Fort Hood:He swore an oath of loyalty to the military

One of the questions that needs to be asked over the terror Maj. Hasan inflicted on the troops he was supposed to be taking care of, is what was he telling them? He was their psychologist! What did he tell them when they went to him for help with combat trauma? Did he end up with secondary PTSD from hearing their stories and seeing the wounded at Walter Reed?

Families have been wounded by secondary PTSD from living with PTSD veterans. Mental healthcare providers have been wounded by it because of all they have to hear and the repeated stress. Burnouts happen all the time. This has happened to me more times than I can remember and readers of this blog have witnessed it in me when it has gotten too much for me. But all of this leads to even more questions.

Did he make things worse for them? According to news reports, he was not that great at his job in the first place. What kind of training did he have on PTSD? Was he just what the DOD had their hands on to use to take care of the increased need of our troops to heal from all the traumatic events they were exposed to, especially with these multiple deployments? The Army study a few years ago stated clearly the redeployments increased the risk of PTSD by 50%. Didn't the troops deserve experts on PTSD instead? Don't they still deserve it?

Details Emerge on Hood Rampage Suspect
November 06, 2009
Associated Press

"He swore an oath of loyalty to the military," Grieger said. "I didn't hear anything contrary to those oaths."

WASHINGTON - His name appears on radical Internet postings. A fellow officer says he fought his deployment to Iraq and argued with Soldiers who supported U.S. wars. He required counseling as a medical student because of problems with patients.


There are many unknowns about Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the man authorities say is responsible for the worst mass killing on a U.S. military base. As of this morning 13 people are dead and 30 wounded following his alleged shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas.

For six years before reporting for duty at Fort Hood, Texas, in July, the 39-year-old Army major worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center pursuing his career in psychiatry, as an intern, a resident and, last year, a fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry. He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001.

While an intern at Walter Reed, Hasan had some "difficulties" that required counseling and extra supervision, said Dr. Thomas Grieger, who was the training director at the time.
read more here
http://www.military.com/news/article/details-emerge-on-hood-rampage-suspect.html?ESRC=eb.nl

This Major was supposed to be loyal to the troops like they were his own family because it is a military family. They are supposed to be willing to die for the sake of their brothers and sisters. We saw examples of this yesterday when they were pulling off their uniforms to bandage the wounded while waiting for help. This is as if it were domestic violence because a trusted member of the family killed others. I fear not many are taking yesterday's events seriously enough.

Over the years I've heard all kinds of statements that cause me to fear what is coming. I heard a Chaplain say that he does not know anything about PTSD but was sent to be counseling Marines in Iraq. While Chaplains are supposed to be taking care of the spiritual needs of the troops, this is a concern because PTSD is an emotional wound, caused by an outside force with one of the biggest issues is spiritual. They question their lifetime of understanding their faith, remembering a loving God, then wonder where God was with all of the horror they saw. They wonder how a loving God could allow all of that. They wonder if they were judged or abandoned by God. They need someone who not only knows God but what PTSD is as well. The other factor is that with the lack of trained psychologist, the chaplains are the next best thing for them to turn to, but over 60% seem to more interested in proselytizing than ministering to their needs.

Some psychologists and therapist believe that telling the troops they can prevent PTSD by training their minds is the answer, but it's not. They cannot stop being human. Scientists found the region of the brain where emotions live. They have seen the changes after trauma. PTSD is not a mental illness the way many think it is but an anxiety disorder caused by an outside force and it attacks the compassionate because they carry away the pain of others as well as their own pain. If they simply tell them they can train their brains, they are missing what PTSD is.

Are any of the troops prepared with what they really need to hear? Do they know how to heal? Do family members know what to do? After what I've seen in news reports, the answer is doubtful. With the increase of suicides and attempted suicides, that answer is supported by the results of the attempts they've come up with to address this.

With what happened at Fort Hood, there are many things they are missing. Now the biggest one after yesterday is the fact they were attacked by one of their own on their base where they are supposed to be safe. The "secondary stressor" of yesterday piled onto what they've already been exposed to will cause many to experience a full blown assault of PTSD without warning. Many think that their mild PTSD is as bad as it can be and they have not been given the proper treatment to begin to really heal. With this striking, there will be many in crisis and shocked over the sudden changes in themselves. The military has proven they were ill prepared for all of this and now it is very doubtful they will be prepared for what is to come.

