Aid groups race against time in Haiti
January 14, 2010 9:58 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Haitian airspace opens to aid groups, but flood of aircraft overwhelming infrastructure
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls next 24 hours critical to save lives
Port-au-Prince remains without water and power since quake
Government officials fear death toll might eventually run into the six figures
Watch live reports from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Anderson Cooper is on the scene for firsthand accounts of the devastation from the earthquake.
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- Countries and aid groups large and small worked Thursday to help survivors in quake-ravaged Haiti in an international effort rivaling the response to the 2004 Asian tsunami.
They scrambled to help as people dug furiously to rescue loved ones trapped in the rubble on the streets of Port-au-Prince. International aid groups sought to provide medical care, food and water to tens of thousands after Tuesday's devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake.
Haitian airspace was opened Thursday to charitable organizations, enabling humanitarian aid to be flown in, a Red Cross official said. But the limited infrastructure in Haiti doesn't appear to be able to accommodate the flood of aircraft headed there.
One humanitarian flight from the University of Miami couldn't take off because it couldn't land in Haiti and another was hovering in the air above the country, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reported in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/14/haiti.earthquake/index.html
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Aid groups race against time in Haiti
Nation's veterans need help
Nation's veterans need help
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can lead to suicide if left untreated
By Ingrid Mitchell THE EASTERN ECHO
Added January 13, 2010 at 8:15 pm
One tends to assume, once a military member has returned from a combat zone alive, whether harmed or uninjured, all should be well once the member is removed from the hostile sector.
This is the scene most of us may want to paint. It is a fairytale filled with unicorns, blooming flowers and fixed smiles.
The truth is, the Suicide Prevention Network reports that approximately one in five suicides involves a veteran.
This report also suggests veterans make up 19 percent of deaths by suicide in the United States.
However, veterans make up only 11 percent of the nation’s population, and approximately 12-20 percent of those serving or who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
In the Veteran’s Hospital of Ann Arbor, I sat on a bench, a veteran with no apparent injuries, no visible war wounds and with no documented disabilities.
One, two, 20, countless wheelchairs rolled by, occupied by wounded war heroes. Strangers paused their actions to help the disadvantaged.
My mind is like a pressurized bag right before the air escapes. It wants to release the abundance of information that I have stored, but the seal is too tight.
read more here
Nations veterans need help
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can lead to suicide if left untreated
By Ingrid Mitchell THE EASTERN ECHO
Added January 13, 2010 at 8:15 pm
One tends to assume, once a military member has returned from a combat zone alive, whether harmed or uninjured, all should be well once the member is removed from the hostile sector.
This is the scene most of us may want to paint. It is a fairytale filled with unicorns, blooming flowers and fixed smiles.
The truth is, the Suicide Prevention Network reports that approximately one in five suicides involves a veteran.
This report also suggests veterans make up 19 percent of deaths by suicide in the United States.
However, veterans make up only 11 percent of the nation’s population, and approximately 12-20 percent of those serving or who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
In the Veteran’s Hospital of Ann Arbor, I sat on a bench, a veteran with no apparent injuries, no visible war wounds and with no documented disabilities.
One, two, 20, countless wheelchairs rolled by, occupied by wounded war heroes. Strangers paused their actions to help the disadvantaged.
Then I caught my reflection in the glass doors opposite my little bench and noticed a wounded veteran was staring back at me.
No one rushed me to see a physician or inquired about my injuries. I did not receive a Purple Heart for my wounds. They are hidden, but I can guarantee they are there.
My mind is like a pressurized bag right before the air escapes. It wants to release the abundance of information that I have stored, but the seal is too tight.
read more here
Nations veterans need help
Dog helps Iraq vet with PTSD: 'My little Marine'
Dog helps Iraq vet with PTSD: 'My little Marine'
Life has become calmer, safer and less stressful for Chris Goehner since he paired up with Pele, according to this story by the Associated Press.
Goehner, 25, a Wenatchee Valle, Wash., native now attending Central Washington University, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which has afflicted him since serving two tours as a U.S. Navy corpsman attached to a U.S. Marine Corps emergency room unit in Iraq. He worked as a medic in Kuwait and Iraq in 2004 and 2005, before being diagnosed with PTSD and discharged in 2006.
Pele is his service dog. Since November, the two have become inseparable.
Goehner is one of only 21 Iraq War veterans suffering from PTSD who have been paired with service dogs since the military recently started a new program to try to help soldiers with the disorder.
Pele was trained for the program by an organization called Puppies Behind Bars. The nonprofit organization uses prison inmates to train service dogs in several New York regional prisons.
read more here
Dog helps Iraq vet with PTSD
Life has become calmer, safer and less stressful for Chris Goehner since he paired up with Pele, according to this story by the Associated Press.
Goehner, 25, a Wenatchee Valle, Wash., native now attending Central Washington University, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which has afflicted him since serving two tours as a U.S. Navy corpsman attached to a U.S. Marine Corps emergency room unit in Iraq. He worked as a medic in Kuwait and Iraq in 2004 and 2005, before being diagnosed with PTSD and discharged in 2006.
Pele is his service dog. Since November, the two have become inseparable.
Goehner is one of only 21 Iraq War veterans suffering from PTSD who have been paired with service dogs since the military recently started a new program to try to help soldiers with the disorder.
Pele was trained for the program by an organization called Puppies Behind Bars. The nonprofit organization uses prison inmates to train service dogs in several New York regional prisons.
read more here
Dog helps Iraq vet with PTSD
PTSD does not have to be the end of anything
PTSD does not have to be the end of anything
by
Chaplain Kathie
With the reports coming out about the suicides going up among veterans as well as active military, the saddest fact is that none of it has to happen. PTSD is a serious, disabling wound caused by a traumatic event. When the person happens to have served in the military, it is caused by multiple traumatic events building on a series of others. Experts know traumatic events cause PTSD in survivors of a one time event in their lives. A car accident, fire, crime and natural disaster can take hold onto the minds of many. One time out of their lives can change those lives forever. When citizens enter into the fire and police departments across the nation or any emergency services, these events come into their lives with more frequency. The biggest difference is when we are talking about people in the military, it is a 24/7 job while they are deployed. They do not get to go home, be a regular person when their shift is over. They stay on guard, exposed to more events until their deployment ends.
When they return back to their homes, they return with the events carried deeply embedded within their soul, trapped in their minds while they wonder when the day will come they have just "gotten over it" instead of understanding what those events are doing to them as they wait.
PTSD claims more territory as they wait for it to go away, mask the pain with drugs and alcohol, pushing everyone they used to love away from them as they allow only the emotion of anger to surface.
Families want them back to the way they were before and when they show no signs of life in the "old person" the families end up resenting the changes instead of understanding them. Combat veterans always say "I just want to be the way I was before" because they cannot accept the fact every event in a human's life changes them. Wishing, wanting and regretting thrive while recovery time is lost and PTSD gets worse.
Some veterans look at older veterans falling apart, drinking too much, doing drugs, living on the streets, getting married for the 5th or 6th time and believe they are doomed to the same outcome. What they do not see is usually veterans become that wounded because they did not receive help when PTSD was mild. The hopeful reality is that even veterans that far down can be helped out of that pit and it is not hopeless for them to live a decent life.
As soon as help for PTSD is begun, it stops getting worse. The sooner it begins, the better the outcome. Getting help with medication alters the chemicals in the brain back to a "normal" level. Getting therapy helps the veteran heal emotionally, allowing them to talk about what is weighing heavily on their soul to someone they know will not judge them heals them. Reconnecting to their faith, knowing God is not punishing them heals their soul.
As we look at the figures of the newer veterans entering into this spiral of hell, we all need to know that while the sooner the better is best, it is not hopeless for older veterans to begin to heal. As time went on, some of the results of PTSD are forever a part of them but they can learn to cope with what cannot be healed. They can minimize the strength of flashbacks and nightmares. They can reduce the anger they feel. Even if they cannot hold a job because of medications and other factors like short term memory loss, impaired judgment or other symptoms, many have ended up working in their communities to give back.
If they are helped early on, PTSD does not have to end a career, end a marriage or allow the end of hope for a better future. Stopping PTSD from getting worse begins today and it will not get worse. Then comes tomorrow when hope returns, laughing replaces the crying as the wall is broken down, anger is replaced by love, relationships replace loneliness and the energy it took to try to hide the wound is turned into healing the wound from within.
It is not too late for Korean War veterans, Vietnam veterans, Gulf War veterans, Afghanistan or Iraq veterans and it is not too late for you to heal. You just need help finding the tools to do it. Open up to someone you know cares about you, go to a Veterans Center, call your family doctor, call your spiritual leader, find someone to talk to and begin to heal today. Tomorrow depends on what you do and instead of seeing your life slip away, take it back and heal.
And now a message from Papa Roy.
by
Chaplain Kathie
With the reports coming out about the suicides going up among veterans as well as active military, the saddest fact is that none of it has to happen. PTSD is a serious, disabling wound caused by a traumatic event. When the person happens to have served in the military, it is caused by multiple traumatic events building on a series of others. Experts know traumatic events cause PTSD in survivors of a one time event in their lives. A car accident, fire, crime and natural disaster can take hold onto the minds of many. One time out of their lives can change those lives forever. When citizens enter into the fire and police departments across the nation or any emergency services, these events come into their lives with more frequency. The biggest difference is when we are talking about people in the military, it is a 24/7 job while they are deployed. They do not get to go home, be a regular person when their shift is over. They stay on guard, exposed to more events until their deployment ends.
When they return back to their homes, they return with the events carried deeply embedded within their soul, trapped in their minds while they wonder when the day will come they have just "gotten over it" instead of understanding what those events are doing to them as they wait.
PTSD claims more territory as they wait for it to go away, mask the pain with drugs and alcohol, pushing everyone they used to love away from them as they allow only the emotion of anger to surface.
Families want them back to the way they were before and when they show no signs of life in the "old person" the families end up resenting the changes instead of understanding them. Combat veterans always say "I just want to be the way I was before" because they cannot accept the fact every event in a human's life changes them. Wishing, wanting and regretting thrive while recovery time is lost and PTSD gets worse.
Some veterans look at older veterans falling apart, drinking too much, doing drugs, living on the streets, getting married for the 5th or 6th time and believe they are doomed to the same outcome. What they do not see is usually veterans become that wounded because they did not receive help when PTSD was mild. The hopeful reality is that even veterans that far down can be helped out of that pit and it is not hopeless for them to live a decent life.
As soon as help for PTSD is begun, it stops getting worse. The sooner it begins, the better the outcome. Getting help with medication alters the chemicals in the brain back to a "normal" level. Getting therapy helps the veteran heal emotionally, allowing them to talk about what is weighing heavily on their soul to someone they know will not judge them heals them. Reconnecting to their faith, knowing God is not punishing them heals their soul.
As we look at the figures of the newer veterans entering into this spiral of hell, we all need to know that while the sooner the better is best, it is not hopeless for older veterans to begin to heal. As time went on, some of the results of PTSD are forever a part of them but they can learn to cope with what cannot be healed. They can minimize the strength of flashbacks and nightmares. They can reduce the anger they feel. Even if they cannot hold a job because of medications and other factors like short term memory loss, impaired judgment or other symptoms, many have ended up working in their communities to give back.
If they are helped early on, PTSD does not have to end a career, end a marriage or allow the end of hope for a better future. Stopping PTSD from getting worse begins today and it will not get worse. Then comes tomorrow when hope returns, laughing replaces the crying as the wall is broken down, anger is replaced by love, relationships replace loneliness and the energy it took to try to hide the wound is turned into healing the wound from within.
It is not too late for Korean War veterans, Vietnam veterans, Gulf War veterans, Afghanistan or Iraq veterans and it is not too late for you to heal. You just need help finding the tools to do it. Open up to someone you know cares about you, go to a Veterans Center, call your family doctor, call your spiritual leader, find someone to talk to and begin to heal today. Tomorrow depends on what you do and instead of seeing your life slip away, take it back and heal.
And now a message from Papa Roy.
Good morning, encourage someone today!
Words do matter
A comforting, cheering, and encouraging word from any friend, that compassionates their distressed case; this lifts up the heart and inspires it with joy; so a word in season, raises up a soul that is bowed down, and gives it comfort and joy: such a good word is the Gospel itself; it is good news from a far country, which is like cold water to a thirsty soul, very refreshing and reviving. (J. Gill)
Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad. (Proverbs 12:25)
Today, you can encourage someone who is desiring to hear a word to cheer their heart. There are no better words than the Words found in the Bible. Do you know someone who needs a kind word? Today in prayer, thank Christ for His encouragement and ask Him to guide your heart to someone who needs a kind word. "Kind words do not cost much. They never blister the tongue or lips. Though they do not cost much, they accomplish much. They make other people good-natured. They also produce their own image in other men's souls, and a beautiful image it is." – (Blaise Pascal)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
New director brings personal experience to Vietnam vet center
New director brings personal experience to Vietnam vet center
Plans call for public education and outreach program
BY JACQUELINE HLAVENKA Staff Writer
HOLMDEL — William “Bill” Linderman is standing in the center of exhibit space at the Vietnam Era Educational Center in Holmdel, surrounded by a glass case filled with letters written by soldiers to their parents.
Each letter is handwritten, some expressing regrets, others sending messages of love.
“This really is dedicated to the 80,000 people — veterans — who went to Vietnam from New Jersey,” Linderman said, pointing out that some of the letters were from Neptune, Matawan and other locations in Monmouth County. “Out of that, 1,562 paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
A veteran himself, Linderman, the new executive director of the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation, understands both the pride and struggle of serving one’s country.
