PTSD in UK Veterans Families Shows Crisis Spreads

Who will care for the carers? Hundreds of Army families also suffer from PTSD after 'knock-on effect'

Mirror UK

Alan Selby

August 19, 2017

At least 905 partners and children of forces veterans sought treatment for mental health issues during a 12-week period last year, NHS data shows

Bridget Cresswell says husband Stacey's PTSD had a "massive knock-on effect" for their family

Partners and children of forces veterans are being struck down by mental health problems – with hundreds seeking help each month.

At least 905 sought treatment during a 12-week period last year, NHS data shows.

But experts warn this could be just the tip of an iceberg, as stigma around mental health stops sufferers seeking support.

It comes as a separate poll by veterans’ charity Combat Stress showed 45 per cent of partners were problem drinkers, 38 per cent had depression and 17 per cent had post traumatic stress disorder themselves.

Brigette Cresswell, 41, said the PTSD suffered by her veteran husband Lance Bombardier Stacey Cresswell, 45, had a “massive knock-on effect” for the family.

She said: “I always felt with Stacey being the one suffering with PTSD he got all the help, all the respite care.

“We were pushed to one side. It was like we didn’t matter. Even though I know there are things out there available to me, I’m not aware of how to access them.”

read more here

Police Officer Fights to Heal PTSD--And Justice After Being Fired

Fired cop sues N. Platte, says city didn't accommodate his PTSD after fatal shooting

Lincoln Journal Star

Lori Pilger

August 20, 2017

Pelster said after Harms lost his job he went to the Nebraska Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which found reasonable cause to believe the city had discriminated against Harms on the basis of disability.

A former North Platte police officer has sued the city, alleging he was wrongfully terminated after he sought disability benefits for PTSD, which he developed after taking the life of an armed man.

Rick Harms is asking a federal judge to reinstate his job and award him back pay and benefits, according to the lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Omaha.

The city has not yet responded to the suit.

According to the lawsuit, Harms had worked as a patrolman with the North Platte Police Department for nearly 10 years when, early March 25, 2011, he shot and killed Marlon Johnson, a 60-year-old man who had pulled two knives on officers in the station's lobby.

A grand jury later cleared Harms and another officer involved of any wrongdoing.

But Harms developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of having to take the life of the armed assailant in the course of his duties as a police officer, his attorney, Glenn Pelster, said in the complaint.

read more here

 Man shot and killed at police station

Beyond The Call Of Duty WWII Veterans "Titanic Sacrifices" and PTSD

Beyond the call of duty

The Augusta Chronicle
Editorial Staff 
August 19, 2017

“Many of the stories have such great impact that I would reread them again and again during the editing process even when I didn’t have to. These were not extraordinary people. They were ordinary folk who accomplished extraordinary things.”

A World War II veteran Gehle went to interview in a motel room had hung sheets on the wall. Some 70 years after imprisonment and torture by the Japanese, the veteran still wet his bed at night.

This is the Grand Canyon of awareness looming between generations. The younger may have little conception of the great struggle to defeat tyranny on two sides of the world and the titanic sacrifices made to do it. The older lived it.

We need to make sure members of the Greatest Generation lay down their often agonizing memories before they’re gone completely, so that present and future generations, like them, never forget.

Problem is, back in the days before we knew anything about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – back when a general like George Patton might slap a “shell-shocked” soldier for supposedly being a coward – you didn’t talk out your trauma. You buried it with the honored fallen, came home and quietly tried to somehow integrate back into a civil society where the guy around the corner wasn’t out to get you and the customer walking in a restaurant wasn’t looking to shoot you.

read more here

Police Officer Killed, 3 Wounded in Florida

Suspected cop killer faces judge and murder charge; Kissimmee police seek person of interest

As deputies approached Miller, the 21-year Marine Corps veteran reached for his waistband, O’Dell said. He was tackled by a deputy and taken into custody.

read more here

UPDATE

6 Police Officers Shot in Florida and Pennsylvania, 2 Killed and 4 Wounded

NBC News

Six police officers were shot, two fatally, in three separate incidents in Florida and Pennsylvania late Friday, officials said.

Two officers were shot in Kissimmee around 9:30 p.m., just south of the theme park hub of Orlando, central Florida. They both later died from their wounds.

In Jacksonville, two officers were critically wounded in a shoot-out, while two state troopers were also shot in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Officers Matthew Baxter, left, and Sam Howard, right, who were both shot and killed in Kissimmee, Florida, on Friday, Aug. 18, 2017. Kissimmee Police Department


read more here

1 police officer killed, 5 others injured in 3 shootings in Florida and Pennsylvania

CBS News

August 19, 2017

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- One police officer was killed and three wounded in nighttime shootings in two Florida cities where the officers were responding to suspected drug activity and reports of a suicide attempt, police said Saturday.

In Pennsylvania, two state troopers were shot outside a small-town store in Fairchance, south of Pittsburgh. State police say the troopers, both taken to hospitals after the Friday night shooting in Fairchance, were in stable condition. 

One officer was killed and another gravely injured late Friday night in Kissimmee in central Florida just south of the theme park hub of Orlando. Kissimmee Police Chief Jeff O'Dell said at a news conference Saturday that a suspect, Everett Miller, was arrested several hours after the shootings.

He faces a first-degree murder charge. Authorities originally said they believed there were four suspects, but the chief said no other arrests are anticipated.

The other two officers were injured a couple of hours later in Jacksonville, one of them shot in both hands and the other in the stomach. The shooter in Jacksonville was shot and killed when police returned fire.

read more here 

Comfort Cats Roam VA Hospital in Massachusetts

Cats offer comfort to veterans in final moments at VA hospital in Western Massachusetts

MassLive.com

Michelle Williams

August 18, 2017

At the VAMC, staff have noticed quality of life improvements in some veterans, thanks to the cats. 

From a hospital bed on the second floor of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Leeds, a hushed meow could be heard. 

Michelle Williams | Michelle.Williams@MassLive.comTherapy cats of Veterans Administration Medical Center in LeedsMadison and Zoe are therapy cats at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Leeds. The pair roam the halls seeking attention from staff and offer comfort to patients, often at the end of their lives.

People were talking outside the room Madison, a sandy blonde cat, was sleeping within. 

This bed and most others on the floor are where she and fellow feline Zoe enjoy taking naps and seeking attention from patients and staff. 

The pair are therapy cats, offering comfort to veterans receiving long-term care at the hospital. 

Madison and Zoe were adopted four years ago when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs relaxed its stance on comfort animals. 

Soon after hearing the news, officials at the Western Massachusetts hospital began researching their options. 

read more here