Returning vets can face more problems from people wanting to help

Returning vets can face more problems from people wanting to help
by
Chaplain Kathie

Good intentions can make things worse if the people don't understand what they are doing. It has been going on for years. Charities spring up so fast I can't keep up with them. Most of them really want to help and they do all they can but when they admit they are clueless about veterans, that has the hairs on the back of my neck shaking.

For almost 30 years, this has been my life and I don't welcome anyone to my world lightly. I get emails all the time from college students thinking about going into mental health so they can work with veterans. First I ask them why they want to do it. If they tell me they were in the military or related to someone, that is one thing but if they say they want to do it for job security, I'll tell them to focus on civilians.

Being there to support them is one thing but well meaning people can do more harm than good if they do not offer the right kind of help.

I've heard Chaplains telling them if they not convert, they will go to hell. Mental health professionals tell veterans that the programs like Battlemind are better than nothing. Psychiatrist say that medications are all they need. I've even heard some "helpers" tell them they are selfish and only thinking of themselves. If you care about them, then why on earth would you want to make things worse?

Returning vets can face problems
Wednesday, November 30, 2011


By BRAD GASKINS / Staff Writer

When Jenny Camp became executive director of the DreamPeace Foundation in April 2011, she thought she knew what to expect.

The grassroots, non-profit provides free counseling to veterans and their families. Since Camp grew up in a military family, she thought she had a handle on veterans’ issues.

She thought wrong.

“What this job has shown me is how clueless we really all are,” Camp said. “If you haven’t actually gone and been in combat, you really don’t get it. We don’t understand. We’re not going to. But we can listen, and we can start paying attention.”

Of the 14,000 veterans in Shelby County, about 3,500 – or 25 percent – are 9/11 veterans who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan. When those veterans return home, they can face many challenges.

At the very least, experts say, it will take time for returning veterans to assimilate back into the society they left behind. At the very worst, the experts say, returning veterans can suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and have extreme trouble finding jobs.

“We as a society are not doing a good enough job of transitioning them back,” Camp said. “Most of us want to help. It’s hard to know how.”
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Here are some tips if you want to work with veterans.

First, learn everything you can about where they were. Know the difference between Iraq and Afghanistan, when the Gulf War was and where just as you learn about when the Vietnam War actually ended claiming lives. (Hint: 73 it was officially over The peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27 January 1973 but The Mayaguez incident between the Khmer Rouge and the United States from May 12–15, 1975, was the last official battle of the Vietnam War.) but the number of deaths tied to the Vietnam War are still happening today. Deaths tied to Agent Orange and suicides keep claiming lives.

When you read something like the recent report every 80 minutes another veteran takes his/her own life you need to be aware that those "reported" deaths are just from what they bothered to track within the VA system. If a veteran did not have an approved claim, but committed suicide, the VA does not track them. When you read about numbers coming out about military suicides, the Marines keep their own numbers and so does the Army, with National Guards and Reservists coming in in other totals. In other words, they keep their own numbers. If a serviceman or woman is discharged, they don't track those deaths either.

When you talk to them you have to ask about their families so you have an idea what kind of support they are getting at home. If they have a strong family or close friends, you have to get them involved. If they have a messed up family, that is something else you'll have to help them overcome.

Face the fact that while text books are great to give you a clinical understanding, they do little good when it comes to knowing who these men and women are or what makes them so different.

After 30 years, I still don't know everything and I live with PTSD everyday. Never get to the point in your career where you think there is nothing left to learn.

Last piece of advice is, never be afraid to admit that you are not the one that can help them the best. Know who is. Many times I will refer them to someone else when their needs are more than I am capable of meeting.