Widow of Fort Benning soldier talks about PTSD misdiagnosis

Wife Of Serviceman Shares Story Of PTSD Misdiagnosis
By: Jocelyn Tovar
KARK 4 NEWS
Updated: May 18, 2012

An unfortunate reality for as many as 30% of our veterans is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and just this week the United States Army announced they'll be reviewing the PTSD practices in veteran's hospitals across the country.

The review stems from cases of PTSD at an army medical center outside of Seattle and possible misdiagnosis of the disorder.

"He got really withdrawn," said Alicia McElroy whose husband Staff Sargent James McElroy returned from his second tour in Afghanistan in 2010. "He couldn't sleep in bed at night, he wasn't even sleeping at night he was pacing the halls, laying in bed all day. crying."

All text book definitions of PTSD that his wife said he sought treatment for at Fort Benning in Georgia.

"They found him June 6th dead in his barracks," McElroy told KARK.

She said her husband died from multiple drug toxicity as a result of medications to treat PTSF, but that somewhere along the way army officials downgraded his disorder.

"Even though he'd been diagnosed by three different doctors as having PTSD," said McElroy. "They kept saying he had anxiety."
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