For Vietnam vets, another chance to serve and to heal
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Tomas Dinges
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
For the small group of dedicated Vietnam veterans who arrived at Fort Dix early every morning for 16 days in a row last month, it was an opportunity to give what they never received, a warm welcome home, a hug and a handshake.
The Vietnam veterans were there to welcome home the newest waves of veterans from Iraq and at the same time come to grips with the emotional fallout they are still experiencing from a war that ended almost 35 years ago.
"For years I haven't been emotional, there was a wall," said Michael Walters, 61, of Middlesex, "but I think it's breaking down the wall a little bit, so every time I said something, or expressed myself to the veterans, I felt better."
Walters, a Vietnam Army veteran diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome and a host of physical problems, helped usher some of the 2,800 men and women of the New Jersey Army National Guard into a transition from their military service to their civilian lives.
The days spent in the hangar of the National Guard's Joint Training Center were part of these Vietnam veterans' first attempts at addressing mental and emotional wounds that were ignored, locked away or went unrecognized since they returned home from an unpopular war in a time of social and political upheaval in the 1960s and 1970s.
read more hereFor Vietnam vets, another chance to serve and to heal
Monday, July 27, 2009
16 Shot In Baltimore, Including 12 At Cookout
16 Shot In Baltimore, Including 12 At Cookout
Police Say 2 Killed In East Baltimore
POSTED: 7:30 am EDT July 27, 2009
BALTIMORE -- Sixteen people were shot, two of them fatally, in three separate incidents in a two-mile radius in east Baltimore Sunday night, police said.
Detectives were searching Monday morning for a gunman who opened fire at a backyard cookout, wounding 12 people, police department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
None of the dozen victims suffered life-threatening injuries. The victims were hit in the legs, arms, shoulders and backs, and the wounded included a 2-year-old girl and a pregnant 23-year-old woman, police said.
read more here
16 Shot In Baltimore, Including 12 At Cookout
linked from CNN
Police Say 2 Killed In East Baltimore
POSTED: 7:30 am EDT July 27, 2009
BALTIMORE -- Sixteen people were shot, two of them fatally, in three separate incidents in a two-mile radius in east Baltimore Sunday night, police said.
Detectives were searching Monday morning for a gunman who opened fire at a backyard cookout, wounding 12 people, police department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
None of the dozen victims suffered life-threatening injuries. The victims were hit in the legs, arms, shoulders and backs, and the wounded included a 2-year-old girl and a pregnant 23-year-old woman, police said.
read more here
16 Shot In Baltimore, Including 12 At Cookout
linked from CNN
Carson soldiers say Iraq horrors led to crimes
Carson soldiers say Iraq horrors led to crimes
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jul 27, 2009 7:23:10 EDT
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Soldiers from an Army unit that had 10 infantrymen accused of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter after returning to civilian life described a breakdown in discipline during their Iraq deployment in which troops murdered civilians, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Some Fort Carson, Colo.-based soldiers have had trouble adjusting to life back in the United States, saying they refused to seek help, or were belittled or punished for seeking help. Others say they were ignored by their commanders, or coped through drug and alcohol abuse before they allegedly committed crimes, The Gazette of Colorado Springs said.
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jul 27, 2009 7:23:10 EDT
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Soldiers from an Army unit that had 10 infantrymen accused of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter after returning to civilian life described a breakdown in discipline during their Iraq deployment in which troops murdered civilians, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Some Fort Carson, Colo.-based soldiers have had trouble adjusting to life back in the United States, saying they refused to seek help, or were belittled or punished for seeking help. Others say they were ignored by their commanders, or coped through drug and alcohol abuse before they allegedly committed crimes, The Gazette of Colorado Springs said.
The unit was deployed for a year to Iraq’s Sunni Triangle in September 2004. Sixty-four unit soldiers were killed and more than 400 wounded — about double the average for Army brigades in Iraq, according to Fort Carson. In 2007, the unit served a bloody 15-month mission in Baghdad. It’s currently deployed to the Khyber Pass region in Afghanistan.
read more here
After trauma comes a teachable moment
After trauma comes a teachable moment
by
Chaplain Kathie
When we talk about PTSD and our troops along with our veterans, we do a great injustice if we do not use every teachable moment possible to help them heal.
Despite a recent study about intervention and crisis response, there is a great deal of more evidence the right crisis intervention works to help people recover from traumatic events. The key word is the "right" intervention.
Trained responders, unless having experiences of their own recovering from traumatic events, will only learn what they are told. If it isn't personal to them, they will walk away with a heavy binder of information and notes, but not much more than that. If the instructor is not fully knowledgeable, that load of education is not worth much than a "load" and they will not respond in the right way. In some cases, they may end up needing some crisis intervention for themselves as well. If the training is right, then they are able to go out in the field helping people recover instead of doing more damage.
It's the same condition in the military. We've read article after article on military Chaplains more interested in proselytizing than helping soldiers overcome what they were just exposed to. When this happens, teachable moments are lost. PTSD is allowed to take hold and may be fed by the wrong response from the very people the troops turn to for help. Once this happens, it is extremely difficult for them to trust someone else enough to seek help from.
With the troops comes a "tougher than" attitude telling them they are supposed to be strong enough to take whatever comes their way. This complicates the will to seek help from anyone. When they find the will to acknowledge the need, part of them is still in hero mode, denial as well as a sense of obligation to the rest of the men in their units. For the time they take to seek help, they think about how much they need to be with their units instead of focusing on the "one among them" instead of the military family as a whole. They want quick answers and quick recovery to get back to their units.
Should the person they turn to offer a long, drawn out response, they will not be hearing anything they need to hear because their brain is screaming "just get to the point" so they can get out of there. With PTSD, there is a very long list of issues they are facing and the responder needs to focus on their most pressing issue at the time. They can do this if they listen first and then respond to the issue the one seeking help foremost in their mind.
