The article deals with Connecticut, but in reality this is happening in Veterans hospitals across this entire nation, there are NOT enough beds for mental health patients.
The author Lisa Chedekel has written for years now about PTSD and the effect it is having on this nations soldiers and veterans. this is a google link to her writings
In todays article PTSD Cases In State Up she shows the statistics just for the VA medical facilities in Connecticut, but you can extrapolate them to every state in the nation where there are VA psychiatric wards, there is just not enough treatment slots.
In Connecticut, only 94 veterans diagnosed with PTSD had been admitted for inpatient care in the state’s VA system through the third-quarter of the 2010 fiscal year—representing just 5 percent of veterans with PTSD who sought VA care. The lack of inpatient services, which puts a strain on the VA’s outpatient programs, is of concern to state Veterans’ Affairs Commissioner Linda Schwartz.
“We don’t have the beds. There are returning vets who don’t have any support system in the community, who need to be stabilized, and there’s no room for them at the VA,” Schwartz said. She said some veterans with PTSD and other mental-health issues were being referred to facilities such as the Institute of Living, which lack specialized veterans’ health programs.
Dr. Dolores Vojvoda, director of the PTSD/Anxiety Clinic at the West Haven VA, said the clinic has seen a steady stream of new PTSD cases in the last two years, with the numbers climbing each month. The West Haven VA offers group and individual outpatient counseling, as well as medications, for veterans suffering from PTSD, a complex anxiety disorder triggered by exposure to trauma.
“We are getting very stretched,” Dr. Vojvoda said. “We are really trying to think of the most effective ways of treating people, given our resources…Obviously, if the numbers keep increasing as they are, we will need more resources.”
Sadly the military is again also resorting to trying to deny that PTSD is a problem for active duty troops and attempting to portray soldiers who are diagnosed with PTSD as fakes, malingerers, and attempting to solely claim this issue for financial gain as this case shows:
Battle over stress disorder: Chico sergeant's claim denied
Staff Sgt. Francisco Carrillo Jr. says the things he saw and did in Iraq have left him a broken man, and seven medical specialists agree with him.
The Army argues differently, essentially calling the Chico veteran a liar and accusing him of faking his post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms for financial gain.
Just three months after the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it was easing rules for diagnosing PTSD, the issue of which soldiers are deserving of medical disability benefits remains contentious, with some psychiatrists charging that the new regulations have yet to trickle down to the front-line staff.
The flood of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who are claiming they have PTSD has put the military in a quandary, observers said. The Pentagon is under pressure both to properly compensate those who truly are injured, and to make sure that taxpayer dollars are not wasted on those who are not.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/...
Yes there are people who will try and scam the system, but a 19 year veteran who has been decorated for Valor in combat and has a spotless record of military service is not the type of person one would normally suspect of being a scam artist. Is it impossible no, but he has had eight different doctors diagnose his PTSD, both military and civilian psychiatrists.
The military states it is trying to get soldiers to step up and ask for help if they are having mental health issues, but then treat a NCO in this manner, just shows the soldiers that it is best to just "suck it up" and "tough it out" as there will be repercussions for seeking help while you are still on active duty.
I admit I have been diagnosed with PTSD and I am rated at 100% P&T by the VA for this condition and have been since December 2003. I am basically housebound and spend my days watching TV, using this computer as my window to the world, and I spend my time advocating and helping other veterans.
I have problems with crowds and when my wife can get me to go out shopping with her it is normally at 2 am at Wal Mart or a 24 hour grocery store. The power chair I use due to my severe cardiac problems also makes it difficult for me in crowded areas. I don't play well with people, my supervisors at the Postal Service sent my to counseling numerous times before I left in May 2000 due to outbursts at work with both co-workers and customers not to mention the supervisors.
I did not take it well when they left me alone on a loading dock having a heart attack waiting for the ambulance to come get me, a co-worker was with me and the station manager made him go back to work and said he would stay with me, about 30 seconds after Cowboy went inside, Buddy said he had to go in and clock me off the time clock as he wasn't going to pay me to just lay down on the dock. He never came back, that was in May 1998. I don't know many people that would treat anyone like that but Buddy was in a category all by himself.
The VA has been spending a lot of money on PTSD in the past few years, and Secretary Shinseki has increased the hiring of mental health professionals, but they have not increased the available beds, or expanded the lock down wards, and to many veterans are waiting for weeks if not months for inpatient treatment. Unfortunately to many are committing suicide before they can get into one of the available beds in these inpatient programs.
National Center for PTSD this is a VA.gov website with many resources for anyone with PTSD, PTSD is not just a problem that affects veterans, as we all know civilians also have problems with PTSD there are many causes for it, vehicle accidents, violent assaults, rape, robberies, senseless attacks for no reason, 9/11 and other acts of terrorism, Hurricane Katrina and numerous other "stressors" but the soldiers and veterans were promised when they enlisted that if they were harmed on active duty in service to this nation that we would care for them and their families the famous "PROMISE" that George W. Bush campaigned on in 2004.
It is a disgrace that we are NOT taking all the actions necessary to care for these men and women we have sent to war, only to have them come home and fall thru the cracks because there is not enough space for them.
for veterans or soldiers that need help now call this toll free number 1-877-927-8387 (WAR-VETS)