Remembrance Day of Life Gone Too Soon

Military mom proud of her ‘hero’ son
Oliver Chronicle
By Dan Walton
November 24, 2017

"I wish I had been more knowledgeable. If that had been the case we would have sought out a qualified veterans PTSD program instead of shuffling around with psychiatrists here in the Okanagan.”
Jill McCullum

Jill McCullum holds up photos of her son after telling the heartbreaking story about him fighting PTSD and drug addiction. (Dan Walton photo)

Remembrance Day 2017 was the first year that local military mom Jill McCullum attended the ceremony since losing her son Nick Stevens.

After returning from the war in Afghanistan around four years ago, Stevens had developed post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and then an opioid addiction. He tried taking several paths towards recovery and had the full support of his family, but an overdose took his life in March.

“I don’t care if people know Nick had a drug issue that he finally succumbed to,” McCullum said. “Kids don’t just wake up one morning and decide to become an addict.”

While Stevens was facing the demons that come with PTSD, he was prescribed opioids as a solution only to the side effects – depression, anxiety and a sleep disorder. So at a time when he was coping with deeply painful memories, he was given access to an extremely powerful drug.

By 2015, “He fully grasped that he was masking his issues with drugs.”

“They were all handsome young men who are missed by loved ones,” she said. “I had no idea until one day I saw these names on his leg and I asked who’s that? And he told me. If I knew then what I know now I would have asked him to talk about it; I would have been a concerned individual. But I was naive, I didn’t know the depth he’d plummeted.”
read more here

Judge Orders Iraq Veteran to Put Flowers on Grave?

We know most veterans do not get what they need to heal from where they sent and we also know that many self-medicate to get numb. In the following case an Iraq veteran was found guilty of DUI and a woman died. The veteran made a choice to drink and drive. She also made a choice to risk her life in the military. Will she get help in jail to heal? Even if she does what good will it do if she is forced to go to the grave of the woman she killed?

Judge Refuses to Alter Veteran's Sentence in Fatal Crash 
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. 

Feb 20, 2016

A judge in central Pennsylvania refused to modify the sentence he imposed in a fatal crash, including provisions that the defendant carry the victim's picture and place flowers on her grave. 

Jennifer Sloan, 34, of Cresson, an Iraq war veteran who said she turned to alcohol due to post-traumatic stress disorder, was sentenced in Blair County in December to 2 1/2 to five years in prison in the April 2013 death of 58-year-old Connie Naylor, of Dysart. read more here

Veterans Court Saving Lives One At A Time

Ex-Marine's path to sobriety began with Veterans Court
Green Bay Press Gazette
Paul Srubas, Press-Gazette Media
January 31, 2015

"Veterans Court attempts to use the power of the court to enforce treatment plans, training, sobriety and whatever else qualified participants need. It's like probation on steroids"

Jeff Vanstraten distinctly remembers the feel of the gun in his hands, the process of filling the clip, the sound of chambering a round, and looking at the police outside his home and thinking how easily he could pick one of them off.

It was about 9:30 p.m., Jan. 15, 2012. Vanstraten, then 40, had consumed his usual 30-pack of beer and was well into another. It must've reacted badly with the pain medication he had been taking for his bad back, because he can't remember many other details of what went on that day in his west-side Green Bay rental home.

He learned later that a buddy, concerned he was suicidal, called the police, who dispatched a SWAT team that surrounded his house. Vanstraten kept drinking and loaded his gun.

"I don't know if I wanted to die that day ...or what," he said. "When I picked up the gun, I don't know if I felt invincible or what, but I remember every detail of handling that gun. I don't know if that's a military thing or not."

