UPDATE from earlier post
Disgruntled official kills 2 soldiers in Iraq
By Robert H. Reid - The Associated PressPosted : Monday Jun 23, 2008 16:58:14 EDT
BAGHDAD — A disgruntled local official opened fire Monday on U.S. soldiers attending a municipal council meeting southeast of Baghdad, killing two of them and wounding four other Americans, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.
The assailant died in a hail of gunfire after the attack, which occurred in the town of Madain, also known as Salman Pak, about 15 miles south of Baghdad in an area with a history of Sunni-Shiite tension.
U.S. officials confirmed two American soldiers died and that four Americans, including a civilian interpreter, were wounded. However, the U.S. officials released no further details except that the assailant was killed.
Iraqi police and witnesses said the attack took place in front of the Madain municipal building where the Americans had come to confer with local authorities.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/ap_iraq_062308/
Monday, June 23, 2008
When drinking is a symptom and not the problem with PTSD
Triple threat: Young macho men with serious injuries often abuse alcohol
Men with serious injuries, such as traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, must deal with a range of emotions. If these men have strong traditional masculine ideas and abuse alcohol, it becomes even more difficult to help them heal and come to terms with their emotions and situations. A University of Missouri psychology researcher studied these challenging factors to find better ways to understand and treat men who fit this mold, such as the injured soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Alcohol Intervention - Effective Alcohol Intervention. Inpatient Rehab Program Available.
www.DrugRehabCenter.com
“It is really a triple whammy,” said Glenn Good, professor of educational, school and counseling psychology in the MU College of Education. “Counselors face many challenges when it comes to helping men deal with emotions surrounding serious injuries. Newly injured men often face adjustments in the level of personal assistance they require, and this may result in struggles with some aspect of the traditional masculine role, such as a ‘go it alone’ mentality. When three factors - injury, traditional male role and alcohol abuse - occur together, the rehabilitation process may be a challenge. In this study, we examined the combination of all three factors with the aim of better understanding how to treat men with several challenges.”
go here for more
http://www.physorg.com/news127057610.html
When drinking is a symptom and not the problem with PTSD
This article is very good but it misses something that really gets forgotten when the problem is actually PTSD and not an addiction.
Vietnam veterans went in and out of drug and alcohol rehabs in droves for years. None of the programs worked and they went right back to their drug of choice all over again. In this case, the drug of choice is actually a replacement for the medication they need. This is called self-medicating. Most think that if they drink to get drunk, they're drunks or if they use drugs, they're drug addicts. When they also happen to have PTSD, they are addicted to the relief they get by killing off feelings and calming down jumping nerves.
Culture, especially in this age group, does in fact leave them feeling indestructible, especially when they have just survived combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. Additional problems not addressed nearly enough is reckless driving, endangering others as well as their own lives. Speeding in a car and on motorcycles have lead to many deaths yet very few are looking at the cause behind these kinds of impaired decisions. Part of it could be the age but part of it could be PTSD when decision making skills are lost in translation.
If a combat veteran with PTSD is not treated for PTSD, then this leads to all kinds of additional problems as well as medical attention that will not work properly. AA works great for people addicted to alcohol and there have been reports through the years that this kind of approach also works with PTSD veterans but these are reports and very little controlled studies have been done on relief that comes without the traditional treatments for PTSD. What really needs to be known first is what the mental health of the individual is to know if there are other problems other than just being reckless, irresponsible and lacking self control.
Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody, First female nominated to become 4 star
First female nominated to become four-star
Staff report
Posted : Monday Jun 23, 2008 16:55:05 EDT
Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody, deputy commander and chief of staff of U.S. Army Material Command, is poised to become the first female four-star general in the U.S. military, according to an Army press release.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Monday that the White House has nominated Dunwoody for appointment to the grade of general and assignment as commanding general of AMC at Fort Belvoir, Va.
“This is an important day for the Dunwoody family, the military and the Nation,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey said in the release. “Lt. Gen. Dunwoody’s nomination not only underscores her significant contributions and success throughout 33 years of service, but also shows the level of possible opportunity in our Army’s diverse, quality all-volunteer force.”
