PTSD is fucked up....many stories of soldiers waking up in the middle of the night and grabbing a gun and killing family members thinking they are still in combat....or looking out windows for the enemy...etc etc

And another cost of these wars we are in. Not just the lives physically lost, but also the lives that are psychologically lost/fucked up when they get back home.

yeah I was reading somewhere the army just started acknowledging it's existence recently... very sad

 

Originally Posted by shawdeep

Us gov needs to do more for these people coming home from combat. They deserve it

this. although I mentioned this in a thread a while back and someone said there are actually great services at the VA so idk. I think there is still a stigma for "mental" issues, both in society and in the military (prolly worse in the military). on the one hand they tell people to get help and that there's help available, but if someone goes in is there gonna be a mark on their record? idk. shitty situation imo

Also, I was wondering how different it is now for soldiers. like in wwii they had a long sea voyage and some time to decompress (or so it seems). Now they can fly from afghanistan to chicago in a day and go from a warzone to a busy city street. must be a little discombobulating

reply to thread: ptsd from wwI?? I thought bush created ptsd...zing!

 

Originally Posted by shawdeep

Us gov needs to do more for these people coming home from combat. They deserve it

 

Originally Posted by norcaljeff

Also, I was wondering how different it is now for soldiers. like in wwii they had a long sea voyage and some time to decompress (or so it seems). Now they can fly from afghanistan to chicago in a day and go from a warzone to a busy city street. must be a little discombobulating

reply to thread: ptsd from wwI?? I thought bush created ptsd...zing!

I'll add a little insight.

The VA does do alot for the veterans that come back from the War Zones. As stated in this thread already, 90% of the people who come back and have issues, wether it be PTSD, marital or financial issues do NOT seek help even tho there are numerous programs in place to help assist veterans. I really dont think it is the Governments fault or VA's fault dealing with PSTD, its the actual veterans fault for not getting assistance.

Also i agree with the decompression aspect of wars prior to the Korean War. The veterans would get weeks to decompress, hang with people that went through the same experiences they did and they had their little support system for the 2 months it took to get them from the war zone back home. For the last 4 or 5 years we have a decompression time built into our returning schedule. We stop in Germany and have couple days of downtime prior to returning home, kinda like the long boat ride home concept.

At my work we have multiple avenues to deal with all sorts of stressors. We have an on call Psychologist is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We can call her up and she will meet us anywhere we want. She is not allowed to take notes or report anything we tell her to our chain of command. Basically just the opposite of a Psychologist that has an office and sees patients. This is done so we can talk openly without repercussions from the chain of command.

Also we have multiple Reconnection Programs for re-entering home life and dealing with issues from spouses and children that are created by being away for so long and being in a war time environment.

Here is a web link that has alot of programs available for returning veterans, but very few actually use them.

http://www.onefreedom.org/online_resources

Here are some more resources that veterans can use.

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/index.asp

So to sum up the ramblings above, the help is there is the people want to reach out and ask.

Jimmy's mom didn't help

If anyone has any good videos about this topic let me know

did anyone read the link?? pretty fucked up case in utah.

 

Originally Posted by norcaljeff

this. although I mentioned this in a thread a while back and someone said there are actually great services at the VA so idk.

That was me. My mom has worked for the VA for almost 40 years now. I have other experiences with the VA because my dad went to hospice there when he had cancer and the care was excellent (Most of his treatment was with private insurance which was great until hospice).

Anyway, from what my mom tells me basically what Wanta said. They have tons of programs available to veterans but most are either not aware or just choose not to use them for various reasons. For PTSD specifically, maybe Wanta can verify but I think he inferred to it already, if you are checked in for PTSD can't return to combat or at least it is very difficult. Many soldiers want to return to their teams and go back to Afghanistan/Iraq. I think that s what wanta means by repercussions, at least partially. If you are a career soldier I would assume it can also effect your advancement so it may be beneficial to keep it to themselves. But like Wanta said they do have programs that are kept private.

There are other programs for drug abuse, homelessness etc. At my mom's hospital there is so much going on. It's like a mini country

Overall my mom seems to think the care offered is fantastic and have a lot to offer. However, the bureaucracy is another story. After seeing so many injured soldiers and soldiers suffering from psychiatric issues on a daily basis she is also very anti war. I don't have that experience so don't really have much to say on ptsd. I just know war is something I never ever want to experience. Well I say that but visiting war zones as an observer is of great interest to me. I really wish I was in Egypt, Syria or Libya during the revolutions, that stuff fascinates me though I wouldn't want to be in combat

I did a rotation on a psych ward at the VA.

It was extremely eye opening, and probably 75% of the people in the ward had PTSD. Our most severe veteran affected by PTSD had bounced in and out of the ward prior to me coming there. His wife said he was impossible to live with at home; and even though it killed her to have to come to the ward to visit, he was 10X better mentally while in the ward (mainly because he was being taken care of around the clock, and the professionals were able to ensure he was getting the appropriate therapy).

But at the same time, the objective is to be able to help the veterans get them back home with their family. It's unfortunate to have to get a person contained like that for an extended period of time.

We also had veterans my age (mid 20's) who would sit down and talk to me only because of the age similarity. All of the other doctors/psychs/pharmacists were probably late 30s and older (minus a couple residents). One young veteran couldn't allow himself to be in a relationship anymore because he never knew when he would snap and harm a loved one. He had multiple broken bones in both hands because he'd wake up at night and be midswing pounding his fists into the walls. And using medicine to help psychiatric issues isn't black and white. Therapy's definitely the best option (if it can get through to the veteran), but it's a delicate situation, and the only thing you can is use your education and experience and do your best to help.

On a side note, the VA I was working at is located across the street from the football field where they shoot off fireworks for the 4th. I wasn't there for July 4th, but I was told it is a horrible scene on the ward because of the constant booms going off from the explosions (and triggering flashbacks). Very unfortunate.

I took Walter Capps class on Vietnam at UCSB (1980s) The class was featured on 60 minutes. A portion of the class was havings vets come in and talk about their experiences during and after the war. The stories were absolutely heart wrenching. I wrote my final paper on PTSD. The ones that seemed to suffer the most adverse effects are the ones that don't have anyone to talk to about their experiences. Those with strong support from family and friends seemed to do best.

I use to fly with this captain that was in the 1st marines in 68-70 as a draftee. He volunteered for a second tour and was never wounded. You could tell it had a profound impact in his life. He was always a little different and seemed distant at times.

War is messed up and I don't see how anyone that has experienced combat is ever the same again.