In the past month we have been told that President Obama and Veteran Affairs Secretary Shinseki have now made it easier for soldiers and veterans to get VA benefits for their service related PTSD. Obama eases benefits process for vets with PTSD I made a few comments to others when I was asked about this that I would have to wait and see what started happening in the actual claims process before I would "believe" that change had really occurred. There have been many promises to veterans since 1980 when the diagnosis of PTSD was added to the DSM III manual that mental health providers used at the that time. Bottom line the proof will be in the pudding.
Today the USA Today has this story from Fort Hood Thousands strain Fort Hood's mental health system written by Gregg Zoroya.
About every fourth soldier here, where 48,000 troops and their families are based, has been in counseling during the past year, according to the service's medical statistics. And the number of soldiers seeking help for combat stress, substance abuse, broken marriages or other emotional problems keeps increasing.
A common refrain by the Army's vice chief of staff, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, is that far more soldiers suffer mental health issues than the Army anticipated. Nowhere is this more evident than at Fort Hood, where emotional problems among the soldiers threaten to overwhelm the system in place to help them.
One in 4 soldiers are in counseling or have been counseled in the past year just on Fort Hood, I would have to imagine the percentages would be identical at other Army posts that have combat troops deployed and returned to their home bases either here in the US or back to Germany, Italy and Hawaii. (I know Hawaii is a state but the Army considers it an overseas duty station)
There have been wild guesses that as many as 1/3 of all soldiers would be diagnosed with PTSD and some very conservative people have tried to say it would only be about 4%. I am a veteran and if they are getting 25% while these military personnel are still on active duty, then it would be mu best guess that somewhere down the road 10-40 years from now, just as the Vietnam Veterans have done, will finally admit they have "issues" and step forward and ask for "help".
There will always be the men and women who "mannned up" or "sucked it up and soldiered on" and went home after the war, they got a job and had a few beers or hard drinks every night to help them "sleep" and on the week ends binge drink. They will have a few fights a work they may even change jobs every few years, they may get divorced 2 or 3 times, get a few DUIs, get arrested for bar room brawls, at some point may become homeless, have their cars repossessed maybe their home and about the age of 45-65 will finally realize that it was not their bosses, or their ex wives or the kids that were the cause of their problems, but rather themselves were the problem. The nightmares and the recurring war dreams that have never left, the idea of entering a dark home after dark terrifies them. They can't sleep without a gun under their pillow or a shotgun next to the bed.
They have lights all around their home so they can see all movement in the yard, motion activated lights, etc. They never sit with their back to a room they have to be up against a wall to see the entire room, they can't stand being in crowded places, driving in the desert has their nerves on edge, or if they had ever fought in mountains maybe it is a trip up near Denver that has their nerves on edge, they have panic attacks from stuff that triggers their memories of their military service. Maybe they just happen to see someone who looks like a friend who died, and the face brings their friends death come rushing back. Who can say all of the things that may bring back the memories, they are too numerous and each person is different, why do some veterans suffer from PTSD and others don't, even the experts don't have the answers to that yet.
There are no "magic cures" for PTSD, occasionally some one will claim they have "found" the way to stop PTSD, a shot of morphine right after a traumatic event, use EMDR and the person suffering is cured, maybe it was the doc that used Ecstacy, I don't believe any of them. The VA even has on their national website that there is no known cure for PTSD. There are methods to help people with PTSD cope with it better than they have been, but no cures.
Military veteran are not the ONLY people with PTSD, anyone who suffers a traumatic event can develop PTSD, however war is a KNOWN cause of it and because so many men and women are exposed in such a "window of time" the percentages stick out, and since it doesn't have a "cure" it means these veterans will need treatment and compensation usually for the rest of their lives.
Many people are concerned about the potential for fraud, others are concerned about the people who won't admit they have PTSD because they do not want to be "tagged" as mentally ill. Some are afraid if they admit they have PTSD they can't get hired as a fireman or a policeman, or they will lose their security clearance which can prevent them from finding a job with a government contractor that readily hires veterans already with Top Secret clearances, it can reduce background investigations on new hires by as much as a year or more.
PTSD is a real problem and men and women will still be stepping forward with requests for help with it, in 2020- 2030- 2040 and maybe even 2050 for the first time, maybe by then they may have a better treatment plan or and easier claims system within the VA, but seriously myself I doubt it. I still see WW2 and Korean War vets that won't admit they have issues with PTSD, I still see the VA giving them a hard time over their claims when they do come forward, and nothing ever changes on the VA "hamster wheel"
I wish I had more "HOPE" for the "Change" that has been promised but I don't.
By the way I do admit I am jaded by the system and I am a service connected Army veteran rated at 100% P&T for PTSD. I have seen it from the inside out.