Veterans also carry that "tougher than" attitude within them. It's very hard to get any of them to seek help and they won't unless they know PTSD is not because there was anything defective in them but part of the emotional chain they carry within them. They confuse courage as being emotionally barren while it was because they had compassion in the first place, they found the courage to act on it and risk their lives for the sake of others.
Many years ago, I almost blew the chance to help a veteran heal. I was new at all of this and was more interested in giving the veteran everything I knew all at once. I saw his disgust in his face. I stopped talking and started to listen. His issue was not anything that I had addressed shoving the answers at him. He was more concerned with losing God. Once I actually heard him, I was able to focus on his most pressing issue at the time and then help him to understand what PTSD was. Had I not stopped talking, he would have just walked away and there would have been a teachable moment lost.
Experts know that as soon as PTSD is addressed, it stops getting worse, but what they don't talk about is the right way to address it. Sometimes we can do more damage if we add the frustration of not being heard to the one seeking help. Another way we blow it is when we do not warn them that when they begin to face PTSD, they usually get this emotional rush flooding out of them. This is terrifying to them and they think it's getting worse instead of knowing that it is good to cry. It's an emotional release of what they have been carrying around as a human. If they don't see it coming, recovery can go into reverse. Another teachable moment lost.
The second we respond to someone after trauma we are given part of the "golden hour" responsible for the rest of their lives. PTSD progresses into a full assault against them for every moment left un-addressed. While we have veterans as old as WWII veterans seeking help for the first time, they have shown us that it is not too late to help them heal but the damage done to their lives cannot be reversed. There are years worth of pain they carried and in turn inflicted on their families. This is something else we don't talk about. Distant, detached husbands and fathers end up causing a lot of bitterness in the family. Relationships come under attack because of the lack of knowledge and help. Some go beyond the point of no return but some relationships can be restored with forgiveness fused with understanding. This only comes after knowledge is delivered and acted upon. If no one addresses the family issues these veterans come with, then many of the psychological steps taken can be reversed should the family be left out of all of it.
Resentment will feed PTSD symptoms. The wrong response from family members will feed it. If the family is included in the recovery they will be able to have the tools to adjust and cope appropriately as well as forgive. Again, teachable moments lost as uninformed family members react out of hurt instead of being part of the healing.
We will see an increase in PTSD cases as outreach efforts reach the older veterans and the newer veterans gain understanding enough to seek help. The problem is there are just not enough people to go around and even less are trained the right way. It seems that everyone is looking for a quick answer, grabbing at every new program that comes out. Bloggers shoot out the latest press release about programs being offered as the new "answer to all solution," but there is not one program that will ever work for all. Should a veteran seek the wrong program because it worked for someone else they know but does not work for them, they will give up on help. If they understand that each individual responds differently, they will keep looking for the one that will work for them with confidence there is an answer somewhere for them.
As I try to put out as much information as possible on this blog, it has been disheartening that so much has been left out of the conversation concerning the moments we lost by not doing what needs to be done. Too many have already been frustrated away from help because of the lack of appropriate help at the VA and service organizations. There are not enough professionals to go around and even less providing what needs to be known. There was a time when I could get a veteran to understand what PTSD was and then send them for the diagnosis and treatment they needed but those days ended years ago as the influx came in like a tsunami.
I cannot treat them or diagnose them and most of the other advocates online cannot either. Providing information and understanding is their only job but it does little good if there is no one to send them to so they can act on what they have just learned. Unfortunately, we keep losing moments when we could be helping them heal because there is just a lack of people to send them to. It will be this way for a long time with ever increasing numbers unless everyone dealing with PTSD is trained appropriately to respond the right way as soon as possible.
We will see more veterans taking their own lives, more families destroyed, increasing numbers of homeless veterans, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and veterans in jail unless we take all of this as seriously as the military comes up with plans to send them into combat. We can treat them as soon as they are hurt or leave it to fester and infect the rest of their lives. The choice is our's to make but they and the rest of the country will pay the price in the long run. We will have only ourselve's to blame if we do not learn from what we've already known.
by
Chaplain Kathie
When we talk about PTSD and our troops along with our veterans, we do a great injustice if we do not use every teachable moment possible to help them heal.
Despite a recent study about intervention and crisis response, there is a great deal of more evidence the right crisis intervention works to help people recover from traumatic events. The key word is the "right" intervention.
Trained responders, unless having experiences of their own recovering from traumatic events, will only learn what they are told. If it isn't personal to them, they will walk away with a heavy binder of information and notes, but not much more than that. If the instructor is not fully knowledgeable, that load of education is not worth much than a "load" and they will not respond in the right way. In some cases, they may end up needing some crisis intervention for themselves as well. If the training is right, then they are able to go out in the field helping people recover instead of doing more damage.
It's the same condition in the military. We've read article after article on military Chaplains more interested in proselytizing than helping soldiers overcome what they were just exposed to. When this happens, teachable moments are lost. PTSD is allowed to take hold and may be fed by the wrong response from the very people the troops turn to for help. Once this happens, it is extremely difficult for them to trust someone else enough to seek help from.
Fort Bliss Expects To Handle More PTSD Cases With Influx Of Soldiers
Dena Richardson/KFOX News Reporter
Posted: 7:37 pm MDT July 26, 2009
Updated: 9:24 pm MDT July 26, 2009
EL PASO, Texas -- Plans are under way to handle more cases of post-traumatic stress disorder with the influx of soldiers, according to Fort Bliss officials.
About 20,000 troops are stationed at Fort Bliss currently. But following realignment, there will be nearly 35,000 soldiers, and that could mean more PTSD cases to treat.
read more here and watch video
Fort Bliss Expects To Handle More PTSD Cases
With the troops comes a "tougher than" attitude telling them they are supposed to be strong enough to take whatever comes their way. This complicates the will to seek help from anyone. When they find the will to acknowledge the need, part of them is still in hero mode, denial as well as a sense of obligation to the rest of the men in their units. For the time they take to seek help, they think about how much they need to be with their units instead of focusing on the "one among them" instead of the military family as a whole. They want quick answers and quick recovery to get back to their units.
