Many working to ease vet burdens again?

For the love of God please tell me that they are not just rediscovering this now? They were doing this at the Bedford VA hospital in Massachusetts in the 80's and 90's! When did they stop doing this?

PTSD is complicated and comes with a lot of other problems. One of the biggest complications is discovering if clinicians are dealing with substance addictions or abuse. Big difference. Some are addicted to the chemicals of alcohol and street drugs. Others are looking for the relief they find with the chemicals, trying to get numb so they don't feel anything. Then there are others with PTSD and addiction. If they are not addicted to alcohol or drugs, then treating them as if they are will not work. They have to be treated for PTSD. If they are addicted then treating them for PTSD won't work. If they have dual diagnosis then they have to be treated for both. This isn't new. They knew this over 30 years ago. In patient Rehabs were addressing what needed to be addressed on an individual basis and they were kept there for about a month so that by the time they were released, the clinicians knew exactly what they were dealing with.

HELP AND HOPE
Many working to ease vet burdens
Groups adjust treatments to address PTSD and substance abuse
BY JOE SWICKARD
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Increased attention, services and studies are being focused on veterans who are struggling with personal burdens from deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and other international trouble spots.

The Veterans Administration -- often seen as a lumbering bureaucratic bogeyman; the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and other organizations are making concerted efforts to meet the needs of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse problems.

VA facilities are now adjusting treatments for PTSD and alcohol and drug abuse, said Rebecca Croff, chief of the Psychology Section and director of the Mental Health Clinic at the Dingell VA Medical Center in Detroit.

"We realize they have to be treated at the same time," Croff said.

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