by
Chaplain Kathie
Fewer than 10%? The program is there. They were diagnosed. So what's the problem? Is it that the program is not what they are looking for? Is it because they want to just get over it on their own? As if that worked before~
PTSD gets worse without treatment. They can try to cover it up with alcohol and street drugs all they want, but that is just covering it up, not healing it, and as a matter of fact, making their lives worse. Their answer is to self-medicate more, latch onto the latest bright idea they have of making themselves happy and then finding out none of that is working either.
They are in such denial they think they are not going down the same road the veterans before them did when there were plenty of excuses to hide behind. After all, very little was being done to help them heal before the Gulf War. Even now with a history of suffering needlessly, they still try to "get over it" and get on with their lives. Some hide behind the stigma in their own minds as a reason to not get help. Others have lost the ability to trust anything or anyone attached to the government they just finished risking their lives for at the same time when asked, they would deploy all over again.
What is the answer? A massive ad campaign? Better programs? Civilian support? Veteran's Centers? How about all of them? How about having more Vietnam veterans speaking to the newer veterans and letting them know what wasted time cost them between combat and healing? How about following that up with what happened when they did start to heal? There is so much that can be done. After reading the following, it is clear that more HAS to be done.
Military veterans still not getting PTSD care
Many military veterans in the U.S. are still not getting the treatment they need for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr Karen Seal from the San Franciscon Veteran Affairs Medical Centre lead a team studying this issue. They found that between 2002 and 2008 nearly 50,000 veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars received a diagnosis of PTSD. However, fewer than 10% of them completed the recommended treatment of 10-12 weekly sessions within four months of being diagnosed, and even after a year only 30% had. Men, veterans under the age of 25, those who lived in rural areas and those who got their diagnosis at primary-care clinics were less likely to receive recommended care.
You can find out more about this issue at
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=news&id=125952&cn=109
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