person. The trauma strikes the emotions and the sense that God has abandoned us strikes at the soul. There is no greater sense of loss than to feel as if God has left you alone especially after surviving trauma and war. If you read the passage of Jesus and the Roman, you know that this would be impossible for God to do to you. Search your soul and you will find Him still there.

For the last story on this we have none other than the Arch Angel Michael. The warrior angel. If God did not value the warrior for the sake of good, then why would He create a warrior angel and make him as mighty as he was?

Michael has a sword in one hand and a scale in the other. God places things in balance for the warriors.

And in John 15:
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

When it comes to waging war, issuing orders, God will judge the hearts and minds of those who sent you and He will also know your's. If you feel you need to be forgiven, then ask for it and you will be forgiven. Yet if you know in your heart the basis of your service was that of the willingness to lay down your life for your friends, then ask to be healed. Know this. That if Jesus had the compassion for a Roman how could He have any less compassion for you?

Because the military is in enough trouble already trying to evangelize soldiers for a certain branch of Christianity, understand this is not part of that. It's one of the benefits of having I don't care what faith you have or which place of worship you attended. If you were a religious person at any level before combat, your soul is in need of healing as well. There is a tremendous gift when the psychological healing is combined with the spiritual healing. If you have a religious leader you can talk to, please seek them out.



Kathie Costos

Vietnam Vet's avalanche flashback

Stress disorder suspected in attack
Family of Olympian's father says he suffered from war flashbacks; Fresno police defend pursuit.
By Denny Boyles and Marc Benjamin / The Fresno Bee
09/26/07 04:31:57

Experts in post-traumatic stress disorder said Tuesday it's possible the condition could have contributed to Cliff Finch's actions during a police chase and shootout Monday.

Finch, 58, father of Olympic snowboarder Andy Finch, remains in critical condition at Community Regional Medical Center after being shot multiple times. Tuesday, Finch's family offered more details about the days leading up to the shootout and the steps they tried to take to get him help.

"He's been as stable as a rock," Craig Finch said of his brother. "But when he broke, we knew it. We knew it was not Cliff."

Police said that regardless of Cliff Finch's state of mind, they responded the only way they could to an armed suspect who refused to stop and then fired at officers.

"Throughout this whole case, we were put in situations where we were left with little or no options," said Fresno police spokesman Jeff Cardinale. "Cliff Finch ran from officers, refused to surrender and shot first."

Craig Finch said he believes his brother did not know what he was doing when he ran from police and shot at them.

Cliff Finch has been charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer. Tuesday, Police Chief Jerry Dyer announced that officers had recovered a second loaded weapon from Finch's truck, along with a box of .223 caliber ammunition.

go here for the rest

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/148495.html

PTSD may have led to high speed chase and police shootout

PTSD may have led to high speed chase and police shootout
By Catherine Mylinh
Watch the story Disbelief is starting to give way to pain and confusion for Clifford Finch's loved ones. Timothy Jones still can't believe the accusations against his cousin.

"The family is struggling. Obviously it's been a difficult time," Jones told KSEE 24 News Tuesday evening.

Fresno police say Finch, 58, led them on a high-speed chase. It ended with a crash in the northwest district near Herdon Avenue and Golden State; then a dramatic shootout, where Finch was hit several times.

Finch is now facing two counts of attempted murder on a police officer as well as a host of other felonies.

"There is so much shock. This is out of character. It's difficult for everybody to comprehend," Jones said.

Finch has been a recognized member of the community in part because of his topiary business and in part because his son, Andy Finch, is an Olympic snowboarder.
go here for the rest and for the video
http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/10031446.html


Update on officer-involved shooting
Fresno police say they had no choice but to open fire on a man after a dramatic encounter. Officers say Clifford Finch, 58, shot at them first after leading them on a dangerous high speed chase.
PTSD may have led to high speed chase and police shootout
Could post-traumatic stress have played a role in an officer-involved shooting? Clifford Finch's family says the Vietnam veteran may have been suffering from PSTD when he led officers on a high-speed chase, ending in a shootout with police.

Copyright © 2007
© 2007 KSEE-TV, a Granite Broadcasting Station

Portions may also be copyrighted by the Associated Press and/or MSNBC.
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Jonathan Shay wins Genius Grant for PTSD

Hear Jonathan Shay talk about a scene in the Odyssey and how it relates to soldiers back from Iraq today.
Health Care
Psychiatrist Who Counsels Vets Wins Genius Grant
by Joseph Shapiro




Morning Edition, September 25, 2007 · Among this year's MacArthur fellowships — sometimes called the "genius grant" — is a half-million dollar award to a psychiatrist who helps heal combat veterans with post traumatic stress disorder by talking about the mythological Greek warriors Achilles and Odysseus.