Should the person they turn to offer a long, drawn out response, they will not be hearing anything they need to hear because their brain is screaming "just get to the point" so they can get out of there. With PTSD, there is a very long list of issues they are facing and the responder needs to focus on their most pressing issue at the time. They can do this if they listen first and then respond to the issue the one seeking help foremost in their mind.
Veterans also carry that "tougher than" attitude within them. It's very hard to get any of them to seek help and they won't unless they know PTSD is not because there was anything defective in them but part of the emotional chain they carry within them. They confuse courage as being emotionally barren while it was because they had compassion in the first place, they found the courage to act on it and risk their lives for the sake of others.
Many years ago, I almost blew the chance to help a veteran heal. I was new at all of this and was more interested in giving the veteran everything I knew all at once. I saw his disgust in his face. I stopped talking and started to listen. His issue was not anything that I had addressed shoving the answers at him. He was more concerned with losing God. Once I actually heard him, I was able to focus on his most pressing issue at the time and then help him to understand what PTSD was. Had I not stopped talking, he would have just walked away and there would have been a teachable moment lost.
Experts know that as soon as PTSD is addressed, it stops getting worse, but what they don't talk about is the right way to address it. Sometimes we can do more damage if we add the frustration of not being heard to the one seeking help. Another way we blow it is when we do not warn them that when they begin to face PTSD, they usually get this emotional rush flooding out of them. This is terrifying to them and they think it's getting worse instead of knowing that it is good to cry. It's an emotional release of what they have been carrying around as a human. If they don't see it coming, recovery can go into reverse. Another teachable moment lost.
The second we respond to someone after trauma we are given part of the "golden hour" responsible for the rest of their lives. PTSD progresses into a full assault against them for every moment left un-addressed. While we have veterans as old as WWII veterans seeking help for the first time, they have shown us that it is not too late to help them heal but the damage done to their lives cannot be reversed. There are years worth of pain they carried and in turn inflicted on their families. This is something else we don't talk about. Distant, detached husbands and fathers end up causing a lot of bitterness in the family. Relationships come under attack because of the lack of knowledge and help. Some go beyond the point of no return but some relationships can be restored with forgiveness fused with understanding. This only comes after knowledge is delivered and acted upon. If no one addresses the family issues these veterans come with, then many of the psychological steps taken can be reversed should the family be left out of all of it.
Resentment will feed PTSD symptoms. The wrong response from family members will feed it. If the family is included in the recovery they will be able to have the tools to adjust and cope appropriately as well as forgive. Again, teachable moments lost as uninformed family members react out of hurt instead of being part of the healing.
We will see an increase in PTSD cases as outreach efforts reach the older veterans and the newer veterans gain understanding enough to seek help. The problem is there are just not enough people to go around and even less are trained the right way. It seems that everyone is looking for a quick answer, grabbing at every new program that comes out. Bloggers shoot out the latest press release about programs being offered as the new "answer to all solution," but there is not one program that will ever work for all. Should a veteran seek the wrong program because it worked for someone else they know but does not work for them, they will give up on help. If they understand that each individual responds differently, they will keep looking for the one that will work for them with confidence there is an answer somewhere for them.
As I try to put out as much information as possible on this blog, it has been disheartening that so much has been left out of the conversation concerning the moments we lost by not doing what needs to be done. Too many have already been frustrated away from help because of the lack of appropriate help at the VA and service organizations. There are not enough professionals to go around and even less providing what needs to be known. There was a time when I could get a veteran to understand what PTSD was and then send them for the diagnosis and treatment they needed but those days ended years ago as the influx came in like a tsunami.
I cannot treat them or diagnose them and most of the other advocates online cannot either. Providing information and understanding is their only job but it does little good if there is no one to send them to so they can act on what they have just learned. Unfortunately, we keep losing moments when we could be helping them heal because there is just a lack of people to send them to. It will be this way for a long time with ever increasing numbers unless everyone dealing with PTSD is trained appropriately to respond the right way as soon as possible.
We will see more veterans taking their own lives, more families destroyed, increasing numbers of homeless veterans, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and veterans in jail unless we take all of this as seriously as the military comes up with plans to send them into combat. We can treat them as soon as they are hurt or leave it to fester and infect the rest of their lives. The choice is our's to make but they and the rest of the country will pay the price in the long run. We will have only ourselve's to blame if we do not learn from what we've already known.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Trauma, just a click away
Trauma, just a click away
Treating the psychological scars of war like whiplash is an insult to the soldiers marked by their service
Ros Wynne-Jones guardian.co.uk, Sunday 26 July 2009 23.00 BST
Andrew Watson, the 25-year-old former private in the Logistics Corps, who jumped to his death 10 days ago, never really left Basra. Traumatised by the memory of retrieving the bodies of two colleagues he had seen blown up by a mine, and by the experience of removing dead babies from bombed buildings, he was already dead to the world when he came back from Iraq, his mother said.
Suffering from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), one of his last acts was to stand in front of the television at his home in London saluting the parade of flag-draped military coffins as they passed through the market town of Wootton Bassett.
Andrew Watson died at Kings College Hospital – a cruel irony given that just a stone's throw away is a world-class unit for the treatment of PTSD – the Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma. I was treated there in 2000, after reporting from the scene of a civilian massacre in East Timor had left me unable to sleep, eat or leave the house, my once active life reduced to the brief respites between flashbacks and panic attacks. The treatment gave me my life back.
read more here
Trauma, just a click away
Treating the psychological scars of war like whiplash is an insult to the soldiers marked by their service
Ros Wynne-Jones guardian.co.uk, Sunday 26 July 2009 23.00 BST
Andrew Watson, the 25-year-old former private in the Logistics Corps, who jumped to his death 10 days ago, never really left Basra. Traumatised by the memory of retrieving the bodies of two colleagues he had seen blown up by a mine, and by the experience of removing dead babies from bombed buildings, he was already dead to the world when he came back from Iraq, his mother said.