“We like to think of it as a museum and a place where people can come to visit and reflect upon what went on during that time and where we are now,” Linderman said. “People are comparing Afghanistan to Vietnam, and they come here and observe the parallels. One of the important things about this place is that we try to present both sides. We want to include all different points of view because it was such a tumultuous time.”
read more here
New director brings personal experience to Vietnam vet center
Plans call for public education and outreach program
BY JACQUELINE HLAVENKA Staff Writer
HOLMDEL — William “Bill” Linderman is standing in the center of exhibit space at the Vietnam Era Educational Center in Holmdel, surrounded by a glass case filled with letters written by soldiers to their parents.
Each letter is handwritten, some expressing regrets, others sending messages of love.
“This really is dedicated to the 80,000 people — veterans — who went to Vietnam from New Jersey,” Linderman said, pointing out that some of the letters were from Neptune, Matawan and other locations in Monmouth County. “Out of that, 1,562 paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
A veteran himself, Linderman, the new executive director of the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation, understands both the pride and struggle of serving one’s country.
“We like to think of it as a museum and a place where people can come to visit and reflect upon what went on during that time and where we are now,” Linderman said. “People are comparing Afghanistan to Vietnam, and they come here and observe the parallels. One of the important things about this place is that we try to present both sides. We want to include all different points of view because it was such a tumultuous time.”
read more here
New director brings personal experience to Vietnam vet center
When in harms way reaches back home
Thank you Mrs. Mullen! This really needs to be talked about because it is a very real problem, not just for the military wives but for veterans wives as well.
When they are deployed, the worst is possible while they are in harms way. The fear of them dying or being seriously wounded is always there until they walk thru the door again. That's when the families are needed the most but usually they have received so little while a spouse is deployed, they are unprepared for what they may face and even less prepared to cope.
How do you watch a stranger walk thru the door when the man you fell in love with, planned a future with, stood by and supported, never came home but the guy in your husband's body did? If you know what can happen, especially with PTSD, then you are more able to cope with the changes and the challenges of helping them heal instead of blaming yourself. If you have no clue, then it's easy to find blame in them as well as yourself. When this happens, you feel worthless. You believe you must have done something wrong. You believe it's all your fault they changed. You believe they "hate" you for a reason and you deserve it. All of this enters into your mind as you watch your life fall apart.
What you are watching is your marriage being infected by the same wound infecting your spouse. If you know what it is then you have tools to support the fact this has nothing to do with you, you didn't cause it but you sure as hell can beat it for their sake. After all, you know them better than anyone else and you'll be the first to see changes in the way they act. If you know what you're looking at, then you can fight it but if you don't the reason for all of it is only shown in your bathroom mirror. It's not your fault. It isn't their fault either. You don't deserve it but they don't deserve it either.
Your marriage does not have to end. Chaos does not have to rule over your house. You can help them if you get the support you need to do it. As hard as it was for my marriage to last 25 years to my Vietnam vet, it is harder on the current military spouse because of the redeployments along with military life itself. You need all the help you can get so that you can turn around and help another wife heal her marriage. Take heart that the military is finally getting this and God willing someday soon you'll get the help you need. It's not all hopeless and you are not helpless.
When they are deployed, the worst is possible while they are in harms way. The fear of them dying or being seriously wounded is always there until they walk thru the door again. That's when the families are needed the most but usually they have received so little while a spouse is deployed, they are unprepared for what they may face and even less prepared to cope.
How do you watch a stranger walk thru the door when the man you fell in love with, planned a future with, stood by and supported, never came home but the guy in your husband's body did? If you know what can happen, especially with PTSD, then you are more able to cope with the changes and the challenges of helping them heal instead of blaming yourself. If you have no clue, then it's easy to find blame in them as well as yourself. When this happens, you feel worthless. You believe you must have done something wrong. You believe it's all your fault they changed. You believe they "hate" you for a reason and you deserve it. All of this enters into your mind as you watch your life fall apart.
What you are watching is your marriage being infected by the same wound infecting your spouse. If you know what it is then you have tools to support the fact this has nothing to do with you, you didn't cause it but you sure as hell can beat it for their sake. After all, you know them better than anyone else and you'll be the first to see changes in the way they act. If you know what you're looking at, then you can fight it but if you don't the reason for all of it is only shown in your bathroom mirror. It's not your fault. It isn't their fault either. You don't deserve it but they don't deserve it either.
Your marriage does not have to end. Chaos does not have to rule over your house. You can help them if you get the support you need to do it. As hard as it was for my marriage to last 25 years to my Vietnam vet, it is harder on the current military spouse because of the redeployments along with military life itself. You need all the help you can get so that you can turn around and help another wife heal her marriage. Take heart that the military is finally getting this and God willing someday soon you'll get the help you need. It's not all hopeless and you are not helpless.
Wife Says Military Spouses Also Face Suicide Risk
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 13, 2010
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The wife of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had a message Wednesday for those trying to prevent military suicides: Don't forget the spouses.
Deborah Mullen said Army leaders told her that they lack the ability to track suicide attempts by family members of Army personnel.
''I was stunned when I was told there are too many to track,'' Mullen said, speaking on stage at a military suicide prevention conference next to her husband, Adm. Mike Mullen.
She urged the military to get a better handle on the problem and implement prevention measures with spouses in mind.
read more here
Wife Says Military Spouses Also Face Suicide Risk
Veteran Suicides Prompts Immediate Response and Action
Veteran Suicides Prompts Immediate Response and Action from VA and SEN. Murray
The Military Wire received numerous emails regarding yesterday's news of the government report acknowledging double digit increases in veteran suicides. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, reach out. Suicide is final. It has generational impact - on a personal note, my family experienced this in October 2009 and it will stay with us forever.
Post this number: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
The military and our government are not taking yesterday's news lightly. The VA stated that suicide rates among veterans between the age 18 - 29 went up 26 percent from 2005 to 2007 and continued to climb in 2008 and 2009, reaching record levels in 2009.
This has prompted the VA to consider more stringent protocols be put in place on how to handle veterans contemplating suicide
read more here
Veteran Suicides Prompts Immediate Response and Action
The Military Wire received numerous emails regarding yesterday's news of the government report acknowledging double digit increases in veteran suicides. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, reach out. Suicide is final. It has generational impact - on a personal note, my family experienced this in October 2009 and it will stay with us forever.
Post this number: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
The military and our government are not taking yesterday's news lightly. The VA stated that suicide rates among veterans between the age 18 - 29 went up 26 percent from 2005 to 2007 and continued to climb in 2008 and 2009, reaching record levels in 2009.
This has prompted the VA to consider more stringent protocols be put in place on how to handle veterans contemplating suicide
read more here
Veteran Suicides Prompts Immediate Response and Action
PTSD? What were you thinking?
Some people have a problem when I use the word "soul" but have an easier time accepting the term "heart" so on this post, let's stick to that term.
If you were thinking you wanted to kill instead of defeat when you entered into the military, then you shouldn't worry about PTSD hitting you. The level of your compassion is so low, the possibility of you being wounded by what used to be called Soldier's Heart, is extremely low.
If you were thinking you wanted to defend your country, wanted to give back, wanted to be a part of something noble, then you should remember that, embrace that and understand that.
The notion of Rambo figures running around Iraq and Afghanistan is part of the problem. Added to that is the view of the military that men and women can toughen their minds to prevent PTSD. What they do not know understand is that you cannot prepare your mind to stop being "who" you are inside. You can however use that mind of your's to heal faster if you know how to make it work together.
A Marine regretting the fact he survived when a buddy didn't was supported when another Marine was responsible for the fallen Marine being on that road that night. The Marine who stayed behind blamed the survivor for the other life being lost simply because he was feeling the guilt of it happening, but wanted to deflect it onto the Marine already hurting because it was not him instead. Two feeling guilty for still being alive when there was nothing they could have done to prevent it and were not in control of what happened.
A National Guards soldier tried to commit suicide twice before he understood what PTSD was, why it picked on him just as he couldn't understand why that final image could not leave his mind. He had forgotten about the fact he did everything possible to prevent taking lives of civilians in Iraq.
They are all trying to find themselves beneath the pain. Most want to go back to the way they were before and those are the only words they want to hear. They don't want to accept the fact that every even in our lives changes us by our experiences. They don't want to hear they cannot be cured, so when they are told they can be healed, that's just not good enough. Yet when they are told they can come out of this darkness better and stronger, this gives them hope based in reality.
The guilt they feel can be released if they can stop and think about what was in their heart before the life altering traumatic event happened. If they ask themselves what they were thinking before it happened, then they are able to forgive themselves for the outcome. The callous will not bother with guilt so surviving is a good thing. The compassionate will walk away with their own pain as well as the pain of others and this is what needs to be focused on to begin the healing.
Even for those put into positions where they did end up getting so angry they were trying to kill off as many as possible, forgiveness can happen once they understand that every other event has contributed to their change in attitude.
They need to see who they always were inside and then, then they can use the "old" them to help them heal. It all depends on what they were thinking in those horrifying moments out of their lives what happens to the rest of their lives after.
How can they come out better? Because every event in our lives goes into who we become. If we understand it, accept it, learn from it, grow with it, then we can heal it. Once there, as a survivor, people stand stronger because it did not destroy them, all the goodness within them, all the compassion within their heart and all their courage are made stronger and deeper.
If you were thinking you wanted to kill instead of defeat when you entered into the military, then you shouldn't worry about PTSD hitting you. The level of your compassion is so low, the possibility of you being wounded by what used to be called Soldier's Heart, is extremely low.
If you were thinking you wanted to defend your country, wanted to give back, wanted to be a part of something noble, then you should remember that, embrace that and understand that.
The notion of Rambo figures running around Iraq and Afghanistan is part of the problem. Added to that is the view of the military that men and women can toughen their minds to prevent PTSD. What they do not know understand is that you cannot prepare your mind to stop being "who" you are inside. You can however use that mind of your's to heal faster if you know how to make it work together.
A Marine regretting the fact he survived when a buddy didn't was supported when another Marine was responsible for the fallen Marine being on that road that night. The Marine who stayed behind blamed the survivor for the other life being lost simply because he was feeling the guilt of it happening, but wanted to deflect it onto the Marine already hurting because it was not him instead. Two feeling guilty for still being alive when there was nothing they could have done to prevent it and were not in control of what happened.
A National Guards soldier tried to commit suicide twice before he understood what PTSD was, why it picked on him just as he couldn't understand why that final image could not leave his mind. He had forgotten about the fact he did everything possible to prevent taking lives of civilians in Iraq.
They are all trying to find themselves beneath the pain. Most want to go back to the way they were before and those are the only words they want to hear. They don't want to accept the fact that every even in our lives changes us by our experiences. They don't want to hear they cannot be cured, so when they are told they can be healed, that's just not good enough. Yet when they are told they can come out of this darkness better and stronger, this gives them hope based in reality.
The guilt they feel can be released if they can stop and think about what was in their heart before the life altering traumatic event happened. If they ask themselves what they were thinking before it happened, then they are able to forgive themselves for the outcome. The callous will not bother with guilt so surviving is a good thing. The compassionate will walk away with their own pain as well as the pain of others and this is what needs to be focused on to begin the healing.
Even for those put into positions where they did end up getting so angry they were trying to kill off as many as possible, forgiveness can happen once they understand that every other event has contributed to their change in attitude.
They need to see who they always were inside and then, then they can use the "old" them to help them heal. It all depends on what they were thinking in those horrifying moments out of their lives what happens to the rest of their lives after.
How can they come out better? Because every event in our lives goes into who we become. If we understand it, accept it, learn from it, grow with it, then we can heal it. Once there, as a survivor, people stand stronger because it did not destroy them, all the goodness within them, all the compassion within their heart and all their courage are made stronger and deeper.
Mass. restores funding for veterans clinics
Mass. restores funding for veterans clinics
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jan 13, 2010 6:41:31 EST
BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick says two outpatient veterans clinics in Massachusetts that had been closed because of the state’s budget crisis will reopen.
The state cut $1.89 million from the clinics at the state soldiers’ homes in Chelsea and Holyoke, prompting both to end outpatient services, and sparking outrage from veterans and their advocates statewide. The clinics provide free outpatient care, including vision and dental care, physical therapy and a pharmacy.
read more here
Mass. restores funding for veterans clinics
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jan 13, 2010 6:41:31 EST
BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick says two outpatient veterans clinics in Massachusetts that had been closed because of the state’s budget crisis will reopen.
The state cut $1.89 million from the clinics at the state soldiers’ homes in Chelsea and Holyoke, prompting both to end outpatient services, and sparking outrage from veterans and their advocates statewide. The clinics provide free outpatient care, including vision and dental care, physical therapy and a pharmacy.
read more here
Mass. restores funding for veterans clinics
Bereaved kin push for more condolence letters
Bereaved kin push for more condolence letters
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jan 13, 2010 7:49:40 EST
WASHINGTON — Army Pfc. Brian Matthew Williams, 20, took his own life the day before he was to return to Iraq. Because it was a suicide, the president didn’t send a condolence letter to his family. Nobody has planted a tree in his honor or carved his name onto a memorial wall.
Advocates for bereaved military families say soldiers like Williams deserve better. They’re asking President Obama to send condolence letters to the next of kin of troops who die under a variety of circumstances not directly related to the war.
“Every military family pays a price when a loved one serves in the military,” Bonnie Carroll, a military widow who founded the advocacy group Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, wrote in a letter sent to Obama on Tuesday, as veterans and military officials met in Washington for a four-day suicide prevention conference.
