Experts only half right on PTSD

Anticipation of Appreciation!
When they join the military, they anticipate appreciation for their service and their willingness to lay down their lives for the sake of this nation. They do this rightly so, but often they do it blindly. They assume if they die their families will be taken care of. They also assume that if they are wounded while serving, they will be taken care of and their family will not have to worry about the lost income. What is often never discussed is the fact they also assume that if there is anything that can harm them, the military will let them know. After all, they are informed on the proper care of their weapons and how to use them. They are informed on enemy tactics and movements as well as their strength and weaknesses. They are just assuming that if they are given vaccines or medication, they will also be told of the risks. They assume that any problem that comes up, their leaders will let them know what they have to worry about. It is an assumption based on the ability to communicate with them. This notion does not translate into reality.

The experts are only half right when it comes to PTSD. Yes, there is a stigma attached to it and while the does keep some from seeking treatment, it is not all there is. The very fact there are still Vietnam veterans coming forward, understanding after all these years, there is a name for what is wrong with them, should be an alarm bell sounded in every branch of the military. While people dealing with it may be very aware of what PTSD is, there are too few who know without seeking the information. They are still discovering what PTSD is. You can see it in their eyes when it is as if you just said something they had never heard of before.

The biggest barrier of getting help for PTSD is not the stigma, it's communication! We do not drum it into their ears what PTSD is and have done a fabulously lousy job of getting the message out.

I keep getting emails from veterans who watched my videos, thanking me for letting them know what PTSD is. They had no clue! We cannot assume people read the Washington Post or listen to NPR. We cannot assume they do more than watch the other popular shows on TV since the majority of Americans know more about whose on American Idol than who is running for President. They should be doing public service announcements and plastering it on billboards all over America to make sure everyone knows what it is. Until they do, the stigma will survive and the veterans with it won't. The next step is to educated the commanders so that we never, ever hear of one more time when the wounded warrior is told to "suck it up" or "get over it" without being totally humiliated by their ignorance.

If the following report does not anger you, there is not much that will.

Many troops with PTSD aren’t treated

Advocates blame stigma, lack of access
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Apr 12, 2008 15:24:55 EDT

Post-traumatic stress disorder experts say service members aren’t seeking care, aren’t getting enough time to recover between deployments and aren’t receiving medications or therapies that are known to be effective.

“Problems related to getting troops adequate mental health treatment cannot be resolved unless two issues — stigma and access — are addressed,” Todd Bowers, director of government affairs for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told the House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee on health on April 1.

Almost 59,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been diagnosed with PTSD by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Army post-deployment health assessments have found that 20 percent of active-duty and 40 percent of reserve-component troops had symptoms of PTSD, and some experts say the real numbers could be much higher.

But because PTSD hasn’t been addressed until fairly recently — the first scientific paper about the disorder in veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War didn’t come out until five years after that war ended — VA and Pentagon officials say much needs to be done to determine good screening techniques and therapies.

“This is the first war where DoD and VA recognized the psychological impact going in,” said Army Col. Charles Hoge, chief of psychiatry and neuroscience at the Walter Reed Institute of Research.

He told the American Legion on March 31 that he must “look through a completely different lens” from that used by therapists treating civilians with PTSD.

Combat vets are not sleeping, experience startle reactions and are hyper-alert.

“All of these things that we label as symptoms are things they need in combat,” Hoge said. “No sooner are they transitioned back home than they’re right back in rotation.”

At the House hearing, Hoge said an Army assessment last summer showed that the numbers of soldiers with PTSD is going up with each deployment.

“There’s a direct connection between mental health and multiple deployments,” he said, adding that troops also need more time between deployments.

go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/army_ptsd_041408w/