In the Civil War, veterans with psychological combat
disorders were diagnosed with
"soldier's heart." In
World War I, the term was "shell
shock" and in World War II
"combat fatigue." The
term "post traumatic stress
disorder" was added to official Veterans Affairs'
diagnostic codes in the early 1980s.
PTSD Victims No Longer Need to Prove Trauma http://www.vfp109rcc.org/ptsd_victims_no_longer_need_to_p.htm February 18, 2008 - The Veterans Affairs Department has dumped a policy
requiring combat vets to verify in writing that they have witnessed or
experienced a traumatic event before filing a claim for post-traumatic
stress disorder, said the chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs
Committee.
Pentagon May Be Shorting Troop
BenefitsAn injured soldier's disability should be
determined by Veterans Affairs officials - and not the
Pentagon because the
Army might be shortchanging troops, a presidential commission was told
on
Monday. http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.cfm/Page/Article/ID/7450
BROKEN BY WAR, AND ORDERED BACK
-- Despite being diagnosed with PTSD and rated 70% disabled by the VA,
Damian Fernandez has been called back to duty in Iraq.
http://www.vawatchdog.org/nfDEC06/nf121106-2.htm
David Baldwin's Trauma Information Pagesaward-winning
educational site focuses on emotional trauma and post-traumaticstressdisorder (PTSD)
affecting individuals or communities (e.g., natural or man-made
disasters). free
trauma ... trauma and traumatic stress,
including PTSD
(Post-traumaticStressDisorder)
and dissociation, whether ... and researchers in the traumatic-stress
field. Specifically, my interests ... http://www.trauma-pages.com
National Center for PTSD // National Center for
Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder The National Center for Post-TraumaticStressDisorder (PTSD)
was created within the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1989, in
response to a
Congressional mandate to address the needs of veterans... educational
resource
concerning PTSD and other
enduring consequences of
traumatic stress. ... http://www.ncptsd.org
"They're
overmedicated, forced to talk about their mothers instead of Iraq, and
have to fight for disability pay. Traumatized combat vets say the Army
is failing them, and after a year following more than a dozen soldiers
at Walter Reed Hospital, and reporter Mark Benjamin says he
believes the soldiers."
The Invisible Wounded: Injured U.S. Soldiers
Arrive Home Under Cover of Darkness Veterans
suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome receive inadequate and
ineffective psychiatric care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/15/1454212
Iraq Veterans Cope with PTSD by
Eric Westervelt All Things Considered, March 31, 2005 · A
new study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that one quarter
of veterans who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq and were treated at VA
hospitals in the past 16 months were diagnosed with mental disorders.
Post-traumatic stress disorder was the most common ailment. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4569798
Mental health crisis hits UK troops Iraq conflict is causing record levels of
depression and post-trauma stress. Thousands of British troops have
experienced serious mental health problems following service in Iraq,
according to the most authoritative study ever undertaken into the
psychological impact of war on UK soldiers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1774461,00.html
Peace promoters object to human cost of Iraq war
Dr. David Kinzie, a psychiatrist who spoke at the conference in Bend
OR, said the trauma of being in a combat zone has long-term
psychological consequences for service members. 3/27/05 http://www.bendbulletin.com/news/results.cfm?story_no=15972
Psychological Impact of Killing in Battle
Taking a life, even in the context of war, can have serious
psychological repercussions for soldiers. Reporter Alix Spiegel talked
to one expert who has studied the experience, and two former soldiers
who have killed in battle. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1802199
The War Comes Home: Rifleman couldn't take any
more The young rifleman's suicide didn't make official
military lists of "non-hostile," "self-inflicted" deaths in Operation
Iraqi Freedom, lists that show 26 overseas Army soldiers and Marines
killed themselves as of July 24 this year. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/186127_warsuicide13.html
U.S. Troops Suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress
after Iraq A new study of the mental
health of U.S. troops who've been in Iraq shows a substantial rate of
post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric illnesses. The
high rates of mental illness occurred despite intensive efforts by U.S.
officials to prevent them. NPR's
Joseph Shapiro reports. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3057036
War trauma 'leaves physical mark' Those
with post-traumatic stress disorder were more likely to develop heart
disease and cancer in later life than fellow war veterans, they showed. http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=4702
If you know someone
returning from Iraq or Afghanistan that may be having trouble, this is
a good site to start:
Not All Wounds Are Visible - PTSD Alliance http://www.ptsd-alliance.org/
HOW TO GET HELP
Free
Psychological Counseling for Military Service Members and their Families -
(360) 290-1035 We are a group of licensed
mental health professionals who offer free psychological treatment to military
service members (active duty, National Guard, Reserves and veterans) who have
served or who expect to serve in OEF and/or OIF. We also provide treatment to
members of their families and other loved ones. Treatment is conducted in our
private offices. Our services are entirely confidential and do not report to
either the DOD or to the VA. The Soldiers Project NW provides
counseling for individuals, couple and families as well as group therapy. They
are not affiliated with any governmental agency and offer the flexibility and
confidentiality available in private clinical practice. Email:
soldiersprojectnw@yahoo.com As
clinicians in private practice, they provide alternative treatment options
outside of the military system. Soldiers Project NW is able to respond to any
request for help within 24 hours.
Returning Iraq soldiers can get access to vet-to-vet support
groups,
individual mental-health therapy and treatment for nightmares,
sleeplessness,
depression and stress disorders through a variety of local providers.
The VA Puget Sound Health Care System branch in Seattle has a
special
deployment health clinic to handle mental and physical post-combat
evaluation
and treatment. It also offers individual, marital and family
counseling, social
services and help with obtaining benefits. Call 206-764-2636.
The Seattle VA also has a separate clinic for female vets.
Call 206-768-5314.
The state VA's PTSD program offers counseling throughout the
state. Call
800-562-2308. A complete list of providers is at www.dva.wa.gov;
click on "PTSD."
Help is available at Fort Lewis through the Madigan Army
Medical Center
behavioral health department: 253-968-2700.
Veterans Outreach Centers are located in Seattle,
206-553-2706; Tacoma,
253-565-7038; and Bellingham, 360-733-9226.
The Army Source One hot line offers soldiers and their
families 24-hour
confidential consultation and referral, seven days a week, as well as
free,
private, in-person counseling sessions in local communities.
800-464-8107.
Americans
need to
tie a “Yellow Ribbon” around their memories, when
veterans are eventually
dumped off at V.A. hospitals around the United States. - Mike
Hastie,
U.S.
Army Medic, Vietnam
1970-71
[Times
photo: Kathleen Flynn ]
Lisset Greene her son
Anthony Rivera, 6, and her daughter 19-month-old Laila Greene visit the
grave of their husband and father Curtis Greene who committed suicide
in December after returning from serving in Iraq.
'Over
My Dead Body'She has not seen his
suicide letter, which she was told is being held as evidence in an
ongoing investigation.
Back
to VFP109 Homepage