“Their loved ones stand ready to go into harm’s way to protect our country,” Carroll wrote. “Their deaths are painful to their surviving family members, regardless of the circumstances or location of the death.”
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_military_condolence_letters_011310/
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jan 13, 2010 7:49:40 EST
WASHINGTON — Army Pfc. Brian Matthew Williams, 20, took his own life the day before he was to return to Iraq. Because it was a suicide, the president didn’t send a condolence letter to his family. Nobody has planted a tree in his honor or carved his name onto a memorial wall.
Advocates for bereaved military families say soldiers like Williams deserve better. They’re asking President Obama to send condolence letters to the next of kin of troops who die under a variety of circumstances not directly related to the war.
“Every military family pays a price when a loved one serves in the military,” Bonnie Carroll, a military widow who founded the advocacy group Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, wrote in a letter sent to Obama on Tuesday, as veterans and military officials met in Washington for a four-day suicide prevention conference.
“Their loved ones stand ready to go into harm’s way to protect our country,” Carroll wrote. “Their deaths are painful to their surviving family members, regardless of the circumstances or location of the death.”
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_military_condolence_letters_011310/
Veteran Gives Insight on Suicide Prevention
Veteran Gives Insight on Suicide Prevention
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2010 – When retired Army Maj. Ed Pulido was medically evacuated from Iraq in August 2004, he knew tough challenges were ahead, as he’d have to learn to live without his left leg.
But as he sat in his hospital bed at Brooke Army Medical Center on Fort Sam Houston, Texas, he began to realize that recovering from his physical disability was only a small part of that challenge.
“When my leg was taken away … I sat in the hospital bed not knowing what was happening to me mentally,” said Pulido, who medically retired after a 19-year Army career. “I remember those three weeks at Brooke where I thought about the fact that as positive as I am, I hit that dark place, and those hidden wounds were the ones that would cripple me at times when I just didn’t understand.”
Post-traumatic stress had taken form, and depression and anxiety began to take their toll. Suddenly, suicidal thoughts began to surface, the Oklahoma native said.
Pulido shared the story of his struggles yesterday with an audience of more than 1,000 military and other government agency health-care workers and officials gathered here for the 2nd Annual Suicide Prevention Conference sponsored by the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments.
The weeklong conference began yesterday and goes through Jan. 14 to give department health-care professionals insight to each organization’s programs and best practices in suicide prevention. Nearly 100 veterans who’ve experienced suicidal thoughts, such as Pulido, are expected to share their stories of survival.
read more here
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57470
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2010 – When retired Army Maj. Ed Pulido was medically evacuated from Iraq in August 2004, he knew tough challenges were ahead, as he’d have to learn to live without his left leg.
But as he sat in his hospital bed at Brooke Army Medical Center on Fort Sam Houston, Texas, he began to realize that recovering from his physical disability was only a small part of that challenge.
“When my leg was taken away … I sat in the hospital bed not knowing what was happening to me mentally,” said Pulido, who medically retired after a 19-year Army career. “I remember those three weeks at Brooke where I thought about the fact that as positive as I am, I hit that dark place, and those hidden wounds were the ones that would cripple me at times when I just didn’t understand.”
Post-traumatic stress had taken form, and depression and anxiety began to take their toll. Suddenly, suicidal thoughts began to surface, the Oklahoma native said.
Pulido shared the story of his struggles yesterday with an audience of more than 1,000 military and other government agency health-care workers and officials gathered here for the 2nd Annual Suicide Prevention Conference sponsored by the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments.
The weeklong conference began yesterday and goes through Jan. 14 to give department health-care professionals insight to each organization’s programs and best practices in suicide prevention. Nearly 100 veterans who’ve experienced suicidal thoughts, such as Pulido, are expected to share their stories of survival.
read more here
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57470
Plant City FL mourning a proud soldier
Mourning a proud soldier
By DAVE NICHOLSON
dnicholson@tampatrib.com
Published: January 13, 2010
PLANT CITY - The nation's war on terror once again has hit home.
Army Spc. David A. Croft Jr. became the eighth local serviceman to die in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2004. A ninth Plant City area soldier was listed as a noncombat death in Kuwait.
Croft was killed Jan. 5, three days before his 23rd birthday. His death came a little more than two months after Army Spc. Eric N. Lembke of Plant City was killed in Afghanistan.
Croft, a Durant High School graduate on his second tour in Iraq, was scheduled to leave the war zone on Monday, Jan. 18.
He is survived by his mother, Vickie, three sisters and a brother.
His fiancee, Susie Clark of Brandon, said he was a brave, proud solider who liked serving his country. She said he seemed to blossom after joining the Army in 2005.
read more here
http://plantcity2.tbo.com/content/2010/jan/13/pc-mourning-a-proud-soldier/
By DAVE NICHOLSON
dnicholson@tampatrib.com
Published: January 13, 2010
PLANT CITY - The nation's war on terror once again has hit home.
Army Spc. David A. Croft Jr. became the eighth local serviceman to die in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2004. A ninth Plant City area soldier was listed as a noncombat death in Kuwait.
Croft was killed Jan. 5, three days before his 23rd birthday. His death came a little more than two months after Army Spc. Eric N. Lembke of Plant City was killed in Afghanistan.
Croft, a Durant High School graduate on his second tour in Iraq, was scheduled to leave the war zone on Monday, Jan. 18.
He is survived by his mother, Vickie, three sisters and a brother.
His fiancee, Susie Clark of Brandon, said he was a brave, proud solider who liked serving his country. She said he seemed to blossom after joining the Army in 2005.
read more here
http://plantcity2.tbo.com/content/2010/jan/13/pc-mourning-a-proud-soldier/
American military-aged population that is being asked to do virtually nothing in these two conflicts
They used to draft soldiers. This meant everyone had to do their part. We saw this especially with WWII when wives were showing up to work in factories as their husbands were deployed. We saw this during Vietnam, but the result of this draft was protests, burning draft cards and general ambivalence when they came home.
The worst thing about all of this is not just that the burden is carried by a tiny percentage of the US population, it's that so few seem to care at all.
Icasualties.org
US forces killed in Iraq 4,373
US forces killed in Afghanistan 958
The worst thing about all of this is not just that the burden is carried by a tiny percentage of the US population, it's that so few seem to care at all.
Icasualties.org
US forces killed in Iraq 4,373
US forces killed in Afghanistan 958
"It's quite unusual, the inequality," says Christopher Hamner, a military historian at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. "You've got the vast majority of the American military-aged population that is being asked to do virtually nothing in these two conflicts. And then a very small percentage is being asked to shoulder enormous burdens."
Repeated deployments weigh heavily on U.S. troops
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
WARDAK PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Army Staff Sgt. Bobby Martin Jr. has been fighting insurgents in Iraq or Afghanistan longer than the entire three years the Korean War lasted.
At age 34 and finishing a fourth combat tour, he has seen five of his men killed since 2003. Four died this year, including two on Martin's birthday in May. Thirty-eight cumulative months in combat have left him with bad knees, aching shins and recurring headaches from a roadside blast, ailments he hides from his soldiers.
Out of earshot of his troops, Martin concedes, "This is a lot of wear and tear."
American soldiers of the 21st century are quietly making history, serving in combat longer than almost any U.S. soldiers in the nation's past, military historians say.
For many, the fighting seems without end, a fatalism increasingly shared by most Americans. A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll conducted late last week found that 67% believe the U.S. will constantly have combat troops fighting somewhere in the world for at least the next 20 years.
read more here
Shortage of Majors behind Hasan's promotion?
Who can forget the images of that day as news reports came out that there was mass murder at Fort Hood? Can we forget the images of the days following it? Can we forget the shock felt when it was discovered a Major, a psychiatrists sworn to help soldiers, was the one found to be pulling the trigger?
As we were left speechless, reports came out about how Major Hasan was not a good student and was under performing leaving his superiors actions called into question. How could they let this man do what he did before the shootings? We may finally have the answer. There were just not enough Majors to go around.
Hasan was promoted from captain to major in May, military records show. Because of a shortage of majors in the medical corps, the promotion board was given the authority to promote captains who otherwise would not have been considered for a promotion, according to a U.S. military official who asked not to be identified in connection with discussing personnel matters possibly related to the Hasan investigation.
We make a lot of assumptions when it comes to the military. We assume the leadership roles are filled by the best and the brightest considering they have the lives of the lower ranks in their hands. Bad training leads to bad decisions and those bad decisions can produce a lot of dead soldiers. In the case of Hasan it looks like they just needed an increase in the numbers enough so that someone like Hasan was promoted up the food chain no matter what he was doing, what he was saying or how he felt about the soldiers he was supposed to be serving with.
All of this was not bad enough. In a time when suicides and PTSD rates increased, they wanted someone like Hasan acting as a psychiatrist? The report claims Hasan did not see many patients. What about the patients he did see? What was he telling them? Did he give them medications so they could heal or did he give them medications to make their condition worse? What does this say about the fact the troops find it very hard to trust anyone at all when they are dealing with PTSD and want to stay in the military but end up being sent to someone like Hasan? How many others are like Hasan out there unqualified, under-performing and possibly doing more damage than healing? If they did this with Hasan, we need to be asking how many others they promoted to fill the need no matter if they were worthy of it or not.
This was not bad enough. Hasan was also spouting off about his radical religious views at the same time the troops were risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan acting as if the people trying to kill the troops were doing the right thing.
Hassan was also disciplined for inappropriate conversations with patients about religion.
What Hasan did was worse than any action from any enemy because this enemy came from within.
Military review: Troubling signals from Fort Hood suspect missed
By Mike Mount, CNN
January 13, 2010 1:29 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Defense Department review to be released Thursday; official gives details to CNN
Review: Maj. Nidal Hasan promoted despite his extremist views on Islam, odd behavior
Hasan also had long record of lackluster performance on the job
Review will suggest military focus on looking internally for potential threats
Washington (CNN) -- An upcoming military review of the Fort Hood, Texas, shootings finds that the alleged shooter, Maj. Nidal Hasan, was promoted despite supervisors' concerns about his extremist views on Islam and odd behavior.
The review also says that a lack of communication between the U.S. military and a terrorism task force did not allow the sharing of information to determine whether he was a terrorist threat months before the shooting.
CNN was told details of the Pentagon review by a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the report. The official did not want to be identified because the report, requested by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, will not be officially released until Thursday.
read more here
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Virginia Wounded Warrior Program reaches out to veterans who need help
State program reaches out to veterans who need help
By Michael Martz
Published: January 7, 2010
Since terrorists struck the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, more than 230,000 troops have been deployed to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq from Virginia military bases.
Now, a state program is trying to help those coming back to find help for problems they might not even want to discuss.
The Virginia Wounded Warrior Program is using a tiny budget to reach a big problem -- veterans with behavioral-health problems, ranging from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder to traumatic brain injuries.
More than 813,000 military veterans live in Virginia, including more than 38,000 veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. And that doesn't include the families of service members who have been deployed.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as we're concerned," said Mary Ann Bergeron, executive director of the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards. "When they come back, families expect the same person. Well, they're not getting the same person."
read more here
State program reaches out to veterans who need help
By Michael Martz
Published: January 7, 2010
Since terrorists struck the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, more than 230,000 troops have been deployed to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq from Virginia military bases.
Now, a state program is trying to help those coming back to find help for problems they might not even want to discuss.
The Virginia Wounded Warrior Program is using a tiny budget to reach a big problem -- veterans with behavioral-health problems, ranging from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder to traumatic brain injuries.
More than 813,000 military veterans live in Virginia, including more than 38,000 veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. And that doesn't include the families of service members who have been deployed.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as we're concerned," said Mary Ann Bergeron, executive director of the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards. "When they come back, families expect the same person. Well, they're not getting the same person."
read more here
State program reaches out to veterans who need help
Helping veterans help themselves
Helping veterans help themselves
By JOYCE McKENZIE
jmckenzie@tampatrib.com
Published: January 6, 2010
TEMPLE TERRACE - Connie Blaney is a staunch believer in liberty and justice for all.
In her former role as an administrator for the Hillsborough County Public Defender's Office, however, she witnessed the inequities of a government founded on those very principles.
She said she was saddened by how our society fails to provide for honorably discharged veterans, many of whom suffer the effects of post-traumatic stress syndrome, who find themselves penniless and living on the streets.
For that reason, Blaney has devoted the last four years of her time and money to providing shelter and helping to secure social and financial resources that enable homeless vets the opportunity to regain the self-esteem she believes they deserve.
In 2006 she founded Liberty Manor, a nonprofit organization that offers affordable, transitional housing for male veterans and is designed to help them support themselves.
Blaney and her husband, Bill, with the help of contributions from the community, have purchased and renovated four homes - Liberty I in Tampa, Liberty II on the border of Temple Terrace, Liberty III in Carrollwood and Liberty IV in Largo.
All facilities are filled to capacity, which means that at any given time 48 fewer veterans are on the streets. Some of the men serve as housing directors, and others strive to live on their own. Blaney estimates the organization has assisted close to 300.
"I've been very blessed," said Army veteran Bill Brown, 47, who was referred to Liberty II a couple of months ago. "I really felt comfortable from the first day I came here. It gave me more insight on other veterans, and I now know I'm not the only one who has problems. And Connie goes nonstop in her efforts to help us."
read more here
Helping veterans help themselves
By JOYCE McKENZIE
jmckenzie@tampatrib.com
Published: January 6, 2010
TEMPLE TERRACE - Connie Blaney is a staunch believer in liberty and justice for all.
In her former role as an administrator for the Hillsborough County Public Defender's Office, however, she witnessed the inequities of a government founded on those very principles.
