Cops dealing with PTSD face stigma, lack of resources
By Seth Doane
August 17, 2012 7:18 PM
(CBS News) BALTIMORE, Md. - Six people were charged on Friday in what has been described as an "ambush" that killed two sheriff's deputies and wounded two others in Louisiana. The local sheriff said his officers were "assassinated."
Across the country, there's growing concern for police involved in shootings, even when they are not physically hurt. Many suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but few get help dealing with it.
As a police officer, Rick Willard thought he had seen it all until he responded to a call in a Baltimore neighborhood one night in 2005.
"He was about 20 yards from me and pulled his gun out and said, 'I'm going to kill you,' and started shooting," Willard recalled to CBS News.
The two began to exchange gunfire. Willard shot the suspect and watched the man die. He developed PTSD.
Willard said he felt driven to commit suicide and got as close as "a gun in my mouth in a bath tub." He doesn't know how he got to that point.
"You just feel like there's nothing left," he said sadly.
Before he pulled the trigger, Willard picked up the phone and called a fellow cop who convinced him not to do it. Despite these brushes with death, Willard said the Baltimore police department never offered him any psychological help.
read more here
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Butterfly encounter offers spiritual release
Mental health patients find a spiritual release by raising monarchs
By Nicole Levy of the Journal Sentinel
Aug. 17, 2012
"And the highest enjoyment of timelessness - in a landscape selected at random - is when I stand among rare butterflies and their food plants. This is ecstasy, and behind the ecstasy is something else, which is hard to explain. It is like a momentary vacuum into which rushes all that I love. A sense of oneness with sun and stone. A thrill of gratitude" - Vladimir Nabokov
John Eagan holds the dusty wings of a monarch butterfly between his fingers, just before he releases it into what the Rev. Ray Gurney has named a "transformation garden."
"Did I do that well enough?" Eagan asks Gurney.
"That was beautiful, beautiful, John."
Eagan, who is 33, identifies with the weeks-old monarch: after time as an egg, a caterpillar and a chrysalis, the butterfly has assumed its final identity; after a breakdown and 15-month recovery at the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Complex, Eagan has begun to counterpoise his life.
This is the second year that the facility's staff is helping patients - adults and children - raise and release monarchs. It was Gurney, the complex's spiritual integration coordinator, who approached its spiritual committee with the idea. For patients who have had difficulty with organized religion, the program may offer an alternative.
To Gurney, the miraculous transformation of the compact chrysalis to winged monarch "represents nature, which has nothing to do with an organized religion, but it's very spiritual and it means a lot to people," he says.
He collects monarch eggs from under the leaves of milkweed plants. They grow in the complex's triangular courtyard, which he hopes will soon be registered as an official monarch way station with the University of Kansas' Monarch Watch project. read more here
By Nicole Levy of the Journal Sentinel
Aug. 17, 2012
"And the highest enjoyment of timelessness - in a landscape selected at random - is when I stand among rare butterflies and their food plants. This is ecstasy, and behind the ecstasy is something else, which is hard to explain. It is like a momentary vacuum into which rushes all that I love. A sense of oneness with sun and stone. A thrill of gratitude" - Vladimir Nabokov
John Eagan holds the dusty wings of a monarch butterfly between his fingers, just before he releases it into what the Rev. Ray Gurney has named a "transformation garden."
"Did I do that well enough?" Eagan asks Gurney.
"That was beautiful, beautiful, John."
Eagan, who is 33, identifies with the weeks-old monarch: after time as an egg, a caterpillar and a chrysalis, the butterfly has assumed its final identity; after a breakdown and 15-month recovery at the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Complex, Eagan has begun to counterpoise his life.
This is the second year that the facility's staff is helping patients - adults and children - raise and release monarchs. It was Gurney, the complex's spiritual integration coordinator, who approached its spiritual committee with the idea. For patients who have had difficulty with organized religion, the program may offer an alternative.