Approximately five percent of general officers in the Army are women, which includes mobilized Army Reserve and Army National Guard general officers, the Army release said.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/army_dunwoody_062308w/
Staff report
Posted : Monday Jun 23, 2008 16:55:05 EDT
Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody, deputy commander and chief of staff of U.S. Army Material Command, is poised to become the first female four-star general in the U.S. military, according to an Army press release.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Monday that the White House has nominated Dunwoody for appointment to the grade of general and assignment as commanding general of AMC at Fort Belvoir, Va.
“This is an important day for the Dunwoody family, the military and the Nation,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey said in the release. “Lt. Gen. Dunwoody’s nomination not only underscores her significant contributions and success throughout 33 years of service, but also shows the level of possible opportunity in our Army’s diverse, quality all-volunteer force.”
Approximately five percent of general officers in the Army are women, which includes mobilized Army Reserve and Army National Guard general officers, the Army release said.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/army_dunwoody_062308w/
LA needs to find a place for homeless to park
L.A. seeing more people living out of their cars
By CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press Writer
Monday, June 23, 2008
(06-23) 12:24 PDT LOS ANGELES, (AP) --
Having lost her job and her three-bedroom house, Darlene Knoll has joined the legions of downwardly mobile who are four wheels away from homelessness.
She is living out of her shabby 1978 RV, and every night she has to look for a place to park where she won't get hassled by the cops or insulted by residents.
"I'm not a piece of trash," the former home health care aide said as she stroked one of five dogs in her cramped quarters parked in the waterfront community of Marina del Rey.
Amid the foreclosure crisis and the shaky economy, some California cities are seeing an increase in the number of people living out of their cars, vans or RVs.
Acting on complaints from homeowners, the Los Angeles City Council got tough earlier this year by forbidding nearly all overnight parking in residential neighborhoods such as South Brentwood.
But some people are just crowding into other parts of the city, including the seaside community of Venice, where dozens of rusty, dilapidated campers can be seen lined up outside neat single-family homes. The stench of urine emanates from a few of the vehicles, and some residents say they have seen human waste left behind.
click post title for more
They can complain all they want but it won't solve the problem as long as people keep losing their homes and have no place else to go. The residents have a right to be upset but if they were unlucky enough to lose their house, it's very doubtful they would have the same opinion on the homeless.
There has to be some empty parking lots these people can go to at night with some facilities to take care of their personal needs. What's so hard about doing something like that? It would cost the city a lot less time and money having them park on a lot than in front of someone's house who is likely to complain. How about a little human kindness and a whole lot of common sense on this one?
Summer camps for veterans' kids help ease strains
Summer camps for veterans' kids help ease strains
By MARY HUDETZ
The Associated Press
Monday, June 23, 2008; 4:19 AM
LARKSPUR, Colo. -- At a dining hall filled with the chatter of summer campers eating lunch, the photos on one wall bear witness that this is no ordinary camp.
Pictures of mothers and fathers in uniform are adorned with notes in the bubbly penmanship of youngsters whose parents have or will serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"My dad," reads a note taped to the photo of a man in Air Force uniform. Another, written in thick, red marker: "So me and my brother all have to be strong and make sacrifices for my dad because we all want him to come back."
About 100 youths are attending this free, weeklong camp in the tiny Rocky Mountain town of Larkspur organized by the National Military Family Association. The association is hosting 10,000 campers in 37 states this summer _ up from 1,000 youths at 12 camps when the program began in 2004.
click post title for more
By MARY HUDETZ
The Associated Press
Monday, June 23, 2008; 4:19 AM
LARKSPUR, Colo. -- At a dining hall filled with the chatter of summer campers eating lunch, the photos on one wall bear witness that this is no ordinary camp.
Pictures of mothers and fathers in uniform are adorned with notes in the bubbly penmanship of youngsters whose parents have or will serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"My dad," reads a note taped to the photo of a man in Air Force uniform. Another, written in thick, red marker: "So me and my brother all have to be strong and make sacrifices for my dad because we all want him to come back."