She said she was saddened by how our society fails to provide for honorably discharged veterans, many of whom suffer the effects of post-traumatic stress syndrome, who find themselves penniless and living on the streets.
For that reason, Blaney has devoted the last four years of her time and money to providing shelter and helping to secure social and financial resources that enable homeless vets the opportunity to regain the self-esteem she believes they deserve.
In 2006 she founded Liberty Manor, a nonprofit organization that offers affordable, transitional housing for male veterans and is designed to help them support themselves.
Blaney and her husband, Bill, with the help of contributions from the community, have purchased and renovated four homes - Liberty I in Tampa, Liberty II on the border of Temple Terrace, Liberty III in Carrollwood and Liberty IV in Largo.
All facilities are filled to capacity, which means that at any given time 48 fewer veterans are on the streets. Some of the men serve as housing directors, and others strive to live on their own. Blaney estimates the organization has assisted close to 300.
"I've been very blessed," said Army veteran Bill Brown, 47, who was referred to Liberty II a couple of months ago. "I really felt comfortable from the first day I came here. It gave me more insight on other veterans, and I now know I'm not the only one who has problems. And Connie goes nonstop in her efforts to help us."
read more here
Helping veterans help themselves
Does Central Florida have a serial killer?
Are 19 slayings along I-4 the work of serial killers?
By Walter Pacheco, Orlando Sentinel
9:58 p.m. EST, January 11, 2010
The first body was found the night after Christmas in 2005.
LaQuetta Mae Gunther lay in a fetal position, partially naked, on the floor of a dark Daytona Beach alley — a bullet hole in the back of her head.
Since then, three more women with known criminal histories have been found slain execution-style in this Central Florida beachside city best known for its love of motorcycles, auto racing and sunbathing.
When the fourth victim was discovered, Daytona Beach police knew they were looking for a serial killer.
According to the FBI, the four killings are among 28 in Florida that are unsolved and connected to serial killings that the bureau suspects were committed by long-haul truckers.
read more here
Are 19 slayings along I-4 the work of serial killers
By Walter Pacheco, Orlando Sentinel
9:58 p.m. EST, January 11, 2010
The first body was found the night after Christmas in 2005.
LaQuetta Mae Gunther lay in a fetal position, partially naked, on the floor of a dark Daytona Beach alley — a bullet hole in the back of her head.
Since then, three more women with known criminal histories have been found slain execution-style in this Central Florida beachside city best known for its love of motorcycles, auto racing and sunbathing.
When the fourth victim was discovered, Daytona Beach police knew they were looking for a serial killer.
According to the FBI, the four killings are among 28 in Florida that are unsolved and connected to serial killings that the bureau suspects were committed by long-haul truckers.
read more here
Are 19 slayings along I-4 the work of serial killers
Homeless Vets get motel assistance from cold
Homeless Vets get motel assistance from cold
Updated: Sunday, 10 Jan 2010, 11:39 PM EST
Published : Sunday, 10 Jan 2010, 11:39 PM EST
By Derrol Nail
TITUSVILLE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A local homeless organization is extending the stay for 22 veterans at a local hotel to keep them safe from the freezing temperatures outside. The National Veterans Homeless Support organization is paying about $20 a night for each of the twelve rooms occupied by homeless veterans at the Super 8 in Titusville.
The N.H.V.S. president and founder, George Taylor found the men in the woods, on the street, and at homeless encampments across Brevard County. To go out and find them out in the woods and bring them in, was a task.
read more here
Homeless Vets get motel assistance from cold
Updated: Sunday, 10 Jan 2010, 11:39 PM EST
Published : Sunday, 10 Jan 2010, 11:39 PM EST
By Derrol Nail
TITUSVILLE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A local homeless organization is extending the stay for 22 veterans at a local hotel to keep them safe from the freezing temperatures outside. The National Veterans Homeless Support organization is paying about $20 a night for each of the twelve rooms occupied by homeless veterans at the Super 8 in Titusville.
The N.H.V.S. president and founder, George Taylor found the men in the woods, on the street, and at homeless encampments across Brevard County. To go out and find them out in the woods and bring them in, was a task.
read more here
Homeless Vets get motel assistance from cold
‘Real Warrior’ Describes Post-traumatic Stress
‘Real Warrior’ Describes Post-traumatic Stress
By Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2010 – When Staff Sgt. Megan Krause returned home from a deployment in Iraq in 2006, she thought the scariest moments of her life were over.
At her homecoming, “I ran to my mother in that hangar; we both cried tears of joy,” said Krause, now an Army Reserve medic attached to a combat engineering unit in Pennsylvania. “I told her it was over and I was fine.
“Boy, was I wrong.”
Krause later found herself waging a terrifying war with post-traumatic stress disorder. She described the battle and her road to recovery here today during the Real Warriors Campaign session at the 2010 Suicide Prevention Conference sponsored by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
Krause said she hit rock bottom while a student at Penn State University about two years after her deployment.
“It was when I found myself face down in the mud pit, in the middle of a pigpen in State College, Pa., running from the insurgents that I thought were chasing me, that I realized I had not yet survived,” Krause said. “I might not have been having suicidal ideations, but I was well on my way to killing myself.”
read more here
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57454
By Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2010 – When Staff Sgt. Megan Krause returned home from a deployment in Iraq in 2006, she thought the scariest moments of her life were over.
At her homecoming, “I ran to my mother in that hangar; we both cried tears of joy,” said Krause, now an Army Reserve medic attached to a combat engineering unit in Pennsylvania. “I told her it was over and I was fine.
“Boy, was I wrong.”
Krause later found herself waging a terrifying war with post-traumatic stress disorder. She described the battle and her road to recovery here today during the Real Warriors Campaign session at the 2010 Suicide Prevention Conference sponsored by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
Krause said she hit rock bottom while a student at Penn State University about two years after her deployment.
“It was when I found myself face down in the mud pit, in the middle of a pigpen in State College, Pa., running from the insurgents that I thought were chasing me, that I realized I had not yet survived,” Krause said. “I might not have been having suicidal ideations, but I was well on my way to killing myself.”
read more here
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57454
3 killed in shooting at Georgia workplace
3 killed in shooting at Georgia workplace
January 12, 2010 4:34 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Camouflage-clad suspect arrested after fleeing in a pickup truck, police say
Death toll is 3 in shooting at business in Kennesaw, Georgia, authorities say
Five people were shot in attack, Cobb County Fire Lt. Dan Dupree says
Kennesaw is about 25 miles north of Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Three people were killed and two others wounded Tuesday in a shooting at a Penske truck rental business in suburban Atlanta, authorities said.
The shooting occurred at 1:57 p.m. ET at the business in Kennesaw, Georgia, said Cobb County Fire Lt. Dan Dupree. A suspect is in custody, Dupree said, and there were a total of five victims.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/12/georgia.workplace.shooting/index.html
January 12, 2010 4:34 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Camouflage-clad suspect arrested after fleeing in a pickup truck, police say
Death toll is 3 in shooting at business in Kennesaw, Georgia, authorities say
Five people were shot in attack, Cobb County Fire Lt. Dan Dupree says
Kennesaw is about 25 miles north of Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Three people were killed and two others wounded Tuesday in a shooting at a Penske truck rental business in suburban Atlanta, authorities said.
The shooting occurred at 1:57 p.m. ET at the business in Kennesaw, Georgia, said Cobb County Fire Lt. Dan Dupree. A suspect is in custody, Dupree said, and there were a total of five victims.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/12/georgia.workplace.shooting/index.html
Help sought in abandoned baby case at Polk
Help sought in abandoned baby case at Polk
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jan 11, 2010 12:55:00 EST
FORT POLK, La. — Fort Polk police are asking for help in finding the person or persons who abandoned a newborn at a fire station on Dec. 6.
The infant, now in foster care, is a male who is either black, Hispanic, or biracial. The military says the baby's estimated age at the time of abandonment was between two and 14 days.
The infant had been wrapped in a polyester quilt blanket. The blanket featured a design of brown teddy bears and yellow stars over a blue-and-white checkered pattern.
Officials believe the infant was delivered in a place other than a hospital and are concerned about the mother's welfare.
Anyone with information on the case can call the Military Police investigations office at (337) 353-8226.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_abandoned_baby_011110/
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jan 11, 2010 12:55:00 EST
FORT POLK, La. — Fort Polk police are asking for help in finding the person or persons who abandoned a newborn at a fire station on Dec. 6.
The infant, now in foster care, is a male who is either black, Hispanic, or biracial. The military says the baby's estimated age at the time of abandonment was between two and 14 days.
The infant had been wrapped in a polyester quilt blanket. The blanket featured a design of brown teddy bears and yellow stars over a blue-and-white checkered pattern.
Officials believe the infant was delivered in a place other than a hospital and are concerned about the mother's welfare.
Anyone with information on the case can call the Military Police investigations office at (337) 353-8226.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_abandoned_baby_011110/
Increase in suicide rate of veterans noted
They say they saved 6,000 but the successful suicides went up anyway? So who is asking what is being done that there was an increase in successful suicides as well as attempted ones they managed to "save" with suicide prevention?
It's not just that the suicide numbers have gone up that needs to be considered. It is also the unsuccessful ones that need to be addressed before they try again. How many times have you read about a veteran committing suicide only to find out from the family this was not their first try? What makes them try it in the first place? Until we know this, the numbers will keep going up. Given the fact most of them don't ever see a therapist to go with their bottles of medications, this is a part of it. What kind of follow ups do they receive after they seek help from suicide prevention? Are they sent to just stand in the ever increasing long line of others waiting to live? With the backlog of claims there is the issue of no income. Do they think this adds to a veteran wanting to die because they were wounded in combat and now can't support themselves of their families because of it? Do they think it adds to what they are dealing with when they end up regretting surviving?
It's not just that the suicide numbers have gone up that needs to be considered. It is also the unsuccessful ones that need to be addressed before they try again. How many times have you read about a veteran committing suicide only to find out from the family this was not their first try? What makes them try it in the first place? Until we know this, the numbers will keep going up. Given the fact most of them don't ever see a therapist to go with their bottles of medications, this is a part of it. What kind of follow ups do they receive after they seek help from suicide prevention? Are they sent to just stand in the ever increasing long line of others waiting to live? With the backlog of claims there is the issue of no income. Do they think this adds to a veteran wanting to die because they were wounded in combat and now can't support themselves of their families because of it? Do they think it adds to what they are dealing with when they end up regretting surviving?
Increase in suicide rate of veterans noted
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 12, 2010 6:35:01 EST
WASHINGTON — The suicide rate among 18- to 29-year-old men who've left the military has gone up significantly, the government said Monday.
The rate for these veterans went up 26 percent from 2005 to 2007, according to preliminary data from the Veterans Affairs Department. VA officials said they assume that most of the veterans in this age group served in Iraq or Afghanistan.
If there is a bright spot in the data, it's that in 2007 veterans in the group who used VA health care were less likely to commit suicide than those who did not. That's a change from 2005.
In recent years, the VA has hired thousands of new mental health professionals and established a suicide hot line credited with "rescues" of nearly 6,000 veterans and military members in distress.
The military has also struggled with an increase in suicides, with the Army seeing a record number last year. While the military frequently releases such data, it has been more difficult to track suicide information on veterans once they've left active duty.
The VA calculated the numbers using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers from 16 states. In 2005, the rate per 100,000 veterans among men ages 18-29 was 44.99, compared with 56.77 in 2007, the VA said. It did not release data for other population groups.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_vet_suicide_011110/
Maj. Hasan's superiors ignored what was going on
DoD review: Hasan superiors ignored concerns
By Richard Lardner - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jan 11, 2010 18:19:55 EST
WASHINGTON — In late December 2004, one of the officers overseeing Army Maj. Nidal Hasan’s medical training praised him in an official evaluation as a qualified and caring doctor who would be an asset in any post.
But less than a week later, a committee at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center that oversees student performance met behind closed doors to discuss serious concerns about Hasan’s questionable behavior, poor judgment and lack of drive.
Disconnects such this were a familiar pattern throughout Hasan’s lengthy medical education in the Washington area, according to information gathered during an internal Pentagon review of the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, and obtained by The Associated Press.
The review has not been publicly released, but the emerging picture is one of supervisors who failed to heed their own warnings about an officer ill-suited to be an Army psychiatrist, according to the information.
As Hasan’s training progressed, his strident views on Islam became more pronounced as did worries about his competence as a medical professional. Yet his superiors continued to give him positive performance evaluations that kept him moving through the ranks and led to his eventual assignment at Fort Hood.
read more here
DoD review: Hasan superiors ignored concerns
By Richard Lardner - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jan 11, 2010 18:19:55 EST
WASHINGTON — In late December 2004, one of the officers overseeing Army Maj. Nidal Hasan’s medical training praised him in an official evaluation as a qualified and caring doctor who would be an asset in any post.
But less than a week later, a committee at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center that oversees student performance met behind closed doors to discuss serious concerns about Hasan’s questionable behavior, poor judgment and lack of drive.
Disconnects such this were a familiar pattern throughout Hasan’s lengthy medical education in the Washington area, according to information gathered during an internal Pentagon review of the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, and obtained by The Associated Press.
The review has not been publicly released, but the emerging picture is one of supervisors who failed to heed their own warnings about an officer ill-suited to be an Army psychiatrist, according to the information.
As Hasan’s training progressed, his strident views on Islam became more pronounced as did worries about his competence as a medical professional. Yet his superiors continued to give him positive performance evaluations that kept him moving through the ranks and led to his eventual assignment at Fort Hood.
read more here
DoD review: Hasan superiors ignored concerns
Military misconduct may be sign of PTSD
He's a drunk. He's a druggy. He's a bully. He's cold. All of these labels are placed on them everyday, usually by the people in their lives who should know them the best, their families.
