Losing the Covert War on PTSD

Losing the Covert War on PTSD
Wounded Times Blog
Kathie Costos
July 8, 2013

It is stunning to constantly read claims made by officials soon proven false in another part of the country. It happens all the time. Someone speaking for the DOD will make a claim about addressing suicides in DC yet in another part of the country there is a news report about an emergency standdown because of a rise in suicides. One legislator will tout his latest bill to get the troops into treatment but in another part of the country there are screams coming out of homes when they have found the body of yet another veteran after another legislator pushed their own bill years ago making the same claims. All of this is part of why Wounded Times tracks reports all over the country.

There has been a covert war on PTSD that we have been losing and the American people are paying as much attention to it as they did to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As soon as major combat operations ended and the " in Iraq, they started to watch their regular TV shows.

"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended," Bush said, the infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner hovering over him. "In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed."

The war, unfortunately, never ended for far too many. They were followed back home by it.

ESCAPING THE NIGHTMARE
Local veteran’s story illustrates struggles of post-traumatic stress
BY FEDERICO MARTINEZ
BLADE STAFF WRITER
July 7, 2013

He held the barrel of the gun steady in his mouth. His finger slowly added pressure to the trigger.

Images of fellow U.S. Marines who had died or killed themselves went through Roget Aouad’s mind. He closed his eyes, tightened the grip on the gun, and prepared to join the ghosts dancing in his head.

But three more images stared back at him — Christian, 3, Nikolas 2, and Elodie, 1.

“I didn’t bring three children into this world so that they would have to grow up without a father,” Mr. Aouad, now 26, remembers telling himself during that difficult time last year. “I didn’t know how I was going to do it. But I decided at that moment that I would beat this. I wanted to be there for them.”

The story of Lance Corporal Aouad of Sylvania, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, isn’t unique.

At least 20 percent — one out of every five — of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have post-traumatic stress and/​or depression. That’s nearly 300,000 veterans, according to recent studies conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research.

That number is even higher when traumatic brain injury is included.

Suicide among U.S. troops overall is up, averaging nearly one per day, the highest rate since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began a decade ago, according to the military studies.

“The good news is that there is good treatment for them,” said Sheila A.M. Rauch, director of the Serving Returning Veterans’ Mental Health Program for the Department of Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

“The problem is great, [but] with weekly treatment we can see a significant reduction in problems.”
read more here

The first thing to point out is the number of suicides per day within the military. It is over one a day. When you factor in National Guards and Reservists it is well over 500 for last year alone. The other thing to point out is the percentage used is also wrong according to experts studying PTSD since the Vietnam War. It is actually one out of three. The fact that 57% of the suicides came after they sought treatment also shows how wrong the information being told to reporters trying to tell their stories is all too often not based on facts.

While the story above is about the new generation of veterans suffering, the truth is a lot harder to take when you understand the suffering was just as great when Vietnam veterans came home. Why is it harder? Because one of the first bills Congress did to address suicides was done in 2007. S. 479 (110th): Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act. On November 5th President Bush signed a different version of it H.R. 327

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop and implement a comprehensive program designed to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans.

The number of veterans committing suicide went up, not down. This isn't just about Iraq and Afghanistan veterans committing suicide even though they were the groups getting the attention of the press. Vietnam veterans were still taking their own lives as the highest percentage.

Minority veterans face additional post-service issues
Area servicemen cite challenges reintegrating after war’s horrors
BY FEDERICO MARTINEZ
BLADE STAFF WRITER
July 8, 2013

He still hears the screams, sees the agonizing facial expressions on his friends as they die, feels the blood splattering across his face. Absentmindedly, he starts to wipe away at the lenses of his glasses.

“We were walking in single file toward a large hill, or mountain,” recalls Manuel Caro, 66, of Toledo as he slowly begins his story. “The jungle was so thick you couldn’t see anything above or next to you. That’s when all hell broke loose.”

