The next generation
Children of male veterans face a tougher fight for help from government
By Tim Jones
Tribune reporter
December 6, 2009
HAUGHTON, La. - Ted Hutches is hobbled by leg-swelling cellulitis, cancer and nerve disorders that have left his hands and feet numb and prevented him from working for the past 30 of his 71 years.
His two adult daughters, Mary Beth Hoffman and Sherrie Hutches, are hampered by the same nerve maladies as well as hip and knee joints that pop out of place, causing each woman to fall down with disturbing frequency. Born without a completely formed left hip, Hoffman has undergone 18 knee surgeries since 1992 and cannot work.
Hutches, who was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam in 1965, was declared 100 percent disabled by the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs in 2002 and receives compensation.
His daughters get nothing.
"I was told I'd be wasting my time," Hoffman, 41, said of her inquiry about filing a disability claim with Veterans Affairs.
Hutches' daughters represent an ongoing argument over the extent to which serious health problems in the children and grandchildren of veterans can be linked to Vietnam-era defoliants.
read more here
The next generation
Sunday, December 6, 2009
PTSD, the change you can believe in
PTSD, the change you can believe in
by
Chaplain Kathie
While you can never return to the way you were before, you can end up coming out of this darkness better than you were before. Sounds impossible? It isn't impossible at all. Traumatic events change all of us.
No one is ever the same after a terrible car accident. We seem to always be on alert while driving after worried about it happening again. When once we were able to enjoy driving, we end up being angry, frustrated with the carelessness of other drivers and driving becomes something we have to do instead of what we want to do. We find excuses to stay home.
We are not the same after someone we love dies. We long for the days when they were still here, remembering what they looked like sitting in their favorite chair, the twinkle in their eye, the sound of their laugh and time we spent with them, We end up wondering who will be next to leave us especially when we've experienced the death of someone we consider "too young" to die.
When we lose everything we have in a fire, tornado, hurricane or lose our home because of a foreclosure, it becomes very hard to ever feel safe again. Our home is supposed to be the one place where we are supposed to feel safe and secure. This isn't supposed to be taken away in the blink of an eye. It is also especially hard when we are robbed and strangers have been walking around our homes, touching our things, taking what they want without regard to family heirlooms of sentimental value over cash value or how hard we had to work for the other things they decided to just take. Every sound we hear from that point on reminds us of the day our home was invaded.
Civilians face all of this in our lives but we manage to dismiss the aftermath of traumatic events when the person needing help is supposed to be facing traumatic events for a living. Firefighters are not supposed to be affected by what they see when they rush into burning homes. They are not supposed to be devastated after finding a child's body even if that child is the same age as one of their own. Police officers are not supposed to be devastated when they find the body of a child someone kidnapped and murdered. We expect them to be able to just do their jobs and get up the next day to do it all again just as we expect all emergency responders to be at their best when we need them.
When it comes the military we expect them to just do their duty and then get over it. What is worse is they expect it of themselves. They want to avoid the fact they are just like the rest of the humans on the planet.
No one is ever the same after traumatic events no matter how well they are trained, conditioned to rise above it and are prepared to face whatever danger comes their way.
A young Marine wondered why he survived when one of his friends did not. All he could see was the image of his friend's body as he stood there looking at it wondering why he was still alive. Why didn't that bomb blow him up instead since his Humvee passed over the area first? All he could remember was the aftermath and then blamed himself because he could not change the picture in his own mind. He could not see the fact he was not able to do anything to prevent it from happening. He was not able to see he did not cause it but the person deciding to put the bomb in the road did cause it.
In the case of innocents being killed the soldier will blame himself when in the chaos of the moment, it was not his intent to kill innocent people. He may have tried everything to prevent it but snap decisions putting the lives of the men he was with forced him to take action. He is left with the memory of what the outcome was, unable to see what happened before that, what was in his mind and what his intent was.
A National Guardsman wonders why his buddy right next to him was killed by a snipers bullet. Why did the sniper take aim at his friend instead of him? His friend had a wife and kids back home. He cannot see there is nothing he could have done to prevent it and he did not cause it.
What comes next after trauma depends entirely how we "see" it all. Our attitude when we remember what was determines how we heal after it or continue to grieve.