When "they suddenly change" there is a reason for it so no family should ever be off the hook just because they didn't understand PTSD. They knew them all their lives, knew their character and their moods, just as they knew the what they were capable of. They closed their eyes to what came home with them, not wanting to know what happened "over there" no matter where the "there" turned out to be. It didn't matter if it was Vietnam, Bosnia, Somalia, Iraq or Afghanistan or Kuwait or another other nation. The biggest problem is, no one pointed out to the families there are always reasons people change.
How do you go from being a hero in the eyes of your family into being a waste of life or a problem bigger than the family wants to deal with? How do you go from being a buddy watching someone's back, fully trusted with their lives into being a reject from the military you served proudly for 5, 10, 20 years? Drastic changes in anyone do not happen without a reason but this is what happens everyday.
Commanders will still close their eyes to the records of service if all of a sudden they are a discipline problem. Families still kick veterans out of the house if suddenly they become someone else, like a stranger living with them. Unless everyone opens their eyes, seeing the history of these men and women, their futures will be damaged because no one saw what was behind it today.
When "they suddenly change" there is a reason for it so no family should ever be off the hook just because they didn't understand PTSD. They knew them all their lives, knew their character and their moods, just as they knew the what they were capable of. They closed their eyes to what came home with them, not wanting to know what happened "over there" no matter where the "there" turned out to be. It didn't matter if it was Vietnam, Bosnia, Somalia, Iraq or Afghanistan or Kuwait or another other nation. The biggest problem is, no one pointed out to the families there are always reasons people change.
How do you go from being a hero in the eyes of your family into being a waste of life or a problem bigger than the family wants to deal with? How do you go from being a buddy watching someone's back, fully trusted with their lives into being a reject from the military you served proudly for 5, 10, 20 years? Drastic changes in anyone do not happen without a reason but this is what happens everyday.
Commanders will still close their eyes to the records of service if all of a sudden they are a discipline problem. Families still kick veterans out of the house if suddenly they become someone else, like a stranger living with them. Unless everyone opens their eyes, seeing the history of these men and women, their futures will be damaged because no one saw what was behind it today.
Military misconduct may be sign of PTSD
Navy doctor gives warning
By Amanda Carpenter
In 2007, a high-ranking Navy doctor sent a sobering warning to colleagues: The service may be discharging soldiers for misconduct when in fact they are merely displaying symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
By doing so, the anonymous doctor noted in a memo to other medical administrators, the service may be denying those troops their rights to Veterans Affairs benefits — including treatment for medical conditions they incurred while serving on the battlefield.
In the future, any military personnel facing dismissal for misconduct after a deployment should be screened first for PTSD, the memo said. The recommendation was never implemented.
High-ranking Navy doctors who oversee medical care for the Marines say such screenings would help avoid sending troops back into society without the ability to get treatment for combat-induced illness from the very government that dispatched them to the battlefield.
read more here
Military misconduct may be sign of PTSD
If a "dummy" like me knew why didn't the experts?
If a "dummy" like me knew why didn't the experts?
by
Chaplain Kathie
There are many things I just don't understand. No one would ever ask me how to fix a car but I drive one. No one would ask me to do a tax return even though I did accounting for over 20 years I never really understood the tax rules. No one would ask me to do a lot of things most people do on a normal basis but PTSD is what I do know about and it's all normal to me. It's been my life for over 27 years now. I live with it, study it, track it and do my best to share the wealth of knowledge gained along with how to avoid making the same mistakes I made. It is because of this I knew PTSD would get worse, harder to treat because no one was ready for what was coming, had very little understanding of the cause of PTSD even though they were trying to "cure it" and worse, trying to prevent it. So why didn't the experts know?
This is the part that always gets me angry. I am an average person living a very un-average life. Even with the news reports lately on PTSD, most people have not heard a word about what it is. Yesterday I was doing a presentation to a group of women for a college alumni. When I do these for non-veterans, I try to make the presentation fit into their own lives. I explain about traumatic events and how those events never really leave them so they can remember the depth of pain they felt and then begin to understand PTSD when it comes to our military men and women along with the veterans.
Once they understand how memories take hold, they can understand the reality of flashbacks when the response is fully physically involved as the mind travels back in time to the event itself. When the group begin to think of events in their own lives, they end up opening up with their own pain coming closer to understanding the depth of PTSD turmoil. Arriving at this place of awareness, they were shocked to hear about the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides. Common sense told them that since we've been trying to address PTSD since 1978, we should be a lot better at addressing it and the numbers should have gone down instead of up. If the experts really knew what they needed to know, there would be very few active military suicides and even less veteran suicides. All the signs are pointing to a massive failure with no accountability.
From Veterans For Common Sense
This was what they knew a year ago and we have to ask what they have learned since then when the numbers kept going up.
We knew about the risk of redeploying them in 2006!
Then we have the issue of what happened at Fort Hood and the fact a Major did the shooting. Did Major Hasan have anything to do with these deaths? More? What did he tell the soldiers seeking help to heal? Did he give wrong medication? What did he tell the soldiers he treated?
Substance abuse? We knew about this a long time ago too!
Better than nothing does more harm than good but did they learn anything?
BATTLEMIND: A Guide to PTSD for Military Members and their Spouses
by: Combat Infantry Bunny
Sat Dec 29, 2007 at 13:48:29 PM EST
.........From my understanding from those deployed, they are already requiring soldiers about to redeploy this, but my friend said it was just lumped in with all the other random redeployment briefings and no one really cared.
In addition, PTSD is a post-deployment thing and a refresher is sometimes necessary. Anyway, reading this brochure and explanations for PTSD really made sense, especially when I realized I pretty much fit every description re: PTSD behavior. Again, it made me realize I had made the right decision to seek help and I hope that everyone that reads this will forward it to any military personnel they know who may have PTSD and/or to their families who may be trying to understand what their soldier is going through, I think the following explains it very well:
Battlemind is the Soldier's inner strength to face fear and adversity with courage. Key components include:
• Self confidence: taking calculated risks and handling challenges.
• Mental toughness: overcoming obstacles or setbacks and maintainingpositive thoughts during times of adversity and challenge.Batttlemind skills helped you survive in combat, but maycause you problems if not adapted when you get home.
Every letter in B-A-T-T-L-E-M-I-N-D, refers to a different behavior, as shown below:
Buddies (Cohesion) vs. Withdrawal
Accountability vs. Controlling
Targeted Aggression vs. Inappropriate Aggression
Tactical Awareness vs. Hypervigilance
Lethally Armed vs. "Locked and Loaded" at Home
Emotional Control vs. Anger/Detachment
Mission Operational Security vs. Secretiveness
Individual Responsibility vs. Guilt
Non-defensive (combat) driving vs. Aggressive Driving
Discipline and Ordering vs. Conflict
While he does say that Battlemind does have some good points the first point made was that it was introduced lumped in with a bunch of other stuff. This was first reported by the BBC that uncovered only 11 1/2 minutes of Battlemind are provided when they arrive "in country" along with the two days of operational briefings they have to get through.They will be left thinking they can toughen their minds enough to not have to face PTSD and that also means that if anyone does, they are not tough enough. This includes their buddies and some of the others in their unit they may not happen to like very much and if they should end up wounded by it, well then, they must not be tough enough either. This is why Battlemind does not work and as a matter of fact very well could contribute to the increase in suicides and attempted suicides.
None of this is new. Because it keeps getting worse, all of it, reports produce nothing much other than a lot of talk and bad results, we should be asking what they have learned and why they still have not learned what was known over 30 years ago.
by
Chaplain Kathie
There are many things I just don't understand. No one would ever ask me how to fix a car but I drive one. No one would ask me to do a tax return even though I did accounting for over 20 years I never really understood the tax rules. No one would ask me to do a lot of things most people do on a normal basis but PTSD is what I do know about and it's all normal to me. It's been my life for over 27 years now. I live with it, study it, track it and do my best to share the wealth of knowledge gained along with how to avoid making the same mistakes I made. It is because of this I knew PTSD would get worse, harder to treat because no one was ready for what was coming, had very little understanding of the cause of PTSD even though they were trying to "cure it" and worse, trying to prevent it. So why didn't the experts know?
This is the part that always gets me angry. I am an average person living a very un-average life. Even with the news reports lately on PTSD, most people have not heard a word about what it is. Yesterday I was doing a presentation to a group of women for a college alumni. When I do these for non-veterans, I try to make the presentation fit into their own lives. I explain about traumatic events and how those events never really leave them so they can remember the depth of pain they felt and then begin to understand PTSD when it comes to our military men and women along with the veterans.
Once they understand how memories take hold, they can understand the reality of flashbacks when the response is fully physically involved as the mind travels back in time to the event itself. When the group begin to think of events in their own lives, they end up opening up with their own pain coming closer to understanding the depth of PTSD turmoil. Arriving at this place of awareness, they were shocked to hear about the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides. Common sense told them that since we've been trying to address PTSD since 1978, we should be a lot better at addressing it and the numbers should have gone down instead of up. If the experts really knew what they needed to know, there would be very few active military suicides and even less veteran suicides. All the signs are pointing to a massive failure with no accountability.
Healing the Wounds of War Downtown
“Once you go through an experience like [combat] you are permanently changed,” said Iraq war vet Eduard H.R. Gluck, a Worth Street resident and photojournalist who receives counseling at the Vet Center. “But you don’t have to allow it to change you just in a negative way. You have to work towards trying to find balance and peace.”
The Vet Center program began in 1979, a recognition by the government that Vietnam veterans still faced adjustment problems years after the war had ended.
From Veterans For Common Sense
Suicides: Today the Department of Veterans Affairs released data to the Associated Press indicating that the suicide rate increased 26 percent for veterans aged 18 to 29, an issue first publicized by Veterans for Common Sense and CBS Evening News in November 2007.
We here at VCS extend our condolences to the families of our veterans who completed suicide. VCS calls upon President Obama, Defense Secretary Gates, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Shinseki to immediately implement a strategic casualty plan with a significant mental health component.
A long-term casualty care effort must start with quickly hiring more mental health professionals, examining every soldier before and after deployment (as required by law), and providing prompt access to high-quality care. This is critical because multiple deployments to war increase the risk of PTSD (and therefore suicide) by three-fold.
VCS also recommends that VA and DoD expand their anti-stigma efforts and encourage our service members and veterans with mental health symptoms to seek care soon, when treatment is most effective and least expensive.In addition, Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense, said, "VCS remains deeply concerned about the enormous physical and psychological strain repeated deployments to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are causing our troops. As many as 800,000, or 40 percent, of the two million troops sent to the two conflicts deployed twice or more, according to the Department of Defense."
Sullivan also said, "VCS urges the Department of Defense and the VA to implement a casualty plan for our military and veterans. Such a plan should include hiring more mental health professionals immediately to perform medical exams on all troops before and after deployment to spot medical problems early, when treatment is most effective and least expensive. The Department of Defense and the VA must also expand their anti-stigma efforts, especially with training for both officers and non-commissioned officers so they know how to spot brain injury or other mental health symptoms and then promptly refer soldiers for treatment."
Read more about multiple deployments, PTSD, and suicide plus our VCS advocacy for our soldiers and veterans.
This was what they knew a year ago and we have to ask what they have learned since then when the numbers kept going up.
Soldier Suicides In Afghanistan Rose Sharply Last Year
WAR STRESS
By MATTHEW KAUFFMAN The Hartford Courant
January 14, 2009
Soldiers in Afghanistan committed suicide in record numbers in 2008, in step with a dramatic spike in combat deaths in the country, new military figures show.Seven Army soldiers committed suicide in Afghanistan last year, compared with 15 suicides in total during the previous 75 months of Operation Enduring Freedom, according to figures from the Defense Manpower Data Center.Col. Elspeth Ritchie, a top Army psychiatrist, said military officials during the past several years have tracked an increase in mental health problems among soldiers serving in Afghanistan. In 2004, she said, anxiety and depression were far less common among soldiers in Afghanistan, compared with those in Iraq. But by 2007 and early 2008, soldiers in Afghanistan were suffering depression and anxiety at the same rates as their counterparts in Iraq, she said."In Afghanistan, there are considerable barriers for providers getting to the troops due to the difficulties in travel and weather, compared to Iraq," Ritchie said.click link above for more
We knew about the risk of redeploying them in 2006!
Repeat Iraq Tours Raise Risk of PTSD, Army Finds
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 20, 2006
U.S. soldiers serving repeated Iraq deployments are 50 percent more likely than those with one tour to suffer from acute combat stress, raising their risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Army's first survey exploring how today's multiple war-zone rotations affect soldiers' mental health.
More than 650,000 soldiers have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001 -- including more than 170,000 now in the Army who have served multiple tours -- so the survey's finding of increased risk from repeated exposure to combat has potentially widespread implications for the all-volunteer force. Earlier Army studies have shown that up to 30 percent of troops deployed to Iraq suffer from depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with the latter accounting for about 10 percent.
The findings reflect the fact that some soldiers -- many of whom are now spending only about a year at home between deployments -- are returning to battle while still suffering from the psychological scars of earlier combat tours, the report said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901659.html
VA diagnosing higher rates of PTSD
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jan 16, 2009 16:18:25 EST
More than 44 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who have sought treatment at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility have been diagnosed with one or more possible mental disorders, according to the agency’s most recent summary of veteran health care.
click link for more
Then we have the issue of what happened at Fort Hood and the fact a Major did the shooting. Did Major Hasan have anything to do with these deaths? More? What did he tell the soldiers seeking help to heal? Did he give wrong medication? What did he tell the soldiers he treated?
