POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER: Number of cases on rise

[NVMojo]

Mother says Army, Veterans Administration failed her son, who committed suicide

September 25, 2005

Adam Kelley survived the Persian Gulf War but not the aftermath of his combat experience. For 13 years after the war, he suffered not only from physical problems but mental ones as well.

His No. 1 enemy was post-traumatic stress disorder, the illness affecting thousands of veterans in Southern Nevada, including hundreds who have lived through the horrors of death and danger in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His mother, Marsha Kelley, said he joined the Army at 21 because he liked being outdoors and he wanted to earn money for college. "He liked hunting, but he didn't like killing," she said in an interview last month.

But in the end, he shot and killed himself last year while sitting in his truck behind a sandwich shop not far from his northwest Las Vegas home. His mother blames the Army and the Veterans Administration for not giving him the proper care soon enough.

more...

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Sep-25-Sun-2005/news/27253080.html

[stellanoir]

1. "shock and awe" indeed

Looks like it boomeranged.

Bare in mind that both Timothy McVeigh and John Allen Mohammed (the DC sniper) were both veterans of Desert Storm which only lasted a couple months.

Rest assured these vets will not get the care they so deserve from the gov.

Hope they get help from somewhere.

[NVMojo]

2. all vets of past wars and conflicts should have the chance for the help

they need. Shame on this leadership, from the phoney President on down ...we have dropped the ball when it comes to repaying the debt we owe to the people who put their lives on the line for all greedy administrations and their corporate whore donors. Shame, shame, shame!!

[applegrove]

3. Tragic. At one point the army was claimed some of the vets had

pre-existing condition. That is bull. There is more than enough repeated trauma in a war to birth PTSD all by itself. I hope to god they have stopped with that "new science".

[Catshrink]

4. My nephew just returned from NG duty in MS

He's having a hard time "getting back" to normal. He's having some PTSD as he reflects on what he witnessed. He distributed water and food and looked for those who needed medical attention. It must be so much worse for those returning from combat.

Guess there's no money for compasstion toward our soldiers in the "compassionate" conservative's administration.

[LosinIt]

5. My husband is finally getting treatment for his Vietnam PTSD

going in-patient at the VA for the month of October for an intensive program. I hope that they can help him. I try to understand, I really do. But he spends hours a day at the computer playing solitaire in total withdrawal, shutdown mode. He has lost so many jobs, has quit looking. He has been alcohol free for over two years now, that is a positive sign.

I want a full-time partner I can depend on to help pull the weight both emotionally and financially. I don't expect that he will come out of this program 'cured', but maybe they will declare him at a higher percentage of disability than the 30% they have him at now. That $340 or so we get a month now from him just isn't cutting it. The weight on my shoulders is getting a bit heavy.

[cassiepriam]

6. PTSD will be bad and the military knows it...been heavily recruiting psychs

They even have psychologists going to the front line
in a preventitive mode. Which of course will not work.
You will just have traumatized psychs.