Combat veteran and backs against the wall

Symptom Clusters for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Vary from DSM-IV in Therapeutics Trials: Presented at ECNPBy Paula Moyer

VIENNA, AUSTRIA -- October 18, 2007 -- Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have symptom clusters that differ from those in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), according to a team of investigators presenting their findings here at the 20th European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Congress.

These results, like those of other PTSD factor analyses, challenge the structure of the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for PTSD," said principal investigator Dan J. Stein, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

Dr. Stein stressed, however, that comparisons are difficult because of the diversity of the people and the types of trauma in the trials the investigators studied.

Dr. Stein and colleagues conducted the study because PTSD is common, chronic, and disabling, and is linked to an increased use of health-care resources as well a substantial functional impairment. The team wanted to analyse the symptom clusters in patients with PTSD who participated in two separate randomised controlled trials.click post title for the rest

Readjustment Problems Among Vietnam Veterans
The Etiology of Combat-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders
by Kim Goodwin, Psy.D
Published by the Disabled American Veterans

This is what I often quote from. The pages of this pamphlet have already fallen apart, worn and yellowed with the years. It came out in 1978. I was handed a copy of it in 1992, two years after a private psychologist diagnosed my husband with PTSD. By then I had been trying to get the media to understand what PTSD was and how the veteran was not the only one still fighting the war. You would think that they would have been interested, but they weren't. This research stated clearly the diagnosed cases of PTSD by 1978 were 500,000. It also stated clearly the number of cases would rise over the following 10 years. Actually it kept rising and is still going up now.

148,000 Vietnam Vets sought help in last 18 months
In the past 18 months, 148,000 Vietnam veterans have gone to VA centers reporting symptoms of PTSD "30 years after the war," said Brig. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, deputy commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He recently visited El Paso.

As you can see, even the experts didn't know how long the increase in PTSD would last. Last night was a reminder of that. My husband and I were out for dinner. It's one of the places he is willing to go along with the amusement parks in Florida. He always has to have a booth at least. His best place to sit is with his back against a wall so that no one can come up behind him and he can see everyone else. Our waiter startled him when he was checking on how our meal was when he pocked his head around he corner. Jack jumped. I thought how typical it was of him. I reminded him that sitting with his back against the wall was what most PTSD veterans do. He said "This way I won't get killed." Imagine that! Sitting in a restaurant and thinking you could get killed. It is also one of the reasons we don't go to movies.

Jack is better than he was. When we go to the parks like Disney or Universal, he is able to go into dark rooms, as long as he is holding my hand tightly. I am usually walking right behind him because he feels more secure that way. He knows he can trust me. On the rides, the backs of the seats are usually high and he feels protected. A few years ago I noticed there are certain rides he does not like to go on. I can see the difference in him as we stand in line as his arms begin to twitch, he facial expression changes and his mouth makes involuntary movements. At least for the most part, when we go to the parks, he is like a kid again, enjoying life for hours.

Jack gets really sad when he hears about Iraq and Afghanistan veterans dealing with PTSD. He knows what they're going through and he thinks about the lives they will have to deal with the way he did. I feel the same way, but my sadness comes from also knowing what the families will go through. Spouses will be dealing with a whole new marriage to a virtual stranger. They will live a life on a roller coaster ride of emotional changes with mood swings that seem to have no end and come with little warning. Over the years they will learn to be observant and they will be able to see signs of what is coming, but until then, it is shockingly confusing. Children will be children and do spontaneous things like come up behind them and cover their eyes. They will pop out of hiding saying peak-a-boo. Kids are also so filled with life they are noisy, making load sounds that will startle their parents. I remember the reaction Jack had when our own daughter was growing up. She still has a hard time dealing with a lot of this and she was raised knowing what it is.