Fort Hood investigating death of another soldier in barracks
Dallas Morning News - Dallas,TX,USA05:47 PM CST on Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Associated Press
FORT HOOD, Texas – Army officials are investigating the death of a soldier found in his barracks at Fort Hood on New Year's Day.Staff Sgt. Kevin M. Marsh, 41, of Friedens, Pa., was found dead the night of Jan. 1 by officers from his unit after a concerned call from a family member, said Maj. David Shoupe, a Fort Hood spokesman.Marsh was assigned in June to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Rear-Detachment. He served twice in Iraq, in 2003-04 and in 2005-06, as a gunner and vehicle commander.His medals and awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Combat Action Badge.Authorities were already investigating at least five deaths at Fort Hood from late July to September at the sprawling post that's home to about 52,000 troops.
click link above for more
Substance abuse? We knew about this a long time ago too!
Links between PTSD, substance abuse explored,,dah!
I'm really sorry but I can't help myself,,,,,dah! They've had over thirty years to notice this....It's called self-medicating and has been documented since the Vietnam Veterans came home!
Links between PTSD, substance abuse exploredBy Kelly Kennedy - Staff writerPosted : Wednesday Jan 7, 2009 18:20:34 ESTAt a two-day conference for civilian and military researchers, doctors produced one idea after another for treating and preventing substance abuse in service members with post-traumatic stress disorder.As the ideas bounced from person to person, they tried to tie them together in ways that could make sense in a military setting: They must be accessible to many people at once, they must be cheap, they must be proven, and they must be easy.
Better than nothing does more harm than good but did they learn anything?
BATTLEMIND: A Guide to PTSD for Military Members and their Spouses
by: Combat Infantry Bunny
Sat Dec 29, 2007 at 13:48:29 PM EST
.........From my understanding from those deployed, they are already requiring soldiers about to redeploy this, but my friend said it was just lumped in with all the other random redeployment briefings and no one really cared.
In addition, PTSD is a post-deployment thing and a refresher is sometimes necessary. Anyway, reading this brochure and explanations for PTSD really made sense, especially when I realized I pretty much fit every description re: PTSD behavior. Again, it made me realize I had made the right decision to seek help and I hope that everyone that reads this will forward it to any military personnel they know who may have PTSD and/or to their families who may be trying to understand what their soldier is going through, I think the following explains it very well:
Battlemind is the Soldier's inner strength to face fear and adversity with courage. Key components include:
• Self confidence: taking calculated risks and handling challenges.
• Mental toughness: overcoming obstacles or setbacks and maintainingpositive thoughts during times of adversity and challenge.Batttlemind skills helped you survive in combat, but maycause you problems if not adapted when you get home.
Every letter in B-A-T-T-L-E-M-I-N-D, refers to a different behavior, as shown below:
Buddies (Cohesion) vs. Withdrawal
Accountability vs. Controlling
Targeted Aggression vs. Inappropriate Aggression
Tactical Awareness vs. Hypervigilance
Lethally Armed vs. "Locked and Loaded" at Home
Emotional Control vs. Anger/Detachment
Mission Operational Security vs. Secretiveness
Individual Responsibility vs. Guilt
Non-defensive (combat) driving vs. Aggressive Driving
Discipline and Ordering vs. Conflict
While he does say that Battlemind does have some good points the first point made was that it was introduced lumped in with a bunch of other stuff. This was first reported by the BBC that uncovered only 11 1/2 minutes of Battlemind are provided when they arrive "in country" along with the two days of operational briefings they have to get through.They will be left thinking they can toughen their minds enough to not have to face PTSD and that also means that if anyone does, they are not tough enough. This includes their buddies and some of the others in their unit they may not happen to like very much and if they should end up wounded by it, well then, they must not be tough enough either. This is why Battlemind does not work and as a matter of fact very well could contribute to the increase in suicides and attempted suicides.
Army suicides rise as time spent in combat increases
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAYFORT LEWIS, Wash. — Josh Barber, former combat soldier, parked outside the Army hospital here one morning last August armed for war.A cook at the dining facility, Barber sat in his truck wearing battle fatigues, earplugs and a camouflage hood on his head. He had an arsenal: seven loaded guns, nearly 1,000 rounds of ammunition, knives in his pockets. On the front seat, an AK-47had a bullet in the chamber.The "smell of death" he experienced in Iraq continued to haunt him, his wife says. He was embittered about the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that crippled him, the Army's failure to treat it, and the strains the disorder put on his marriage.Despite the firepower he brought with him, Barber, 31, took only one life that day. He killed himself with a shot to the head."He went to Fort Lewis to kill himself to prove a point," Kelly Barber says. " 'Here I am. I was a soldier. You guys didn't help me.' "
None of this is new. Because it keeps getting worse, all of it, reports produce nothing much other than a lot of talk and bad results, we should be asking what they have learned and why they still have not learned what was known over 30 years ago.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Fighting in Afghanistan leaves 5 U.S. troops dead
Please keep their families in your prayers. As you pray for them also remember that with these 5 deaths are other soldiers grieving for their lost brothers. When we read about one death, we also must acknowledge those they left behind.
Fighting in Afghanistan leaves 5 U.S. troops dead
Three service members die today in a clash with militants in the south, another dies in separate fighting in the east, and a fifth member with a NATO-led force is killed a day earlier in the south.
By Laura King
January 11, 2010 9:06 a.m.
Reporting from Afghanistan -- Three American troops were killed today in a clash with insurgents in southern Afghanistan, which is likely to be the scene of escalating battles in coming months. A fourth U.S. service member died today of wounds suffered in separate fighting in the east, near the border with Pakistan, military officials said.
Also today, NATO's International Security Assistance Force disclosed the death of another American service member in an attack a day earlier in the south.
read more here
Fighting in Afghanistan leaves 5 US troops dead
Multiple Deployments Lead to Major Increase in PTSD Cases
Multiple Deployments Lead to Major Increase in PTSD Cases, New Study Says
Tuesday 05 January 2010
by: Mary Susan Littlepage, t r u t h o u t Report
Soldiers with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan are more than three times as likely as soldiers with no previous deployments to screen positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression, according to a new study published by the American Journal for Public Health.
Additionally, soldiers with multiple deployments are more than twice as likely to report chronic pain and more than 90 percent more likely to score below the general population norm on physical functioning.
For the study, researchers assessed the effects of prior military service in Iraq or Afghanistan on the health of New Jersey Army National Guard members preparing for deployment to Iraq. Researchers analyzed anonymous, self-administered pre-deployment surveys from 2,543 National Guard members deployed to Iraq in 2008. They assessed the effects of prior service in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) or Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) on mental and physical health.
"Those experiencing multiple deployments are most at risk, with the Office of the US Army Surgeon General reporting mental health problems in 11.9 percent of those with one deployment, 18.5 percent with two deployments and 27.2 percent with three or four deployments," the report stated.
Amy Fairweather is an expert in veterans' issues and is director of the Coalition for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, a clearinghouse of more than 45 agencies serving a myriad of needs associated with deployment in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
"What we're seeing is a people who are having more serious PTSD when they're called up for an additional deployment, and that triggers a lot of mental health issues - in fact, suicidal action in some cases," Fairweather said. "But it's also mixed with a lot of conflicting feelings of guilt" in that if people have PTSD, they are a danger toward other people, but Fairweather said they may think, "Who am I to try to get out of this? Who am I to complain?" when fellow soldiers are going through the same hell.
Fairweather also is director of the Iraq Veteran Project for Swords to Plowshares, a community-based, not-for-profit organization that provides counseling and case management, employment and training, housing and legal assistance to homeless and low-income veterans in the San Francisco Bay area and beyond.
Tuesday 05 January 2010
by: Mary Susan Littlepage, t r u t h o u t Report
Soldiers with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan are more than three times as likely as soldiers with no previous deployments to screen positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression, according to a new study published by the American Journal for Public Health.
Additionally, soldiers with multiple deployments are more than twice as likely to report chronic pain and more than 90 percent more likely to score below the general population norm on physical functioning.
For the study, researchers assessed the effects of prior military service in Iraq or Afghanistan on the health of New Jersey Army National Guard members preparing for deployment to Iraq. Researchers analyzed anonymous, self-administered pre-deployment surveys from 2,543 National Guard members deployed to Iraq in 2008. They assessed the effects of prior service in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) or Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) on mental and physical health.
"Those experiencing multiple deployments are most at risk, with the Office of the US Army Surgeon General reporting mental health problems in 11.9 percent of those with one deployment, 18.5 percent with two deployments and 27.2 percent with three or four deployments," the report stated.
Amy Fairweather is an expert in veterans' issues and is director of the Coalition for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, a clearinghouse of more than 45 agencies serving a myriad of needs associated with deployment in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
"What we're seeing is a people who are having more serious PTSD when they're called up for an additional deployment, and that triggers a lot of mental health issues - in fact, suicidal action in some cases," Fairweather said. "But it's also mixed with a lot of conflicting feelings of guilt" in that if people have PTSD, they are a danger toward other people, but Fairweather said they may think, "Who am I to try to get out of this? Who am I to complain?" when fellow soldiers are going through the same hell.
Fairweather also is director of the Iraq Veteran Project for Swords to Plowshares, a community-based, not-for-profit organization that provides counseling and case management, employment and training, housing and legal assistance to homeless and low-income veterans in the San Francisco Bay area and beyond.
In any case, the Pentagon's data indicate that between 2003 and 2008, 43,000 troops "deemed medically unfit for active duty by their physicians were deployed to Iraq," the report stated. Also, the report stated that the Office of the US Army Surgeon General found that "multiple deployments have adverse effects on work performance during deployment, with multiple deployed soldiers being more likely than are others to report limitations in their ability to work effectively."
read more here
Vietnam veterans mentor to other veterans
New Mentor Program Helps Area Veterans Adjust to Civilian Life
Posted: Jan 04, 2010 5:49 PM EST
by Kristen Elicerio
For a lot of veterans combat service, repeated deployments or drug and alcohol abuse make the adjustment back to civilian life difficult.
A new program aims to help soliders adjust and steer clear from troubles with the law.
"This is a mentors program where we have mentors deal completely outside the court system as early as possible when a veteran is identified as having some legal issues. Whether a victim, or a witness or a perpetrator," said Judge Todd Bjerke.
Mentors in the program help further push vets towards getting help.
"This is a way to maybe reach people who have not asked for help or were not aware of help. If we can get them into the VA system, get them some assistance, maybe mediate some legal problems, I see that as a big plus for this community," said Veteran Services Officer Jim Gausmann.
Mentors who were sworn into the program Monday are also veterans.
read more here
http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=11767126
Posted: Jan 04, 2010 5:49 PM EST
by Kristen Elicerio
For a lot of veterans combat service, repeated deployments or drug and alcohol abuse make the adjustment back to civilian life difficult.
A new program aims to help soliders adjust and steer clear from troubles with the law.
"This is a mentors program where we have mentors deal completely outside the court system as early as possible when a veteran is identified as having some legal issues. Whether a victim, or a witness or a perpetrator," said Judge Todd Bjerke.
Mentors in the program help further push vets towards getting help.
"This is a way to maybe reach people who have not asked for help or were not aware of help. If we can get them into the VA system, get them some assistance, maybe mediate some legal problems, I see that as a big plus for this community," said Veteran Services Officer Jim Gausmann.
Mentors who were sworn into the program Monday are also veterans.
read more here
http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=11767126
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Oklahoma City vets’ claims being rejected
None of this is new, it is just worse than it was. My husband's claim took six years to have approved and a friend of his saw his claim rejected for 19 years. While some will say the claim was finally granted, what it takes to get from admitting they need help, especially with PTSD claims, to getting them is more hell than anyone would ever put up with in civilian life, but the veterans are all expected to just deal with the system and wait. Wait for money when they can't work because they were wounded in service? This isn't right and never has been right, never will be right making them wait for what they need from us.
Oklahoma City vets’ claims being rejected
Many armed forces veterans in Oklahoma are having trouble receiving disability payments
BY ANN KELLEY The Oklahoman
Published: January 10, 2010
Four times Gary Endsley has applied for disability compensation for health problems he thinks are related to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Each time Endsley has been turned down by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
With each rejection letter he’s flooded with more disappointment and frustration, and feels that he’s "being called a liar” about his military record, he said.
"I’m beginning to feel like I had been better off going to Canada and skipping the war,” said Endsley, 65, of Oklahoma City.
Endsley is one of many armed forces veterans living in Oklahoma and wrangling with Veterans Affairs over disability compensation.
Nationally, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs processed more than 1.1 million claims in 2009, including 25,396 for Oklahoma, said Jessica Jacobson, spokeswoman for the agency’s regional office in Dallas.
The Oklahoman requested the number of Oklahoma veterans denied disability compensation for 2009, but Jacobson Friday said those numbers were not available.
She said the caseload has increased 50 percent since 2000, with Afghanistan and Iraq military servicemen and women returning home and the aging population of other war veterans, as well as the initiation of new U.S. Department of Defense benefits and recent court rulings.
Read more: Oklahoma City vets’ claims being rejected
A story by an Army wife is not from a TV show
Real military life is not what you see on TV.
The lives of veterans after war become America's secret. The civilians are under the impression all is well until a report comes out proving everything they think they know about how this country treats veterans has been wrong. Usually reports about what is really going on cause such an outrage by the American people, the government manages to make swift changes because voters will not let our veterans be mistreated by anyone. While the bureaucracy in Washington manages to muck things up, the American people are fiercely loyal to the troops when they serve and to the veterans they become.
