Healing the wounds of war should have begun with congress

This makes my blood boil. Knowing that Congress is responsible for most of this still going on, spending billions a year on "addressing" PTSD, TBI and military suicides, you'd think they would stop pretending they cared enough to fix anything.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller / Healing the wounds of war
A veteran and his family illustrate the failures of the system
Pittsburg Post Gazette
June 14, 2013

Imagine you're the mom of three young boys with special needs. You are deeply proud of your husband, a combat veteran who served five tours of duty and earned two combat action badges. But you and your family struggle every single day with the invisible wounds of war.

Tracy White stands firmly by her husband's side. She is with him when his unimaginable combat experiences -- like taking his friend's photograph at the moment he was killed by an IED -- manifest in frightening ways. She is working with every fiber of her being to support their family, including holding down a part-time job so she can also be there for their sons.

She is her husband's biggest champion while he navigates an unfairly complex system to get the care and benefits he earned.

The Whites have no health coverage. When Jerry sought therapy through the Department of Veterans Affairs, a counselor told Tracy she should sleep in another room and call the police for protection. He was told he didn't fit into a certain stereotype of someone with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

So as he awaits a decision from the VA about his disability benefits, he remains isolated in his home. He says he feels like a prisoner.
read more here

While this may seem heartbreaking, it is more politics as usual. This is my comment

Playing politics by not setting the record straight? Five years of free care from the VA and an evaluations from the DOD and the VA. If these steps are not working, it has been up to congress to fix them. This doesn't solve the financial stress but it is caring for PTSD veterans. Telling a wife to not sleep in the same room is the advice I give case by case depending on the level of PTSD and the situation. What about the actions of congress over all these years? Suicides up yet the Congress funds 900 suicide prevention programs. Address that. Address how we are still at a point after all these years this is all still going on. Hold people, including members of congress accountable and then you may really help the veterans heal from where Congress sent them.