Suffering from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), one of his last acts was to stand in front of the television at his home in London saluting the parade of flag-draped military coffins as they passed through the market town of Wootton Bassett.
Andrew Watson died at Kings College Hospital – a cruel irony given that just a stone's throw away is a world-class unit for the treatment of PTSD – the Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma. I was treated there in 2000, after reporting from the scene of a civilian massacre in East Timor had left me unable to sleep, eat or leave the house, my once active life reduced to the brief respites between flashbacks and panic attacks. The treatment gave me my life back.
read more here
Trauma, just a click away
Vernon "The Viper" Forrest Killed In Southwest Atlanta
Pro Boxer Shot, Killed In Southwest Atlanta
Posted: 9:18 am EDT July 26, 2009
Updated: 12:03 pm EDT July 26, 2009
ATLANTA -- Professional boxer Vernon "The Viper" Forrest was killed in southwest Atlanta Saturday night during an attempted carjacking.
Channel 2 Action News reporter Ashley Hayes was the only reporter at the scene following the shooting. Police told Hayes that Forrest stopped at a gas station to put air in the tire of his Jaguar when he was approached by two men.
read more here
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/20181806/detail.html
linked from CNN
Posted: 9:18 am EDT July 26, 2009
Updated: 12:03 pm EDT July 26, 2009
ATLANTA -- Professional boxer Vernon "The Viper" Forrest was killed in southwest Atlanta Saturday night during an attempted carjacking.
Channel 2 Action News reporter Ashley Hayes was the only reporter at the scene following the shooting. Police told Hayes that Forrest stopped at a gas station to put air in the tire of his Jaguar when he was approached by two men.
read more here
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/20181806/detail.html
linked from CNN
Can we prevent PTSD in everyone?
by
Chaplain Kathie
Recently there was a study saying that intervention after traumatic events was ineffective. Bloggers ended up posting it like crazy as if it was a proven fact instead of one study. If this is the case, then everyone doing it and participating in intervention is wrong. I really doubt that. Can we prevent PTSD in everyone? I wish we could but I am living proof that it worked for me.
4 1/2 pushed off slide onto concrete at a drive-in movie playground in Revere MA. Fractured scull, concussion and my brother thought I was dead. Trip to emergency room, tech missed the cracked scull and sent me home. Next day, different emergency room, found the crack and immediately admitted me. One week later I was finally able to go home. What happened after this was constantly talking about it with my family. Ok, we had a typical Greek family where everything was discussed do death with my Mom and her sisters.
Violent alcoholic father until I was 13 and he stopped drinking. Again, nothing was a secret in the family but outside it was a different story.
Car crash that totaled out my Mom's car with me driving home from work on Route 128 in rush hour traffic. I was hit in the rear end and thought I was going to die. The car went into a spin out and smashed into the guard rail. In shock, I couldn't stop laughing as I pushed the car from the passing lane to the breakdown lane. Laughing while waiting for the ambulance and did not stop laughing for over an hour. Again, we kept talking about it until I was done talking.
Ex-husband tried to kill me when he came home from work one night and absolutely lost it. He ended up being taken to jail and then stalked me for over a year.
Miscarriage of twins, which can cause PTSD especially when I was hemorrhaging.
After giving birth to my daughter, I had a balder infection that was never cleared up as the doctor thought it was. I ended up in the hospital with a massive infection, septic, with a bacteria count higher than my doctor had ever seen in a live patient. Again, I almost died, but kept talking about it.
My whole life has been one traumatic event after another and I have all the characteristics in common with people ending up with PTSD. I am deeply compassionate, as you must have noticed by reading my blog by now. I take on the pain of others. I am deeply religious. You cannot say that I don't have a violent bone in my body because when my ex-husband was in the process of trying to kill me, I was fighting back and did a lot of damage to him in return. (Ex-swimmer and jock so I packed a pretty good punch) The difference is, talking until I'm done dealing with it so that I can move on. Every time it was a bit harder to get over but I came out of it stronger. That's the difference.
Getting over traumatic events does not happen unless you work at it. Otherwise it takes control over you. This is why I believe so strongly in intervention after traumatic events. It's why I've taken almost every class offered on crisis intervention and became a Chaplain. The events in my life were out of my control, but what happened after them was in my control and in God's hands. I held onto them as tightly as possible. What happened to me was not created by God but He used my faith and my experiences to help others.
While PTSD cannot be fully cured, you can heal. You can recover parts of your life you thought were gone forever and find the "old you" still alive and kicking behind the wall of pain. I believe in prevention as much as possible to stop most of the people from having PTSD gain the upper hand and healing those who couldn't be reached in time.
Next time the bloggers fly off and post how crisis intervention does not work, think about me and remember that if I didn't have people to talk to, I wouldn't be able to do what I do now. I'm living proof it works and this was before any of the advances in intervention happened. My family just did it naturally without knowing what it would lead to.
Chaplain Kathie
Recently there was a study saying that intervention after traumatic events was ineffective. Bloggers ended up posting it like crazy as if it was a proven fact instead of one study. If this is the case, then everyone doing it and participating in intervention is wrong. I really doubt that. Can we prevent PTSD in everyone? I wish we could but I am living proof that it worked for me.
4 1/2 pushed off slide onto concrete at a drive-in movie playground in Revere MA. Fractured scull, concussion and my brother thought I was dead. Trip to emergency room, tech missed the cracked scull and sent me home. Next day, different emergency room, found the crack and immediately admitted me. One week later I was finally able to go home. What happened after this was constantly talking about it with my family. Ok, we had a typical Greek family where everything was discussed do death with my Mom and her sisters.