We can hang onto the anger. Anger is safe to feel. We do not think of ourselves as weak when our blood boils. We think we are in control as wanting revenge takes over our thoughts. Thinking we can do something about what happened and that will make the pain we feel go away. We want it so badly it is all we can think about. We plot and plan how to protect ourselves from ever feeling close to another human because they may die too. We put up walls around our emotions so that no one can ever become that much a part of our lives ever again thinking we can avoid this pain the next time.
No more friends to die or walk away from us. From now on they are just someone we know. No more people in our lives to love because they only bring us pain. They walk away. They refuse to understand that we are not the same in front of their eyes but are still the same trapped deep inside ourselves. We scream for help to let "us" out from behind the wall but they get angry instead. They tell us to get over it. They tell us they don't deserve the way we are treating them, but they never stop to think we don't deserve to be in the hell we are in, suffering while they want to just find blame. In the process, we in turn, cannot see the pain we are inflicting on them just because they cannot understand what we will not tell them.
Days after a traumatic event, there is some kind of predetermined time limit on what we are allowed to feel. After that, the event is supposed to be filed away in the past and we're just supposed to get on with our lives. Then instead of being a survivor of something pretty horrific, we are "milking" it, wallowing in self-pity or any number of abuses we are accused of. The stack of events in our lives this last one was stacked on top of is not supposed to factor in at all.
Giles Corey, during the Salem Witchcraft trials, had been pressed to death by stones. He asked for more weight to be added so that he would succumb quicker. He was an innocent man. As each stone was added more and more pain shot through his body. The pain was so great, he wanted to end his agony by the very same thing killing him. Pain from being piled on top of pain caused him to want to just get it over with. He saw it as his only way out of pain in this life. This is what some of our veterans go through. No matter where they turn, pain is added to pain, relief is out of their reach and hope evaporates.
In combat, these events can be so frequent they become normal as the mind tries to make sense out of all of it. Imagine being in a car accident every time you drive. While we know the risk of getting behind the wheel, getting into an accident is not something we experience every time. The accident is the exception to the "normal" day even though it is a possibility everyday.
For the troops, especially in Iraq during some of the worst times, their "normal" was facing death with each breath. It became normal to drive down a road and have an IED blow up. It became normal to be in Afghanistan on an outpost and be attacked by the Taliban. It became normal to walk into a village in Vietnam and have kids come up to you with one hand reaching out for candy while in the other they had a grenade to give you. This "combat normal" changed them.
At the same time they thought they would return back home to pick up the lives they had before, they do not want to face anything that had to do with where they were. If they don't think about it, it will go away and they can go back to the civilian normal, safe and sound at home. But the road they drive on is not safe. The driver in the car behind them is not some young kid driving too damn fast. The trash bag on the sidewalk is not just stuff someone is throwing out. It is all out of get them. Anger is fed. Trust vanishes. People they thought they could trust walk away while they hold it all in as if telling anyone would make them want to leave. They cannot understand not telling them is already making them leave.
Giles Corey is what they become when they do not seek help to heal and most of the time they do not seek it because everyone around them thinks they are guilty of some kind of witchery. After all, they are acting like they are possessed by some kind of evil changing into uncaring, self centered jerks. No one can see pain because all they see is anger coming out.
The aftermath of combat trauma is much like the aftermath of civilian trauma. Survivors walk away wondering. Why did "I survive" but someone else didn't? Even if they come to terms with that part of the event, they end up wondering where God was. Their entire lifetime of beliefs are on trail as they question everything they thought they could trust. If the God they knew as good really was good then why did He let it happen? If doing the right things for the right reasons were what God wanted, then why were they suffering?
All of this comes when they do not understand the changes within them. They believe they deserve to suffer even though they are supposed to know there is nothing they cannot be forgiven for. They believe no one will love them if they let their deepest darkest secrets out not remembering all the times in their lives when the people they loved the most were able to forgive them for everything else they did and still loved them no matter what. They believe its easier to just push them away and less painful with no one in their lives.
When they understand they are human and changed by all events in their lives, they expect to be able to heal and overcome. They rationalize the fact if they had a broken leg they would need something to lean on to walk, so leaning on someone to help them heal inside is not that unusual nor does that make them weaker. It just means they are stronger than they would be on their own and when they heal, they will help someone else walk.
It was not sent to them by God as punishment nor was it what has been often said after traumatic events "God only gives us what we can handle." God doesn't do it to us but He does give us what we need to cope with it and if we are willing, will also make us stronger. Considering the second we are born is traumatic, pushed from the safety of our mother's body, the rest of life is a series of overcoming trauma. We can come out on the other side of darkness more compassionate, more patient, more loving and yes, even more optimistic. Just as a car accident can make us more cautious driving and a better driver, we are not the same as we were before, but better.
After the death of someone we love, we can be more loving to the rest of our family treating them better than before. After we lose every possession we have, we realize that things can be replaced but the friends we have standing by our side, helping to take care of us when we need them have no price tags. Instead of wondering why you survived, you can begin to wonder what you'll do with the time you have left on this earth and stop asking why.
A very wise Chaplain turned the why asked by a hurting soul "If God Himself came and told you why it happened, would it change anything?" We cannot answer why a two year old child will die and someone else will live to over 100. Why someone dies of cancer but someone else getting the same treatment makes a full recovery. Honestly, none of us would really want to know the exact second we will die or why it will not be one second more or less. We certainly wouldn't want to know when someone we love will die either no matter how many TV shows they come up with. As for the movie 2012, if that ends up making us think more about what we do with the time we have on this earth, then that would be a good thing only if we do things for others instead of to them.
If we take our survival as more time to live, then we can think about what we can do with that time for the sake of others. With walls built to protect our emotions, good feelings were prevented from getting in. We can take that wall down brick by brick as trust returns. With nightmares we can learn to see past that image and look into what was before it then find peace with it. With flashbacks, they can lose strength as we understand the strength they have over us comes from anniversary dates and other remembrances trapped in our subconscious. We cannot change what was but we can change what is so that what will be can be better. PTSD does not have to be the end of you because you survived but can be a new beginning for a better you.
Marines thinking outside of the box on PTSD, Thank God!
When you think that the Marines are supposed to be of a different breed of human, this is an amazing thing! The leadership has finally come to terms with just how human Marines are. Are they tough? Yes. Are they physically tough? Yes. Are they mentally conditioned to do what is asked of them? Yes. What they cannot be trained for is to become machines. They are thinking, feeling, loving humans and nothing can change that. So now the Marines are seeing them as humans much is asked of, but still only human.
Marines are not supposed to grieve.
Marines are supposed to get over it.
No matter what they face, these thoughts have been drilled into their brains. How would these thoughts translate into daily civilian life? Are they supposed to just get over it when someone in their personal life dies? Are they allowed to grieve? When we have natural disasters here and some of their family members are in danger, are they allowed to worry about them? Car accidents happen all the time. Are they allowed to face the same emotional crisis when they are over there and their family member is here? These things the Marines managed to understand. When it is about their military family, the brotherhood of the Marines, they cannot suddenly shut off being human.
Civilians get crisis teams rushing in to help them recover from traumatic events. Thank God the Marines are finally doing the same thing and treating them like humans instead of machines.
Marines are not supposed to grieve.
Marines are supposed to get over it.
No matter what they face, these thoughts have been drilled into their brains. How would these thoughts translate into daily civilian life? Are they supposed to just get over it when someone in their personal life dies? Are they allowed to grieve? When we have natural disasters here and some of their family members are in danger, are they allowed to worry about them? Car accidents happen all the time. Are they allowed to face the same emotional crisis when they are over there and their family member is here? These things the Marines managed to understand. When it is about their military family, the brotherhood of the Marines, they cannot suddenly shut off being human.
Civilians get crisis teams rushing in to help them recover from traumatic events. Thank God the Marines are finally doing the same thing and treating them like humans instead of machines.
Mental health teams embedding to fight stress
By Trista Talton - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Dec 5, 2009 8:56:23 EST
The Marine Corps is sending more mental health teams to the front lines in hopes of better treating an emotionally strained force.
Operational Stress Control and Readiness, or OSCAR, teams will soon be assembled at the battalion and company level, putting mental health support services much closer to combat troops, according to Marine Administrative message 667/09, signed Nov. 23.
These teams include mental health professionals such as Navy psychiatrists and corpsmen trained as psychiatry technicians. They were requested by operational commanders and have served previously as part of a pilot program to train and deploy mental health professionals with Marine regiments and groups. Embedding mental health support down to the company level will make it easier for Marines, especially those leery of seeking help, to get the services they may need, officials said.