"You're in the Army 3½ years and in your mind, time stands still," said Tom Hinz, former Brown County Executive, who mentors in the Veterans Court. "You come back, find all your friends are married, have jobs, kids and mortgages. You're different, too, but sometimes you don't understand that. Or while you were away, your significant other learned to take care of everything, pay the bills, take the kids to school, and when you come back, where do you fit in?"
read more here

Camp Pendleton Afghanistan Veteran Marine Trial Ends

Former Camp Pendleton Marine gets 11 years in prison for DUI crash that killed 3 fellow servicemen
Orange County Register
Sean Emery
January 30, 2015

Arguing that Hale's drinking was an attempt to self-medicate in order to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder from his experiences in heavy combat in Sangin, Afghanistan,

Jared Hale, a former Camp Pendleton Marine sergeant convicted of a drunken-driving crash that killed three of his fellow Marines, listens as he is sentenced at the West Justice Center in Westminster on Friday.
KEVIN SULLIVAN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A former Camp Pendleton Marine sergeant convicted of killing three other servicemen in a drunken-driving crash was sentenced Friday to more than a decade in prison, as an Orange County Superior Court judge denied his request for treatment rather than time behind bars.

Jared Hale, 27, told Judge Terri K. Flynn-Peister that for the rest of his life he will have to live with the loss of Sgt. Jeremiah Callahan, 23; Cpl. Christopher Arzola, 21; and Cpl. Jason Chleborad, 22, all of whom suffered fatal injuries in the 2012 crash in Dana Point.

"It's been a rough five years," Hale said, his voice unsteady with apparent emotion. "But there is just not much left of me, honestly."
read more here

VA San Diego couldn't take care of own doctor with PTSD?

A VA doctor was self-medicating PTSD after working as a trauma doctor in Afghanistan. That says something right there. Not only did they fail a veteran with PTSD, they failed one of their own!

Doctor Arrived at Hospital With 0.39 BAC: Medical Board
An accusation says Jason Lane, M.D., was "self-medicating" with alcohol to deal with PTSD
NBC News San Diego
By Andie Adams
Aug 15, 2014

A doctor who showed up to work with a blood alcohol content of nearly five times the legal driving limit had “self-medicated” with alcohol to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to an accusation filed by the Medical Board of California.

Jason Lane, M.D., could now lose his medical license because of the incident on Oct. 22, 2013. At that time, Lane was working as a physician and surgeon for Southern California Permanente Medical Group, dividing his time between the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Grantville and Palomar Medical Center in Escondido.

But the problem worsened after he enlisted in the military in 2011 and worked as a trauma ICU physician in Afghanistan for four months.

"Upon his return from that deployment, respondent (Lane) admitted using alcohol to 'self-medicate' issues that he later identified as posttraumatic stress disorder," Kirchmeyer says in the document.
read more here

Troops afflicted with PTSD, alcoholism

Vietnam veterans learned years ago there is a huge difference between self-medicating and being addicted. Most of the time rehabs did not work for them simply because they were not alcoholics but were just using substances to stop feeling. It looks as if that lesson has not been learned in too many cases of new veterans.

Troops afflicted with PTSD, alcoholism
News 4 San Antonio
By: Delaine Mathieu
July 25 2013

SAN ANTONIO -- Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center are conducting a study on veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and alcoholism. It's the only one of its kind in the nation, funded by the Department of Defense. "I felt that I was successful, because I didn't pick up a weapon and blow my brains out," said Jerry Thornton.

The 58-year-old spent 12 years in the Army as a supply sergeant. The things he saw during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm changed him. "I experienced bodies, children." He started drinking while he was in the military, but the PTSD set in later. "I didn't know it was actually affecting me," said Thornton. "But it resulted in a divorce and the loss of my family." He became defensive and nervous. He was afraid of everything, including crowds at concerts, sporting events and even going inside H-E-B.

"It was one door," he said. "One door entering and one door to exit."

He drank to numb the pain.
read more here

Ft. Leavenworth Iraq Veteran ordered into PTSD treatment

Soldier in double fatality to undergo PTSD program
November 28, 2012

ROLLA, Mo. (AP) — An Iraq war veteran will undergo treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder before being sentenced in a double fatality accident in September 2011.