Violent alcoholic father until I was 13 and he stopped drinking. Again, nothing was a secret in the family but outside it was a different story.
Car crash that totaled out my Mom's car with me driving home from work on Route 128 in rush hour traffic. I was hit in the rear end and thought I was going to die. The car went into a spin out and smashed into the guard rail. In shock, I couldn't stop laughing as I pushed the car from the passing lane to the breakdown lane. Laughing while waiting for the ambulance and did not stop laughing for over an hour. Again, we kept talking about it until I was done talking.
Ex-husband tried to kill me when he came home from work one night and absolutely lost it. He ended up being taken to jail and then stalked me for over a year.
Miscarriage of twins, which can cause PTSD especially when I was hemorrhaging.
After giving birth to my daughter, I had a balder infection that was never cleared up as the doctor thought it was. I ended up in the hospital with a massive infection, septic, with a bacteria count higher than my doctor had ever seen in a live patient. Again, I almost died, but kept talking about it.
My whole life has been one traumatic event after another and I have all the characteristics in common with people ending up with PTSD. I am deeply compassionate, as you must have noticed by reading my blog by now. I take on the pain of others. I am deeply religious. You cannot say that I don't have a violent bone in my body because when my ex-husband was in the process of trying to kill me, I was fighting back and did a lot of damage to him in return. (Ex-swimmer and jock so I packed a pretty good punch) The difference is, talking until I'm done dealing with it so that I can move on. Every time it was a bit harder to get over but I came out of it stronger. That's the difference.
Getting over traumatic events does not happen unless you work at it. Otherwise it takes control over you. This is why I believe so strongly in intervention after traumatic events. It's why I've taken almost every class offered on crisis intervention and became a Chaplain. The events in my life were out of my control, but what happened after them was in my control and in God's hands. I held onto them as tightly as possible. What happened to me was not created by God but He used my faith and my experiences to help others.
While PTSD cannot be fully cured, you can heal. You can recover parts of your life you thought were gone forever and find the "old you" still alive and kicking behind the wall of pain. I believe in prevention as much as possible to stop most of the people from having PTSD gain the upper hand and healing those who couldn't be reached in time.
Next time the bloggers fly off and post how crisis intervention does not work, think about me and remember that if I didn't have people to talk to, I wouldn't be able to do what I do now. I'm living proof it works and this was before any of the advances in intervention happened. My family just did it naturally without knowing what it would lead to.
Army recruiter misled daughter, parents charge
Army recruiter misled daughter, parents charge
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jul 26, 2009 9:52:30 EDT
ST. LOUIS — The parents of a soldier from New York who recently finished training at an Army post in Missouri are seeking to block her overseas deployment, alleging that a military recruiter misled the family.
Hillary J. Poole, 18, of Savannah, N.Y., and her parents filed a lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Springfield against Army Secretary Pete Geren and Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. They are seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent Poole from being sent overseas until the case is heard.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Poole, who is home on leave, is scheduled to report Thursday to the Syracuse, N.Y., airport for a flight to St. Louis. From there, she is slated to go to Germany before arriving in Afghanistan in October.
The lawsuit says Poole’s mother, Kristeen, signed her name and her husband’s name to enlistment papers in February after being told that the paperwork simply allowed the Army to take her then 17-year-old daughter for an overnight evaluation.
The suit claims Thomas Poole never consented to his daughter’s enlistment.
read more here
Army recruiter misled daughter, parents charge
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jul 26, 2009 9:52:30 EDT
ST. LOUIS — The parents of a soldier from New York who recently finished training at an Army post in Missouri are seeking to block her overseas deployment, alleging that a military recruiter misled the family.
Hillary J. Poole, 18, of Savannah, N.Y., and her parents filed a lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Springfield against Army Secretary Pete Geren and Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. They are seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent Poole from being sent overseas until the case is heard.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Poole, who is home on leave, is scheduled to report Thursday to the Syracuse, N.Y., airport for a flight to St. Louis. From there, she is slated to go to Germany before arriving in Afghanistan in October.
The lawsuit says Poole’s mother, Kristeen, signed her name and her husband’s name to enlistment papers in February after being told that the paperwork simply allowed the Army to take her then 17-year-old daughter for an overnight evaluation.
The suit claims Thomas Poole never consented to his daughter’s enlistment.
read more here
Army recruiter misled daughter, parents charge
Report: 14 accused GIs were ‘at risk’
Report: 14 accused GIs were ‘at risk’
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jul 26, 2009 8:24:53 EDT
Intense combat experiences, prior criminal behavior, substance abuse and barriers to seeking mental health care all contributed to a “cluster” of murders or attempted murders allegedly committed by soldiers from the same Fort Carson, Colo., brigade, Army leaders said July 15.
Fourteen soldiers are accused of murder, attempted murder or accessory to murder in separate attacks between Jan. 1, 2005, and Oct. 30, 2008. In all, the soldiers are accused of killing 11 people. Ten of the 14 soldiers are from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Six of the 14 belonged to the same infantry battalion.
“We would all like to look back at the cluster of misconduct and criminal activities ... and be able to say, ‘This is the reason they happened, and we know exactly what could have been done to prevent them,’ ” said Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army surgeon general. “But that’s rarely the way things work when dealing with human behavior.”
Instead, a team of experts from Army Medical Command found the accused soldiers were “at risk for engaging in violent behavior” based on known risk factors such as prior criminal behavior and psychopathology, according to the team’s report, released July 15.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/army_carson_072609w/
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jul 26, 2009 8:24:53 EDT
Intense combat experiences, prior criminal behavior, substance abuse and barriers to seeking mental health care all contributed to a “cluster” of murders or attempted murders allegedly committed by soldiers from the same Fort Carson, Colo., brigade, Army leaders said July 15.