Through prevention, early identification and intervention with stress-related problems, OSCAR teams will help “keep Marines and sailors in the fight,” according to the message.
The program creates full-time billets within Marine divisions and infantry regiments, positions that will be filled by psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, mental health clinical nurse practitioners and psychiatric technician corpsmen on loan from naval hospitals.
The teams also will include battalion and company personnel, such as chaplains.They’ll work with Marines on identifying combat stress and developing techniques to relieve it.
read more here
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/12/marines_oscar_120509w/
Saturday, December 5, 2009
AMVETS launches new stolen valor Web site
AMVETS launches new stolen valor Web site
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Dec 4, 2009 18:30:38 EST
A leading veterans group has launched a special Web site aimed at raising awareness about the growing number of false claims of military service, medals and awards, and helping the general public report such claims to authorities and the media.
“We’ve seen the news stories, and we have a lot of anecdotal evidence — people calling us and asking us about the issue,” said Jay Agg, national communications director for AMVETS. “ ‘What is it? How do I report it? What are the punishments? What constitutes a violation of the Stolen Valor Act?’ That is really … the genesis of this project.”
“Veterans have a special place in American society,” said Duane Miskulin, AMVETS national commander. “The brave men and women who answered our nation’s call to serve are revered for their tremendous self-sacrifice and courage in the face of daunting odds. Stolen valor is a serious offense — one that cuts into the core of what it means to be a veteran.”
Miskulin said the 2005 Stolen Valor Act, which makes even false claims of an undeserved medal a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to year in prison and a $100,000 fine, has not stemmed what he said is a rise, even in recent months, of such false claims.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/military_stolen_valor_amvets_120409w/
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Dec 4, 2009 18:30:38 EST
A leading veterans group has launched a special Web site aimed at raising awareness about the growing number of false claims of military service, medals and awards, and helping the general public report such claims to authorities and the media.
“We’ve seen the news stories, and we have a lot of anecdotal evidence — people calling us and asking us about the issue,” said Jay Agg, national communications director for AMVETS. “ ‘What is it? How do I report it? What are the punishments? What constitutes a violation of the Stolen Valor Act?’ That is really … the genesis of this project.”
“Veterans have a special place in American society,” said Duane Miskulin, AMVETS national commander. “The brave men and women who answered our nation’s call to serve are revered for their tremendous self-sacrifice and courage in the face of daunting odds. Stolen valor is a serious offense — one that cuts into the core of what it means to be a veteran.”
Miskulin said the 2005 Stolen Valor Act, which makes even false claims of an undeserved medal a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to year in prison and a $100,000 fine, has not stemmed what he said is a rise, even in recent months, of such false claims.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/military_stolen_valor_amvets_120409w/
Specter trying to forestall closings of five veterans centers
Specter trying to forestall closings of five veterans centers
Saturday, December 05, 2009
By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter is trying to find federal funding for five Pennsylvania veterans outreach centers that will run out of money by Dec. 31.
He'll have to act fast. At least one center, in Erie, has already closed. And the remaining centers -- in Harrisburg, Greensburg, Boyertown and West Pittston -- are no longer seeing clients. The state Department of Labor and Industry has provided just enough money to complete the closure process.
"If he can get the money to keep it open, I will probably stay on," James Krobath, an operations specialist in the Harrisburg center, said of Mr. Specter's efforts. "It would be pretty difficult at this point to recover. We're in the closeout mode."
Budget cuts have pushed state government to shutter the facilities, which help veterans with a range of services, from seeking pension benefits to obtaining medals. They have a strong reach in rural areas.
go here for more
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09339/1018665-454.stm
Saturday, December 05, 2009
By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter is trying to find federal funding for five Pennsylvania veterans outreach centers that will run out of money by Dec. 31.
He'll have to act fast. At least one center, in Erie, has already closed. And the remaining centers -- in Harrisburg, Greensburg, Boyertown and West Pittston -- are no longer seeing clients. The state Department of Labor and Industry has provided just enough money to complete the closure process.
"If he can get the money to keep it open, I will probably stay on," James Krobath, an operations specialist in the Harrisburg center, said of Mr. Specter's efforts. "It would be pretty difficult at this point to recover. We're in the closeout mode."