A Phelps County judge on Tuesday ordered 25-year-old John D. Mazurek of Crocker to complete a PTSD program at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.

Mazurek pleaded guilty to first-degree involuntary manslaughter and second-degree assault in the accident that killed 57-year-old Wilberta C. Randolph of Meta and 85-year-old Helen K. Wieberg of Jefferson City.
read more here

Ft. Carson says more help for substance abuse, less stigma

Ft. Carson says more help for substance abuse, less stigma
National study says military substance abuse a "crisis"
Lindsay Watts
Target 13 Reporter
Sep 19, 2012
FT. CARSON, Colo.
Leaders at Fort Carson say soldiers have more access to help for substance abuse problems than ever before.

KRDO Newschannel 13 asked about resources at the Mountain Post after a report was released by an Institute of Medicine panel saying substance abuse in the military has become a "public health crisis," and the Pentagon isn't doing enough to address the problem.

"I don't think we're in crisis here," said Kimberly Henry, Alcohol and Drug Control Officer with the Army's Substance Abuse Program. "I just think we're trying to stay ahead of the game and open more more doors for soldiers to come for help."

Henry said there have been efforts to reduce stigma which may result in more troops admitting they have a problem.

"We're more aware from ten years ago to now," said Henry. "In the perception of things, it may seem worse, but in reality it's, 'I can now come forward.'"
read more here

Why refuse help to heal?

It does not seem possible that there are still some soldiers thinking it is better to appear to be a drunk or drugged up than to be thought of as being wounded but somehow that is the message they end up getting. Why? Why is it better to appear to be selfish, mean, nasty, uncaring and even thought of as a "low life" than it is to let someone know they are hurting?

If they admit what's going on inside of them it can help save their lives as well as help their families. The stigma is still alive and well so there is much more work to do before all of them know what PTSD and there is no shame in it. It does not make them weak. It does not make them less than the man or woman they were before. It does not make them tough to fall apart instead of getting help to heal.

Many troops turning to drugs, crime

A task force investigating the high rate of Army suicides released a report in July concluding that more soldiers died as a result of high-risk behavior last year than they did in combat.

The report said that although soldiers are seeking behavioral health treatment in record numbers, a troubling subset refuse to get help, use illegal drugs and commit crimes.

In the month before the 350-page report became public, 32 soldiers killed themselves, the highest number in a single month since the Vietnam era. Armywide, 239 soldiers, including National Guard and Reserve troops, committed suicide in fiscal 2009. Of those, 162 were active-duty soldiers. The number of active-duty suicides was 52 in 2001, the last year before the wars began.

The study - titled Army Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention Report 2010 - found that soldiers and their units have become "transient tenants of garrisons," largely because of multiple deployments and troops moving from base to base.

The result, the report said, is that young and midlevel commanders are unaccustomed to taking care of soldiers' needs and problems at home. As a consequence, the report says, some discipline has been lost.

"There are instances where a leader's lack of soldier accountability resulted in suicide victims not being found until they had been dead for three or four weeks," the report says. "In an organization that prides itself on never leaving a soldier behind, this sobering example speaks to the breakdown of leadership in garrison, which appears to be worsening as the requirements of prolonged conflict slowly erode the essential attributes that have defined the Army for generations."

The report concludes that the lack of leadership and the stress of war are leading some soldiers to engage in high-risk behaviors, including crime and drug and alcohol abuse.

read more here

Many troops turning to drugs crime

When a hero hurts there is more to the story

Some will read the following and think it is just fine he is discharged without anything he worked 9 years for, but they are not opening their eyes to acknowledge the rest of the story.

Osborn's unit came under fire, and he was wounded in the firefight. He continued to render aid to others.

Think of the kind of person that would take to be able to do that. Normally we call this type of person a hero, and rightly so, but because he was hurting afterward, he reached for what would help him sleep at night. Pot has been used for centuries and was not illegal in this country until recent times. Doctors have found it helps cancer patients and so they expanded its use to include treating pain. There have been many studies done looking into using pot to treat PTSD but the older veterans already know how well it worked for them when they also self-medicated. Pot is not the answer but we need to understand why they would decide to use it instead of legal medications.

