Richmond County Sheriff's Office deputies learn about PTSD

Officers learn to deal with situations involving PTSD
By Kyle Martin
Staff Writer
Thursday, Aug 19, 2010

Fifteen months is a long time to fear that every piece of roadside garbage is going to explode or that a suicide bomber is tracking your Humvee.

Multiply that time by three or four deployments to Afghanistan or Iraq and it's easy to understand why returning servicemen and women have a hard time letting their guard down.

"I have soldiers in my (therapy) group who walk the perimeter of the room before sitting down," said Mwende Mualuko, a medical resident at Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta. "They can't sit with their back to the door."

Mualuko was sharing her knowledge about post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Wednesday morning with a small group of Richmond County Sheriff's Office deputies. Helping her out with the presentation on how law enforcement can safely handle people with the disorder was Dr. Miriam Hancock, who also counsels patients at the PTSD clinic.
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Officers learn to deal with situations involving PTSD