My letter today Re: PTSD and suicide/death...any suggestions before I send?

[w8liftinglady]

you know i'm slowly recovering from brain surgery,so any help would be appreciated(P.S.-I am targeting a Texas crowd)...


As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan approach their 10th anniversary,there is an increasing casualty among veterans of these conflicts.Deaths of veterans by suicide and over medication for PTSD is accelerating at an alarming rate.As a member of Veterans for Peace and the mom of a 4-time vet of Iraq and Afghanistan,I feel it necessary to explore the causes,neglect,and treatment if we are to finally bring some true peace to our troops.
After nearly a decade of war-with many troops making multiple deployments-Psychiatrists estimate that one in three US soldiers who served in Iraq or Afghanistan may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).The majority of soldiers were exposed to some kind of traumatic, combat-related situations, such as being attacked or ambushed (92%), seeking dead bodies (94.5%), being shot at (95%), and/or knowing someone who was seriously injured or killed (86.5%).This increased with every deployment.
Both DoD and VA lack a sufficient number of mental health professionals on staff to diagnose, treat and provide compensation to patients with PTSD.The VA needs to increase the number of mental health professionals in order to diagnose and treat PTSD patients. And they must hire and train additional claims reviewers so that disabled veterans don’t have to wait months and years to receive their benefits.This,unfortunately,has been substituted with a myriad of drugs that do more harm than good.These drugs have lead to a subset of troops dying in their sleep from drugs meant to "treat" PTSD.
Multiple studies have shown that a combination of one-on-one,group,and family therapies with the careful use of medication when required are the best means for dealing with PTSD.An excellent series of research on this is available through RAND (nhttp://www.rand.org/multi/military/veterans/ ).You may also call Military OneSource at 1-800-342-9647( https://www.militaryonesource.com ) if you are active duty,Vet Centers: Confidential readjustment counseling for combat veterans and their families at
1-800-905-4675 ( http://www.vetcenter.va.gov/ ) and The VA Medical center in Dallas,attn: Thelma Lowe at [phone] (http://www.ptsd.va.gov/)
As citizens,we can contact our elected officials and insist they demand better treatment for active duty and veterans military.These troops have seen more than most of us will ever know,and deserve the support of our nation.Contact Congressman Barton and Senators Cornyn and Hutchison and encourage their aggressive support of our troops.

[Adsos Letter]

1. Hey, w8liftinglady !!!

i don't actually have any useful feedback, but it is GREAT to see you posting!

[w8liftinglady]

2. If you see any verbal errors,please let me know!Thanks

[jtuck004]

3. I think it is an excellent letter. But one thing I have learned is that

personal stories make much more persusive arguments.

So I will make a suggestion as to how I might write one (pretty rough, and I would work on it a bit more, but
this is the general idea). If you could find veterans (and it shouldn't be hard) and tell their story. You have
to protect their identity, of course, but something along the lines of...

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

John Brown's body was found in city park on Thursday. You may not have known him, even though he
was a veteran of a war being fought to secure our country. He was found alone, but he did not die by himself.
John was joined in death by thousands of our brave men and women who offered themselves as the
ultimate sacrifice in a war being fought so we can live our lives in peace. He was injured in that war, not
in a way that you could see, but in a way that made him frightened, alone, vulnerable. John, like many others,
was a victim of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, an injury they get after surviving being attacked or ambushed,
seeking dead bodies, being shot at, or having a friend who was seriously injured or killed. John
tried to get our help, but we were not there for him when he needed us most.

We make a promise to our veterans that we will take care of them like they take care of us. Yet we are not keeping
that promise. Both DoD and the VA hospitals ...
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Something along those lines, perhaps?. And then put your statistics and the plea to write and contact the VA and Congress.
Again, I think your letter is great. But if you are trying to persuade people statistics are not usually all that helpful
until you really have their attention.

That may not have been what you are looking for, so just my < 2cents

And I am very happy that you are recovering!

[w8liftinglady]

6. That is a very good point.

I write 1-2 letters dealing with veteran needs a month...I will dedicate my next one to the personal tragedy...

[noamnety]

4. Hi, I don't know if you saw the message I sent you

with the link to more information on PTSD. I was looking for guidance on how to get people properly diagnosed if they'd been previous discharged with a personality disorder, and someone linked me to a study on MEG and PTSD. They've had a lot of success apparently (97% success rate) using MEG brain scans vs. more subject psychological tests to identify people with PTSD.

My feeling is that we ought to be pushing to make that technology more available, because the absolute first obstacle soldiers and vets seem to be facing is diagnosis, before they can even become eligible for treatment.

[w8liftinglady]

5. that is a really good point-if they publish my letter,I will add an addendum

with this information....:)