To Gurney, the miraculous transformation of the compact chrysalis to winged monarch "represents nature, which has nothing to do with an organized religion, but it's very spiritual and it means a lot to people," he says.
He collects monarch eggs from under the leaves of milkweed plants. They grow in the complex's triangular courtyard, which he hopes will soon be registered as an official monarch way station with the University of Kansas' Monarch Watch project. read more here
If you live in the Orlando area, check out Lukas Nursery just for an idea of how something like this could be a blessing.
Teens suffer PTSD too, even more when they go into combat
Teens suffer PTSD too, even more when they go into combat
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
August 18, 2012
When it comes to PTSD, I read just about everything that comes out. I am searching for answers and hoping one day something new will come out that hasn't been done before. Once in a while I read a great report that illustrates the basic design of the brain is the same in everyone. PTSD is caused by trauma but everyone exposed to the same event will not develop PTSD. The more I learn about PTSD, age appears to be a huge factor.
There is a great report on NPR PTSD Isn't Just A War Wound; Teens Suffer, Too talking about how 4 percent of teenager boys and 6 percent of teenage girls have it.
There are two things to point out here. One is that PTSD is caused by a traumatic event.
It is considered a "mental illness" because it hits the brain.
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
August 18, 2012
When it comes to PTSD, I read just about everything that comes out. I am searching for answers and hoping one day something new will come out that hasn't been done before. Once in a while I read a great report that illustrates the basic design of the brain is the same in everyone. PTSD is caused by trauma but everyone exposed to the same event will not develop PTSD. The more I learn about PTSD, age appears to be a huge factor.
There is a great report on NPR PTSD Isn't Just A War Wound; Teens Suffer, Too talking about how 4 percent of teenager boys and 6 percent of teenage girls have it.
'A Total Nightmare'
The night Stephanie Romero turned 23, she and a friend were attacked by a stranger.
"My friend went outside to have a cigarette, and there was this guy — he came out; he was harassing us," she says.
The man hit her and her friend, leaving Romero shocked.
"It was just a total nightmare," she says. "I think about it all the time. I've never gone through anything like that."
After the attack, Romero's friends and family noticed she was acting differently. She didn't go out as often. Her weight started changing. She was really depressed. Later, doctors diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I was like, PTSD? I thought it was just for veterans," Romero says. "But I found out it's not; it's for anyone who's experienced an event where you keep thinking about it and it takes over your life."
There are two things to point out here. One is that PTSD is caused by a traumatic event.
PTSD Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
You can develop post-traumatic stress disorder when you go through, see or learn about an event that causes intense fear, helplessness or horror.
Doctors aren't sure why some people get post-traumatic stress disorder. As with most mental health problems, PTSD is probably caused by a complex mix of:
Your inherited mental health risks, such as an increased risk of anxiety and depression
Your life experiences, including the amount and severity of trauma you've gone through since early childhood
The inherited aspects of your personality — often called your temperament The way your brain regulates the chemicals and hormones your body releases in response to stress
It is considered a "mental illness" because it hits the brain.
Types of Mental Illness Anxiety disorders: People with anxiety disorders respond to certain objects or situations with fear and dread, as well as with physical signs of anxiety or nervousness, such as a rapid heartbeat and sweating. An anxiety disorder is diagnosed if the person's response is not appropriate for the situation, if the person cannot control the response, or if the anxiety interferes with normal functioning. Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias.This list goes on to discuss
Mood Disorders, Psychotic disorders, Eating disorders, Impulse control and addiction disorders, Personality disorders, Adjustment disorder, Dissociative disorders, Factitious disorders, Sexual and gender disorders Somatoform disorders and Tic disorders: Other diseases or conditions, including various sleep-related problems and many forms of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, are sometimes classified as mental illnesses, because they involve the brain.The second point is that the age of males and females entering into the military usually begins at 18. By the time they are at emotional maturity they could very well have been deployed a couple of times exposed to many traumatic events.