Calling in crisis teams is the best thing they can do to take care of people who need to talk. Who will call in crisis teams for the already wounded now exposed to trauma at home? This was a man trusted to take care of them instead of trying to kill them and now there are 13 of their own they will have to grive for along with 30 more wounded. They will be looking for answers and wondering who they can trust. Aside from this, they will also be wondering who the miltiary decided was worthy of trusting with their care.

PTSD:The difference between "secondary stressor" and "secondary PTSD"

by Chaplain Kathie

If you have PTSD or someone in your family does, you may have heard these two terms. There is a big difference between the two of them. In plain English without all the medical terms no one can understand this is what they are.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Secondary Stressor

First you need to understand there are different levels of PTSD. It's why the VA has different levels of compensation for it. Some can have mild PTSD. They are able to function. They are able to have relationships and work. While they still have nightmares, flashbacks and mood swings, they are able to cope to a certain extent.

They go on believing that "it's not that bad" and they don't seek treatment. They just bury it. They bury it with work and doing things. They stuff it in the back of their minds and focus on other things.

We know that the healing rate for PTSD is higher the sooner they get help but with mild PTSD, it's easier to avoid doing anything about it. It happened to Vietnam veterans.

Because they didn't know what PTSD was when they came home, they thought they would just have to get used to being the way they are. After all, bad things come into everyone's life. Considering they heard all the usual denials from the people they were surrounded by, avoiding it was easier than facing it.

They managed to get by. That is until another traumatic event hit them hard. In our case, I miscarried twins. It was a very traumatic day for me but it was catastrophic for my husband. He had been my best friend. He took time off of work to go to appointments with my doctor. He worried about what I ate, if I was getting enough rest and if my feet were swelling too much. We knew he had PTSD even though he wanted to deny it.

My father, a Korean war veteran was used to seeing veterans like him. My Dad was 100%, well known at the DAV and the VA regional office, as well as with other veterans. The day he met Jack, I asked him what he thought. He said, "He seems like a nice guy, but that guy has shell shock." I told my Dad the new term was PTSD. What I didn't know back then was that it would get worse without being treated.

I was still thinking that when they had PTSD, it was what it was and couldn't get worse. I thought we could just deal with the "quirks" of having to sit in a certain place in our favorite restaurant. That having to leave a party or get-together early because it got too much for him, was no real problem. His twitches didn't bother me or our friends. His memory lapses were not that hard to deal with. I could handle all of it. The problem was, Jack wasn't.

The day I lost the twins, Jack was right there with me. He saw it all and saw me falling apart. Later, after it was over, I had to call Jack to come back to the hospital because I needed him with me. He didn't want to come. I had to beg him to come back. The secondary stressor hit him that hard, that fast. The man I thought I knew as well as myself, was gone. A stranger showed up at the hospital.

The next day as the doctor was explaining the egg just separated wrong, Jack was twitching like crazy, couldn't hear what the doctor was saying and kept talking about Vietnam and Agent Orange.

Our lives fell apart after that. All the symptoms of PTSD grew stronger and I was watching him die inside. I couldn't get him to listen to me about PTSD or that he needed help. My Dad tried to get him to go to the VA but Jack said the VA was for veterans who couldn't work and the veterans without limbs. It was not what he needed. He just needed time to "get over it" and become what he used to be. He saw the changes in himself but was still in denial.

It didn't matter what I knew or how hard I tried to get him to go to the VA. He just didn't want to hear it.

That is what a "secondary stressor" does. It's PTSD on steroids. If they seek help as soon as symptoms begin, PTSD stops getting worse. If they don't, if they bury it, it is storing up the energy to hit them hard. We're seeing it in the older veterans as they reach retirement. When they have nothing to help them bury it with, it all comes seeping out. When they look back at their lives, they are able to see all the signs and how hard they worked at stuffing it all in their minds.


Secondary PTSD

Secondary PTSD is when you live with someone with PTSD.
The way they act.
The way they treat others.
The mood swings.
The unacceptable behavior making you feel as if you don't matter at all. Especially when they don't seem to care about accountability, showing up on time, saying hateful things and taking off for days at a time.
Causing arguments getting out of control.
Their disconnect from their families.
Self-medicating to kill off the feelings they don't want to feel.

