Veterans Take Giant Steps to Healing PTSD Through Art

Veterans with PTSD release their demons through art
New Haven Register
By Kristin Stoller
POSTED: 11/01/14

Vietnam War veteran John Jones displays his collage, featuring his possession from the 1950s. Jones, who struggles with PTSD, said the collage makes him feel good. (Kristin Stoller — New Haven Register)

GUILFORD
Vietnam War veteran John Jones was the only sailor who survived a fire on his ship, and since then he has been plagued by the “what ifs” and demons of post-traumatic stress disorder.

But at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System’s West Haven campus, Jones feels like he can let some of these demons out — through art.

“I saw things that people shouldn’t see,” said Jones, who was only 19 when he served in Vietnam. “You can’t unsee things. They play on your mind, you know?”

The Guilford Free Library is hosting an art exhibit throughout November of pieces by Jones and other Connecticut veterans. The veterans’ service ranges from the World War II era to Afghanistan.

The show includes work from artists representing the Giant Steps Program at the West Haven VA and the Rocky Hill Veterans Center programs, among others, organizer John Henningson said.

“The Giant Steps program is designed for those with a disability who are somewhat reluctant to expose themselves to the public for whatever reason,” he said. “Art, however, gives them a way to express themselves and show another side of their personality.”

In the ’70s, Jones said he turned to the VA when he couldn’t stop crying and screaming weeks after returning from Vietnam, but no one knew what PTSD was back then and he was sent away, he said.

“It was either jump off a building or go to downtown New Haven,” Jones, a Milford resident, said, recounting his turn to drugs and alcohol.

In 2004, he came back to the West Haven VA after the “drugs had taken their toll” and was able to be helped through medication, therapy and art. He displayed a collage he made of pieces from the ’50s that make him feel good, such as his old skateboard and a decal off his old Volkswagen.
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Veteran suspected in shooting on the mend from PTSD

Veteran suspected in shooting on the mend from PTSD
By JOHN BARRY
The Bulletin
Posted Jun 03, 2013

Jason Durr, who’s awaiting trial on a charge he shot his former girlfriend while having a flashback of the Iraq War, is scheduled to move into a West Haven sober house later this week.

Durr, 26, of Lebanon, is charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault and illegal possession of an assault weapon in the May 9, 2012, attack in his Lebanon apartment.

The U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq told police that he had no memory of the attack, and the ex-girlfriend said she thought Durr might have had a flashback.

Durr pleaded not guilty to the charges and is free on a promise to appear after a judge reduced his initial $1 million bond in November.

In early December, Durr entered an inpatient substance abuse rehabilitation treatment program at a Veterans Administration hospital in Northport, Long Island, after similar treatment at a VA facility in West Haven. He later began treatment at Northport for post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Marine from Davie takes own life after battling demons of war

If there was ever a day when I wanted to stop doing this work, this is one of those days when I know I can't. I read the following story about a Marine here in Florida committing suicide after fighting a battle with PTSD that he could not win. More proof that what the military have been doing SUCKS AND THEY WON'T CHANGE. John Lutz is not in the count of 349 military suicides because he was already discharged. Active duty military suicides are all over the news right now but reporters are not doing their jobs. If they had been, they would have been asking how many committed suicide after being discharged. In other words, veteran suicides because the number of veterans committing suicide have also gone up.

Read this story and then watch the video. It even made me cry~

Marine from Davie takes own life after battling demons of war
By Mike Clary
Sun Sentinel
January 16, 2013

As a machine gunner in the U.S. Marine Corps, John Lutz survived combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq while earning 13 service commendations and the respect of his buddies.

"He was a Marine to the fullest," said fellow Marine Kevin Ullman. "He was someone who could lighten any situation with witty sarcasm."

Ultimately, however, Lutz could not escape the demons he carried back home to Davie after his discharge 18 months ago.

On Saturday, just hours after a lunch with his mother in which he chatted about his classes at Palm Beach State College, Lutz swallowed a handful of pills VA doctors had prescribed to help him cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Lutz died in his bedroom, in the house where he grew up. He was 24.

"I'm sorry," he said in a farewell note he left on his open laptop. "I am happier now."

Among active duty members of the military, suicide is epidemic, according to Pentagon officials. Last year 349 active-duty troops took their lives, according to figures obtained Monday by the Associated Press. That exceeds the 295 Americans who died from combat in Afghanistan.
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VA mental health called "unconscionable crisis" for PTSD veterans

VA mental health hiring is flawed, critic says
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 3, 2012

A representative of a major mental health organization blasted the Veterans Affairs Department for failing to hire therapists whom he says could ease VA staffing shortages and eliminate prolonged waiting periods for veterans in need of care.

David Kaplan, chief professional officer for the American Counseling Association, said Wednesday that VA has ignored licensed professional counselors, or LPCs, in its efforts to fill mental health vacancies in its medical system.

Requirements for LPC licensure vary from state to state, but in general, they are masters degree-level professionals with education and clinical experience in psychotherapy treatment and counseling.

“There’s an unconscionable crisis going on now with mental health treatment for those who have served our country, and the really sorry thing about this is it doesn’t have to be,” Kaplan said.

VA has 1,500 vacancies for mental health staff. It announced in April it plans to hire an additional 1,600 professionals.

But with a nationwide shortage of trained mental health workers, the department will be hard-pressed to fill its staffing needs without recruiting LPCs, Kaplan said.
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VA benefits come down to geography for some

I don't like to post letters to the editor that I come across but this needs to be out there so that people stop assuming all veterans are treated equally. It doesn't happen. While they serve this one nation, when they are back on American soil, it depends on where they live if they are taken care of or not.

VA benefits come down to geography for some
Lake County Record-Bee - Lakeport,CA,USA
By Donna Christopher -- Letters to the Editor
Article Last Updated: 12/18/2008 07:01:07 PM PST


I am a veteran. I am an Army Veteran, thus making me a bit of a black sheep' in the family of Navy Veterans. But they still tolerate me, they're a good crew. It has been almost 34 years since I was Honorably Discharged. I did make use of my G.I. Bill educational benefits in the 1970s. I never had reason to apply for medical benefits through the Veterans Administration. My husband and I worked, had medical benefits and squirreled away money for retirement.

Well, as we all know, you make plans and Creator laughs. John is now eligible for Social Security. Our CalCobra came to an end and the only thing offered to me was a plan that cost $677.77 per month for the premium and a $4,500 out of pocket deductible at that point they would pay 70% of what they felt the charge should have been.

We tried to stay in that system but after six months found we were going broke very fast paying for a policy that really was of little use except as Catastrophic Insurance. $2,100 a month income doesn't stretch very far with Hubby's medical premiums running just over $500 a month, add the almost $700 per month to that it left us with about $900 a month to live on. Ketchup soup anyone?

I finally broke down and filed for medical benefits from the VA. That was this past July. Having heard nothing I contacted the clinic in Ukiah. That is when Allan gave me the bad news. The bad news comes in the form of a little gem called the Geographic Means Test, an Executive Order signed by George W. Bush in January 2003.

In a nutshell, if I lived in San Francisco, I would be eligible for the medical benefits promised to me through the Veterans Administration. But I live in Lake County and am therefore not eligible. I cannot even reapply until next August 2009. Apparently President Bush believes a promise is predicated upon where you live.

I was not asking for a hand out I made it very clear I would be most agreeable to paying a premium and a co-pay. I went looking for a hand-up, not hand out. Thanks Bush for the backhand to the face of a veteran who actually showed up for morning muster.

Donna Christopher

Lucerne