About 100 youths are attending this free, weeklong camp in the tiny Rocky Mountain town of Larkspur organized by the National Military Family Association. The association is hosting 10,000 campers in 37 states this summer _ up from 1,000 youths at 12 camps when the program began in 2004.
click post title for more
PTSD Drugs: Better Living through Chemistry
My friend Lily over at Healing Combat Trauma just did a great piece on medications you really should read.
PTSD Drugs: Better Living through Chemistry, or Purely Popping Pills for PTSD's Psychological Ills?
There was a story in the news recently about four young combat veterans in West Virginia, all seemingly in decent physical condition beforehand, who nevertheless all died in their sleep recently. Besides combat PTSD, one thing the vets all had in common was the cocktail of drugs they were taking: Paxil, Klonopin and Seroquel. (The Charleston, West Virginia Gazette-Mail reported this story on May 24, 2008 - it's linked here.) An investigation is pending, but the story obviously raises the question: what are vets with PTSD being prescribed, and is it really working, or what's best? (Continue reading, and you'll learn more about those specific medications as well.)
---
Where to go for information about PTSD medications? Here are a few, carefully-chosen selections, and their pros and cons - as appropriate:
go here for more
http://www.healingcombattrauma.com/2008/06/ptsd-drugs-better-living-through-chemistry.html
Karl D. Chapin Vietnam Vet, guardian angel and donor
War hero with kidney to spare finds donor recipient on Web
By Eva Wolchover
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Arlington restaurant owner Ricardo Mermet saw more than a hero in Vietnam vet and war amputee Karl D. Chapin of Grafton. He saw his guardian angel.
Until Tuesday, Mermet, a native of Argentina who co-owns Tango restaurant with his wife, Nancy, was in desperate need of a new kidney. Years of diabetes and hypertension had taken their toll, and Mermet had spent the last 18 months undergoing thrice-weekly sessions of dialysis while his name sat unmoved on the national organ donation list (UNOS).
Chapin, 59 is a decorated amputee who lost his right hand at Hamburger Hill in Vietnam. He came across Mermet’s plea for a kidney on matchingdonors.com, a Canton-based Web site that matches donors with patients in need of transplants.
click post title for more
By Eva Wolchover
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Arlington restaurant owner Ricardo Mermet saw more than a hero in Vietnam vet and war amputee Karl D. Chapin of Grafton. He saw his guardian angel.
Until Tuesday, Mermet, a native of Argentina who co-owns Tango restaurant with his wife, Nancy, was in desperate need of a new kidney. Years of diabetes and hypertension had taken their toll, and Mermet had spent the last 18 months undergoing thrice-weekly sessions of dialysis while his name sat unmoved on the national organ donation list (UNOS).
Chapin, 59 is a decorated amputee who lost his right hand at Hamburger Hill in Vietnam. He came across Mermet’s plea for a kidney on matchingdonors.com, a Canton-based Web site that matches donors with patients in need of transplants.
When asked which kidney he’d like to donate, he said, “Doc, you gotta take the left, because that’s the one I’ve been teaching Spanish to.’ ” he joked.
click post title for more
UK:More than 10,000 troops unfit for frontline: report
More than 10,000 troops unfit for frontline: report
Mon Jun 23, 3:24 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - More than 10,000 British soldiers are unfit for frontline duty as the pressure of supplying troops for years of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan takes its toll on the army, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
The newspaper said the Ministry of Defence admits that 8,500 soldiers from the 59,000-strong "Field Army" -- units such as tank, artillery and infantry regiments --- are classified as unfit to serve at the front.
When other soldiers classified as unfit from the overall 101,800-strong army are taken into account, the total figure is likely to exceed 10,000, said the newspaper, which is traditionally close to the armed forces.
The figure of one in 10 soldiers classified as unfit for operations is the highest since the start of the Iraq war in 2003. Britain has been Washington's staunchest ally in Iraq and about 4,000 British troops are currently based there.
go here for more
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080623/wl_uk_afp/britainmilitaryafghanistaniraq
Mon Jun 23, 3:24 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - More than 10,000 British soldiers are unfit for frontline duty as the pressure of supplying troops for years of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan takes its toll on the army, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
The newspaper said the Ministry of Defence admits that 8,500 soldiers from the 59,000-strong "Field Army" -- units such as tank, artillery and infantry regiments --- are classified as unfit to serve at the front.
