Soldiers' mental health can't be treated by VA alone

Does the Department of Defense send troops into combat or does the President and members of congress send them? Are these people just there or are they elected? Then they are supposed to represent the American people. Congress and the President are also responsible for the Department of Veterans Affairs. If we just assume all is well with the VA and the DOD, then they should be taking care of the men and women serving leaving us with no reason to feel ashamed they have lost their dignity because they do not get what they need when they come home.

Think about it. This country was worth it to them to risk their lives for. We allowed them to beg, borrow and suffer because they were not getting what they needed as soon as they came home. Backlog of claims not only meant lack of proper care but it also meant lack of money to pay their bills and keep a roof over their heads. We allowed them to wait in endless lines for appointments as long as we could just go on with our days not having to be reminded their wars are not over just because they are back home.

More troubling than the numbers of regular military coming home is the fact that almost half of the National Guardsmen are suffering in their hometowns but getting even less care without the support system in place to help them.

Soldiers' mental health can't be treated by VA alone, expert says in Missoula
By JOE NICKELL of the Missoulian
Posted: Saturday, June 11, 2011

"One percent of our population defends us," said Marks. "The least we can do is care for them when they get back. ... It's all of our responsibility - employers, educational systems, the whole gamut - because they defended and fought for all of us."

With 38 percent of soldiers, 31 percent of Marines, and 49 percent of National Guardsmen reporting some symptoms of mental health problems upon return from combat, Marks said it is important that entire communities embrace their obligation to help those who have given so much to their country.

Given today's frequent media focus on the psychological wounds of war, one might assume that soldiers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and other post-deployment mental health issues would come home to a welcoming web of support networks and resources.

But it's that very assumption that hamstrings much important work, says Dr. Michael Marks, a former Missoula psychologist who now serves as the lead psychologist and director of the PTSD Outpatient Clinic of the Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

"Too often, for all kinds of reasons, when people find out someone's a veteran, it's like, ‘Let the VA deal with it,' " says Marks. "But we don't have enough people; we can't treat everyone, and a lot of veterans don't want to come to the VA anyway."
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Soldiers' mental health can't be treated by VA alone