The new generation of combat veterans will go through what all other generations have gone through. The blessing is that the net is available to them and their families. They don't feel as isolated as generations before them. Their families are able to reach out for support and gain knowledge from other families who have walked in their shoes for decades. They don't have to go through not knowing what comes with PTSD as they learn to watch for the changes in their veteran. The generations before Vietnam wouldn't talk about any of this. We had to learn on our own. The Vietnam veterans and their families are determined that no other generation of veterans will be left to take care of themselves.

If your veteran comes home from Iraq or Afghanistan different, go into the Vietnam veterans sites to know what they have already learned. If you have a Vietnam veteran, go there for the support that is ready and waiting. We can help each other with knowledge and understanding. No one has to fight this battle alone.

Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Namguardianangel.blogspot.com
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"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

Life with PTSD it affects the entire family

Life with PTSD it affects the entire family
by testvet6778
Fri Oct 19, 2007 at 01:13:45 AM PDT
In a "rescued diary, Broken Skull, aka Brian McGough explains his life and how he has dealt with his PTSD and how it has affected him, his parents, his relationship with his daugther, and his relationship with his new wife who he met in the Army, who also happens to have PTSD but refuses to seek help with it.

It's a choice she has to make, it's not anything anyone can force her to do, no more than they could force me or any other veteran. Max Cleland was disabled during the Vietnam war when he lost three limbs from a grenade, he did not seek help for PTSD until August 26, 2006 more than 40 years after he was injured. For that matter there are now WW2 seeking treatment after living with PTSD symptoms since 1945 or before. It can affect anyone.


It is hard for anyone to "admit" to themselves they are having "mental health issues" for one thing in the military culture it is seen as a sign of weakness, you are taught to "suck it up", "drive on" or the favorite "just deal with it, on your own time".

I know I was one of the squad leaders/Platoon Sergeants that told it to hundreds of soldiers over my career. I did them no favors, nor myself. I had a long line of military family members to live up to, my stepfather flew in the 8th Army Air Corp they bombed Germany in WW2, my own father was older and he was in D Troop of the 7th Calvary in the period 1914-1916, he and my Uncle Gideon served together at Douglas, Arizona, just before their enlistment was up they went on the march into Mexico with General "Blackjack" Pershing after Panco Villa.
go here for the rest
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/19/25238/916

Max Cleland had been treated for depression. It was not until the occupation of Iraq that he knew it was much deeper than that.

Veteran stress cases up sharply

The reality of troubled veterans is finally hitting the department, says Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a former soldier and member of the Senate subcommittee that oversees VA spending. "They're trying to catch up with a moving train because before … they weren't getting the resources they needed," Reed says.

Veteran stress cases up sharply
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The number of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder from the Department of Veterans Affairs jumped by nearly 20,000 — almost 70% — in the 12 months ending June 30, VA records show.
More than 100,000 combat veterans sought help for mental illness since the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001, about one in seven of those who have left active duty since then, according to VA records collected through June. Almost half of those were PTSD cases.

The numbers do not include thousands treated at storefront Vet Centers operated by the department across the country. Nor do they include active-duty personnel diagnosed with the disorder or former servicemembers who have not sought VA treatment.

About 1.5 million U.S. troops have served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Of those, 750,000 have left the military and are eligible for VA health care.

The nearly 50,000 VA-documented PTSD cases far exceed the 30,000 military personnel that the Pentagon officially classifies as wounded in the conflicts. The discrepancy underscores the view by military and civilian health officials, such as Lt. Gen. James Campbell, director of the Army staff, that troops tend to ignore, hide or fail to recognize their mental health wounds until after their military service.

click post title for the rest

Returning vets talk of struggles fitting back in to society

The war at home
Returning vets talk of struggles fitting back in to society
By Kel Munger
kelm@newsreview.com


It looked like any impromptu party, but the group gathered in the Rocklin Park Hotel lounge recently wasn’t there to drink. They were getting acquainted between press interviews.