Fourteen soldiers are accused of murder, attempted murder or accessory to murder in separate attacks between Jan. 1, 2005, and Oct. 30, 2008. In all, the soldiers are accused of killing 11 people. Ten of the 14 soldiers are from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Six of the 14 belonged to the same infantry battalion.
“We would all like to look back at the cluster of misconduct and criminal activities ... and be able to say, ‘This is the reason they happened, and we know exactly what could have been done to prevent them,’ ” said Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army surgeon general. “But that’s rarely the way things work when dealing with human behavior.”
Instead, a team of experts from Army Medical Command found the accused soldiers were “at risk for engaging in violent behavior” based on known risk factors such as prior criminal behavior and psychopathology, according to the team’s report, released July 15.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/army_carson_072609w/
Devastating death rate from crashes sounds the alarm at Veterans Affairs
In the first years after returning from deployment, veterans of the two wars are 75 percent more likely to die in motor vehicle accidents than civilians of comparable age, race, and sex, according to a 2008 VA study. The rate for motorcycle deaths is an astounding 148 percent higher.
For returning vets, a tragic toll on the roads
Devastating death rate from crashes sounds the alarm at Veterans Affairs
By Brian MacQuarrie
Globe Staff
July 26, 2009
NORTHAMPTON - For Dominic Taverna, a two-tour Army scout who prowled Iraq for insurgents, the dream of peace and quiet lost some of its appeal when he returned to Revere in 2007.
“I was looking for that rush, and you just couldn’t find it,’’ said Taverna, 28, staring past his folded hands. “You’re driving 90 all the time. You’re hauling ass under overpasses. You just can’t flip a switch.’’
Former Army sergeant Carlton Duncan, 26, nodded knowingly. He would drink too much, Duncan said, before grasping the wheel of his car and driving without any memory of where he went or how he got there.
Dominick Sondrini, 28, a former Marine officer, raced his car for the pure thrill of driving 90 miles per hour, “because I knew I wasn’t going to get in trouble.’’ Police nearly always allowed Sondrini, who would flash his military ID after a traffic stop, to drive away without a ticket, he said.
Dangerous driving is often a byproduct of military bravado, the three veterans said. But among survivors of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the practice is now seen as a deadly crisis, prompting the Department of Veterans Affairs to take unprecedented preventive action.
read more here
For returning vets, a tragic toll on the roads
Veterans Court, A second chance for vets
A second chance for vets
New program: County Veterans Court helps those in trouble with PTSD
CHRISTIAN HILL; The Olympian • Published July 26, 2009
A former Army Ranger, he served a combined 18 months in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and lost his best friend in an attack.
Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Harrington, 26, couldn’t hold down any one of a series of eight jobs. Always on edge, he’d binge drink to get a good night’s sleep; otherwise, he’d be up for days. He fired three therapists after exploding in anger when they wanted him to talk about experiences he had locked deep inside.
A man who served and lived by the motto “Rangers lead the way,” Harrington had lost his way in civilian life.
“I thought I was invincible, and I can’t hold a (expletive) job,” said Harrington, who left the Army more than four years ago.
In April 2008, he hit his wife. A neighbor called police, and Harrington was arrested and charged with fourth-degree assault. She has since left him.
Harrington will not be locked up as a result of a new Thurston County program that convened for the first time last week.
Thurston County Veterans Court offers a second chance to current and retired service members who commit crimes while struggling with war-related psychological wounds, notably PTSD and traumatic brain injuries. Buffalo, N.Y., started the first such court last year, and numerous communities have followed in its footsteps.
read more here
A second chance for vets
New program: County Veterans Court helps those in trouble with PTSD
CHRISTIAN HILL; The Olympian • Published July 26, 2009
A former Army Ranger, he served a combined 18 months in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and lost his best friend in an attack.
Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Harrington, 26, couldn’t hold down any one of a series of eight jobs. Always on edge, he’d binge drink to get a good night’s sleep; otherwise, he’d be up for days. He fired three therapists after exploding in anger when they wanted him to talk about experiences he had locked deep inside.
A man who served and lived by the motto “Rangers lead the way,” Harrington had lost his way in civilian life.
“I thought I was invincible, and I can’t hold a (expletive) job,” said Harrington, who left the Army more than four years ago.
In April 2008, he hit his wife. A neighbor called police, and Harrington was arrested and charged with fourth-degree assault. She has since left him.
Harrington will not be locked up as a result of a new Thurston County program that convened for the first time last week.
Thurston County Veterans Court offers a second chance to current and retired service members who commit crimes while struggling with war-related psychological wounds, notably PTSD and traumatic brain injuries. Buffalo, N.Y., started the first such court last year, and numerous communities have followed in its footsteps.
read more here
A second chance for vets
Gulf War illness research threatened by VA, UT Southwestern disputes
When anyone uses money from the government, (the tax payers) they need to live up to the rules in place when they accepted the check. Looks like that didn't happen here.
Gulf War illness research threatened by VA, UT Southwestern disputes
12:20 AM CDT on Sunday, July 26, 2009
By SCOTT K. PARKS / The Dallas Morning News
sparks@dallasnews.com
The UT Southwestern Medical Center conference room was brimming with dignitaries on April 21, 2006. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Dallas billionaire Ross Perot looked on as university administrators and the federal government agreed to spend $75 million to research the causes of Gulf War illness.
More than three years later, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has spent only a fraction of the earmarked money, and contract disputes between the VA and UT Southwestern are threatening the entire project run by noted epidemiologist Robert Haley.The report also criticizes UT Southwestern for ignoring contract provisions requiring protection of veteran medical data and privacy.
"Given UTSWMC's continued refusal to comply with the terms and conditions of the contract, UTSWMC has given VA no option other than to terminate the contract for default," the inspector general report said.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, wrote to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki the day after the inspector general's report became public.
