Thursday March 5, 2009, 1:35 pm
I think this is a wonderful thing to do for those returning home from combat..

Friday March 6, 2009, 7:50 am
I read an article that stated that there are an awful lot of soldiers returning home with PTSD and that it is costing quite a bit of money to help them get re-acclimated to society. Who cares about the money situation. They should worry more about what comes with this disorder.

Friday March 6, 2009, 7:57 am
I couldn't agree more with you Cynthia..They don't worry about the cost to send them off to wars and battles..nor to keep them for years..Then when they return that are so sadly disregarded..
But I am glad to see some care finally being provided for some..Hope they will help them all..

Saturday March 7, 2009, 2:32 am
Psychiatric test for our returning vets

Clinical Psychiatric diagnosis of returning vets must be one of our top priorities and NOT done by the VA. A mindset can be scared and scarred quickly when demands are made that compromise a persons morals, codes of ethics and their issues in their GOD given innate conscience.

The IRAQ and AFGHANSTAIN wars have been un-conventional. Our troops have been made to cross the line of humankind understanding and in some cases become a beast among men. Held resentment and scarred emotions and the savage will to get even when back in the USA presents for them and us a very awful and pitiful situation.

Thus for them and us the only way to get to the core of their scared and scarred problems is a simple one day --- at the most ---- Psychiatric test [question and answer] that will evaluate each motives and their wills to accomplish certain things --- overall evaluating their abilities to fit into a ordered and civil society.

Saturday March 7, 2009, 2:33 am
Psychiatric test for our returning vets ----- two

The process of taking the test is a classroom type setting, then each segment of the test is graded then at the end of that testing a MD Psychiatrist reviews then interviews each ---- providing them their individual results.

The test is a non-intrusive non-belittling [in any form or fashion] and after done will enable the heath caregivers and the Vets to clearly know what lies ahead. Then both can begin to build STOP and YEILD SIGNS in each Vets cognitive reasoning ----- thereby to bring back to them the rules of a civil society.

For more info contact dbaker007@stx.rr.com

Saturday March 7, 2009, 2:53 am
When mustering out of the military one thing all know and understand if they raise any red flags they are quarantined in a type of hospital for some time to get over raising objections. And that is told to them first hand by the [powers that be running the muster out program]. And in true fashion in American History our vets have seldom got a good deal. And as one used the term PTSD is just some hog wash name the VA invented that denied that many VETS had become a victim of Traumatic Brain Injury due to traffic accidents, explosions in the road and off the road bombings. The one question that needs answered by the VET [where you knocked unconscious?] If the answer is YES then YES they are a victim of Traumatic Brain Injury and for them the road back to being fully functional again is from 3 to 5 years in cogitative retraining in class rooms study sessions then a long time to re adjust to normal life settings. For those who care to know more contact this site among many more to get your knowledge up to speed .

http://www.traumaticbraininjury.net/communitypage.htm

Saturday March 7, 2009, 6:37 am
The hogwash term mentioned is not only for vets for civilians who have been traumatized by rape, child molestation, assault, or any traumatic event. It is very real and very debilitating. It causes depression, anxiety, inability to work, interpersonal skills issues, families in crisis, suicidal ideation, hypervigilance, night terrors, and overall feeling daily of walking around with the events re-occurring over and over again. I am a Marriage and Family Therapist who suffers from post traumatic stress disorder from an assault and it is very real. Who knows what might have happened to a soldier; he/she may have had some kind of brain injury. Why be so cruel instead of supporting the soldiers that took your place in the war. It could have been any one of us. Then it would really be a REALITY!!!! SYMPTOMS ARE SYMPTOMS AND DONT'S LIE!!!!

Saturday March 7, 2009, 6:40 am
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur after you have been through a traumatic event. A traumatic event is something horrible and scary that you see or that happens to you. During this type of event, you think that your life or others' lives are in danger. You may feel afraid or feel that you have no control over what is happening.

Anyone who has gone through a life-threatening event can develop PTSD. These events can include:

Combat or military exposure
Child sexual or physical abuse
Terrorist attacks
Sexual or physical assault
Serious accidents, such as a car wreck.
Natural disasters, such as a fire, tornado, hurricane, flood, or earthquake.

After the event, you may feel scared, confused, or angry. If these feelings don't go away or they get worse, you may have PTSD. These symptoms may disrupt your life, making it hard to continue with your daily activities.

How does PTSD develop?
All people with PTSD have lived through a traumatic event that caused them to fear for their lives, see horrible things, and feel helpless. Strong emotions caused by the event create changes in the brain that may result in PTSD.