When other soldiers classified as unfit from the overall 101,800-strong army are taken into account, the total figure is likely to exceed 10,000, said the newspaper, which is traditionally close to the armed forces.
The figure of one in 10 soldiers classified as unfit for operations is the highest since the start of the Iraq war in 2003. Britain has been Washington's staunchest ally in Iraq and about 4,000 British troops are currently based there.
go here for more
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080623/wl_uk_afp/britainmilitaryafghanistaniraq
Iraqi official kills one US soldier, wounds 5 others
Iraqi official opens fire on visiting U.S. troops, killing one
By Hannah Allam McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq — One U.S. soldier was killed and five others were wounded today in a bizarre shooting incident near the town of Salman Pak, south of Baghdad, according to U.S. and Iraqi authorities.
Iraqi authorities said a member of the town council, which is part of the U.S.-allied Iraqi government, carried out the shootings,
An Iraqi police captain, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the incident, said local council member Raed Hmood Ajil opened fire on the U.S. troops for unknown reasons and was killed at the scene by American forces. The account could not immediately be verified.
The U.S. military could confirm only that "initial reports indicate one Coalition forces (soldier) killed in action, five Coalition forces soldiers wounded in action and one enemy killed in action" at 1 p.m. today in the Salman Pak area.
U.S. and Iraqi authorities are investigating.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/41895.html
Linked from ICasualties.org
By Hannah Allam McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq — One U.S. soldier was killed and five others were wounded today in a bizarre shooting incident near the town of Salman Pak, south of Baghdad, according to U.S. and Iraqi authorities.
Iraqi authorities said a member of the town council, which is part of the U.S.-allied Iraqi government, carried out the shootings,
An Iraqi police captain, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the incident, said local council member Raed Hmood Ajil opened fire on the U.S. troops for unknown reasons and was killed at the scene by American forces. The account could not immediately be verified.
The U.S. military could confirm only that "initial reports indicate one Coalition forces (soldier) killed in action, five Coalition forces soldiers wounded in action and one enemy killed in action" at 1 p.m. today in the Salman Pak area.
U.S. and Iraqi authorities are investigating.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/41895.html
Linked from ICasualties.org
PTSD: Private battle of Capt. Nate Self made public
A private battle made public
Veteran hopes account of war, PTSD struggle helps other troops
By Sean D. Naylor - Staff writerPosted : Monday Jun 23, 2008 6:31:13 EDT
After surviving one of the most vicious firefights in the war in Afghanistan, Capt. Nate Self knew he had to write about it.
Self led a Ranger platoon in a daylong battle on Takur Ghar mountain that claimed the lives of seven U.S. servicemen on March 4, 2002.
Self said that “as soon as we came off the mountain,” he felt there was a message he had to spread. “There was kind of a personal side of the story and what the Rangers had experienced leading up to it that needed to be told,” he said in an interview with Army Times.
What he could not have guessed was that by the time he finished writing his story, it would have expanded to encompass the tale of another tough battle — his own with post-traumatic stress disorder, which continues to plague him.
Now 32, Self, who left the Army in 2004, gives his account of both battles in “Two Wars,” a book published this month by Tyndale House Publishers Inc.
Although others, including this writer, have written detailed accounts of the Takur Ghar battle, Self is the first combatant to publish his version of events. His tale of the battle is searing, but for many military readers, Self’s description of how PTSD almost destroyed his life and his family will make an even deeper impression.
As Self recounts in the book, the PTSD sneaked up on him over the months and years following the hellish battle on Takur Ghar’s frozen mountaintop.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/army_nate_self_062308w/
Six months of TV news and only 181 minutes of war news
June 23, 2008
Reporters Say Networks Put Wars on Back Burner
By BRIAN STELTER
Getting a story on the evening news isn’t easy for any correspondent. And for reporters in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is especially hard, according to Lara Logan, the chief foreign correspondent for CBS News. So she has devised a solution when she is talking to the network.