Shad Meshad, a Vietnam veteran and the president of the National Veterans Foundation, and Patrick Campbell, the legislative director for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, had come to town to speak at a Sierra College Veterans-sponsored forum, “The Road Home: From Combat to College and Beyond.”

They were joined by two people from Sierra College who have made that journey. Student Kyle Williams did two tours as a Marine in Iraq before a wound sent him back to civilian life. Catherine J. Morris, a Sierra College veterans counselor, served in three branches of the military.

The conversation varied from rowdy to serious, heart-wrenching to hilarious. What they all agreed on, though, is that the U.S. government needs to pay more attention to its returning veterans.
for the rest go here
http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=588998

Report: PTSD treatments need more research

Report: PTSD treatments need more research

The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Oct 18, 2007 12:04:16 EDT

WASHINGTON — There isn’t enough evidence to tell whether most treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder work, according a scientific review that highlights the urgency of finding answers as thousands of suffering veterans return from Iraq.

The one proven treatment: “exposure therapies,” where PTSD patients are gradually exposed to sights and sounds that essentially simulate their trauma to help them learn to cope, advisers to the government reported Thursday.

The lack of evidence for other therapies doesn’t mean patients should give them up — they still should get whatever care their personal doctors deem most promising, stressed Thursday’s report from the Institute of Medicine.

“The take-home message for patients should be that they seek care,” said Dr. David Matchar of Duke University, who co-authored the report.

“That is the way medicine is practiced — we do the best we can with what we’ve got,” he added. But, “we need better.”

While PTSD was first recognized in Vietnam veterans, war is far from its only trigger. Crime, accidents and other trauma can cause it in civilians, too. Sufferers experience flashbacks and physical symptoms that make them feel as though they are reliving the trauma even many years later.

click post title for the rest

You would think that after thirty years of having to deal with PTSD, they would have found what works by now, but no one really invested the time or money into finding it until now. The difference is because of the net and the fact we have global communication. This is no longer a secret.

New VA Woman's Unit Opens in Massachusetts

VA center opens women's unit
October 18, 2007

Good news for local women veterans: A long-anticipated new residential rehabilitation unit has opened at the VA Boston Healthcare System's Brockton campus.

The rehab program is designed to treat women who have both posttraumatic stress and substance abuse disorders.

The highly anticipated, eight-bed, residential unit had been scheduled to open in January, but was delayed.

VA spokeswoman Diane Keefe said that finding mental health specialists to staff the ward around the clock took longer than expected.

But as of this month, the center is admitting patients, she said. By Monday, four patients had been admitted to the unit, and another was expected, she said.

click post title for the rest

PTSD war wounds in all wars

WWI

During the 1930's, many veterans sought medical care, especially during a tuberculosis epidemic. The number of VA hospitals increased from 64 to 91, and significant contribution to medicine when it broke ground in the treatment of tuberculosis, which plagued the population of VA patients; by the mid-1930's, the disease affected 13 percent of that population. Neuropsychiatric patients then accounted for more than half of VA's patient population.

WWII

Advances in armaments, the conditions in prisoner of war (POW) camps, and experimentation with atomic radiation gave World War II veterans' health challenges not experienced by previous generations. In particular, psychiatric casualties increased by 300 percent from World War I to World War II and accounted for 23 percent of all evacuees. The traumatic aftereffects of combat were widely rejected as the cause for psychiatric casualties.

The American Legion drafted the GI bill of rights, a plan that included hospitalization, employment, home and business loans, mustering-out pay and education. Within 6 months, Congress passed the Serviceman's Readjustment Act of 1944, more commonly known as the GI Bill. Five years after the end of World War II, four out of every five veterans received benefits under one or more of the three major GI Bill programs for education and training, home loans, and unemployment compensation. By 1955, veterans who used their GI Bill had higher income levels than nonveterans of similar age, were more likely to be in professional skilled occupation, and were better educated. Three out of five married veterans owned their own home. The GI Bill paved the way for World War II veterans to become known a the "Greatest Generation," given their considerable contributions to the American economy and social structure.