Budget cuts have pushed state government to shutter the facilities, which help veterans with a range of services, from seeking pension benefits to obtaining medals. They have a strong reach in rural areas.
go here for more
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09339/1018665-454.stm
Report slams flaws in DoD sex assault program
Report slams flaws in DoD sex assault program
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Dec 5, 2009 8:22:44 EST
The Pentagon office charged with oversight of military sexual assault prevention and response policy is not doing an effective job — and responsibility should be placed, at least temporarily, directly in the hands of the deputy secretary of defense, a task force has recommended.
The report by the Defense Department’s Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services, based on 15 months of work and interviews with more than 3,500 people at 60 locations around the world, said the department’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office is not providing policy or oversight for key responsibilities, or interacting with military officials in the field who are accountable on this issue.
Defense officials should revamp the office and provide the expertise necessary to lead and oversee its primary missions of sexual assault prevention, response, training and accountability, the task force said.
read more here
Report slams flaws in DoD sex assault program
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Dec 5, 2009 8:22:44 EST
The Pentagon office charged with oversight of military sexual assault prevention and response policy is not doing an effective job — and responsibility should be placed, at least temporarily, directly in the hands of the deputy secretary of defense, a task force has recommended.
The report by the Defense Department’s Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services, based on 15 months of work and interviews with more than 3,500 people at 60 locations around the world, said the department’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office is not providing policy or oversight for key responsibilities, or interacting with military officials in the field who are accountable on this issue.
Defense officials should revamp the office and provide the expertise necessary to lead and oversee its primary missions of sexual assault prevention, response, training and accountability, the task force said.
read more here
Report slams flaws in DoD sex assault program
Veterans Assistance Program Slated to Close
This is how I close all of my emails.
This is what every governor needs to remember when they think about what programs to cut and what to keep. Governors come and go, just as congressmen and senators, but a veteran is a veteran until they day they die. They are not some kind of charity to put disposable income into nor should they ever be some kind of easy spending cut to hit. These are our veterans and we do a lousy job of proving we finally learned what Washington knew when this nation was first begun. If they are thinking let someone else take care of the veterans, then they should also feel the same way when men and women are asked to step up to serve in the military, yet hear, let someone else do it from them.
"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
This is what every governor needs to remember when they think about what programs to cut and what to keep. Governors come and go, just as congressmen and senators, but a veteran is a veteran until they day they die. They are not some kind of charity to put disposable income into nor should they ever be some kind of easy spending cut to hit. These are our veterans and we do a lousy job of proving we finally learned what Washington knew when this nation was first begun. If they are thinking let someone else take care of the veterans, then they should also feel the same way when men and women are asked to step up to serve in the military, yet hear, let someone else do it from them.
Veterans Assistance Program Slated to Close
12/04/09 6:16 pm
reporter: Ann Mercogliano
producer: Bryan Peach
Harrisburg, Pa. - A state program designed to help veterans is on the chopping block. The Governor's Veterans Outreach and Assistance Center in Harrisburg is one five centers that have been cut from the state budget.
Veterans gathered at Fort Indiantown Gap Friday to protest the closure of all five Governor's Veterans Outreach and Assistance Centers located across the state. Veterans said the decision by the state to cut funding to these offices is unpatriotic and simply unacceptable.
"I think it's outrageous," Veteran Jerry Polonsky said, "This to me sounds like a backroom deal."
The Veteran's Outreach and Assistance Center in Harrisburg helps Vets and their surviving spouses. The center said it assists with disability claims, pension claims and medical applications.
According to the office's director, money stopped flowing back in June which means salaries haven't been paid.
The director said he's been working since then for free to help Vets process claims. Veterans said it will be the younger generation hit the hardest by the closures.
"These young guys coming back. It's going to hit them harder than what it did before," Veteran Fred Tregaskes said.
read more here
http://www.whtm.com/news/stories/1209/684419.html
Marine imposter suspect to plead guilty
Marine imposter suspect to plead guilty
10:15 PM PST on Friday, December 4, 2009
By JOHN ASBURY
The Press-Enterprise
A Palm Springs man has agreed to plead guilty to one federal charge of the unauthorized wearing of military medals he did not earn to impress his classmates at a high school reunion.
