http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2010/06/27/opinion/doc4c26ecc863935477826999.txtLetter: ‘Help for our troops’
Published: Sunday, June 27, 2010 1:41 AM CDT
To the Editor,
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 post-traumatic stress disorder are accelerating at an alarming rate. As a member of Veterans for Peace and the mom of a four-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 U.S. soldiers who served in Iraq or Afghanistan may develop PTSD. The majority of soldiers were exposed to some kind of traumatic, combat-related situations, such as being attacked or ambushed (92 percent), seeking bodies (94.5 percent), being shot at (95 percent) and or knowing someone who was seriously injured or killed (86.5 percent). 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 led 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 (
http://www.rand.org/multi/military/veterans/). You may also call Military OneSource at 1-800-342-964 (
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 (214) 857-0722 (
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.
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