[nannypat]

There is a big problem in this country and it the responsibility of every person in this country to get it fixed. Our men and women who are serving our country in the military are being denied mental health services to help them heal from PTSD /TRAUMA/DEPRESSION. They are killing themselves while waiting for appointments, medication, and benefits to live on. Most of us who have a bad day don't have a clue what living with depression is like. Those of us who live with depression know how important it is to have treaters who can work with us and remind us that our thoughts of worthlessness, uselessness, helplessness, is the disease talking. Oh yes, depression does have a voice and it is a lethal one. It shouts at you that you will never be worth anything to anybody and that your problems are poisoning those you love. It screams that it is dragging your loved ones down and how could they possibly benefit from you being in their life. It totally convinces you that you are not important enough anyway so sure if there isn't an appointment available for 8 weeks, then of course you will have to just try to make it till then but really don't know how you will live through the next hour, never mind the next day or the next week. Do you get the picture? These are the people that have been away from home, families, friends, their total support systems. These are the people that put one foot in front of the other to do their job, never knowing when they are going to hear that God awful click and...everything is blown up around them and if not them, the person next to them is included. They are under gun fire and all the other awful things that war puts in their path.

Red tape, paperwork, applications, etc.be damned. Any military person who has been put in a combat situation should be able to walk into ANY MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY at any time and ask for help and GET IT IMMEDIATELY! Paper work can wait. Red tape can be cut. There should not be one delay, one excuse, or one bit of hesitancy. If it means someone accompanies that person to a place where help is available, because there isn't a therapist on site, so be it. It need not be a specialist in that moment, though that would be the ideal longer term expectation, but at that point any one with assessment skills and knowledge of what depression/ptsd/trauma can do to a person could certainly be helpful.

Everyone worries about who is going to pay;. Haven't they paid enough? They have VA benefits. The government has to pay.

What brings me to this Memorial Day rant? I just heard of another of our finest who took his own life while waiting for an appointment at a VA facility that was 8 weeks away. Waiting in hope to get some medication to help his ptsd symptoms and depression, waiting for his benefits to get processed. They finally did get processed last week. Two weeks after he died.

I am afraid I don't understand what is so hard about getting this help more available to our service men and women. We can come up with complicated health care plans, huge stimulus packages, and legislation that our leaders vote on without even reading because they get the package at the last minute. We send help to the middle east so people can fight for their freedom, we try to do all we can when natural disasters happen both in our own country and countries across the world, as we should. Now PLEASE tell me why we can't get our own soldiers the help they need when they need it.?

I am no one important, but I know what the disease of depression can do to a person. Mine is not from any experience anywhere near what our soldiers have experienced. I have regular insurance. I can get help.

We need to help our soldiers get help too.

[Open Eyes]

Ok nannypat,
I met a guy that was in the service recently. And I have to tell you something your not going to like to hear.

Most of these people are told not to seek help after action. The reason for this is that there is no real help and answers for their issues. The other thing they are told and feel is that if they are diagnosed with severe PTSD, that will get in their way of not only further education but it will effect their ability to find work. No employer wants to hear about these issues.

It is very sad, and I don't like it either. So many of them just deal in private.
And they try to get work and stay quiet and suffer in silence.

How does that grab you?

Doesn't do much for me.

Open Eyes

[nannypat]

Originally Posted by Open Eyes

Ok nannypat,
I met a guy that was in the service recently. And I have to tell you something your not going to like to hear.

Most of these people are told not to seek help after action. The reason for this is that there is no real help and answers for their issues. The other thing they are told and feel is that if they are diagnosed with severe PTSD, that will get in their way of not only further education but it will effect their ability to find work. No employer wants to hear about these issues.

It is very sad, and I don't like it either. So many of them just deal in private.
And they try to get work and stay quiet and suffer in silence.

How does that grab you?

Doesn't do much for me.

Open Eyes

It makes me even more sad to hear how much deeper the problem is. I just could not contain my feelings today when I heard about one more. I don't say I have answers and I hope I didn't offend, It just doesn't seem fair.

[googley]

Originally Posted by Open Eyes

Ok nannypat,

Most of these people are told not to seek help after action. The reason for this is that there is no real help and answers for their issues. The other thing they are told and feel is that if they are diagnosed with severe PTSD, that will get in their way of not only further education but it will effect their ability to find work. No employer wants to hear about these issues.

This actually isn't true. PTSD is one of the few psychiatric disorders that we actually have very good empirically based treatments for. Exposure therapies for PTSD are extremely successful. Please don't buy someone saying that there is not treatment. There are very good treatments for PTSD, there are just not enough mental health professionals to provide the treatment at the rates that are needed for the large number of vets coming back. And what is worse is when people are sent back over before they can get treatment, and then resort to drug/alcohol use to self medicate and then are sectioned out. They can then not get any benefits from the VA and can not get treatment for their disorders that are caused by their trauma from their time in the military.

There are worse outcomes for people not getting treatment. It is worse to not get treatment than to let it go on.