In this case, it should be a no-brainer to have Osborn go through substance abuse counseling and then return him to duty. After all, considering that when he was wounded, he put others first. That is worthy of a medal and not less than honorable discharge from the job he loved to do and few others are willing to step up and do.

Local Sailor Faces Discharge For Using Pot To Treat PTSD
Bill Osborn Diagnosed With PTSD, Mood Disorder

SAN DIEGO -- For nine years, Bill Osborn served as a Navy corpsman, but everything in his life changed in Afghanistan last May.

Osborn's unit came under fire, and he was wounded in the firefight. He continued to render aid to others.


"When I got shot instantly, I was still in the fight," said Osborn.

Weeks after the battle, anxiety and more set in, and it grew worse.

"It's a little embarrassing when you're with this elite unit to try and talk to these guys, so I self prescribed an anti-depressant," said Osborn.

Back stateside, Osborn was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and a mood disorder known as cyclothymia. He self-medicated again by smoking marijuana.
read more here
http://www.10news.com/news/22883918/detail.html

Rethink alcohol ban in war zones, Webb says

How they self-medicate is not the problem. The fact they feel they have to self-medicate is. What part of this is Senator Webb not getting? He sees a problem but he needs to see the whole problem and not just the "drug" of choice they pick to lean on.

Rethink alcohol ban in war zones, Webb says

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Mar 10, 2010 16:23:08 EST

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a Vietnam veteran and former war correspondent who now chairs the Senate panel that oversees military personnel policy, seemed to endorse the idea of letting troops in war zones drink alcohol as a way to relieve combat stress.

At a hearing of his Senate Armed Services military personnel panel, Webb asked defense and service officials about mental health issues facing deployed service members and, in particular, about a recent Military Times investigation into the military’s use of anti-depressants and other drugs for treating mental health issues.
read more here
Rethink alcohol ban in war zones, Webb says

Report: Vets need drug treatment, not jail

Report: Vets need drug treatment, not jail

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Nov 5, 2009 14:25:31 EST

Treatment, not incarceration, should be the first option for veterans who commit nonviolent drug-related offenses, a group advocating alternatives to the nation’s “war on drugs” said Wednesday in a new report.

The Drug Policy Alliance report also called on government agencies to adopt overdose prevention programs and policies for vets who misuse substances or take prescription medicines, and urged “significantly expanded” access to medication-assisted therapies, such as methadone and buprenorphine, for the treatment of dependence on opioid drugs used to treat pain and mood disorders.

During a conference call with a Drug Policy Alliance representative and seven other advocates for change in the treatment of veterans, the military’s Tricare health benefits program came under fire for what a New York-based physician and specialist in drug addiction treatment called its failure to pay for veterans’ and family members’ opioid dependence treatments.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/military_veterans_drug_treatment_110509w/

Intervention In-Depth: Addiction in Uniform

If you are still trying to figure out which side is up when it comes to PTSD and self-medicating, this may help to explain it, why they turn to it and what they are trying to escape from.

Intervention In Depth Addiction in Uniform

Monday, September 14th 09:00 pm ET
Tuesday, September 15th 01:00 am ET

This special looks at the gut-wrenching but hopeful stories of three Iraq veterans and their struggles with addiction caused by combat stress. Leia's flashbacks to the terrifying things she saw in Iraq caused her to drink until she connected with a support group of fellow veterans. Paul saw some of the heaviest fighting of the war and turned to alcohol and cocaine when he returned home, but a detox program is helping him to cope and move on. And after Matt was discharged, he had vivid nightmares about being shot or burning, and he started drinking to calm himself down.