The list goes on.

If a child acts like a child and is noisy, they snap. If a child drops a glass and it crashes, they overreact. Any kind of simple commotion sends them over the edge. Nothing a child can do will make the PTSD parent happy. The negativity is extreme. Often the child believes their parent hates them. In turn, the child will begin to hate the parent.

It is all traumatic growing up with a parent and untreated PTSD. Much like the children of alcoholics have to heal from growing up with a "drunk" as a parent, children of PTSD parents also have to heal so they lead happier lives. They also need to have the help of mental health professionals just as their parent does.

When it is a spouse, it is the same because they treat everyone in the family the same way.

My Dad was an alcoholic and I grew up in a household that was under attack. He came home drunk most of the time. My oldest brother was usually his favorite target. He was beaten until he got bigger than our Dad. Then the fights were a two way street. There was a lot of smashing, breaking and punching. When I was 13, my Dad stopped drinking and joined AA. It took a long time for him to begin to change, but the damage was done to my family.

I understood what it was and that helped me to forgive him and come to terms with the way he treated us. There are still issues I have with feeling unloved at times because of the way my Mom ended reacting. She held a lot resentment and so did my two brothers. When it comes to me, nothing is ever good enough. I have a hard time dealing with any acclaim, people appreciating what I do and do not take compliments very well. I get uneasy with any kind of attention finding it more comfortable to sit in the back of the room.

When I was writing without my married name, I excused it by saying my husband wanted to remain private. The stigma of PTSD was still with him. The truth is that I wanted to remain anonymous as well. I wanted to just do what I do and then go sit in the back of the room letting everyone else get attention. I thought they deserved it more than I did anyway. I fight against the way I have been conditioned to respond. I still get sick to my stomach when I have to be the "center of attention" even though part of me believes I've worked very hard to get where I am in all of this, part of me remains the little kid that wanted to be invisible.

Living with my husband and PTSD, it's the same way. I understood what it was and was able to forgive him for the way he acted and sometimes still does. I know when the dark days are overshadowing his character. When those days come, I know when to pretty much stay away from him. I hesitate to say some things to him because I know he will not react appropriately. I stopped feeling attractive, stopped wearing makeup and dress plainly to avoid any attention. That is unless I have to wear the Chaplain's attire to be taken seriously. It is all a constant process and a growing experience but my faith has sustained me. Spiritual connection has been vital to me in all of this.

While I've had traumatic events happen in my life, plus almost dying 5 times, (I'll tell you about that some other time) it has all gone into what I deal with inside of me. I do not have PTSD but it has all gone into the way I feel inside about myself and other people. I think my life has helped me to understand how some people can develop PTSD at a rate of one out of three. Everything in our lives becomes a part of us. The good as well as the bad. We have to fight to overcome the bad and we have to sometimes force ourselves to focus on the good. That's all human nature.

I believe in a way we all have pieces of traumatic events in our lives if we really take an honest look at ourselves. I don't know anyone that has escaped trauma totally. When you lose a job, that's traumatic and the next job you have, you end up acting different until you feel comfortable on the new job. When you have a traumatic relationship, you act differently than you did in that relationship because deep inside you blame yourself for the way it went. Yet when it is a parent, you cannot get new parents to act differently with. When it's a spouse, you can find a new one but again, you will not be the same.

The thing is, in all of this the choice is your's to hang onto the bad, or grab the good. Focus on what is wrong or reach for what is good. I have a hard time trusting people. This goes into my amazement when I meet someone I can trust, when I see the actions that restore my faith in humanity. I may doubt, but I'm willing to believe when I see "fruits of their deeds" and believe in what I see with my own eyes. People can say anything they want but who they are inside, comes out in what they do. I saw my Dad overcome the alcoholism. I saw my Jack fight to heal and keeps fighting to stay level. Both of them could have become enemies in my heart but I saw what was good in them instead. They have made me stronger and gave me the ability to look at the cause of the pain they had within themselves so that I could come to terms with the pain they caused in me.

I hope you have a better understanding now of what the difference is between secondary stressor and secondary PTSD. More, I hope you can forgive the people in your life causing you pain. You need to see what caused the pain within them so that you can forgive them for your own pain.



Senior Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
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"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington