My article on PTSD in Washington Post

[livefreeordie]

The Washington Post was kind enough to publish an article I wrote about my experience with PTSD.  I would appreciate it if you would check it out.  It's something often misunderstood, and after being at war for almost a decade, the toll on our troops is enormous.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/impact-of-war/

[HandmaidenofGod]

Great article.

I'm not sure anything I could possibly say could add to it.

May the Lord have mercy on all those who serve and have served.

[FrChris]

Let's not forget it's not only soldiers who have PTSD. I still have the occaisonal symptoms of PTSD especially from the fire I was injured in, and I'm not the only firefighter or police officer working through this.

Lord have mercy!

[DeathToTheWorld]

My dad had PTSD, he was in Vietnam.

He had been exposed to Agent Orange:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange



When he got home from the war, his dad met him at the door with a shotgun because of the things they were broadcasting on the news about the soldiers.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_were_Vietnam_soldiers_treated_like_when_they_came_home_from_war

He needed to drink a bottle of Vodka almost every night in order to stay sane.

[scamandrius]

Wow.  Great article.

[Fr. George]

Well said, Silouan.  I'm still amazed that after decades of knowing the intimate relationship between active combat and PTSD (I mean, for goodness sake, they formed the theory of PTSD by talking to Vietnam Vets!) that medium-term routine counseling isn't practically demanded by the military at debriefing.

[livefreeordie]

Well said, Silouan.  I'm still amazed that after decades of knowing the intimate relationship between active combat and PTSD (I mean, for goodness sake, they formed the theory of PTSD by talking to Vietnam Vets!) that medium-term routine counseling isn't practically demanded by the military at debriefing.

The tough part is that with all these multiple deployments everyone in the system is spun very tight.  That is why I've just dove in to help, they need the support from all of us to successfully combat the issue.  My therapy, is giving back.

Thanks for everyone's supportive words.

[EofK]

Excellent article, friend.  Lord, have mercy on all those dealing with PTSD!

[Carl Kraeff (Second Chance)]

Outstanding article. You have remained true to the Corps. God bless your work!

[livefreeordie]

Outstanding article. You have remained true to the Corps. God bless your work!

Semper Fi!

[Fr. George]

The tough part is that with all these multiple deployments everyone in the system is spun very tight. 

Unfortunately, it's a hazard related to the nature of the work (which is edgy to begin with).

That is why I've just dove in to help, they need the support from all of us to successfully combat the issue. 

Amen!

My therapy, is giving back.

Amen - the priesthood of all believers in action.

Thanks for everyone's supportive words.

We should be thanking you, not the other way around.

[Quinault]

Well said, Silouan.  I'm still amazed that after decades of knowing the intimate relationship between active combat and PTSD (I mean, for goodness sake, they formed the theory of PTSD by talking to Vietnam Vets!) that medium-term routine counseling isn't practically demanded by the military at debriefing.

The tough part is that with all these multiple deployments everyone in the system is spun very tight.  That is why I've just dove in to help, they need the support from all of us to successfully combat the issue.  My therapy, is giving back.

Thanks for everyone's supportive words.

The problem with PTSD is extremly bad for Guard soldiers in particular. They often return without jobs (despite the fact that it is illegal to fire them, they can be "laid off" instead) or, if they have jobs they only have about 2 weeks paid leave upon return unless they have savings/leave accrued. As well, they force the returning soldiers to stay on base just miles from family for up to a month doing out processing stateside. Most active duty guys are released on leave, then return back to work as a full time soldier and outprocess as a daily work shift until it is done.

I can't say how happy I am that I am a vet's spouse, and not a military spouse. The guard is rarely given much (if any in some cases) equipment, but expected to do the same job. And they are deployed LONGER then the active duty component because they piecemeal orders together that way they are only "active duty" for the required year or less and could be "training" or "pre-mobilizing" for up to 9 months (or longer if you include multiple 2 week trainings a month, 5 day drills and the like). My husband was on orders July 2008 on, but in order to avoid paying us housing allowance, medical insurance and separation pay they would make sure the orders were for 30 days at a time. So he would be gone months at a time with stacks of orders. He was "deployed" 1-09 to 11-09 but he was GONE 7-08 to 11-09. Then he had to attend drills for months after his return without being paid stop loss. In the active branch you are paid stop loss for each month you are still active duty. So if you worked ONE DAY you would receive the $500 for stop loss. But being required to go to a 3 day drill (and miss work) apparently doesn't count. My husband is missing out on GI Bill money because of the way they did the orders before he left. A break of even one day between orders makes the time on the orders not useable on your DD214. You receive you GI bill benefits based on the amount of active duty service you can claim on you DD214. If you are active duty (read-full time) military every moment is credited, not the case for guard soldiers.

[Quinault]

Although the full time "fobbits" are treated pretty badly as well as evidenced in this case

This happened literally outside the door where my husband worked in Bagram. Although, they forget to mention that these guys are working 12 hour shifts 7 days a week with the occasional half day off to get a haircut and do KP duty in the officers mess. Whereas the guys out working in the field have sometimes days or weeks off inbetween shifts.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/24/army-suicide-prevention-o_n_550831.html

Last year, the 21-year-old soldier was working six days a week, analyzing intelligence that the military gathered while he was serving in Afghanistan. He was gifted at his job and loved being a part of the 101st Airborne Division, just like his father and his great uncle.

But Adam was tired and often late for work. His eyes were glassy and he was falling asleep while on duty. His room was messy and his uniform was dirty.

His father, Mike Kuligowski, attributes his son's sleeplessness and depression to an anti-malarial medication called mefloquine that was found in his system. In rare cases, it can cause psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, paranoia, depression, hallucination and psychotic behavior.

But instead of getting medical help, Adam got push-ups. One time, he got angry, throwing his gun on the ground and telling his commander to send him to jail. He was given an Article 15 nonjudicial punishment for misconduct and assigned kitchen duty during his days off.

The final straw, his father said, was when his first sergeant threatened to take away his security clearance and take him off his intelligence job.

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