Why Are Military Spouses Being Left Out Of PTSD Treatment?

Before troops were sent into Afghanistan, I was asking the same question. Why are families left out of helping the veterans of combat heal? It isn't as if we have no part in it. As a matter of fact, we're vital to the rest of their lives. What we do, how we treat them, understand them and react to them, is based on what we know, what tools we have to cope with everything that comes with PTSD and what support we have to do it all.

Knowing what Vietnam veterans went through and their families, I wrote a book published in 2002 hoping to help another family like mine. For the Love of Jack, His War/My Battle was unusual to the general public but life as they knew it to over 500,000 other families. We lived with it mostly in secret, because we didn't know any better. It's not that we were not exposed to it growing up. Our parents and grandparents knew it well because of Korea and WWII. We thought we had to suffer in silence as well. Then there was the thought of the nation keeping us from talking about it. Media attention on some of them coming home and committing crimes.

That was really the only time there were any reports on our Vietnam veterans. Today we have Veterans' Courts. Back then, we had PTSD veterans in court and then, in jail.

What wives like me discovered is that most of the negative outcomes we see today didn't need to happen. We made our mistakes trying to figure out how to make life better for everyone but we also learned from them. Today those mistakes are being repeated across the country and it breaks out hearts to know none of it has to happen.

Families are on the front lines of coming home but no one is arming them with what they need to fight the battle for the rest of their lives.

Why Are Military Spouses Being Left Out Of PTSD Treatment?
Anne Woods
Hope for the Warriors,
Public Relations Director

Posted: 03/18/2012

"As a military spouse for 20 years, we hear that we are the backbone of the military. Now it's time to care for those who proudly serve in the shadow."--Tina Atherall, LMSW, Hope For The Warriors

Our military members are returning from combat, some physically wounded and many more with invisible wounds. The impact is difficult to miss in the news. I will let other "experts" discuss the depth of this problem within our military.

I will ask another important question. What about the family?

Let's set the scene.

You are married to someone in the military. They volunteer to serve their country, but you are serving too. You might not wear the uniform, but you are definitely making sacrifices. When your spouse deploys, you are proud of their service and your eyes brim with tears each time you hear the Star-Spangled Banner. They return home, unharmed, you are able to finally release the fears, the anxiety, and the loneliness that you denied. Now, everything will return to normal, right?

Approximately 20 percent of our returning military are diagnosed with PTSD, according to Winoverptsd.com. Studies show that the average lapse between the last deployment and the first diagnosis of PTSD is 291 days. I question both of these statistics.

There is a common saying within military circles, "There are no unwounded in war." In other words, 100 percent of our service members will return with at least some degree of post-traumatic stress. For many, the symptoms are not enough to be diagnosed, but I cannot believe that only 20 percent of those who serve are diagnosed with PTSD. The Pew Research Center sites that among veterans who served after September 11, 44 percent admit that readjusting to civilian life was difficult.
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