[nannypat]

Originally Posted by googley

This actually isn't true. PTSD is one of the few psychiatric disorders that we actually have very good empirically based treatments for. Exposure therapies for PTSD are extremely successful. Please don't buy someone saying that there is not treatment. There are very good treatments for PTSD, there are just not enough mental health professionals to provide the treatment at the rates that are needed for the large number of vets coming back. And what is worse is when people are sent back over before they can get treatment, and then resort to drug/alcohol use to self medicate and then are sectioned out. They can then not get any benefits from the VA and can not get treatment for their disorders that are caused by their trauma from their time in the military.

There are worse outcomes for people not getting treatment. It is worse to not get treatment than to let it go on.

googley This sounds like a vicious circle. It seems so unfair because the cause of the self-medicating is service related.

[Open Eyes]

Well, all I can say is what someone who went thru the service told me. Why would he lie, I have no agenda, not someone who can do anything or threaten. He had told me that the treatment was not very effective and that these issues cannot be irradicated. I dont see why he would lie to me. I never wore his shoes, what do I know?

I am sure that there are treatments and I am also sure that there is an overload, I wouldn't doubt that.

I was just a person who listened and was surprised at what I heard.

My understanding is that service men are warned about the consequenses of therapy and how it may effect them getting work etc. I have to tell you, it shocked me to hear it. Why would this person lie? If you are not in their situation and not privy to what they are told, ah, how do you know what they feel? Do you think that there is going to be some news on this? I had asked a question to someone here, I wanted to know what that person wanted, I even suggested he write it out and maybe tell us somewhere that we could all see it.

I do meet military people on occasion and I honestly have to say, I don't always hear very good things. And to be honest, I am embarrassed and find myself appologizing. I am not sure these people feel comfortable speaking the truth in public. Perhaps anything that may cause new young men from joining the service may not want to be made public.

I have no doubt there are things we are not privy to.

And to be honest some of them are afraid to get help. You know they do talk amongst themselves and talk about it. They are afraid.

These men come back very confused. And lets consider the fact that people who have PTSD often feel ashamed and confused.

I just really wonder, I would like to think that perhaps it should somehow be a type of manditory process involved with being in the service. IDK

[googley]

I wasn't saying that that isn't what they are told. I am sure he was telling you what he was told. I am just saying that what he was told was inaccurate. There are very good treatments for PTSD. The military is not known for good mental health treatment.

There have been increases in screening for mental health issues and specifically PTSD, but that doesn't mean that people are getting the treatment they need.

I actually volunteered with the VA working with a PTSD treatment unit, having contact with the vets and the professionals treating them. So I have seen what is going on and talked to my supervisors about the need for more treatment professionals and the long wait times for treatments. And having suffered from PTSD myself, I have had a similar experience of the fear and confusion that comes with it.

Things are very very slowly changing, but it will sadly take a long time to treat everyone who needs the treatment. Here are some news sources.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_642428.html
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/refere...der/index.html

[Open Eyes]

Well thanks for your efforts googly, that was so nice of you to volunteer in that area.
At least you had the courage to speak up, how can others do the same, make a bigger statement. Yeah, did you notice the anninimity part in the end of the article.

Now we have to consider this is an election year and well, service men vote. This is a promise of CHANGE, well, I dont want to hear promises for these men, no matter who the candidate is, I want to see action, don't you?

I really feel like you, it isn't fair to these young men. That is just not right, your right.

Open

[googley]

Originally Posted by Open Eyes

how can others do the same, make a bigger statement.

The best way that people can make a statement is to do things like contact your congressman (both at the state and national level) and tell them that you think that treatment for vets need to be increased. Get your friends and family involved. They take tallies of what people say when they call or write. So make them know that you think this is an important area that needs attention.

[Can't Stop Crying]

My heart goes out to anyone who has served our country and comes home to waiting lists and red tape. Veterans deserve the utmost respect for their service to our country and we as citizens need to support them in anyway we can. They have sacrificed so much...it is horrible to come home and be treated like that. It makes me feel ashamed to be part of a country that abandons it's heroes in their time of need!

Thank you for this thread Nannypat - you are absolutely right! We need to get them the help they so desperately need!

[jrflipjr]

This post hit home as I have lived with ("self-diagnosed" PTSD) for over a year now after attempting to commit suicide, despite the fact that I was actively seeking help...

I say "self-diagnosed" as my therapist did not want to use the word PTSD due to the sensitivity of the term. To this day, I suffer trigger events, nightmares, emotional detachment, rage, and a host of other emotions...and I'm still on active duty. I gave up seeking military care as I am due to retire and cannot afford to lose my clearance while my case is pending. After a year+ of antidepressants, Googling, talks with my wife and internalization of my experiences, I've decided to work through this on my own, hoping I can find others to share my concerns with. I realize this is not the best approach but I can't find other choices. I simply don't trust others like I used to.

Now, I find myself web crawling, looking for support groups, forums and other methods to achieve a sense of closure. I have completely lost faith in the military and VA groups as I sense they are mitigated by financial or bureaucratic agendas. Although I can find some solace with a local vet group, the attendance is limited to less than a handful.

Lastly, I realize my comments are risque to post, as I am still active duty, but with only a few months left in and a full life ahead of me, I figure the benefit outweighs the risk. I know there are others in my position - I've met them.

I hope we can all come home one day....