PBS drops ball on latest military suicide reporting
To say I am very disappointed in PBS with this doesn't even come close to all of the belligerent words flooding my head right now.
This interview started talking about Green on Blue attacks then went straight into military suicides. What were they trying to prove? They didn't even have anything new or helpful to say. Usually PBS is great covering Combat and PTSD but this was terrible.
This interview started talking about Green on Blue attacks then went straight into military suicides. What were they trying to prove? They didn't even have anything new or helpful to say. Usually PBS is great covering Combat and PTSD but this was terrible.
Number of U.S. Soldier Suicides Spike Even as Deployment Declines
PBS
Aug. 17, 2012
JEFFREY BROWN: We have got a chart I want to put up here that shows the increase.
And this is Army suicide. But this is interesting because as you are saying, it's going up and up and up, but even as the pace of deployments is going down, right, and after Iraq is over and as the drawdown in Afghanistan continues.
MARK THOMPSON: Yes, I mean, mental health problems in the military and elsewhere -- you know, going to combat is like a seed.
It's planted. It doesn't sprout. It sprouts somewhere, you know, in the next rainy season, and whether that's six months or three years remains to be seen. But, generally, the impact of, you know, traumatic brain injury, of PTSD actually has to ripen. And it doesn't happen quickly.
JEFFREY BROWN: And of course the military has accepted this as a major problem. They talk about it a lot. They have implemented various programs. So what is the problem? I mean, are they not working or is this still an access problem, or are they not the solution?
MARK THOMPSON: No, there is an access problem and it remains a stigma problem, although those are going down.
But just like with the green-on-blue killings, Jeff, there are a lot of factors that play into both of these. Consequently, if you fix one, there are seven others. So there's no sort of one-size-fits-all solution. And that in part is why both are so vexing.
read more here
Friday, August 17, 2012
Military, VA Can Do Better in PTSD Response
Military, VA Can Do Better in PTSD Response, Experts Say
Aaron Levin
Psychiatric News
August 17, 2012
The Institute of Medicine again examines the status of treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder for troops and veterans—and offers suggestions for improving diagnosis and care coordination.
The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have made strides in identifying and caring for troops and veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but must continue efforts to improve coordination of care, standardize diagnosis and treatment, and gather better data on outcomes, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
“If we can work collectively to improve those areas, we can get to where the leaders of the VA and DoD want to be, where all soldiers with PTSD get the care they need and return to full functioning,” said the IOM panel chair, Sandro Galea, M.D., Dr.P.H., a professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.
The report is based on two years of analysis of information available from published sources, interviews, and hearings. A second phase of the same panel’s inquiry will review data from ongoing treatment trials and other studies forthcoming from the departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA). Those results will be reported in 2014.
More than 2.6 million military personnel have served in Afghanistan since 2001 and in Iraq from 2003 to 2011, said the report. Data indicate that between 13 percent and 20 percent have or may develop PTSD.
read more here
Aaron Levin
Psychiatric News
August 17, 2012
The Institute of Medicine again examines the status of treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder for troops and veterans—and offers suggestions for improving diagnosis and care coordination.
The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have made strides in identifying and caring for troops and veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but must continue efforts to improve coordination of care, standardize diagnosis and treatment, and gather better data on outcomes, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
“If we can work collectively to improve those areas, we can get to where the leaders of the VA and DoD want to be, where all soldiers with PTSD get the care they need and return to full functioning,” said the IOM panel chair, Sandro Galea, M.D., Dr.P.H., a professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.
The report is based on two years of analysis of information available from published sources, interviews, and hearings. A second phase of the same panel’s inquiry will review data from ongoing treatment trials and other studies forthcoming from the departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA). Those results will be reported in 2014.
More than 2.6 million military personnel have served in Afghanistan since 2001 and in Iraq from 2003 to 2011, said the report. Data indicate that between 13 percent and 20 percent have or may develop PTSD.
read more here
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