Healing military vets’ PTSD starts with understanding

Healing military vets’ PTSD starts with understanding
Posted: Friday, June 22, 2012
By Dr. Mike Rosmann
IFT columnist
Iowa Farmer Today

PTSD seldom goes away on its own. The most-effective help with PTSD is usually obtained from professionals and trained peer support counselors who understand the experiences of those struggling with PTSD.

Last week I explained how Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can develop.

Reacting to a traumatic event with alarm is normal, but when we overreact with alarm to any reminder or cue of the trauma to the degree that distress interferes with our daily lives, it’s time to take corrective actions.

PTSD is fairly common for people involved in farming because farming is one of the most-stressful occupations and many of the factors that affect success or failure are beyond our control.

When I use the term “farming,” I am also referring to ranching, working on a farm as a laborer and related jobs that involve the production of food, fiber and biofuel.

One of my first professional experiences with PTSD after completing training in clinical psychology involved helping a farmer who became emotionally paralyzed while undergoing farm-foreclosure proceedings in court. He couldn’t sleep, he was unable to go about his daily chores on the farm, he became numb and was hardly able to speak. PTSD in the military

PTSD among soldiers who completed tours of duty in Iraq and/or Afghanistan is also common. Recent estimates range from 2.5 percent to 35 percent among U.S. veterans returning stateside (Richardson, Frueh & Acierno, 2010; Curry, 2012).

As might be expected, the prevalence of PTSD is positively correlated with the number of tours of duty and the number of exposures to fire-fights, bombs and other life-threatening events.

Many returning U.S. military who originated from rural areas find access to care for PTSD is an added burden.

Dr. Joel Kupersmith, chief research and development officer of the Department of Veteran Affairs, commented, “Providing comprehensive, high-quality health care to veterans in rural areas is a challenge.”

Of 5.6 million veterans who received care from the VA in 2006, about 40 percent lived in rural areas.

U.S. military personnel tend to originate in greater numbers from states that are rural, with Alaska having the highest number of military personnel on a per capita basis.
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