Education key to overcome PTSD stigma

Not that it's done as much good as I would like, but this is what I've been trying to get across to everyone. If you know what PTSD, where it comes from and why it "picks" on one person but not another, then there is nothing to hang us up on. Stigma? No need to have one when you understand anyone trying to hang a stigma or any type of shame on you is doing it out of ignorance,

Knowledge is why I've been married for 25 years. Knowledge is why I've been able to help veterans and their families along with everyone else that has come into my life, one way or another, but the lack of knowledge has been deadly. Imagine if researchers knew what PTSD was 30 years ago but no one talked about it. Not that hard to do because that is exactly what did happen. They knew, possibly more than they know now, but no one is talking about it. Why? Because the responsibility of the government was to assure that everything was in place before troops were sent to risk their lives, but they did not do their duty. Now they are shocked, trying to figure out how all of this got so bad. The problem is, they should have known because none of this came as a shock to anyone paying attention. The only shocker was that the people who were supposed to be paying attention were not doing anything to get ahead of any of this until it was too late for too many.

Look over on the side bar and see the pamphlet the Veterans Centers were handing out in the early 80's and know, we had all the evidence in 1978 but none of it was used when it came time to plan on the new generation to go to war. Hell, they weren't even really trying to play catch up with the Vietnam veterans either. They were just ready to keep adding them on.

Education key to overcome PTSD stigma
Army News — By Army News Service on October 12, 2009 at 5:14 am

WASHINGTON: All Soldiers need to receive standard training about mental-health issues if the Army is to overcome the stigma of seeking treatment, according a white paper rolled out Wednesday at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual meeting.

The author of "Collateral Damage: How Can the Army Best Serve a Soldier with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," spoke about the recommendations he made in his paper that he hopes will aid in better understanding how to treat mental-health problems for Soldiers and their families.

A 32-year veteran, Col. Rich B. O'Connor spent three years researching PTSD with three objectives in mind. First, as a squadron commander with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Iraq from 2005 to 2006, he was responsible for the health and welfare of more than 1,000 Soldiers of which more than half were on their second tours. He needed to learn more about PTSD and traumatic brain injury because he had no training in what it really was.
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Education key to overcome PTSD stigma