Concern raised about meds and PTSD in vets

Same old problems it seems...


See also:

The Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Effexor, Valium, Klonopin, Ativan, Restoril, Xanax, Adderall, Ritalin, Haldol, Risperdal... WAR

America's Medicated Army

Pilgrim's Progress

Amazing piece...

V.A. Easing Rules for Users of Medical Marijuana

This is not surprising given that both the military and the VA hand out stronger drugs than marijuana on a daily basis. Just drug those veterans up, send them to the VA clinic, and keep them out of sight from the general population of America.

Mental Stress Training Is Planned for Soldiers

I served under COL Williams and he is the perfect person to be charged with implementing this program. COL Williams is one of the few field grade officers that "got it." He cared about the development of his junior officers and genuinely cared about Soldiers' problems and the welfare of their families. He encouraged single junior officers to coach high school football, be involved with the community, and to have fun. He tried to show Soldiers that the Army can be fun when you are in garrison and not being shot at... the Army truly is a family. The former West Point football player moonlighted as a dance instructor and taught Justin Timberlake and hundreds of Army Officers how to dance. In sum, he built a spectacular team and it was an honor to serve under his command. Hopefully, he will be promoted after implementing this program. Soldiers will open up to him because of his personality and he will listen to their suggestions. There is hope for the Army afterall...

War’s Psychic Toll

Brilliant piece by Bob Herbert. I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

Because we have chosen not to share the sacrifices of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the terrible burden of these conflicts is being shouldered by an obscenely small portion of the population. Since this warrior class is so small, the same troops have to be sent into the war zones for tour after harrowing tour.

As the tours mount up, so do the mental health problems. Combat is crazy-making to start with. Multiple tours are recipes for complete meltdowns.

Recent attempts by the military to deal with some of the most egregious aspects of its deployment policies have amounted to much too little, much too late. The RAND study found that approximately 300,000 men and women who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan were already suffering from P.T.S.D. or major depression. That’s nearly one in every five returning veterans.

The mass-produced tragedies of war go far beyond combat deaths. Behind the abstract wall of RAND’s statistics is the immense real-life suffering of very real people. The toll includes the victims of violence and drunkenness and broken homes and suicides. Most of the stories never make their way into print. The public that professes such admiration and support for our fighting men and women are not interested.

We’re brutally and cold-bloodedly sacrificing the psychological well-being of these men and women, which should be a scandal. If these wars are so important to our national security, we should all be engaging in some form of serious sacrifice, and many more of us should be serving.

But the country soothes its conscience and tamps down its guilt with the cowardly invocation: “Oh, they’re volunteers. They knew what they were getting into.”

When PTSD Comes Marching Home

Rivers Pitt concludes, that "any nation that cannot properly care for their veterans has no business making new ones. These, our newest generation of scarred soldiers, deserve far better than what they have received from the government and the nation they swore to defend. We sent them over there, and now they are marching home, some of them with Hell itself in their minds and hearts. They can, and must, be helped and healed. We must get them out of Iraq, get them out of Afghanistan, get them home and get them well. They deserve nothing less from us, and it is the very least we can do for them."

See also:
Clinic Shootings Highlight Mental Health Challenges for Military

-"nearly 30,000 [Soldiers] are on their third or fourth tour"

-"more than 27 percent of the NCOs surveyed on their third or fourth deployment reported depression, anxiety or acute stress"

-"overall, the Army's suicide rate reached a record level in 2008, surpassing 20 percent and exceeding that for the U.S. population"

The Pentagon's Bionic Arm

This is a good piece on the efforts to create a new prosthetic arm for injured war veterans, but 60 Minutes makes it sound like $100 million is a fortune; it is chump change when it comes to the federal budget. Imagine if this nation really put forth an effort to truly care for injured war veterans. The emphasis on the $100 million pricetag reminded me of a cartoon I saw in the paper a few weeks ago that illustrates how oblivious the American public is towards the war and its returning veterans. Here is the cartoon:
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Can Budget Change Improve Care for Veterans?

YES!!!

