Soldiers still fight combat back home

I was going through some old emails and I ran across this. It was from a post I did two years ago. A post that has haunted me and angered me ever since. This is one of the biggest reasons why I think programs like Battle Mind, while well intended, have done more harm than good. The other factor is that suicides have gone up instead of down.

The BBC did interviews in 2008 with US troops in Afghanistan. As reported, Battle Mind training was reduced to 11 1/2 minutes during two days of briefings after troops arrived. This is what we knew in 2008 and this is what has still been part of the problem in helping them heal.

Soldiers' fight persists post-war
Tuesday, 27 May 2008 00:28 UK
Nearly half the US soldiers who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan will suffer some form of post-traumatic stress, according to the US military.

Now there are efforts to find new ways to deal with the 60,000 cases of combat-related stress diagnosed since the conflicts began.

Dominic Di-Natale reports from Afghanistan.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7422853.stm

PTSD Videos from the BBC

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Soldiers' fight persists post-war

Nearly half the US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan will suffer from post-traumatic stress, the US military says.
28 May 2008

BBC:1999 Report of PTSD and Heart

One more case of repeating what was already known or one more case of them trying to pretend they are actually doing something about this? Which is it. The study was done on Vietnam veterans and right here in the USA but I found the report on the BBC. For the last few weeks the blogs have been posting as if this is any kind of real news simply because they don't have a clue what was known all these years. That fact alone is bad but what is worse is that the people who are repeating the same studies done so long ago are wasting time and money when they could be trying something new.

Tuesday, 9 November, 1999, 08:28 GMT
Post traumatic stress linked to heart disease


Nearly a third of Vietnam veterans were psychologically scarred

A major study of Vietnam veterans has found those who plagued by anxiety attacks or depression as a result of their experiences are also far more likely to suffer from heart problems.

The results of the US study suggest post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may actually cause or greatly accelerate the condition.

While the link between extreme stress and heart disease has been demonstrated in animal studies, it has so far been more difficult to prove in humans.

The 4,462 men studied had all seen combat during the Vietnam war, according to the paper published in the US Annals of Behavioural Medicine.

Dr Joseph Boscarino, from the department of outcomes research in Kentucky, who led the investigation, said: "We believe that this research suggests a clear, definitive linkage between exposure to severe stress and the onset of coronary heart disease in humans."
He added: "For these men, combat exposure years ago in Vietnam was the principal reason for PTSD, anxiety and depression, but we believe that the results would be similar when looking at the consequences of severe distress among other groups of people and within other occupations."
Approximately 30% of veterans of the Vietnam conflict are thought to have developed PTSD as a result.

A British expert in the disorder, Dr Stuart Turner, from the Traumatic Stress Clinic in London, said the results were "plausible".
He said: "Post traumatic stress disorder is associated with some physical effects on the body's metabolism.
"However, a lot more work needs to be done before it can be proven."
A British study published this week found more than half of UK World War II veterans suffer psychological trauma related to their experiences.

In some, interviewed by Dr Nigel Hunt of Nottingham Trent University, the symptoms are worsening in retirement.
He found 36% of 709 veterans fulfilled criteria suggesting they would benefit from psychiatric treatment.

go here for more
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/509937.stm

Soldiers' fight persists post-war

Soldiers' fight persists post-war

BBC
Nearly half the US soldiers who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan will suffer some form of post-traumatic stress, according to the US military.

Now there are efforts to find new ways to deal with the 60,000 cases of combat-related stress diagnosed since the conflicts began.

Dominic Di-Natale reports from Afghanistan.
go here for video
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/7422853.stm


They are still using BattleMind training when it does not work. It has not changed anything. More suicides and still too many do not seek treatment and when they do, some are still being told to "suck it up" and get over it.