Soldiers, and generals, too, listen to Dr. Jonathan Shay, of the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Boston. They listen especially when he talks about why it's crucial to soldiers' mental health to keep them together in the same unit over time, so they truly come to know and rely upon each other. This wasn't the practice in Vietnam. But it is again, today, thanks in part to Shay.



A lot of Shay's insight about how to prevent the mental health problems of war comes from reading the Iliad and the Odyssey. He first picked up the books while recovering from a stroke some 25 years ago. He was just 40.



As he slowly recovered, he took what he figured would be a temporary gig counseling Vietnam veterans at the Boston VA. He told them stories of Achilles and Odysseus — and those tales of betrayal by leaders and of guilt and loss among soldiers resonated with the Vietnam veterans.
"One of the things they appreciate," Shay says, "is the sense that they're part of a long historical context — that they are not personally deficient for having become injured in war."


go here for the rest


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14682035

I read a lot of books about Vietnam and PTSD in a lot of years. This was the first one I read that made me want to contact the author. I was crying when I emailed Jonathan because this book was the first one that looked at PTSD as something personal. I didn't know very much about emailing or the web back then. I had the email blocking people not in my address book, without knowing it. Jonathan tried to email me back, but when he found it wouldn't go, he didn't give up. He searched until he found me. I was shocked. I didn't imagine him wanting to even email me back at all. I just wanted to let him know how much his book touched me.
Over the years, we emailed back and forth. He read my book when I was still working on it and helped me to keep pushing to have it published. It didn't work out and I went the self-publishing route but I will never forget his kindness. If anyone should be awarded for the work they do on PTSD and for our veterans, it's Jonathan Shay. He writes books so that everyone can understand and writes them from his heart.
If you want to read some of the best writing on PTSD and combat, go to the book store and find his name. He has several great ones but Achilles in Vietnam will always be my favorite.

Iraq War Stirs Memories For Vietnam Veterans

Iraq War Stirs Memories for Vietnam Vets
by Libby Lewis

Morning Edition, September 25, 2007 · The number of Vietnam veterans seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder has been steadily rising since the 1990s, and the rate has spiked since the United States prepared to invade Iraq in 2003.

Experts say a number of factors could be at play, including that America's present is rekindling ideas of its past and the Iraq war is triggering Vietnam memories.

For Jim Hale, a Vietnam veteran who ran electrical generators on Phu Quoc Island for the U.S. military, the Iraq war is almost like "watching a rerun" of the Vietnam war.

Since 1987, Hale has lived off the grid with his wife, Deena, in the Ozarks, 10 miles from the nearest paved road. He said that for years he thought he was doing all right.

He's always been a bad sleeper, and he tends to get nervous when he's alone at night. But four years ago, Hale got pulled emotionally into helping two old war buddies whose feelings about Vietnam were resurfacing as the United States began laying the groundwork to invade Iraq. All the while, he said, he listened to the news about Iraq on his battery-powered radio.
go here for the rest
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14529768

Homeless veterans on the rise

Homeless veterans on the rise

There is a growing issue among our soldiers, returning from war, with mental health problems.
More and more are ending up homeless, and on the streets. A conference to address the homeless in Colorado Springs was held at the First Presbyterian church on Monday. A hot topic there was the cause of a growing number of soldiers, who are returning home, only to end up on the streets.

Jack Freeman works with homeless vets through the Department of Veterans Affairs. He says, "We're starting to see the beginning of vets that have gotten out after the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts."

From the battle zone to home life, it's a transition more and more soldiers can't seem to make.
Steven Kidd is a clinical psychologist for the VA. His job is to go inside the mind of a homeless vet. He says, "Those memories, all those issues keep coming back, and resurfacing, and disrupt the desire to live a normal life."

Part of the blame, he says, is mental health issues that are not properly addressed. He says, "Most of the folks we've seen are trying to self treat other problems, like traumatic brain injury or PTSD through alcohol and drugs."

Fort Carson leaders have said as many as 20% of returning soldiers are reporting symptoms of PTSD. Kidd says, "We're asking more of them than we ever have, so it wouldn't be surprising if we had a higher rate of PTSD from this war, that's purely speculation."

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http://www.koaa.com/news/view.asp?ID=8932