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Sunday, November 4, 2007

PTSD and the enemy to defeat

Too Few Clinicians Complicate Care in VA, Military Systems

The stigma of mental illness remains a strong deterrent to treatment in the military.
New efforts are under way, however, to eliminate this barrier.
by Rich Daly
A continuing critical shortage of psychiatrists and psychologists in the armed forces and access to quality mental health care for veterans in rural areas are issues that must be addressed now, mental health leaders told members of Congress and their staffs last month.
Military and veterans officials and others identified key concerns in the treatment of mental illness during the 2007 Mental Illness Awareness Week Congressional Symposium, jointly sponsored by APA and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). The Capitol Hill briefing described the progress made in identifying and treating mental illness among active-duty and veterans groups, as well as thesignificant work that remains (see also VA Told to Establish Multiple Prevention Programs).

"We have to be realistic that when we send men and women to war zones, we are placing them at great risk for developing psychiatric disorders," said Daniel Blazer, M.D., Ph.D., a psychiatrist and member of the Department of Defense Mental Health Task Force, which recently concluded its work with the release of a report on the need to improve mental health services for members of the military and their families (Psychiatric News, August 3). "If we don't pay attention to their mental health, then we are closing our eyes to the real-life cost of sending them to war." (continued...)



When Vietnam veterans came home, they did not end their battles. They faced them everyday. They battled the ghosts of Vietnam. Then they battled the government to have the wounds they carried taken care of. They are still in need today, still seeking help and are still waiting.

There was a report a month or so ago, about 148,000 Vietnam veterans seeking help in 18 months. Vietnam combat ended for these veterans over 30 years ago yet today they are still seeking help and the VA was not planning for any of them. What will it be like 30 years from now for these veterans, or Gulf War veterans, or Iraq and Afghanistan veterans? 20 years or 10 years from now? The VA can't take care of them now.

Until the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan end, they will be producing more combat wounded. As bad as it is now it is not even close to what it will end up being years from now. Between the stigma attached to PTSD, the lack of public awareness, many of the wounded today will not seek treatment early. Some will repeat the same mistakes the Vietnam veterans made when they thought they'd "just get over it" as the years tick away.

This nation can mobilize men and women swiftly to send them into combat. This nation can suddenly find emergency funds to toss at crisis after crisis around the world. The elected can come up with hundreds of billions of dollars over and over again to keep campaigns ongoing. What it has been unable to do is use the same urgent attitude to mobilize against an enemy that will not go away, will not be defeated and will continue to kill without mercy. It will kill more than the attacks of 9-11. It will claim more lives than the published death counts. It kills more after peace has been declared and weapons have been put away than it does during the carnage. It claims more lives than bullets or bombs. PTSD is the terrorist we need to fear the most.

This does not just attack the soldier. It returns to claim the futures of the families they return to. Unless there is intervention, families fall apart, spouses blame themselves as divorce papers are filed and children wonder what they did wrong.

Yet this terrorist can be stopped with intervention provided the seriousness of the threat is not taken lightly. Lip service opens the door to more suffering. It is vital to our national security and our future as a nation to defeat this enemy. We cannot prevent it from attacking any more than we can stop the tornado from striking in the dark of night. We cannot prevent PTSD from happening from traumatic events, but we can stop if from claiming lives, families and futures.

The sooner treatment begins this enemy stops infecting every aspect of life. It can only be defeated by intervention. End the silence of PTSD and begin the healing from it. Declare a state of emergency on this killer now when it can make the most difference to the lives spared by grace. Mobilize the experts. Get the generals to lay out plans of attack. Get the elected to fund this war effort waged for the warriors. We can do it but it has to be taken as seriously as sending the men and women into combat.



"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


Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

http://www.namguardianangel.org/

http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/

http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/

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