Corporal Caro, then 19, was a part of the 5th U.S. Marines, 3rd Battalion, India Company. They had been in Vietnam less than a week and had been ambushed by the Viet Cong twice.

“They started mortaring us; 50-caliber machine guns,” Mr. Caro says, as his voice begins to quiver. “People were falling left and right. People were screaming and dying.

“We had a lot of wounded but couldn’t get them out because they were shooting the helicopters.”

The 3rd Battalion couldn’t see where they were shooting; their ammunition was unable to penetrate the thick jungle brush.

The U.S. troops would learn later that the North Vietnamese soldiers were perched higher, shooting down at them.

The survivors spent the night surrounded by the dead bodies of their fellow Marines as the Viet Cong continued to fire at them, says Mr. Caro, his voice rising as he proceeds with the story.

He and another survivor attempted to dig trenches to bury the dead.

“We couldn’t dig enough holes, we couldn’t dig them deep enough,” Mr. Caro says, as he begins to sob, his whole body trembling with grief. “There were too many of them. They wouldn’t all fit. They were all dead.”
read more here

Veterans committing suicide were all tied back to military life by families across the country. For OEF and OIF veterans they received "prevention" training starting in 2006 with Battlemind.
These are the numbers from just the Army before Battlemind took over.

2003 Army 79 26 while deployed
2004 Army 67 13 while deployed
2005 Army 87 25 while deployed
2006 Army 99 30 while deployed
(Army Suicide Prevention Program Fact Sheet, Army Public Affairs, August 17, 2007)
2007 Army 115 36 while deployed (50 deployed prior to suicide and 29 not deployed)

Definition: Battlemind is defined as the Warrior’s inner strength to face the realities of the environment with courage, confidence, and resilience. This means meeting the mental challenges of training, operations, combat, and transitioning home. Warriors with Battlemind take care of themselves, their buddies, and those they lead.
(From THE WARRIOR SAW SUICIDES AFTER WAR)

This is what started the bulk of the increased suicides. Hearing those words telling them they had the mental strength to meet the mental challenges meant if they had trouble, they were mentally weak and didn't train right.

These are the numbers from the Army afterwards

Army Confirmed and Pending Suicides (2011 page 128)
2008 140
Suicide attempts 570
Of the 140 suicides, 34 (24%) occurred in OIF-OEF. One hundred sixteen suicide attempts (12%) were reported to have occurred in OIF-OEF. Nineteen percent of Soldiers with completed suicides, and 14% of Soldiers with suicide attempts, had a history of multiple deployments to Iraq and/or Afghanistan. Of suicide events reported as occurring in theater, the majority was reported to have occurred in Iraq.
2009 164
Army DoDSERs Submitted for Non-Fatal Events 2,047 Army DoDSERs for non-fatal events were submitted for 2009. Of these, 502 (25%) were submitted for suicide attempts, 347 (17%) for instances of self-harm without intent to die, and 1198 (59%) for suicidal ideation only
2010 160
DoDSERs provide data on suicide attempts for 400 individuals. Two attempts were reported (DoDSERs submitted) for 11 (2.75%) individuals, and three for one individual (0.25%). Additionally, four Soldiers with a 2010 suicide attempt DoDSER subsequently died by suicide in 2010 and were also included in the preceding section.
2011 167
440 DoDSERs for 2011 Army suicide attempts. As indicated in Table 5.29, these DoDSERs provide data on suicide attempts for 432 individuals. Two suicide attempt DoDSERs were submitted for 8 (1.85%) individuals 2011 Army suicide attempts 432 individuals with 440 attempts

The full Suicide Event Report for 2012 has still not been released.

As you can see what they have been doing has not worked after spending billions a year on prevention. This covert war has been funded without any accountability. It has gone on longer than any other war in our history but few knew about the price paid by those we sent. We will keep losing this war until people open their eyes and understand healing is possible but we can't get there from where we are unless things change right now.