Back in November 2005, i did a post on a regular blog entitled They Are Killing My Brothers Again
Today i saw this story on line. It made me cranky.
They called it the "Thousand-yard Stare"
Veterans' Affairs doctor tells staff to refrain from PTSD diagnoses
The VA has repudiated the memo, but outraged veterans see a reluctance from the government to support their disability.
From the Washington Post
The physician in charge of the post-traumatic stress disorder program at a medical facility for veterans in Texas told staff members to refrain from diagnosing PTSD because so many veterans were seeking government disability payments for the condition.
"Given that we are having more and more compensation seeking veterans, I'd like to suggest that you refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out," Norma Perez wrote in a March 20 e-mail to mental health specialists and social workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Olin E. Teague Veterans' Center in Temple, Texas. Instead, she recommended that they "consider a diagnosis of adjustment disorder."
Adjustment disorder is a less severe reaction to stress than PTSD and has a shorter duration, usually no longer than six months, said Anthony Ng, a psychiatrist and member of Mental Health America, a nonprofit professional association.
Veterans diagnosed with PTSD can be eligible for disability compensation of up to $2,527 a month, depending on the severity of the condition, said Alison Aikele, a VA spokeswoman. Those found to have adjustment disorder generally are not offered such payments, but veterans can receive medical treatment for either condition.
Click here for the full article
We can still see it......and, on the same day, i saw this...
It made me angry.
Or maybe "angry" isn't a strong enough word...
Marine who died after cross-state chase wrote of war stress
By ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN, Associated Press Writer
Last month, Marine Staff Sgt. Travis N. "T-Bo" Twiggs went to the White House with a group of Iraq war veterans called the Wounded Warriors Regiment and met the president.
Twiggs had been through four tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan and months of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in which he said he was on up to 12 different medications.
"He said, `Sir, I've served over there many times, and I would serve for you any time,' and he grabbed the president and gave him a big hug," said Kellee Twiggs, his widow.
About two weeks later, Travis Twiggs went absent without leave from his job in Quantico, Va.
He and his brother drove to the Grand Canyon, where their car was found hanging in a tree in what appeared to be a failed attempt to drive into the chasm.
The brothers carjacked a vehicle at the park Monday. Two days later they were at a southwestern Arizona border checkpoint, and took off when they were asked to pull into a secondary inspection area, Border Patrol spokesman Michael Bernacke said.
Eighty miles later, the car was on the Tohono O'odham reservation, its tires wrecked by spike strips.
As tribal police and Border Patrol agents closed in, Twiggs, 36, apparently fatally shot his 38-year-old brother, Willard J. "Will" Twiggs, then killed himself.
Click here for full story
Posted on 05/17/2008
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My Trusted MOGs
Another terrible story of the real cost of war. There are still 100's of thousands of veterans from Vietnam alive and suffing in this country. Now we add more from this useless war.
Agent Orange all over again. If goverment doesn't admit it exists then they don't have to pay for it.
My Trusted MOGs
Anyone who has ever been to war knows the stare, and we do not envy those trapped in endless loops of nightmare visions & hopeless sweats. The sad part is you're only getting, and so passing along, one facet of the story. At Walter Reed, and at V.A. Hospitals all over the country, there are some who cannot leave the politics at the door. Some doctors, like some judges, use their positions to try to align the world as they believe it should be. Vtshome>>>>Hundreds of thousands of Viet Nam War vets suffering? That's just laughable. I am a very active in veteran's affairs. (I'm an advocate who helps vets cut through red tape to get the help they need.) True PTSD is actually quite rare in vets you know.
My Trusted MOGs
deadman,
My Trusted MOGs
Vts: Don't start a fight; i fi want one, i'll start it myself
DMDM: "True PTSD", as defined by the VA certainly seems to be. OTOH, i've known a number of Nam vets (i'm one myself, but noncombat at Cam Ranh Bay; about the worst i brought home is a stubborn toenail fungus and a case of survivor guilt), and i certainly have seen the symptoms.
I'm seeing them in my son-in-law, and my stepdaughter tells me he's getting worse without treatment.
And you might want to discuss how rare PTSD is with WW2 vets who suffered combat fatigue and WW1 vets who suffered shell shock.
Viet Nam was, and Iraq is, virtually tailormade to produce worse and more numerous cases than either of the World Wars.
And i didn't even touch on the number of vets suffering brain injuries that the VA is unwilling to admit exist (again, in my son-in-law's case, he having been blown up at least twice in Iraq - his Bradley was thrown thirty feet the first time, the symptoms i'm seeing may be brain damage from blast, rather than "true PTSD".
Incidentally, on what are you basing your statement that "true PTSD is actually quite rare in vets"?
My Trusted MOGs
I have to admit i titled this post the way i did to rattle some cages and see what showed up.
But i find i'm not in the mood for a fight after all.
I'm tired. Very very tired. And i'm getting tirerder every day watching what's happening in the world - the whole world, not just our little part...
May i recommend some of my other posts:
orI hope you enjoy them...My Trusted MOGs
I just woke up. Its Sunday Morning. I have no wish to fight. The Sun is shining brightly and it promises to be a nice warm day. I do not deny the existence of true PTSD, nor that it shows up in vets, in numbers slightly elevated above the norm. But PTSD (itself subject to great debate within the psychiatric community) is WAAAAY over diagnosed in our society, as is ADHD, BIPOLAR disorder, & myriad other "syndromes". Unfortunately the whole field of behavioral psychiatry has become rife with politics. Believe me, as an Advocate, who mostly deals with the V.A. in an adversarial mode to get help for those who need it, I know PTSD. I've seen it. Most Veteran's Posts have access to advocates. Does your SIL have one? One does not go to the V.A. with a self diagnosed problem and expect them to treat the problems as the patient sees fit. There are far too many cases of........unnecessary claims made every year. Interestingly they come in predictable clusters from predictable areas of the country. The V. A. is just conserving resources, (still recovering from the previous administration's budget cuts.) In fifteen years of advocacy, I've seen sixteen cases of debilitating PTSD
My Trusted MOGs
My comments was not only in reference to specific dianoses such as PTSD but also all the other suffering that vet's come home from war with. The physical ones normally heal in time but the emotional ones never do. I spent 18 days in Vietnam before being wounded, sent home and eventually discharged. Even though eventually I was able to deal with many of my ghosts I still have trouble sleeping. VA was of little help and I gave up on them in the late 70's or they gave on me would be more acurate.
My Uncle Bob who died about 1 1/2 years ago served in the South Pacific and could only sleep thruogh the night if, in his earlier, life when he got so drunk he paas out and in later years had to use perscription drugs to sleep. So I stand by my statement of 100's of thousands suffering.
I too am not in a mood for a fight any longer just some statements send me off the deep end.
My Trusted MOGs
omg that is so horrible. i not only do not want to pay for wars, i also do not want to pay for post-war. of course, those soldiers should be pampered and treated with utmost respect and given what they need to live comfortably. but, i would prefer to not send anyone into such a horrible situation and thereby eliminate the need for post-war compensation... i only wish the majority of people in the US felt as i do...