"I ask that you look into this matter immediately and implement the recommendation to terminate the contract for default so that VA's funds can be directed to research projects that will help those veterans affected by Gulf War Illness," Akaka wrote.read more here
Pennsylvania Veteran's Homes Empty Beds with Waiting List?
Senate Committee questions halt in Veterans’ Home Admission
Posted in News on Saturday, July 25th, 2009 at 11:00 am by Web content assistant editor David Rauch
Harrisburg– In the wake of reports that Pennsylvania has stopped admitting veterans to the six homes across the state, the Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee will hold a public hearing to get to the bottom of the problem.
“This is a very unsettling situation for veterans and their families – ailing veterans are not being admitted, workers are not getting paid, and rumors abound of layoffs and closings. I truly hope that the Rendell Administration has not stooped to making veterans who need care pawns in this budget dispute, but we need to find the facts,” according to Lisa Baker, the committee chair.
read more here
Senate Committee questions halt in Veterans Home Admission
Posted in News on Saturday, July 25th, 2009 at 11:00 am by Web content assistant editor David Rauch
Harrisburg– In the wake of reports that Pennsylvania has stopped admitting veterans to the six homes across the state, the Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee will hold a public hearing to get to the bottom of the problem.
“This is a very unsettling situation for veterans and their families – ailing veterans are not being admitted, workers are not getting paid, and rumors abound of layoffs and closings. I truly hope that the Rendell Administration has not stooped to making veterans who need care pawns in this budget dispute, but we need to find the facts,” according to Lisa Baker, the committee chair.
read more here
Senate Committee questions halt in Veterans Home Admission
Saturday, July 25, 2009
220,000 treated for post-traumatic stress in Scotland
Scotland's Lawyers getting carried away with PTSD claims or is there something else going on?
220,000 treated for post-traumatic stress
26 July 2009
By David Leask
MORE people are being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than are serving in Britain's armed forces, it emerged last night.
The UK Government said 220,000 individuals seek help for the condition.
The revelation, uncovered by the BBC, comes as lawyers increasingly cite PTSD when trying to sue on behalf of people who have endured even the most minor accident, such as a ADVERTISEMENTlow-speed car crash or "shunt".
Scotland's leading expert in the condition last night said the diagnosis of PTSD had become far too loose, allowing lawyers to capitalise.
read more here
220,000 treated for post-traumatic stress
Sgt. Ryan Schlack, laid to rest after being shot at Fort Hood
Wis. soldier killed on Texas base is laid to rest
Associated Press
July 25, 2009, 1:21PM
OSHKOSH, Wis. — Family and friends have laid to rest the Wisconsin soldier who was shot at a party on a Texas military base.
Army Sgt. Ryan Schlack was buried in Oshkosh on Friday with military honors.
The military says the 30-year-old died July 18 after being shot while trying to break up a fight at Fort Hood. A fellow soldier has been charged with first-degree murder.
Schlack was a specialist but was posthumously promoted to sergeant.
read more here
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/breaking/6547123.html
Associated Press
July 25, 2009, 1:21PM
OSHKOSH, Wis. — Family and friends have laid to rest the Wisconsin soldier who was shot at a party on a Texas military base.
Army Sgt. Ryan Schlack was buried in Oshkosh on Friday with military honors.
The military says the 30-year-old died July 18 after being shot while trying to break up a fight at Fort Hood. A fellow soldier has been charged with first-degree murder.
Schlack was a specialist but was posthumously promoted to sergeant.
read more here
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/breaking/6547123.html
Remembering Korean War veterans in Kileen Texas
Remembering Korean War veterans; celebrating their sacrifice
Amid the clink-clang and clamoring drums during dinner entertainment, the people who gathered at the Killeen Civic and Conference Center Friday night made every effort to establish one message: Let there never be another forgotten war.
Amid the clink-clang and clamoring drums during dinner entertainment, the people who gathered at the Killeen Civic and Conference Center Friday night made every effort to establish one message: Let there never be another forgotten war.
Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program takes hold in Missouri
Mo. program helps guardsmen in return to U.S.
By Kavita Kumar - St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP
Posted : Saturday Jul 25, 2009 15:53:15 EDT
ST. LOUIS — When Sgt. Nicholas Moore returned from his first deployment with the Missouri National Guard, he was too exhausted to absorb all the details about the military benefits and support services for which he was eligible.
It was 2004 and he had just returned from Iraq.
“We were so fatigued from just being back,” said Moore, 28. Then after the quick briefing at Fort Leonard Wood, “It was like, ‘OK, off you go!’ ”
But it has been a much different experience since he returned from his second deployment, this time as part of the multinational peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Since March, he has spent two weekends in the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program that the Pentagon started last year for guardsmen.
Along with about 350 other Missouri National Guardsmen and their families, Moore spent a weekend at the Renaissance Grand Hotel downtown. They were given spending money to eat around town and were handed certificates, pins and other mementos at a “freedom salute” ceremony.
But the heart of the program is three days of briefings on everything from military benefits such as health insurance and educational assistance to workshops on suicide prevention and reintegrating into civilian life.
read more here
Mo. program helps guardsmen in return to U.S.
By Kavita Kumar - St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP
Posted : Saturday Jul 25, 2009 15:53:15 EDT
ST. LOUIS — When Sgt. Nicholas Moore returned from his first deployment with the Missouri National Guard, he was too exhausted to absorb all the details about the military benefits and support services for which he was eligible.
It was 2004 and he had just returned from Iraq.
“We were so fatigued from just being back,” said Moore, 28. Then after the quick briefing at Fort Leonard Wood, “It was like, ‘OK, off you go!’ ”
But it has been a much different experience since he returned from his second deployment, this time as part of the multinational peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Since March, he has spent two weekends in the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program that the Pentagon started last year for guardsmen.