Steven Burton, 39, is scheduled to enter his plea Dec. 14 in U.S. Federal Court in Riverside, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Akrotirianakis.
Burton pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge Nov. 12, a day after the charge was filed on Veterans Day. He is free on $10,000 bond.
FBI agents and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service began investigating Burton when he appeared at a high school reunion dressed as a lieutenant colonel. At the reunion in the Bay-area community of Martinez, Burton wore several medals, including the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross, the highest medal awarded by the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps.
A Naval commander attending the reunion took a picture that included Burton and submitted it to investigators. Authorities discovered Burton had posted his photo on blogs claiming that he served in Iraq and Afghanistan, though he never served in any branch of the military.
read more here
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_medals05.42643ef.html
10:15 PM PST on Friday, December 4, 2009
By JOHN ASBURY
The Press-Enterprise
A Palm Springs man has agreed to plead guilty to one federal charge of the unauthorized wearing of military medals he did not earn to impress his classmates at a high school reunion.
Steven Burton, 39, is scheduled to enter his plea Dec. 14 in U.S. Federal Court in Riverside, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Akrotirianakis.
Burton pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge Nov. 12, a day after the charge was filed on Veterans Day. He is free on $10,000 bond.
FBI agents and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service began investigating Burton when he appeared at a high school reunion dressed as a lieutenant colonel. At the reunion in the Bay-area community of Martinez, Burton wore several medals, including the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross, the highest medal awarded by the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps.
A Naval commander attending the reunion took a picture that included Burton and submitted it to investigators. Authorities discovered Burton had posted his photo on blogs claiming that he served in Iraq and Afghanistan, though he never served in any branch of the military.
read more here
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_medals05.42643ef.html
UC SanDiego gets $60 million for PTSD and TBI
If they are trying to "prevent" PTSD, then this has already been done as much as it can be. Ever read about a work place shooting? Ever read about floods? Hurricanes? Tornadoes? Ever read about when police officers have to shoot someone or one of their own falls in the line of duty? If you have then you are already seeing what mental health experts have been doing to prevent PTSD. There are crisis teams rushing out to help so that people can talk to someone they know won't judge them or tell them to get over it. They bring with them the decency of mankind, thus offering hope of tomorrow. Isn't that what we as humans all need after traumatic events we face?
When you see the worst another human has to offer, you need someone there offering their best. When you see what mother nature can do that is catastrophic, you need someone there to help you see that nature is also still magnificent at times. When you survive what others did not, you need someone there to help you see that the survival guilt you feel is based on events that were out of your control.
From coast to coast there are crisis teams rushing into events others run from. They work to help survivors as wells the responders and they do this because the sooner the events are addressed, the less of a chance they have to take control.
When it comes to the military, this is not done all the time. It's only done some of the time. Sometimes it is done well but too often provided by people without the slightest clue what PTSD is or what to say. Chaplains are deployed with the troops but too many have no idea what PTSD is. Imagine that! We expect psychologists and psychiatrists to be experts on PTSD since that is the number one cause of mental health crisis in the military, especially when the psychological testing is done when they enlist and mental health conditions are supposed to be discovered ahead of time, this leaves PTSD as the condition they should all be experts on. We've heard great answers from some in the military but we've also heard a boat load of crap as well depending on who is doing the talking.
So far we've heard very little indicating the military is coming close to understanding what PTSD is or why it singles out some individuals over others. This leaves us to wonder how it is they are looking to prevent that which they do not understand.
When veterans contact me for help, I'm able to get further with a few emails or phone conversations than years of therapy. I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist. I know they are needed because they can diagnosis as well as medicate when needed. I am not a member of the clergy. I know they are needed because they can do what I cannot. The problem is that these "professionals" are not focused solely on the veteran of combat. They cannot track reports or programs across the globe. They cannot spend hours upon hours talking to the veterans around the country. They see only what is in front of them.
They know what they are told. If the VA tells them they have enough mental health workers, they see new patients walking the halls, that is what they see. They do not see the veterans turned away because there are not enough people to care for all of them. If they hear of a clinic opening, they assume the problem will be fixed soon but they don't see the next town over with nothing.
We read about new groups starting out but we don't know who is starting them, what they know, what their agenda really is, what they are basing their treatments on or who is giving them advice. We just assume they are doing more good than harm.