Korea

In a departure from previous wars, the military took a more realistic approach to psychiatric casualties of the Korean War. The recognition that service members suffering from combat stress needed immediate treatment in the field decreased the evacuation rate for psychiatric reasons from 23 percent in World War II to 6 percent.

*****Again, this supports early intervention and attention to avoid PTSD from becoming chronic.

Vietnam

Emotional problems plagued and estimated 800,000 Vietnam veterans by 1985. Although those veterans had not manifested the same rate of neuropsychiatric disorders during active duty as had World War II or Korean veterans, Vietnam veterans were more likely to suffer psychiatric symptoms years after returning home.

http://www.vetscommission.org/pdf/Pastpresentfuture5.pdf

Commission report for todays occupations

3. Aggressively Prevent and Treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury Recommendation: VA should provide care for any veteran of theAfghanistan and Iraq conflicts who has post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD). DoD and VA must rapidly improve prevention, diagnosis, andtreatment of both PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI). At the same time,both Departments must work aggressively to reduce the stigma of PTSD. Goals: Improve care of two common conditions of the current conflictsand reduce the stigma of PTSD; mentally and physically fit service memberswill strengthen our military into the future. DoD and VA have stepped up screening for these conditions with almostthree-quarters of survey respondents reporting being screened for PTSD andTBI, and over 40% of them reporting symptoms of PTSD or other mental healthproblemshttp://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-25-2007/0004632548&EDATE

You can go here to read more. There are a lot of sections to get through but this is what I've found so far.
Commission report
http://www.vetscommission.org/reports.asp

There is a lot here. Many of the recommendations are great. Aside from increasing the disability rate for the disability and individual unemployable rate to reach 100%, they are suggesting they should just put it at 100% at the same time taking another look at Social Security Disability to remove the barrier of the "quarters" requirement. This would be great for veterans because if they have families, it will also allow them to receive help with medical coverage. CHAMPVA covers a lot, but it does not cover everything. It will also increase the income for disabled veterans who have paid into the system and will not be able to work. Virtually they have retired early and should be able to collect social security benefits.


This is in fact a quality of life issue. Let's put it this way. My husband's claim was approved a long time ago. Instead of just saying thank you and going off on my "merry" way, I kept fighting for the other veterans out there because if the way my husband was treated wasn't right, it wasn't right for a lot of other veterans either. Little did I know back then I would end up trying to reach another generation beside the Vietnam veterans. It is worse all the way around now.

While Vietnam veterans are still coming to terms with what they came home with, there are thousands of others who have been in treatment. There is not enough room for the older veterans along with trying to fit in the new ones. Older veterans are being pushed back, appointments are being cut back on. Most say they don't mind because the newer ones need help now. These are amazing people. In all of this we also have Vietnam veterans trying to fit in. They are not newly wounded, but newly discovered the problems they have been carrying are a direct result of their service to this country. If you think it is unique to the USA, think again. The UK, Canada, Australia as well as many other nations are finding it difficult to treat all their combat wounded as well.

One thing consistently missed when you hear the deniers of PTSD speak, is they claim that it is just this generation coming out seeking a "free ride" or being, for lack of a better word to replace their's, "pussies" who can't hack it. They avoid the obvious. The net was not available to global communication when they came home from Vietnam, Korea and WWII, WWI or any of the other military actions with documented evidence dating back to ancient times. This was just picking up in the 90's when the Gulf War veterans were seeking answers for their own unique illness along with the usual ones, like PTSD. My husband's uncle was on a ship hit by a kamikaze pilot during WWII and ended up in a nursing home because he was "shell shocked" along with a lot of other veterans.

As you can see from the first section of this blog, there is enough evidence to wipe out the claim today's veterans are anything other than what all other veterans were. Aside from brave and risking their lives, they were also normal humans dealing with very abnormal events. If you think combat is a normal part of life, you must have one really bad life. Combat is not normal to humans!