“Generally what I say is, ‘I’m holding the armor-piercing R.P.G.,’ ” she said last week in an appearance on “The Daily Show,” referring to the initials for rocket-propelled grenade. “ ‘It’s aimed at the bureau chief, and if you don’t put my story on the air, I’m going to pull the trigger.’ ”
Ms. Logan let a sly just-kidding smile sneak through as she spoke, but her point was serious. Five years into the war in Iraq and nearly seven years into the war in Afghanistan, getting news of the conflicts onto television is harder than ever.
“If I were to watch the news that you hear here in the United States, I would just blow my brains out because it would drive me nuts,” Ms. Logan said.
According to data compiled by Andrew Tyndall, a television consultant who monitors the three network evening newscasts, coverage of Iraq has been “massively scaled back this year.” Almost halfway into 2008, the three newscasts have shown 181 weekday minutes of Iraq coverage, compared with 1,157 minutes for all of 2007. The “CBS Evening News” has devoted the fewest minutes to Iraq, 51, versus 55 minutes on ABC’s “World News” and 74 minutes on “NBC Nightly News.” (The average evening newscast is 22 minutes long.)
go here for more
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/business/media/23logan.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1214202979-IKPzwPHPth4O%20XkM/q3e8w&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin
Reporters Say Networks Put Wars on Back Burner
By BRIAN STELTER
Getting a story on the evening news isn’t easy for any correspondent. And for reporters in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is especially hard, according to Lara Logan, the chief foreign correspondent for CBS News. So she has devised a solution when she is talking to the network.
“Generally what I say is, ‘I’m holding the armor-piercing R.P.G.,’ ” she said last week in an appearance on “The Daily Show,” referring to the initials for rocket-propelled grenade. “ ‘It’s aimed at the bureau chief, and if you don’t put my story on the air, I’m going to pull the trigger.’ ”
Ms. Logan let a sly just-kidding smile sneak through as she spoke, but her point was serious. Five years into the war in Iraq and nearly seven years into the war in Afghanistan, getting news of the conflicts onto television is harder than ever.
“If I were to watch the news that you hear here in the United States, I would just blow my brains out because it would drive me nuts,” Ms. Logan said.
According to data compiled by Andrew Tyndall, a television consultant who monitors the three network evening newscasts, coverage of Iraq has been “massively scaled back this year.” Almost halfway into 2008, the three newscasts have shown 181 weekday minutes of Iraq coverage, compared with 1,157 minutes for all of 2007. The “CBS Evening News” has devoted the fewest minutes to Iraq, 51, versus 55 minutes on ABC’s “World News” and 74 minutes on “NBC Nightly News.” (The average evening newscast is 22 minutes long.)
go here for more
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/business/media/23logan.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1214202979-IKPzwPHPth4O%20XkM/q3e8w&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin
When will military brass stop malingering on PTSD?
When I see videos done by the military interviewing commanders who get it, there is so much hope that this wound will finally be treated for what it is. Yet while the vast majority of the military leaders are educated, care about their soldiers and use intelligence, some report comes out about another uneducated, closed minded leader that find no shame in being out of the loop.
Maj. Douglas Wesner apparently remains unable to understand what has been known since the time of King David in the Bible. While every organization in the military, serving the military and every veterans organization is stepping up, he remains sitting in the back of the room with his fingers in his ears. Over and over again we see leaders taking time to understand the men and women they command, yet others like Wesner cannot even understand their lack of knowledge is not a badge of honor but something to be ashamed of.
Ignorance is nothing to be proud of in the military or any walk of life. Malingering? What would he do if one of his soldiers had lost his legs and could not rise to do a proper salute? Just because he is unable to use his mind to understand this wound is a wound, why should he be allowed to make the wounded suffer under his command? The evidence is in. The facts are in. This wound has a long, long history but so have leaders like Wesner with the mentality that caused PTSD soldiers to be shot as cowards instead of treated with the dignity they deserved. Every leader needs to stop malingering when it comes to getting their act in gear and catching up to the rest of their counterparts who do get it! PTSD is nothing to be ashamed of but ignorance of what PTSD is a thing to be ashamed of. Had Goldsmith been in someone else's unit, he would have received better care and treatment because he deserved it. Too many have been forced out of the military when they were willling to stay in even after being wounded by PTSD. All they needed was the help to do it.