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Obama Pledges New Data System for Veterans

President Obama is on the right track, but he pretty much needs to tell DoD and VA to use one system by [fill in date here], not ask "both departments to work together to define and build a seamless system." This along with advanced funding for VA will go a long way to help fix what is a broken system. Share

McCain's Plan to Privatise Veterans' Healthcare

Based on limited personal experience and the accounts of friends that receive VA treatment the following statement by the author and analysis done by RAND seem odd to me:

...government doctors, who are nearly universally viewed as among the best in the world.... A recent study by the RAND Corporation found that "VA patients were more likely to receive recommended care" and "received consistently better care across the board, including screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow up" than that delivered by other U.S. health care providers.

What is frightening is that most Americans think that veterans receive universal healthcare after they leave the service, which is not really true. Perhaps a VA card will be a decent option, but I think it is a step towards the government washing their hands of veterans' healthcare completely. "Thanks for your service, Joe, now go off to Veterans Island with your shaky marriage, your mental disorder, and whatever limbs you have left," says Uncle Sam. "Have no fear, though, this veterans' healthcare card will work with any doctor... don't worry, trust us. Oh yeah, and don't forget to take a box cutter and duct tape with you so you can build yourself a nice house. Don't complain either, or else we will call you up off of the IRR and send you back to war."

Homeless Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans

Perhaps DoD will attempt to fix the problem in classifying veterans' disabilities when they leave the service. Instead of giving them a lower rating so they don't qualify for a retirement check and Tricare, perhaps they should... instead of just pushing them off onto the VA. "Oh the VA will take care of them," they think to themselves. Isn't the VA the same department that employs program coordinators that request staff refrain from diagnosing PTSD as much as they have been?

So if many veterans are receiving inadequate care and inaccurate mental health diagnoses perhaps this is a contributing factor towards a large homeless veterans population?! Just think of when in 30 years all of the veterans that have undiagnosed Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) start feeling the effects of all of the concussions that went unreported from IED attacks they experienced... we will have a crop of "punch drunk" homeless veterans on our hands.

This situation is occurring because the military industrial complex collectively said, "Hey, these vets chose to join and are looking for a handout... they should have just stayed in the military and done their 20 years. I did it, they should have too. None of those vets even go to college anyway, why should we support a new G.I. Bill? These vets going to the VA don't really have anything wrong with them. Screw them, their future career prospects, their mental health, and general well-being. Oh yeah, and no I don't have any money for a homeless vet. On another note, did I tell you that Northrop Grumman is making a new KC-45 Fuel Tanker for the Air Force? We NEED that fuel tanker NOW!!! Also, the ballistic missile defense shield just needs a trillion or so more dollars to be functional!!! Oh, did I tell you that right now I'm on (INSERT RETIRED GENERAL'S NAME HERE)'s team working on a new weapon system for (INSERT DEFENSE CONTRACTING COMPANY HERE) that should be ready by 2100 that can cripple the enemy using mind bullets - all without any collateral damage! By the way, do you want to go to the Army-Navy Club and get a round of golf in this weekend?"

America's Medicated Army

This article sums a problem with the ongoing conflict that noone thinks about on an everyday basis except maybe employers, who, in my opinion, are less inclined to hire war veterans because of the "crazy" stigma attached to them. "We can't hire him, he just got back from (insert America's current war - previously Vietnam, today Iraq/Afghanistan)." This is not a new phenomenon, but medicating the troops by the service itself so that they can continue to fight two draft-less wars is. Previously, troops would medicate themselves to deal with PTSD and anxiety disorders:

Here is an excerpt from "America's Medicated Army":

Nearly 30% of troops on their third deployment suffer from serious mental-health problems, a top Army psychiatrist told Congress in March. The doctor, Colonel Charles Hoge, added that recent research has shown the current 12 months between combat tours "is insufficient time" for soldiers "to reset" and recover from the stress of a combat tour before heading back to war.

Many are going on their third tour now... some their fourth and fifth. Add this to understrength units deploying, troops suffering from PTSD and anxiety disorders being medicated to continue to deploy, 3,000 captains leaving the Army, and a lack of field grade leadership seems to indicate an Army in crisis.

Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery

This was just released and I have not had a chance to read it (498 pages). This report is available for free download from RAND here.

Nearby Firing Ranges Complicate Soldiers' Recovery from Stress

This is as unbelievable to me as the VA psychologist who urged her staff to refrain from diagnosing PTSD in favor of adjustment disorder (See VA psychologist to staff: don't diagnose PTSD) and members of Congress voting against the "The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act" (Senate vote by member; House vote by member).