The War Within: Treating PTSD

Repeating the events are more like torture to too many veterans. Seeing what happened over and over again does not work unless it is done to resolve it and make peace with it.

When veterans talk about what happened, they need to see all of it once, not over and over again. They need to see what else was happening from start to finish. In combat there is always someone to blame and in that sense, there is always someone to forgive. Usually the veteran needs to be able to forgive themselves as well as their enemies.

How would this do that? How do you help them heal by just replaying the movie that is already stuck in their heads?

By the way, using a program designed for rape victims is not the same as combat survivors. Rape, as hideous as it is, usually happens once. While they fear it can happen again, it usually doesn't unless the rapist is an abuser they know. That makes it worse because it comes over and over again. PTSD comes at a rate of one out of three per event. So think of the level of trauma suffered when it does not end after the first time.

In combat events happens over and over again and if it isn't happening to them, it is happening to another soldier they know. There is no safe time to relax without fearing it coming again.

While there is no one size fits all effort that works on all, they need to be treated by mind, body and spirit. This form of therapy is not new and hardly seems improved. It is good to watch if you are trying to understand what these veterans are going through.

The War Within: Treating PTSD
60 Minutes
Scott Pelley
November 25, 2013

60 Minutes gets a rare look inside new therapy sessions that are changing the lives of vets who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder

The following is a script of "The War Within" which aired on Nov. 24, 2013. Scott Pelley is the correspondent. Ashley Velie, producer.

We've seen a lot of stories about veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder but tonight, for the first time, we're able to show you new therapies that are changing the lives of vets and their families. Two million Americans have served in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Veterans Administration tells us that one out of five suffers from PTSD. One reason we're seeing so much of it is because many of our troops have been ordered on combat tours three, four or even five times. The VA overwhelmed by the need, decided to try new treatments that were originally designed for rape victims. Over two months we were allowed to sit in and listen as our troubled veterans fought the war within.

[Gene Dowdy: How can you live a life when everyone is afraid of you? You go to town and people say "that’s the crazy vet, don’t mess with him."

Rob Spraggs: My wife told me, "Something’s gotta change or we gotta leave."

Anthony Apellido: When you try to talk to somebody who hasn’t been there, hasn’t experienced it, they don’t understand. And so you just kind of get laughed at.]

The 16 men around this table arrived via Afghanistan, Iraq, or both. Some are here from Vietnam.

[Terrence Stewart: I see that I do have the opportunity to pick myself up at 63 years old and start all over again.]

They’ve "started over again" many times but their path has led back to isolation, drugs, booze, and suicide attempts. Now they’re in the VA hospital in Little Rock, Ark. They will live here eight weeks to break through emotions that have derailed their lives.
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