For Heaven's sake, we deal with PTSD in police departments across the country, fire departments across the country and all other walks of life. It's as if those who still want to treat PTSD like some "thing" of shame is insulting every other person in the country who has been wounded by trauma. Would Wesner have insulted Audie Murphy too? Maybe Wesner is a fine military man otherwise but until someone explains what PTSD is to him, he will never be all he can be and his troops will suffer for it. Time for some lessons to the others like Wesner. It's like leaving a commander still using a flint lock rifle while everyone else moved on to machine guns.
Army's battle: Mental illness
Military tries to balance caring for true PTSD patients, keeping eye out for malingering soldiers
By Aamer Madhani Tribune correspondent
2:30 AM CDT, June 23, 2008
BELLMORE, N.Y. — Kristofer Goldsmith was so distressed about the prospect of returning to Iraq that he decided he was willing to kill himself to avoid serving a second tour.
Just as Goldsmith's three-year Army contract was to expire, it was extended under the military's "stop loss" program, and his unit was set to deploy to Baghdad to take part in the troop surge. On the day before he was to ship out in May 2007, he took a dozen Percocet painkillers, washed down with more than a liter of vodka.
Soon after Goldsmith was admitted to Winn Army Community Hospital at Ft. Stewart, Ga., a senior non-commissioned officer from his brigade visited the young sergeant, along with an Army psychologist, to discuss discharging him from the military."We all agreed that it was for the best that my Army career come to an end then," said Goldsmith, 22, who added that he'd scrawled the words "stop loss killed me" in marker on his body before his suicide attempt. "It was a few days later when they told me that they were going to come at me for faking a mental lapse."
Malingeringgo here for more
The rear detachment commander of Goldsmith's unit, Maj. Douglas Wesner of the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, quickly initiated an administrative punishment known as an Article 15 against Goldsmith for malingering—that is, feigning a mental lapse or derangement or purposely injuring oneself—to avoid being deployed to Iraq.
Eventually his commanders dropped the Article 15, but not before removing Goldsmith from the service on a general discharge. Because he did not receive an honorable discharge, Goldsmith was stripped of his Montgomery GI Bill benefits, which he'd been counting on to help pay for college.
Goldsmith's tough treatment is not unheard of.
Twenty-one soldiers in Iraq have been punitively discharged since 2003 after being convicted of malingering, according to the Army.
Goldsmith remains adamant that he did not fake a mental illness. After Goldsmith's discharge, a psychologist with the Department of Veterans Affairs diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-gi_suicidejun23,0,5414569.story
Maj. Douglas Wesner apparently remains unable to understand what has been known since the time of King David in the Bible. While every organization in the military, serving the military and every veterans organization is stepping up, he remains sitting in the back of the room with his fingers in his ears. Over and over again we see leaders taking time to understand the men and women they command, yet others like Wesner cannot even understand their lack of knowledge is not a badge of honor but something to be ashamed of.
Ignorance is nothing to be proud of in the military or any walk of life. Malingering? What would he do if one of his soldiers had lost his legs and could not rise to do a proper salute? Just because he is unable to use his mind to understand this wound is a wound, why should he be allowed to make the wounded suffer under his command? The evidence is in. The facts are in. This wound has a long, long history but so have leaders like Wesner with the mentality that caused PTSD soldiers to be shot as cowards instead of treated with the dignity they deserved. Every leader needs to stop malingering when it comes to getting their act in gear and catching up to the rest of their counterparts who do get it! PTSD is nothing to be ashamed of but ignorance of what PTSD is a thing to be ashamed of. Had Goldsmith been in someone else's unit, he would have received better care and treatment because he deserved it. Too many have been forced out of the military when they were willling to stay in even after being wounded by PTSD. All they needed was the help to do it.
