VETERANS CAN HEAL FROM PTSD BY TALKING ABOUT EXPERIENCES

VETERANS CAN HEAL FROM PTSD BY TALKING ABOUT EXPERIENCES
By R. JONATHAN TULEYA, Staff WRITER
CALN — Being the strong, silent type makes a war veteran more likely to suffer the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, psychologist Susan Rogers of the Coatesville VA Medical Center told a group of former prisoners of war Friday.

Rogers’ speech was part of the hospital’s annual Ex-POW Recognition Program. Among the former prisoners of war in the audience, nearly all served in World War II and the Korean War.

“Take the time to tell the stories” of your war experiences, Rogers said. “Be the teacher.”

Beyond helping preserve history, the psychologist said she has found that among those veterans with PTSD who speak about their time in combat, more than three-quarters experience a remission of their symptoms, which can include sleeplessness, phobias, chronic pain and cardiovascular disease.


Meanwhile, different medications have been used with various degrees of success, but she said no one has developed a pill that is a magic bullet.

Rogers has treated veterans with PTSD from every American military action from the ongoing Iraq and Afghan wars back to World War I.

She remembered the lone World

War I vet she treated who told her, “I have a little trouble remembering yesterday, but I remember being gassed in the trenches.”

Doctors do not completely understand why some soldiers suffer from PTSD and others do not. It is likely a mix of biological and cultural influences, Rogers said, but a person’s experience in the combat may be the greatest factor.

She said 15 percent to 30 percent of veterans who participated in front lines of military missions are diagnosed with the disorder.

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This is supported by every Chaplain in America. It is also supported in every police and fire department across the nation BECAUSE THEY GET TO TALK TO SOMEONE EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY GO THROUGH A TRAUMATIC EVENT~