Vietnam vets find fresh treatment for old wounds

Gerard Abbett, 59, of Brandon was initially prescribed aspirin for his headaches and nightmares. After years of “self-medicating,” he is now getting help.[Melissa Lyttle Times]

Vietnam vets find fresh treatment for old wounds
By Michael Sanserino, Times Staff Writer
In print: Monday, August 25, 2008
TAMPA — It took nearly 30 years before Gerard Abbett could bring himself to enter the VA hospital's mental health clinic, to walk past the discreet little sign that says PTSD (for post-traumatic stress disorder) and sit patiently in a chair beneath the sign that reads: "It takes the courage and strength of a soldier to ask for help."

The men in the clinic are not damaged young warriors just back from Afghanistan and Iraq. They are graying. They are balding and bespectacled. And like Abbett, 59, they have only recently begun to deal with the psychological wounds that they sustained in Vietnam.

Since 1999, the number of American veterans receiving PTSD treatment has more than doubled. About 60 percent of the 400,000 veterans seeking PTSD treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs are Vietnam veterans, according to figures from the VA. Locally, experts estimate that Vietnam veterans account for 70 percent of cases.

There are several reasons for this surge, experts say.
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