State VA leads the world as PTSD info resource

State VA leads the world as PTSD info resource
By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff



Wednesday, June 25
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION -- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder doesn't just affect soldiers and the victims of war. It also strikes the survivors of natural disasters, childhood abuse, rape, assault and genocide.

And in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, it also hurts the families and friends of those suffering from PTSD.

"Living with someone with PTSD affects families in major ways," said Matthew J. Friedman, the executive director of the National Center for PTSD at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction.

Many family members feel they are walking on eggs around loved ones, afraid of sparking an emotional or mental breakdown, rage, depression or even suicidal ideation. Often, it's those wives, husbands and grandparents who turn to organizations such as the VA for help when sufferers fail or refuse to recognize the despair they are subjecting themselves and their families to.

Over the years, PTSD has been called by many names including nostalgia, shell shock and battle fatigue. Those suffering from the disorder were often labeled as cowards or weaklings.

The symptoms of PTSD have been recorded as far back as the 1800s, said Friedman, especially in relation to the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War in Europe. In the late 1970s, researchers of what was then three different fields of study -- the trauma of Nazi atrocities, rape and serving in Vietnam -- realized they were all studying the same syndrome.
go here for more
http://reformer.com/ci_9688618