Iraq, Afghan Vet Drug Problems Could Surpass Those of Vietnam Era

Iraq, Afghan Vet Drug Problems Could Surpass Those of Vietnam Era
Published August 31st, 2009
A report from the recent Wounds of War Conference at Columbia University focused on the issue of Veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with a host of issues, including drug and alcohol abuse and untreated PTSD. Experts projected that drug problems for young Veterans will exceed those of the Vietnam era.

Today's soldiers have spent more time deployed in combat than their Vietnam era counterparts, according to experts at the conference, which is contributing to more soldiers suffering from PTSD. The drugs on which service men and women become dependent are frequently pharmaceutical painkillers issued to them for combat injuries. They often do not realize how reliant they have become on the drugs to help them cope with the anxiety of their war experiences until they return home. Illicit drug and alcohol abuse then often take the place of painkillers and other prescribed drugs

Presenters at the conference addressed the fact that many returning soldiers are just out of their teens, have transitioned from the structure of high school, to the structure of the military, and have witnessed and been a part of extreme acts of violence while deployed. Former soldiers are then are sent home as civilians and left to figure out how to live their lives while coping with the aftereffects of war.

Only a third of returning Veterans seek out help from the VA after leaving the services, and many former soldiers are uncomfortable getting counseling from a government organization. In particular, female Veterans, who report high rates of sexual abuse and rape while in the military report feeling unsafe in VA buildings full of “men in uniforms.”
read more here
http://www.nvfnews.org/news

Flaws in senior NCOs’ records can end careers

Moral waivers have stopped and this is a good thing. I still have a problem with this considering PTSD is still not treated right by the military. Drug use and alcohol abuse unfortunately often go with PTSD when they are self-medicating. What if they had been written up for one of these only to have it discovered later the soldier was actually suffering from PTSD instead? Do they remove the document from the file? Do they consider this at all? Do they treat a recovering PTSD soldier, still ready, willing and able to serve with the respect they should have had all along?

So many issues within these new rules it makes my head spin just thinking about them given the fact we've read so many reports of PTSD soldiers being punished for PTSD instead of helped to recover.

Flaws in senior NCOs’ records can end careers

By Jim Tice - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Aug 8, 2009 9:49:49 EDT

The Army will soon start screening senior NCOs with the aim of kicking out those with problem records.

All sergeants first class and above with 20 or more years of active service will be subject to the reviews, which will target members of the Regular Army and the Army Reserve component of the Active Guard and Reserve program.

Members whose records document problems with conduct, morality, performance or professionalism could be separated under the new Qualitative Management Program (QMP), approved July 23 by Thomas R. Lamont, assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs. The active component has about 41,000 sergeants first class, 12,000 master sergeants and 3,700 sergeants major, but officials did not say how many of those are retirement-eligible and also subject to review under QMP.

Under the program, a soldier’s record will be flagged if one of the following documents is received by Human Resources Command (HRC) for filing in a soldier’s Official Military Personnel File:

• General officer letter or memorandum of reprimand.

• Conviction by courts-martial or Article 15.

• NCO Evaluation Report documenting a relief for cause action.

• A rating of 4 (fair) or 5 (poor) in the senior rater performance and potential blocks of the NCO evaluation report.

• An Academic Evaluation Report indicating a soldier has failed an NCO Education System course.

When HRC receives one of the documents, the command will notify the soldier that he will be considered for separation from service by a centralized promotion board.

The move to boot out senior NCOs with such records comes as the Army is tightening standards for who can stay and in what numbers. Since the active Army recently hit its end-strength goal of 547,000 soldiers, it has suspended re-enlistment bonuses. The service also had cut its recruiting goal of 78,000 to 65,000, but recently was authorized to add 22,000 soldiers to help meet the demands of fighting two wars. The Army also has stopped allowing enlistment of recruits who needed waivers for past misconduct, such as criminal activity or drug use.
read more here
Flaws in senior NCOs records can end careers

1 in 8 combat troops needs alcohol counseling

1 in 8 combat troops needs alcohol counseling

Military testing pilot programs to erase stigma of seeking help
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jun 27, 2009 8:51:52 EDT

One in eight troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan from 2006 to 2008 were referred for counseling for alcohol problems after their post-deployment health assessments, according to data from the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center.