Things changed since Vietnam veterans came home mistreated but they changed for all generations of veterans because these Vietnam veterans refused to surrender to the powers of the government and they forced them to act on addressing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as Agent Orange and the rest of what was wrong with the way our veterans were treated. Things also changed because the Internet linked them together so they no longer felt isolated, discovering the power of their united numbers could move mountains and those mountains did in fact move.
Fast forward thirty years and we find reports online about PTSD, suicides, homeless veterans, divorces, suffering and we also read about healing because they shared their stories and made it all personal to the rest of the population. Things changed because they had the courage to speak out. The current members of the military and their families however, do not have the same ability to speak out without paying a price for it.
Carissa Picard spoke out and paints a picture of military life few others will ever know. Do all marriages end up like her's? No but considering the divorce rate in the military it's obvious these marriages are in trouble for more than just the usual reasons people have when getting divorced. They have to live where they are told to live for however long they are told to live there. Their kids end up going through different schools in different states so often they have a hard time making friends because they think they'll end up moving again. Wives end up not being able to work because there are only so many jobs they can hold close to base allowing them to be able to pick their kids up from school while their spouse is deployed. Yes, it's even hard when both parents are in the military.
Maybe things will change in the military because people like Carissa show there is a big difference between watching TV shows making us think we know what military life is about. Lord knows they need more support than they are getting and this can come when we are able to understand some of what they really face.
Please read what she has to say about her life as a real Army Wife.
"The Unit" (2006) Covert warriors. Unsung heroes. Plot:Hour long show which looks at the life of American super-secret operators.
"Army Wives" (2007) The army has its code... the wives have their own.
Plot:
About a woman who marries a soldier and moves her family onto an Army base, where she becomes friends with other women whose husbands are in the military.
The lives of veterans after war become America's secret. The civilians are under the impression all is well until a report comes out proving everything they think they know about how this country treats veterans has been wrong. Usually reports about what is really going on cause such an outrage by the American people, the government manages to make swift changes because voters will not let our veterans be mistreated by anyone. While the bureaucracy in Washington manages to muck things up, the American people are fiercely loyal to the troops when they serve and to the veterans they become.
Things changed since Vietnam veterans came home mistreated but they changed for all generations of veterans because these Vietnam veterans refused to surrender to the powers of the government and they forced them to act on addressing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as Agent Orange and the rest of what was wrong with the way our veterans were treated. Things also changed because the Internet linked them together so they no longer felt isolated, discovering the power of their united numbers could move mountains and those mountains did in fact move.
Fast forward thirty years and we find reports online about PTSD, suicides, homeless veterans, divorces, suffering and we also read about healing because they shared their stories and made it all personal to the rest of the population. Things changed because they had the courage to speak out. The current members of the military and their families however, do not have the same ability to speak out without paying a price for it.
Carissa Picard spoke out and paints a picture of military life few others will ever know. Do all marriages end up like her's? No but considering the divorce rate in the military it's obvious these marriages are in trouble for more than just the usual reasons people have when getting divorced. They have to live where they are told to live for however long they are told to live there. Their kids end up going through different schools in different states so often they have a hard time making friends because they think they'll end up moving again. Wives end up not being able to work because there are only so many jobs they can hold close to base allowing them to be able to pick their kids up from school while their spouse is deployed. Yes, it's even hard when both parents are in the military.
Maybe things will change in the military because people like Carissa show there is a big difference between watching TV shows making us think we know what military life is about. Lord knows they need more support than they are getting and this can come when we are able to understand some of what they really face.
Please read what she has to say about her life as a real Army Wife.
Invisible Casualties of an Invisible War
Carissa Picard
http://sites.google.com/site/carissapicard/
War never ends for those we send
War never ends for those we send
by
Chaplain Kathie
No matter when all the troops are pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan, when there are no more wars to fight and no more dying in combat, there will still be casualties of war being added. This we must all understand and prepare to fight a new kind of war during peacetime.
If you need a better idea of what happens when they come home, read any story about a Vietnam veteran still trying to come all the way home, or a Korean veteran or talk to some of the remaining WWII veterans, and you will see it in their eyes as they think about their days while they risked their lives. They were once civilians just like the rest of us, but when they were sent to fight our military battles, they became veterans of war. While they may have returned physically the same, they knew they were different, unlike everyone else they live with because so few have ever experienced what they survived.
We may have thought it was all over when we stopped sending them into other nations, when we stopped paying for the deployments and weapons, when we stopped feeding and clothing them as well as training them, but for those we send, wars never really end. They are part of them.
As high as the numbers are of the PTSD wounded, the fact is, less than half seek help for PTSD, which means, we really don't know how many more there are. We don't know how many more are carrying torment PTSD but are trying to hide it, how many have mild PTSD believing they will just "get over it" instead of being aware not treating it is like having a time bomb ready to blow with another traumatic event in their life or how many will end up so severely wounded, their family ends up with PTSD as well from living with the mood swings, angry outbursts, overblown responses and nightmares so harsh the whole family is losing sleep. What is worse is that we don't know how many could have been spared most of it had they received help in time.
We read about suicides yet we never seem to come to terms with the fact the only reason people commit suicide is they have no reason to hope. Once hope is gone, hope of a better day, hope that the pain they feel will go away, hope for anything better, there is no reason to carry on. We all live with hope in our hearts or none of us would do anything at all.
If they were all helped as soon as they came home, you would see less suicides, less divorces, less domestic violence, less drug and alcohol arrests, less crime and less homelessness. Imagine if the older veterans were helped when they came home what their lives would be like today as well as the lives of their families for generations. Families carry on the burden of what their veteran brought home but no one really talks about this either. Each generation carries on what they live with. For most of them, they have no idea of what "it" is. Dismissing what they never understood, what they never paid attention to is easy. They view what the veteran does without understanding it and then blame the veteran instead of wondering what was behind all of it. Wives blame the veteran and then they blame themselves. Kids blame the parent and then blame themselves. These thoughts are carried on into every relationship they have and it is all carried onto the next generation.
Talk to the children of veterans as they have grown up with no understanding and you will hear about the father that didn't care, the mean dad, the drunk, the coldness and how nothing they did was ever good enough. They see how their parent acted but never understood why they acted the way they did. All they knew about war was what was written in history books because they never heard any real life experiences from their parent or grandparent. They are detached from it while living with it.
When the military leaves Iraq, when the military leaves Afghanistan, they will come home with these nations in them. We have yet to treat all the veterans of the past wars and these newer veterans will be added to the secret casualty count along with their families. Communities will be dealing with the result of many PTSD veterans for generations to come unless they come together to help the veterans heal.
We see this in many parts of the nation but we also see how many others are still dismissing this wound of war. The Vietnam War ended in 1973 officially but the deaths went on until 1975. at least the acknowledged deaths. We still lost more after the war was declared over than we did during it. They died because of Agent Orange, this more easily acceptable than when they died from suicide and they are still dying. We lose 18 veterans a day from suicide. Another 10,000 a year attempt it. None of this has to happen as long as we all understand that just because a war is over and they are back home, too many are still fighting for their lives because they went to war.
by
Chaplain Kathie
No matter when all the troops are pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan, when there are no more wars to fight and no more dying in combat, there will still be casualties of war being added. This we must all understand and prepare to fight a new kind of war during peacetime.
If you need a better idea of what happens when they come home, read any story about a Vietnam veteran still trying to come all the way home, or a Korean veteran or talk to some of the remaining WWII veterans, and you will see it in their eyes as they think about their days while they risked their lives. They were once civilians just like the rest of us, but when they were sent to fight our military battles, they became veterans of war. While they may have returned physically the same, they knew they were different, unlike everyone else they live with because so few have ever experienced what they survived.
We may have thought it was all over when we stopped sending them into other nations, when we stopped paying for the deployments and weapons, when we stopped feeding and clothing them as well as training them, but for those we send, wars never really end. They are part of them.
As high as the numbers are of the PTSD wounded, the fact is, less than half seek help for PTSD, which means, we really don't know how many more there are. We don't know how many more are carrying torment PTSD but are trying to hide it, how many have mild PTSD believing they will just "get over it" instead of being aware not treating it is like having a time bomb ready to blow with another traumatic event in their life or how many will end up so severely wounded, their family ends up with PTSD as well from living with the mood swings, angry outbursts, overblown responses and nightmares so harsh the whole family is losing sleep. What is worse is that we don't know how many could have been spared most of it had they received help in time.
We read about suicides yet we never seem to come to terms with the fact the only reason people commit suicide is they have no reason to hope. Once hope is gone, hope of a better day, hope that the pain they feel will go away, hope for anything better, there is no reason to carry on. We all live with hope in our hearts or none of us would do anything at all.
If they were all helped as soon as they came home, you would see less suicides, less divorces, less domestic violence, less drug and alcohol arrests, less crime and less homelessness. Imagine if the older veterans were helped when they came home what their lives would be like today as well as the lives of their families for generations. Families carry on the burden of what their veteran brought home but no one really talks about this either. Each generation carries on what they live with. For most of them, they have no idea of what "it" is. Dismissing what they never understood, what they never paid attention to is easy. They view what the veteran does without understanding it and then blame the veteran instead of wondering what was behind all of it. Wives blame the veteran and then they blame themselves. Kids blame the parent and then blame themselves. These thoughts are carried on into every relationship they have and it is all carried onto the next generation.
Talk to the children of veterans as they have grown up with no understanding and you will hear about the father that didn't care, the mean dad, the drunk, the coldness and how nothing they did was ever good enough. They see how their parent acted but never understood why they acted the way they did. All they knew about war was what was written in history books because they never heard any real life experiences from their parent or grandparent. They are detached from it while living with it.
When the military leaves Iraq, when the military leaves Afghanistan, they will come home with these nations in them. We have yet to treat all the veterans of the past wars and these newer veterans will be added to the secret casualty count along with their families. Communities will be dealing with the result of many PTSD veterans for generations to come unless they come together to help the veterans heal.
"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
We see this in many parts of the nation but we also see how many others are still dismissing this wound of war. The Vietnam War ended in 1973 officially but the deaths went on until 1975. at least the acknowledged deaths. We still lost more after the war was declared over than we did during it. They died because of Agent Orange, this more easily acceptable than when they died from suicide and they are still dying. We lose 18 veterans a day from suicide. Another 10,000 a year attempt it. None of this has to happen as long as we all understand that just because a war is over and they are back home, too many are still fighting for their lives because they went to war.
Vietnam veteran works to heal spiritual wounds of warfare
Vietnam veteran works to heal spiritual wounds of warfare
Friday, January 8, 2010
By Bryan Cones
By Ed Langlois Catholic News Service
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- Gary Ascher has a good life. Amiable and bright, he's in a long-lasting marriage. His children are high-achieving. He holds down a steady job making patterns for cast metal machinery.
But for more than 40 years, Ascher has yearned to pacify his conscience. A U.S. infantryman in Vietnam between November 1967 and November 1968, this gray-haired man with intense brown eyes wonders how he can be forgiven for taking lives.
"Yes, I was defending myself, but we were the initial aggressors," said the 62-year-old member of Holy Trinity Parish in Beaverton. "We were sent out in hopes we would be ambushed."
Ascher, who plays guitar for his church choir, was one of 15 people with links to the military who came to Our Lady of Peace Retreat House in Beaverton in December for a weekend on war and healing. Leaders of the session know that the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan mean more retreats will be needed in the future.
Father Michael Drury, a former military chaplain from Montana, reminded the group that there is such a thing as a just war in Catholic teaching. It's a fight "when there is an unjust aggressor who cannot be stopped by any other means."
read more here
Vietnam veteran works to heal spiritual wounds of warfare
Friday, January 8, 2010
By Bryan Cones
By Ed Langlois Catholic News Service
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- Gary Ascher has a good life. Amiable and bright, he's in a long-lasting marriage. His children are high-achieving. He holds down a steady job making patterns for cast metal machinery.
But for more than 40 years, Ascher has yearned to pacify his conscience. A U.S. infantryman in Vietnam between November 1967 and November 1968, this gray-haired man with intense brown eyes wonders how he can be forgiven for taking lives.
"Yes, I was defending myself, but we were the initial aggressors," said the 62-year-old member of Holy Trinity Parish in Beaverton. "We were sent out in hopes we would be ambushed."
Ascher, who plays guitar for his church choir, was one of 15 people with links to the military who came to Our Lady of Peace Retreat House in Beaverton in December for a weekend on war and healing. Leaders of the session know that the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan mean more retreats will be needed in the future.
Father Michael Drury, a former military chaplain from Montana, reminded the group that there is such a thing as a just war in Catholic teaching. It's a fight "when there is an unjust aggressor who cannot be stopped by any other means."
read more here
Vietnam veteran works to heal spiritual wounds of warfare
Debate over cognitive, traditional mental health therapy
Debate over cognitive, traditional mental health therapy
Psychologists who favor the more medical-minded cognitive behavioral model point to growing evidence of its efficacy. Proponents of psychoanalysis deride a one-size-fits-all approach.
By Eric Jaffe
January 11, 2010
If your doctor advised a treatment that involved leeches and bloodletting, you might take a second glance at that diploma on the wall. For the same reason, you should think twice about whom you see as a therapist, says a team of psychological researchers.
In a November report that's attracting controversy the way couches attract loose change, three professors charge that many mental health practitioners are using antiquated, unproved methods and that many clinical psychology training programs lack scientific rigor.
The accusation has reignited a long-standing "holy war" within the psychological profession.