For Heaven's sake, we deal with PTSD in police departments across the country, fire departments across the country and all other walks of life. It's as if those who still want to treat PTSD like some "thing" of shame is insulting every other person in the country who has been wounded by trauma. Would Wesner have insulted Audie Murphy too? Maybe Wesner is a fine military man otherwise but until someone explains what PTSD is to him, he will never be all he can be and his troops will suffer for it. Time for some lessons to the others like Wesner. It's like leaving a commander still using a flint lock rifle while everyone else moved on to machine guns.
Intervention takes on PTSD and Iraq
Intervention®
“Brad”
Rated: TV14 L Running Time: 60 Minutes Genre: Real Life Series Closed Captions: Yes
Upcoming Airings: Monday, June 23 @ 8pm/7C Tuesday, June 24 @ 12am/11C
Search for other upcoming episodesThe chaos and bloodshed that Brad witnessed as a young soldier in Iraq, including the death of a close friend, left him emotionally damaged. He now suffers post-traumatic stress disorder and uses alcohol and marijuana to quell the endless nightmares and flashbacks that haunt him. Brad's temper also flares and he's had several incidents of blackout drinking which have led to two car accidents. His parents and sisters are terrified that Brad will kill himself or someone else in a drunken stupor. An intervention is their final attempt to save his life.
http://www.aetv.com/listings/episode_details.do?episodeid=324352
Army Wives and Forgotten Families
'Army Wives': I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV
Zap2it.com - USA
Roland Burton is an excellent doctor. We know this because they told us so throughout the entire first season of Army Wives. This is a man who has received national acclaim for his work counseling patients through post-traumatic stress disorder. He's a man who, as soon as he decided at the end of the first season to look for a job elsewhere, was instantly offered a new job at Northwestern and presumably could have had his pick of places to go. In short, this is a guy who knows what he's doing.
So what exactly does it say when one of Roland's best friends is suddenly dealing with some post-traumatic stress, but abjectly refuses to seek counsel from him? Strange, right? But that's exactly the case we've got on our hands. Claudia Joy is hurting, badly, but rather than seek help from a respected and trained professional who also happens to be a great friend, Claudia Joy would apparently rather seek support from a mysterious stranger.
As it happens, Roland isn't even the only medical professional here whose professional expertise is falling by the wayside as somebody else assumes that role instead. Denise is a registered nurse, but you wouldn't know it from her behavior in this episode, in which flirting rather than nursing seems to be her priority. In the meantime, Roxy ends up acting like more of a nurse than Denise does. Roxy takes care of Betty, dishes out medical advice on Betty's fight with cancer, and ends up bedside looking after Betty as she prepares for chemotherapy. So to recap, in this series there's both a doctor and a nurse, but others are taking over the roles of doctor and nurse instead.
The case of Claudia Joy refusing to turn to Roland for support is especially interesting. Is she operating under the presumption that everybody on post is sure to gossip about her, and so even though she should theoretically trust Roland she still worries that if she talks to him, people will undoubtedly in turn begin to talk about her? Or is it simply a matter of pride, in that Claudia Joy still believes that she should present an invincible face to the rest of the post community, that she should be strong because that's what everybody else needs?
click above for more
This is a great piece on a show I really like. If you missed Army Wives last summer, turn on Lifetime next Sunday night and watch a good show. You can catch a repeat of yesterday's show on Saturday.
The point of posting this is that TV is being played out all across the nation on a daily basis. The suicide bomber is not on a base here, but is in Iraq and Afghanistan. The family torn apart is not just on TV but right here in our own neighborhood. They do not all live on bases with other military families to turn to for understanding. They are surrounded by people without the slightest clue what they're going through. These families are National Guards and Reservists families living right in our own communities. As bad as it is for regular military families, it's worse for the "part timers" who are expected to just be like the rest of us, act like the rest of us and deal with the same problems the rest of us do. But they are not like us.
Think of what the families of National Guards and Reservists go through. They face the same problems the regular military does, except they did not expect their husbands and wives to be sent to Iraq and Afghanistan over and over again. They did not expect to have to do without the kind of income they based their budgets on. They may have expect their spouse to have to respond to national security problems here on US soil, respond to natural disasters, but to be sent over and over again away from home is not what they planned on.
When members of the "part time" weekend warriors come home, they are expected to just go back to work, if they can, picking up where they left off. Their families are expected to just go on with life between deployment and homecoming. We expect much of them but no one is really talking about what they expect from us.