Service members complete their initial health assessments within 30 days of returning home.

The authors of the study, published in the Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, compared numbers of active-duty service members who had an alcohol-related medical encounter with those who received counseling for alcohol, noting that studies have shown troops with post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to be substance abusers.

Defense officials said they are aware of the data. “Substance misuse/abuse is a psychological health issue, and thus one we are actively involved with,” said Navy Capt. Edward Simmer, Senior Executive Director for Psychological Health Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health.

In recent years, a number of soldiers and Marines have been discharged because of a “pattern of misconduct” stemming from alcohol abuse. Earlier this month, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli ordered military leaders to do a better job of getting treatment for soldiers or discharging offenders if they have received help and still have problems.

In an internal memo, Chiarelli wrote that “a growing population” of soldiers with substance abuse problems — identified either through urine tests or through “alcohol-related actions” — have not been referred to the Army Substance Abuse Program by their commanders.

Joyce Raezer, executive director of the National Military Family Association, sees a deeper issue.

Troops “fear seeking help, so they self-medicate,” she said. “You’ve got competing stigmas going on here.”

go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/army_alcohol_062709w/

Geren eyes allowing anonymous drug rehab

Geren eyes allowing anonymous drug rehab

Company leaders irked at proposal, say troops’ command must know
By Brendan McGarry - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Apr 12, 2009 8:28:40 EDT

The number of soldiers in drug rehab has risen 25 percent since 2003, and Army Secretary Pete Geren is weighing whether to make it easier for soldiers to volunteer for treatment — by letting them go without their commanders’ knowledge.

Some 10,262 soldiers received clinical counseling for alcohol or drug abuse in the Army Substance Abuse Program in fiscal 2008 — 1.8 percent of the active duty force. That’s an average of more than one soldier per company.

But some experts think the rate of drug abuse is much higher, and that if soldiers could commit themselves to ASAP without risk of retribution or concern about damaging their reputations with their commanders, the numbers would be much higher.

Geren is proposing that the Army suspend “commander notification for soldier self-referrals to ASAP treatment if the soldier prefers anonymity.”

Commanders don’t like that idea.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/army_drug_abuse_041209w/

When you need to beat PTSD and addictions

There is a very complicated problem with PTSD that does not get discussed enough. While most PTSD veterans rely on drugs and alcohol to kill off feelings they do not want to feel, calm jumping nerves, among other relief of symptoms, they are not addicted to the chemicals themselves. They are seeking relief. When they are treated by programs like AA, or rehabs, these programs my offer temporary sobriety, but soon the veteran is turning back to self-medication.

The problem comes when they are also addicted as alcoholics and drug addicts. If the program they enter into is only focusing on treating the addiction and not PTSD, again, these programs fail more often than not. The proper diagnosis needs to be done in order to provide the proper treatment. When PTSD and addictions are both addressed, there is a higher success rate.

There is no shame in being an alcoholic or addicted to drugs any more than there should be shame in being wounded by PTSD. My father was a disabled Korean veteran, but he was also an alcoholic. He joined AA when I was 13 and spent the rest of his life sober. He became a sponsor of many other alcoholics. My father was amazing. He knew his heart was very ill as he suffered many heart attacks and strokes, but he would not reach for alcohol even knowing he was, as the doctors phrased it "on borrowed time" and was facing the possibility the next heart attack could be his last. He passed away in 1987 at the age of 58.

Treatment works if they know exactly what they are treating but support is also vital in getting thru the worst times, finding someone you can talk to wearing the same shoes you are. There is a site you should check out to see if you can find support there to stand stronger than you can alone.

About Beating Addiction
About
Originally made available to users in early 2006 and then completely rebuilt throughout 2008, Beating Addiction aims to be the leading online social-networking site that helps users overcome their addiction(s), mainly, by talking and communicating with others.

