Senator Sherrod Brown taking on PTSD problems

Brown's legislation will help sufferers of post traumatic stress disorder
News Journal staff report

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said this week he will introduce legislation to require additional regulations before the Department of Defense can discharge military personnel suffering from service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury or related conditions.

Brown said his legislation would address the growing number of service members who agree, based on common misconceptions about automatic discharge upgrades, to less than honorable discharges for behaviors that are actually a function of the disorders.



"We must protect our soldiers suffering from PTSD or TBI from getting lost in an administrative shuffle," Brown said. "These brave men and women deserve every consideration and too often they are receiving none."

An increasing number of service personnel are being given involuntary, less-than-honorable discharges but are later diagnosed with the service-connected disorders, the senator said. He added that often that occurs when the military discharges a service member citing a "personality disorder."
Those with a less than honorable discharge are not entitled to military or Veterans Administration benefits.

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