Video: Veterans of PTSD
Bouts of fierce anger, depression, and anxiety that previous generations of soldiers described as "shell shock" or "combat/battle fatigue" now earn a clinical diagnosis: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. But the relatively new medical label doesn't guarantee soldiers will get the care they need. NOW looks at how America's newest crop of returning soldiers is coping with the emotional scars of war, and some new and innovative treatments for them.In the show, we spent time with Iraq War veteran Michael Zacchea, a Marine lieutenant colonel who trained Iraqi troops and fought in the battle of Fallujah. Haunted by the violence he saw there, Zacchea and other soldiers diagnosed with PTSD now face what could be a lifelong struggle to leave the horrors of war behind and reclaim their once-peaceful lives.
PTSD Facts and Figures
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur after one experiences a traumatic event. The disorder is characterized by flashbacks of the event, nightmares, anxiety, avoidance, and social withdrawal. PTSD may take months or years to manifest.
Facts and Figures
The following factors increase the likelihood of PTSD: Youth, a history of depression or trauma, multiple deployments, and relentless exposure to violence.
30.9% of Vietnam veterans in one study had developed PTSD during their lifetimes.
Between 1999 and 2004, the number of veterans seeking benefits for PTSD increased 79%.
In Iraq, roughly one in six combatants has experienced PTSD.
35 percent of Iraq veterans sought psychological counseling within a year of coming home, according to the Department of Defense.
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/339/index.html
I think this is a great program, but I can't say for sure. The video was cutting out after six minutes. I'll check back later on this.
One thing that really bothers the hell out of me is that they never talk about veterans coming back from Afghanistan. What they do not fully understand is that many serving are doing it in two occpations. They may be in Iraq one year and in Afghanistan the next. It is not just Iraq and it's about time everyone in this country remembered we have two occupations going on while we only fight about one of them.
Non Mortal Casualties,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Army Navy Marines Air Force Total
Wounded - No Medical Air Transport Required 567... 22...... 0 ..........35.......... 624
Wounded - Medical Air Transport Required ,,,,,,,719..... 11..... 81........ 37.......... 848
Non-Hostile Injuries - Medical Air Transport
Required,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 1,095.... 11..... 181...... 37........ 1,538
Diseases - Medical Air Transport Required,,,,,,,, 3,280... 187.... 203.... 654........ 4,324
TOTAL - WOUNDED,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 1,286.... 11...... 103..... 72........ 1,472
TOTAL - MEDICAL AIR TRANSPORTED,,,,,,,, 4,353.. 270..... 339.... 878........ 5,844
TOTAL - MEDICAL AIR TRANSPORTS
(HOSTILE AND NON-HOSTILE),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 5,094.... 281.... 420... 915........ 6,710
Period US Other Total
+ 2007 88 96 184
+ 2006 98 93 191
+ 2005 99 31 130
+ 2004 52 6 58
+ 2003 48 9 57
+ 2002 48 20 68
+ 2001 12 0 12
Total 445 255 700
http://www.icasualties.org/oef/
I am glad there are people speaking out and the seventy percent of the people of this country think what was done to Iraq is wrong. Unlike what Rush has to say about it, the majority of the people are on the side of doing the right thing even though the impulse to label people anti-war is repeated by the media as well as the congress. It's a good tool to use to divide people. What I am not glad about is that Afghanistan keeps getting ignored as if it never happened.
NATO's Afghanistan gains could be lost: commander
Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:51am EDT
LONDON (Reuters) - Hardfought gains by NATO troops this year could be lost in coming months if Afghan forces fail to hold ground seized from the Taliban, the NATO commander in Afghanistan said in an interview broadcast on Friday.
U.S. General Dan McNeill, who commands the alliance's 35,000-strong force, said NATO had scored successes this year in driving Taliban fighters from mountain valleys in the southern Helmand province, an opium-producing Taliban heartland.
The NATO forces in the area are mostly British troops who arrived in large numbers only last year. They say they have recaptured much of the Helmand River valley from the Taliban over the past six months.
But McNeill said Afghan troops had not yet performed as well as hoped in holding the ground after it was cleared, and there was a chance the Taliban could regroup and return.go here for the rest of this and for links to other reports
Is Afghanistan ignored because it is no longer being controlled by the US?
Nato takes control of operations in Afghanistan
30 Sep 2006, 0039 hrs IST,AP
PORTOROZ (SLOVENIA): Nato decided on Thursday to take control of military operations across all of Afghanistan a move that US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld hailed as a "bold step forward" for the alliance.
Under the new arrangements, as many as 12,000 additional American troops will be put under foreign battlefield command, a number that US officials said could be the most since World War II. The move is expected to take place in the next few weeks, Nato spokesman James Appathurai said.
go here for the rest of this
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2047643.cms
Thanks for these nice and healthy advices; I am going to tell all these tips to my grandfather and my whole family also. Everyone should take good care about their health. Health is everything to human's life. :)
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