Combat veteran and backs against the wall

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Namguardianangel.blogspot.com
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington