Patrick Toney's Life is a shambles -The VA basically medicated me into a cucumber

[Monkeyman]

The 22 -year- old from Woodridge takes about 10 different prescriptions to combat symptoms of manic depression and anxiety.

He has trouble sleeping. He can't sit with his back to a door. He can't be in large groups of people. He says the sight of a man with middle-eastern features wearing a 'big puffy jacket' sets alarms bells ringing in his mind.

Toney ,an Iraq veteran and member of the Illinois National Guard , has post-traumatic stress disorder

http://www.chicagodefender.com/page/local.cfm?ArticleID=8779

[babylonsister]

1. So young, so sad, and there are/will be many stories that replicate his. nt

[Monkeyman]

4. We were all young when we went into combat some make it out some stay there

In their minds

[lazer47]

8. It's a sad thing to know

but you and I both know that to see this, all we have to do is go for our appointments, Most of us with PTSD have not had as hard of a time dealing with the memories,, its having to deal with the people here at home that has taken its greatest toll,,,,, WELCOME HOME

[Monkeyman]

9. Yep Go now twice a week after my wife died

It is just dam sad to see these kids in the shape they are in. Welcome Home

[CrazyOrangeCat]

2. K&R

Poor guy. Bush's war is going to go on for decades, in a lot of ways.

[Deja Q]

3. Plenty of people are mis-medicated, over-medicated, under-medicated...

Being in war isn't the only cause of PTSD, you know...

The real solutions aren't always drugs, the wrong combination of which would probably melt a person's brain too... CBT is what's needed and I hope he gets it.

BTW: K&R.

[KT2000]

5. No kidding

have a cousin (mow in his 60's) who had birth injuries resulting in tremors, and some mental issues.

He was doing well in the hospital after breaking his pelvis. They changed his medication and he got agitated and insisted on leaving the hospital. They were making plans to move him into an Alzheimer's facility or the state mental hospital that now houses only the most extreme cases. Had he not had relatives, that would have happened.

Instead, they changed his meds and he went back to his normal self.

Another case, an acquaintance who cannot tolerate chemicals was told it was all in her head. She was sent for 30 day mental evaluation, forced to take anti-psychotic medication. She ended up killing herself.

If you fall off the tracks - this country is a true gulag.

[Monkeyman]

7. The VA Over Medicating is the Norm

They what we call the scot-along down the halls

[LSK]

6. K&R #5