The next time you come up against someone even trying to suggest that these veterans we have are anything else but wounded, point back to the history of how they were all wounded the same way by the same things. Then point to this because they wouldn't even suggest it if it was not a real wound.

And all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans would be allowed to receive care for post-traumatic stress disorder without having to demonstrate its connection to their service.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101602036.html

Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

http://www.namguardianangel.org/

http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/

http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/

"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
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Trained to kill but what happens when they come home

Trained to kill ... but what happens when they come home?
Hundreds of civilian mental health professionals from across Minnesota will sit shoulder to shoulder with those from the military at an unprecedented conference on combat-related mental health.

By Josephine Marcotty, Star Tribune

Last update: October 16, 2007 – 10:36 PM

The war in Iraq has come to Minnesota in the nightmares, flashbacks and depression that many returning veterans are bringing home.

Twice this year, Minnesota veterans who survived the war committed suicide, raising questions about whether soldiers are getting the mental health care they need. The federal government estimates that up to half of all veterans experience some psychological problem after returning to civilian life.

Up until now the burden of caring for them has landed largely on the Department of Veterans Affairs. But today hundreds of civilian mental health professionals from across the state will sit shoulder to shoulder with those from the military at an unprecedented conference on combat-related mental health.
go here for the rest
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1489247.html

DOD still using Personality Disorder to discharge their duty to wounded

Nation
Military Bars Soldiers with 'Personality Disorders'

Day to Day, October 16, 2007 · Thousands of military personnel have been dismissed for "personality disorders" since the war in Iraq began.

The military says the soldiers had pre-existing mental conditions that it is not responsible for treating. But soldiers, their families and veterans' groups counter that the mental condition is post-traumatic stress disorder caused by their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Daniel Zwerdling says if a soldier's medical unit diagnoses him with PTSD, the treatment could last months and make the military liable for the soldier's disability benefits. But if the soldier is diagnosed with a personality disorder — a condition that predates his military service — then the treatment would only last a couple weeks and the military would not be liable for the disability benefits.

Zwerdling says he found no evidence of a military psychiatrist diagnosing a soldier with a personality disorder in order to avoid the extended treatment and costs. However, he did hear that the personality disorder diagnosis has been used to discharge problem soldiers quickly.
William Wooldridge, who was an Army specialist in Iraq, says he was dismissed from the service for having a personality disorder.

During his second enlistment, Wooldridge says he underwent a stressful deployment to Iraq and had a breakdown. When he returned to the U.S., he was evaluated by an Army psychiatrist and received a discharge for having a personality disorder.

Wooldridge fought the diagnosis and eventually got it changed to PTSD.

Zwerdling says the military also needs to figure out how it will deal with the tens of thousands of soldiers and Maries who are returning home with serious mental health problems that interfere with their daily lives.

Currently, he says, the military has a terrible system for dealing with mental health problems and it is not doing much to make the system better.

Zwerdling and Wooldridge talk to Alex Chadwick about the issue.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15323415

PTSD and fireman who took his own life

Fighting For Benefits
County officials and firefighters clash at an emotional public meeting.
By David Schultz
October 16, 2007

Mike Staples did everything he could.

The president of the local firefighters union tried doggedly to secure mental health treatment for one of his fellow firefighters who was suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder after his involvement in the 9/11 rescue effort. But Staples said that he was blocked at every turn by overzealous county employees who were trying to deny benefits to the troubled firefighter.

"It drove him into a deep state of helplessness and depression," he recalled.

Staples’ efforts came to a tragic end when the firefighter, whose family requested that his name not be divulged, took his own life in March of 2006. Staples had been in constant contact with the firefighter, who was forced to retire in his late 30s due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and said that he spoke to him just days before he hung himself.
click post title for the rest