On the one side sit the report's authors and other like-minded psychologists who say that too many clinicians favor personal experience over scientific evidence when deciding on a patient's treatment. They are particularly unsettled by the number of therapists -- especially from training programs that grant a higher degree known as doctor of psychology, or PsyD -- who ignore the most-studied type of treatment: cognitive behavioral therapy.
Psychologists who favor the more medical-minded cognitive behavioral model point to growing evidence of its efficacy. Proponents of psychoanalysis deride a one-size-fits-all approach.
By Eric Jaffe
January 11, 2010
If your doctor advised a treatment that involved leeches and bloodletting, you might take a second glance at that diploma on the wall. For the same reason, you should think twice about whom you see as a therapist, says a team of psychological researchers.
In a November report that's attracting controversy the way couches attract loose change, three professors charge that many mental health practitioners are using antiquated, unproved methods and that many clinical psychology training programs lack scientific rigor.
The accusation has reignited a long-standing "holy war" within the psychological profession.
On the one side sit the report's authors and other like-minded psychologists who say that too many clinicians favor personal experience over scientific evidence when deciding on a patient's treatment. They are particularly unsettled by the number of therapists -- especially from training programs that grant a higher degree known as doctor of psychology, or PsyD -- who ignore the most-studied type of treatment: cognitive behavioral therapy.
"Evidence-based therapies work a little faster, a little better, and for more problematic situations, more powerfully," says psychologist Steven D. Hollon of Vanderbilt University.
Research shows that many patients respond to the therapy within 12 to 16 sessions, far more quickly than in traditional psychoanalysis, making the treatment highly cost-effective.
England is convinced. In 2007, the British government -- a "decade ahead of us," Hollon says -- adopted a massive program to train 3,600 therapists in cognitive behavioral therapy with the hope of weaning 900,000 people off medication.
read more here
Debate over cognitive, traditional mental health therapy
Service dog comforts Bells veteran with PTSD
Service dog comforts Bells veteran with PTSD
By MARIANN MARTIN
mmartin10@jacksonsun.com
January 10, 2010
When Aimee Sherrod paces the floor after a nightmare, her dog Bear licks her face. When she feels frightened by a large crowd, Bear blocks people by standing in front of her. When she yells at her husband and family, Bear puts his nose in her hand.
"On the days I push everyone else away, he won't leave me alone," Sherrod says as she sits on the couch in her Bells home. Bear, a service dog from the organization Puppies Behind Bars, puts his head in her lap, letting her play with his ears.
Sherrod, a mother of two, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving two tours of duty in Iraq in the Air Force.
The first Air Force casualty in the war came from her unit. During her second tour in 2003 and 2004, her unit was stationed in the Baghdad International Airport, which was targeted by bombings and sniper fire.
Post-traumatic stress disorder was diagnosed in 2004, and Sherrod took a medical discharge from the Air Force in 2005.
Since then, she has struggled to cope with her illness, which has kept her from holding a steady job or staying in school. She hopes that may change since she got Bear in October.
"He is not a robot or a magic fix, but he helps," she said. "And anything that makes it (the post-traumatic stress disorder) less, is good with me. Just like today - he can tell I'm more nervous than usual and he is right on top of me."
read more here
Service dog comforts Bells veteran with PTSD
By MARIANN MARTIN
mmartin10@jacksonsun.com
January 10, 2010
When Aimee Sherrod paces the floor after a nightmare, her dog Bear licks her face. When she feels frightened by a large crowd, Bear blocks people by standing in front of her. When she yells at her husband and family, Bear puts his nose in her hand.
"On the days I push everyone else away, he won't leave me alone," Sherrod says as she sits on the couch in her Bells home. Bear, a service dog from the organization Puppies Behind Bars, puts his head in her lap, letting her play with his ears.
Sherrod, a mother of two, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving two tours of duty in Iraq in the Air Force.
The first Air Force casualty in the war came from her unit. During her second tour in 2003 and 2004, her unit was stationed in the Baghdad International Airport, which was targeted by bombings and sniper fire.
Post-traumatic stress disorder was diagnosed in 2004, and Sherrod took a medical discharge from the Air Force in 2005.
Since then, she has struggled to cope with her illness, which has kept her from holding a steady job or staying in school. She hopes that may change since she got Bear in October.
"He is not a robot or a magic fix, but he helps," she said. "And anything that makes it (the post-traumatic stress disorder) less, is good with me. Just like today - he can tell I'm more nervous than usual and he is right on top of me."
read more here
Service dog comforts Bells veteran with PTSD
Ministry reaches out to Fort Campbell soldiers
Ministry reaches out to Fort Campbell soldiers
Seminar instructs on helping heal lives of troops, their families
By JAKE LOWARY • The Leaf-Chronicle • January 10, 2010
Fort Campbell will begin a mass exodus of soldiers in the coming days, beginning another tumultuous year for not only them, but the families left behind.
The installation and its soldiers have become well-versed at serving in combat, but also have seen the side effects of many months in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"As a result, they (the soldiers and families at Fort Campbell) have experienced pain and trauma," said retired Maj. Gen. Bob Dees, the former commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and now the executive director of Campus Crusade for Christ Military Ministry.
Dees helped lead one of the biggest seminars Saturday at First Baptist Church, designed to help the soldiers and families through not only the next 12 to 18 months, but also the families left at home wondering about their loved ones.
Seminar instructs on helping heal lives of troops, their families
By JAKE LOWARY • The Leaf-Chronicle • January 10, 2010
Fort Campbell will begin a mass exodus of soldiers in the coming days, beginning another tumultuous year for not only them, but the families left behind.
The installation and its soldiers have become well-versed at serving in combat, but also have seen the side effects of many months in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"As a result, they (the soldiers and families at Fort Campbell) have experienced pain and trauma," said retired Maj. Gen. Bob Dees, the former commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and now the executive director of Campus Crusade for Christ Military Ministry.
Dees helped lead one of the biggest seminars Saturday at First Baptist Church, designed to help the soldiers and families through not only the next 12 to 18 months, but also the families left at home wondering about their loved ones.
"Church can provide compassion, comfort and understanding," said Stephen Dorner, who along with his wife Karen was one of three couples who provided first-hand tales of fighting through combat trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.
read more here
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Colorado veteran starts PTSD support group
Carbondale veteran starts PTSD support group
26-year-old Iraq War veteran creates outlet for those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
John Gardner
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
CARBONDALE, Colorado — Adam McCabe knows the affects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder all too well.
McCabe, a 26-year-old Marine veteran of the Iraq War, has been dealing with the disorder since he returned from his second tour of duty in 2006. He found that it was hard to acclimate back into society after having seen the reality of war.
“I've been having a lot of struggles the past few years,” McCabe said.
McCabe found that he was pushing those closest to him away, and he had a tough time connecting with people. Life was very different than he remembered.
“I thought that I would be successful in the civilian world because I was successful in the military,” he said. “But there is a big disconnect here. I couldn't connect with people, family and friends. Not because I didn't want to, but because everything had changed about me.”
He's undergone intensive inpatient treatment for PTSD, he said. And now, he's found solace in talking with other veterans who suffer from the same disorder.
“Once I started talking about it, it was a good thing,” McCabe said.
And now he's helping other veterans in the Roaring Fork Valley, who suffer from the disorder, to deal with it head on.
read more here
Carbondale veteran starts PTSD support group
26-year-old Iraq War veteran creates outlet for those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
John Gardner
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
CARBONDALE, Colorado — Adam McCabe knows the affects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder all too well.
McCabe, a 26-year-old Marine veteran of the Iraq War, has been dealing with the disorder since he returned from his second tour of duty in 2006. He found that it was hard to acclimate back into society after having seen the reality of war.
“I've been having a lot of struggles the past few years,” McCabe said.
McCabe found that he was pushing those closest to him away, and he had a tough time connecting with people. Life was very different than he remembered.
“I thought that I would be successful in the civilian world because I was successful in the military,” he said. “But there is a big disconnect here. I couldn't connect with people, family and friends. Not because I didn't want to, but because everything had changed about me.”
He's undergone intensive inpatient treatment for PTSD, he said. And now, he's found solace in talking with other veterans who suffer from the same disorder.
“Once I started talking about it, it was a good thing,” McCabe said.
And now he's helping other veterans in the Roaring Fork Valley, who suffer from the disorder, to deal with it head on.
read more here
Carbondale veteran starts PTSD support group
Hit-and-run hospitalizes Pearl Harbor veteran
Hit-and-run hospitalizes Pearl Harbor veteran
Friday, January 08, 2010
Bob Banfield
BANNING, Calif. (KABC) -- The highway patrol is asking for the public's help, hoping a tip will lead them to the hit-and-run driver who crashed into a car driven by an 86-year-old survivor of Pearl Harbor.
The incident being investigated occurred Thursday at 9:45 a.m. on Palm and De Waide avenues in Hemet.
The driver of a 1998 Honda stolen from a parking lot in Bulmont collided with a Dodge Neon driven by Benjamin Weat a resident of a retirement home in Hemet.
"Both vehicles were disabled at the scene. He did flee the scene, and we have set up a perimeter for several hours looking for the suspect but were unable to locate him," said Scott Beauchene of the California Highway Patrol.
The driver of the Honda may have been injured but he left the accident site on foot. He is described as a Hispanic male, 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, with short black hair, with a tattoo on the left side of his head and may answer to the name Angel.
go here for more
Hit-and-run hospitalizes Pearl Harbor veteran
Friday, January 08, 2010
Bob Banfield
BANNING, Calif. (KABC) -- The highway patrol is asking for the public's help, hoping a tip will lead them to the hit-and-run driver who crashed into a car driven by an 86-year-old survivor of Pearl Harbor.
The incident being investigated occurred Thursday at 9:45 a.m. on Palm and De Waide avenues in Hemet.
The driver of a 1998 Honda stolen from a parking lot in Bulmont collided with a Dodge Neon driven by Benjamin Weat a resident of a retirement home in Hemet.
"Both vehicles were disabled at the scene. He did flee the scene, and we have set up a perimeter for several hours looking for the suspect but were unable to locate him," said Scott Beauchene of the California Highway Patrol.
The driver of the Honda may have been injured but he left the accident site on foot. He is described as a Hispanic male, 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, with short black hair, with a tattoo on the left side of his head and may answer to the name Angel.
go here for more
Hit-and-run hospitalizes Pearl Harbor veteran
Iraq War veteran, mother battle the odds
Iraq War veteran, mother battle the odds
B.J. Steed
Steven McFarland is a decorated war veteran who served as a gunner along the front lines in the War on Terror.
After returning home in 2006, his mother, Jan McFarland, noticed something about her son had changed.
"Tossing and turning, he was hyperventilating; if you came up behind him he would jump and scream. He didn't like being cornered in," says McFarland.
Jan, a former nurse with UAMS, recognized her son's symptoms as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.
"He would re-enact a person dying that he saw, and the death scene," McFarland says.
The 21-year-old began seeking treatment for the disorder, taking medication prescribed by his doctor.
But his mother says those doses couldn't block the terrible things he had experienced in battle.
He began medicating himself with multiple drugs.
In February, just two months after returning from battle, McFarland's lawyer, Chip Welch, says things took a turn for the worst.
read more here
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=97379&catid=2
video
Iraq War veteran, mother battle the odds
Steven McFarland is a decorated war veteran who served as a gunner along the front lines in the War on Terror.
B.J. Steed
Steven McFarland is a decorated war veteran who served as a gunner along the front lines in the War on Terror.
After returning home in 2006, his mother, Jan McFarland, noticed something about her son had changed.
"Tossing and turning, he was hyperventilating; if you came up behind him he would jump and scream. He didn't like being cornered in," says McFarland.
Jan, a former nurse with UAMS, recognized her son's symptoms as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.
"He would re-enact a person dying that he saw, and the death scene," McFarland says.
The 21-year-old began seeking treatment for the disorder, taking medication prescribed by his doctor.
But his mother says those doses couldn't block the terrible things he had experienced in battle.
He began medicating himself with multiple drugs.
In February, just two months after returning from battle, McFarland's lawyer, Chip Welch, says things took a turn for the worst.
read more here
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=97379&catid=2
video
Iraq War veteran, mother battle the odds
Steven McFarland is a decorated war veteran who served as a gunner along the front lines in the War on Terror.
"We've had 7 suicides in 2009."
Watching this video provides a lot of hope that many in leadership are understanding PTSD a lot better than ever before. The story of Steven McFarland should not have happened but it did because when it comes to PTSD, there is a very long way to go but this video should restore hope that we are closer than we ever were before of getting these men and women help to heal.
92 year old man doesn't let car crash stop breakfast
Man Rams Car Into Restaurant, Eats Breakfast
92-Year-Old Cited For Reckless Driving
PORT ORANGE, Fla. -- Diners at the Biscuit's "N" Gravy and More restaurant in Port Orange received a surprise Wednesday when a car plowed into the side of the building.
A 92-year-old man was at the wheel when his vehicle crashed into the busy restaurant on Nova Road.
The driver wasn't hurt, but the cook said a customer had just left the damaged seating area.
read more here
http://www.wesh.com/news/22157235/detail.html
92-Year-Old Cited For Reckless Driving
PORT ORANGE, Fla. -- Diners at the Biscuit's "N" Gravy and More restaurant in Port Orange received a surprise Wednesday when a car plowed into the side of the building.
A 92-year-old man was at the wheel when his vehicle crashed into the busy restaurant on Nova Road.
The driver wasn't hurt, but the cook said a customer had just left the damaged seating area.
read more here
http://www.wesh.com/news/22157235/detail.html
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