Military Support Program helps veterans deal with PTSD

The percentage in this is wrong but it is a good article.

Military Support Program helps veterans deal with PTSD
By: Susan Kondracki, Record-Journal staff
11/12/2009

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night in a sweat overcome with a strong sense of fear, or being unable to sleep as traumatic events replay in your mind like a broken cassette tape with no stop button. Imagine feeling isolated, alone and like no one understands what you are going through.

This is what it can be like for the 18 percent of veterans diagnosed and dealing with depression, anxiety, or post traumatic stress disorder, but the good news is the state's Military Support Program can help.

"People with post traumatic stress disorder oftentimes don't know they have it. It's the people around them, the people that know them that see the signs," said Linda Schwartz, state commissioner of veterans' affairs. "Their families can call the Military Support Program for information and maybe help to plan an intervention rather than just trying to talk to them about it."

Many veterans find it hard to admit they are having mental health issues post deployment.

"For some individuals, this is adversely true. Certain veterans will have difficulty asking for help," said Michael Balkunas, chief of psychiatry and behavioral health and medical director of psychiatry and behavioral health research at the Hospital of Central Connecticut. "The great thing is it can be treated with psychotherapy and medication."

Post traumatic stress is just one of the many disorders that can be diagnosed and treated under state's Military Support Program.

Created in March 2007, the program falls under a state law that requires the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to work with Veterans' Affairs and the Department of Children and Families, to provide transitional behavioral health services for members of any reserve component of the U.S. Armed Forces and their dependents called to active duty in Afghanistan or Iraq, according to a report by the Office of Legislative Research.
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Military Support Program helps veterans deal with PTSD