When they sacrifice their incomes to live on military pay, who makes up the difference? They do. When they have to leave their own businesses, who pays their bills? They are expected to. When they come home wounded and need to be taken care of, they are on their own until their claim is finally approved to deal with the injury as well as the loss of income. But there is a catch to that too. When they have a job making a certain income, that is what they base their budget on paying for mortgages, car payments and other issues in the lifestyle they planned on. The money in compensation, is not determined on what they make in their private lives. Most of them make a lot more money working than they can ever hope to receive as a disabled veteran. Who pays the difference?
We ask a lot of our military and their families but we expect even more sacrifice out of the National Guardsmen and Reservists. We've all heard "they knew they could be sent" when they signed up, comments along that line, but when you really understand what these families expected, being totally disregarded in the process was not part of the deal.
As great as Army Wives is, there should be a program on the National Guards and Reservist families because these people are our neighbors and we've let them all down expecting them to just deal with it all. The local communities do not understand what they are going through and have been reluctant to step up to help them. Local pastors are ambivalent when it comes to the stresses and strains on families and hardly none of them want to even hear the term PTSD, yet they are supposed to be their for their congregations. They need help to heal that wound and their families need help to cope with the changes. The spiritual needs are not being filled either.
When it comes to these citizen soldiers, we have a lot to catch up on and make up for but we won't unless the media sticks their stories in our face on a daily basis and humiliates us into paying attention. They have the same problems the regular military familes do but they also have the same problems the rest of us do. The military has bases and gain support from other families but who do the citizen soldiers have? Us and we are not there for them.
Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
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
Ecstasy for PTSD in Australia battle for minds
Pro drug trial
The really interesting part of this, is that two different Australian papers reported the same story with two totally different headlines but basically the same reporting done. A clear indication there is bias in both papers. So what's behind this? Is it what's in the best interest of the PTSD wounded Australian solders or what's in the best interest of the reporter's views?
Con drug trial
Ecstasy to relieve war stress
THE drug ecstasy could be used by war veterans to alleviate stress, says an Australian Democrats MP.
South Australian Democrat Sandra Kanck says the drug's key ingredient, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), could be used to alleviate post-traumatic stress disorders.
"This is not a new idea, it is being trialled in the United States and Israel for war veterans and in Spain for rape victims," she said in a statement.
"It's not a frivolous idea.
"Studies by the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2003 and 2007 have shown that post-traumatic stress is a real issue for veterans of the Gulf and Vietnam wars.
"Veterans, like other Australians, are already being prescribed powerful drugs like highly addictive morphine for pain relief and benzodiazepines for post traumatic stress disorder - both are potentially addictive and dangerous drugs.
"Most drugs can be dangerous but if they are used in a controlled way they can be medically beneficial."
go here for more of this
http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,23907284-921,00.html
The really interesting part of this, is that two different Australian papers reported the same story with two totally different headlines but basically the same reporting done. A clear indication there is bias in both papers. So what's behind this? Is it what's in the best interest of the PTSD wounded Australian solders or what's in the best interest of the reporter's views?
Con drug trial
RSL rejects calls to use ecstasy on stressed war veterans
Steve Larkin
June 23, 2008 03:25pm
PROPOSALS to use the drug ecstasy on war veterans to alleviate stress have drawn a lukewarm response from the Returned Services League.
RSL national president Bill Crews said he was reluctant to support a call from an Australian Democrats MP to investigate using the drug on war veterans.
Major General Crews said the proposal was problematic.
"When you are talking about ingredients of illegal drugs in the process of mental health treatment, you are starting to raise quite some issues. Even if it was proven to be beneficial in some areas, how do you actually control it?" he said.
"It's a matter that would be best examined by those qualified to make a decision about its validity or otherwise.
"And until I heard the advice of those specialists and the reasons for that advice, certainly I would be somewhat reluctant to support it.
"We would not agree with a proposal until such time as it was thoroughly investigated scientifically and the specialists in this field, particularly psychiatrists, were confident that there was a case."
go here for more of this
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23908072-953,00.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)