We know many people are interested in recovering but, for the more serious addictions, are afraid of joining a "real-life" support group because of various different reasons. Beating Addiction makes an effort to solve this problem by, indirectly, connecting people with one another. As a result, people will be more inclined to seek help and in doing so, they are taking the first step(s) toward recovery.

Users do not have to register with Beating Addiction to view the majority of the site however we do encourage registration so one may be may be more proactive in their pursuit of recovery. Additionally, the premise is users helping users so we need you!

Whether a person is in a "real-life" support group, a support group on a different web site, or is willing to try something a bit different, Beating Addiction can offer a new experience which, we feel, will help a user be well on their way to the road to recovery.

I had a long talk with Alexander Kintis yesterday. This is his site and his effort to supply a support network to help people dealing with addictions. It has a lot of information and links to help you.

Army may end counseling notifications

A couple of factors to consider here. First in considering how numbers have increased is the fact more have PTSD and are self-medicating but the other obvious reason is the awareness. While more and more groups are speaking out on PTSD, along with all that goes with it, what else did they expect would happen? Why weren't they ready for any of this?

On one hand they have finally admitted they needed to do more in raising the awareness of what PTSD is so they get help, but the other hand was busy trying to play twiddle thumbs with the busy hand. Getting them aware is great but in the process they should have made sure the other end was equal to the challenge of taking care of more of them.

They have to wait? To have a person wanting up to stop drinking or doing drugs and then to not be able to take care of them when they are ready is not taking care of them at all.

Army may end counseling notifications

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Army leaders are proposing to end a longtime policy that requires a commanding officer be notified when a soldier voluntarily seeks counseling in hopes of encouraging more GIs to seek aid, according to Army Secretary Pete Geren.
The potential move comes as combat deployments have been linked to increased alcohol abuse, and the Army Substance Abuse Program (ASAP) is straining to keep pace.
The proposal being worked out between Army personnel and medical commanders is "an important part of a comprehensive effort to reduce the stigma associated with seeking mental health care and to encourage more soldiers to seek treatment," Geren said in a statement to USA TODAY on Friday.
Geren's efforts come as the number of soldiers seeking help for substance abuse has hit record levels. In November, USA TODAY reported that the number of soldiers asking for counseling had increased 25% in five years.
The Army, however, can't meet the growing demand. One-fourth of the 338 Army drug counseling positions are unfilled, spokeswoman Cynthia Vaughan says.
The program's clinical director, Wanda Kuehr, said soldiers have waited for help for "fairly long periods of time" at Fort Bragg, Fort Hood and other installations. She did not to elaborate. click link above for more

Links between PTSD, substance abuse explored,,dah!

I'm really sorry but I can't help myself,,,,,dah! They've had over thirty years to notice this....It's called self-medicating and has been documented since the Vietnam Veterans came home!

Links between PTSD, substance abuse explored
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 7, 2009 18:20:34 EST

At a two-day conference for civilian and military researchers, doctors produced one idea after another for treating and preventing substance abuse in service members with post-traumatic stress disorder.

As the ideas bounced from person to person, they tried to tie them together in ways that could make sense in a military setting: They must be accessible to many people at once, they must be cheap, they must be proven, and they must be easy.

And they must be immediate.

About 20 percent of service members say they’ve had a few drinks and then driven a vehicle, Richard Keller, a researcher for the U.S. Army Battlemind behavioral health program, said at the conference, sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuise.

The drinking, he said, also leads to domestic violence and fights, “particularly with our younger crowd.”

The military also is seeing 20 suicides per 100,000 people.

“Every Brigade Combat Team commander can expect one suicide per year,” Keller said.

Research has shown that alcohol can contribute to suicides because it makes people impulsive.

Roger Roffman, professor at the school of social work at the University of Washington, talked about an intervention that’s not as invasive as checking into a substance abuse program — in fact, it doesn’t even force a person to change, only to take a look at his or her habits. click link for more