Along with about 350 other Missouri National Guardsmen and their families, Moore spent a weekend at the Renaissance Grand Hotel downtown. They were given spending money to eat around town and were handed certificates, pins and other mementos at a “freedom salute” ceremony.
But the heart of the program is three days of briefings on everything from military benefits such as health insurance and educational assistance to workshops on suicide prevention and reintegrating into civilian life.
read more here
Mo. program helps guardsmen in return to U.S.
In Illinois Town, Still a Time to Mourn for fallen soldiers
In Illinois Town, Still a Time to Mourn
Eight-Year Afghan War Brings Little Talk but a Powerful Undercurrent of Pain
By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 26, 2009
MARSEILLES, Ill. -- They are adding a panel to the black granite war memorial, the one etched with the names of U.S. warriors killed in the Middle East and in Afghanistan. The other 10 panels are filled, but the troops keep falling.
Three weeks ago, it was four soldiers, including two from the Marseilles National Guard armory, blown up by a roadside bomb in Kunduz. Last Monday, it was four more, also by a bomb, making July the deadliest month for U.S. forces since the war in Afghanistan began nearly eight years ago.
As U.S. casualties rise in Afghanistan, shifting attention from six years of war in Iraq, a familiar sense of loss is rippling through towns like this one. The Illinois National Guard alone has lost 17 soldiers in the past nine months, and President Obama is sending more troops to battle a resurgent Taliban and to stabilize the fractured country.
The deaths are an unwelcome reminder of a war that often draws little notice beyond the home towns of the deployed and the fallen. And even here, where yellow ribbons line Main Street and soldiers in uniform drop in to Bobaluk's or Di's Deli for lunch, conversation about Afghanistan is limited.
Asked how much talk he hears, Mayor Jim Trager answered flatly, "Not much."
read more here
In Illinois Town, Still a Time to Mourn
That's the biggest problem righ there. The Mayor even said he doesn't hear much. Most Americans don't either. We do such a great job sending them off when wars begin. Unless it's a quick win or we happen to be obliterating the enemy with "shock and awe" people lose interest. That is, unless they happen to have a family member or friends there. Even then, it's hard to get them to pay attention. Spouses back home tend to not want to hear what just went on today in Afghanistan if their significant other is there. Same story with Iraq. They say it adds to the worry when they already have enough to worry about. It's easy to understand that kind of attitude but it is certainly not helpful when the significant other comes home and the spouse is clueless what they went through.
For the rest of the American population their ambivalence while consumed with their own problems is partly behind how we ended up in the mess we're in when it comes to taking care of the men and women we sent. The people running the media know when people just don't care and that time came a couple of years ago. I wonder from the reverse side. How can they care if they don't know what is going on?
Two toddlers shoot siblings in US
Two toddlers shoot siblings in US
Two young children have been shot by their siblings in the space of 24 hours in the United States.
In Las Vegas, a two-year-old girl was in a critical condition after being shot by her four-year-old brother at their home, police said.
In South Carolina, a four-year-old boy was shot in the stomach by his three-year-old brother after the little boy found a gun.
The injured boy was expected to make a full recovery, police said.
The incident in Las Vegas happened on Thursday night after the girl's brother found a loaded 9mm handgun inside their home.
It went off while he was holding it, hitting his sister in her torso.
read more here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8168465.stm
Linked from RawStory
Two young children have been shot by their siblings in the space of 24 hours in the United States.
In Las Vegas, a two-year-old girl was in a critical condition after being shot by her four-year-old brother at their home, police said.
In South Carolina, a four-year-old boy was shot in the stomach by his three-year-old brother after the little boy found a gun.
The injured boy was expected to make a full recovery, police said.
The incident in Las Vegas happened on Thursday night after the girl's brother found a loaded 9mm handgun inside their home.
It went off while he was holding it, hitting his sister in her torso.
read more here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8168465.stm
Linked from RawStory
Fisherman catches man after leap from Sunshine Skyway Bridge
Bradenton man's unlikely catch under Sunshine Skyway bridge is a lifesaver
By Kim Wilmath, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, July 25, 2009
BRADENTON
Steve Burkholder was fishing under the Sunshine Skyway bridge with two of his nephews when he heard someone scream from above: "No!"
He looked up and saw a man hurtling nearly 200 feet into the water, causing a 15-foot splash.
The fisherman lifted anchor and steered his boat to the man, who was face-up in "a dead man's float." His eyes were closed, his skin purple and swollen. His shoes were floating nearby. Blood pooled in the water around him.
Burkholder and one of his nephews pulled the man aboard his 181/2-foot boat while the other nephew called the Coast Guard.
Burkholder began CPR and listened for a heartbeat.
Silence.
He felt for a pulse.
Nothing.
He and his nephews began to pray.
About 30 seconds later, the man began to sputter and wheeze.
"You know, God uses pretty much anybody," Burkholder said. "I don't know why he chose me."
read more here
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/article1021477.ece
By Kim Wilmath, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, July 25, 2009
BRADENTON
Steve Burkholder was fishing under the Sunshine Skyway bridge with two of his nephews when he heard someone scream from above: "No!"
He looked up and saw a man hurtling nearly 200 feet into the water, causing a 15-foot splash.
The fisherman lifted anchor and steered his boat to the man, who was face-up in "a dead man's float." His eyes were closed, his skin purple and swollen. His shoes were floating nearby. Blood pooled in the water around him.
Burkholder and one of his nephews pulled the man aboard his 181/2-foot boat while the other nephew called the Coast Guard.
Burkholder began CPR and listened for a heartbeat.
Silence.
He felt for a pulse.
Nothing.
He and his nephews began to pray.
About 30 seconds later, the man began to sputter and wheeze.
"You know, God uses pretty much anybody," Burkholder said. "I don't know why he chose me."
read more here
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/article1021477.ece
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)