If they really want to treat PTSD, first they have to know what it is and if they want to prevent it, they have to know what is being done in the rest of the country in civilian life. Most of what we see happening in response to traumatic events in our daily lives has come because of the Vietnam veterans pushing to have PTSD treated. It would be a wonderful day if the VA and the DOD took their clues from there and knew what was already known.
When you see the worst another human has to offer, you need someone there offering their best. When you see what mother nature can do that is catastrophic, you need someone there to help you see that nature is also still magnificent at times. When you survive what others did not, you need someone there to help you see that the survival guilt you feel is based on events that were out of your control.
From coast to coast there are crisis teams rushing into events others run from. They work to help survivors as wells the responders and they do this because the sooner the events are addressed, the less of a chance they have to take control.
When it comes to the military, this is not done all the time. It's only done some of the time. Sometimes it is done well but too often provided by people without the slightest clue what PTSD is or what to say. Chaplains are deployed with the troops but too many have no idea what PTSD is. Imagine that! We expect psychologists and psychiatrists to be experts on PTSD since that is the number one cause of mental health crisis in the military, especially when the psychological testing is done when they enlist and mental health conditions are supposed to be discovered ahead of time, this leaves PTSD as the condition they should all be experts on. We've heard great answers from some in the military but we've also heard a boat load of crap as well depending on who is doing the talking.
So far we've heard very little indicating the military is coming close to understanding what PTSD is or why it singles out some individuals over others. This leaves us to wonder how it is they are looking to prevent that which they do not understand.
When veterans contact me for help, I'm able to get further with a few emails or phone conversations than years of therapy. I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist. I know they are needed because they can diagnosis as well as medicate when needed. I am not a member of the clergy. I know they are needed because they can do what I cannot. The problem is that these "professionals" are not focused solely on the veteran of combat. They cannot track reports or programs across the globe. They cannot spend hours upon hours talking to the veterans around the country. They see only what is in front of them.
They know what they are told. If the VA tells them they have enough mental health workers, they see new patients walking the halls, that is what they see. They do not see the veterans turned away because there are not enough people to care for all of them. If they hear of a clinic opening, they assume the problem will be fixed soon but they don't see the next town over with nothing.
We read about new groups starting out but we don't know who is starting them, what they know, what their agenda really is, what they are basing their treatments on or who is giving them advice. We just assume they are doing more good than harm.
If they really want to treat PTSD, first they have to know what it is and if they want to prevent it, they have to know what is being done in the rest of the country in civilian life. Most of what we see happening in response to traumatic events in our daily lives has come because of the Vietnam veterans pushing to have PTSD treated. It would be a wonderful day if the VA and the DOD took their clues from there and knew what was already known.
University Studies Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury
Recently, the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) School of Medicine received a $60 million dollar grant for a five-year study to determine better prevention and treatment methods of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) among American victims and war veterans/soldiers.
The study, which is funded by the Department of Defense Psychological Health/Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program (DoD PH/TBI), will test new therapies to “prevent illness and enhance recovery in individuals at risk for adverse psychological, emotional and cognitive outcomes” caused by TBI and PTSD, according to UC news release.
read more here
http://sandiego10.cityspur.com/2009/12/03/university-studies-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-and-traumatic-brain-injury/
Colorado Mansion may become reintergration center
McAfee's mansion may become soldiers' reintegration center
By Brittney Hopper
Thursday, December 03, 2009 at 6:16 p.m.
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO -- A mansion once owned by John McAfee in Woodland Park is being considered as a place where soldiers can go to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Pikes Peak Behavioral Health Group, along with the military, are working together to try and make the mansion a place soldiers can call home before going home.
Mark Waddell was an area commander in Iraq in 2003; he suffered from PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI).
read more here
http://www.coloradoconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=385615
By Brittney Hopper
Thursday, December 03, 2009 at 6:16 p.m.
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO -- A mansion once owned by John McAfee in Woodland Park is being considered as a place where soldiers can go to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Pikes Peak Behavioral Health Group, along with the military, are working together to try and make the mansion a place soldiers can call home before going home.
Mark Waddell was an area commander in Iraq in 2003; he suffered from PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI).
read more here
http://www.coloradoconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=385615
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