Most people who go through a traumatic event have some symptoms at the beginning. Yet only some will develop PTSD. It isn't clear why some people develop PTSD and others don't. How likely you are to get PTSD depends on many things. These include:

How intense the trauma was or how long it lasted
If you lost someone you were close to or were hurt
How close you were to the event
How strong your reaction was
How much you felt in control of events
How much help and support you got after the event

Many people who develop PTSD get better at some time. But about 1 out of 3 people with PTSD may continue to have some symptoms. Even if you continue to have symptoms, treatment can help you cope. Your symptoms don't have to interfere with your everyday activities, work, and relationships.

What are the symptoms of PTSD?
Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be terrifying. They may disrupt your life and make it hard to continue with your daily activities. It may be hard just to get through the day.

PTSD symptoms usually start soon after the traumatic event, but they may not happen until months or years later. They also may come and go over many years. If the symptoms last longer than 4 weeks, cause you great distress, or interfere with your work or home life, you probably have PTSD.

There are four types of symptoms: reliving the event, avoidance, numbing, and feeling keyed up.

Reliving the event (also called re-experiencing symptoms):

Bad memories of the traumatic event can come back at any time. You may feel the same fear and horror you did when the event took place. You may have nightmares. You even may feel like you're going through the event again. This is called a flashback. Sometimes there is a trigger: a sound or sight that causes you to relive the event. Triggers might include:

Hearing a car backfire, which can bring back memories of gunfire and war for a combat veteran
Seeing a car accident, which can remind a crash survivor of his or her own accident
Seeing a news report of a sexual assault, which may bring back memories of assault for a woman who was raped

Avoiding situations that remind you of the event:

You may try to avoid situations or people that trigger memories of the traumatic event. You may even avoid talking or thinking about the event.

A person who was in an earthquake may avoid watching television shows or movies in which there are earthquakes
A person who was robbed at gunpoint while ordering at a hamburger drive-in may avoid fast-food restaurants
Some people may keep very busy or avoid seeking help. This keeps them from having to think or talk about the event.

Feeling numb:

You may find it hard to express your feelings. This is another way to avoid memories.

You may not have positive or loving feelings toward other people and may stay away from relationships
You may not be interested in activities you used to enjoy
You may forget about parts of the traumatic event or not be able to talk about them.
Feeling keyed up (also called hyperarousal):

You may be jittery, or always alert and on the lookout for danger. This is known as hyperarousal. It can cause you to:

Suddenly become angry or irritable
Have a hard time sleeping
Have trouble concentrating
Fear for your safety and always feel on guard
Be very startled when someone surprises you
What are other common problems?
People with PTSD may also have other problems. These include:

Drinking or drug problems
Feelings of hopelessness, shame, or despair
Employment problems
Relationships problems including divorce and violence
Physical symptoms
Can children have PTSD?
Children can have PTSD too. They may have the symptoms described above or other symptoms depending on how old they are. As children get older their symptoms are more like those of adults.

Young children may become upset if their parents are not close by, have trouble sleeping, or suddenly have trouble with toilet training or going to the bathroom
Children who are in the first few years of elementary school (ages 6 to 9) may act out the trauma through play, drawings, or stories. They may complain of physical problems or become more irritable or aggressive. They also may develop fears and anxiety that don't seem to be caused by the traumatic event.
What treatments are available?
When you have PTSD, dealing with the past can be hard. Instead of telling others how you feel, you may keep your feelings bottled up. But treatment can help you get better.

There are good treatments available for PTSD. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one type of counseling. It appears to be the most effective type of counseling for PTSD. There are different types of cognitive behavioral therapies such as cognitive therapy and exposure therapy. A similar kind of therapy called EMDR, or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, is also used for PTSD. Medications can be effective too. A type of drug known as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), which is also used for depression, is effective for PTSD.

A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF BEING VICTIMIZED BY THE SYSTEMS.

1) SENT TO A WAR BY THE GOVERNMENT

2) EXPOSED TO HORRIFIC EVENTS

3) TRAUMATIZED BY THESE HORRIFIC EVENTS

4) DEVELOPS PTSD

5) SENT HOME FOR MEDICAL REASONS

6) DENIED PURPLE HEART BY GOVERNMENT WHO SENT YOU TO WAR

7) CONTINUOUS SUFFERING AFTERWARDS

9) GOVERNMENT IN DENIAL OF AFFECTS OF WAR

Saturday March 7, 2009, 7:49 am
This particular program in this article iand many other new programs developing..is more about re-adjusting once the vets come home..Even those who may not be suffering from PTSD..are still in need of a hands up..in many areas of their lives..And this government OWES it to them to ensure they are taken care of once they are back home..

Clinical Criteria for PTSD

There are many possible symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and a diagnosis by a trained clinician is required in order to rule-out other disorders. However, the following possible symptoms are listed as part of the DSM-IV-TR criteria for PTSD:

* recurring memories or dreams of the original traumatic event
* flashback experiences which cause a person to feel as though the event is recurring
* intense distress when exposed to situations that resemble the event
* avoidance of thoughts, feelings, or situations associated with the traumatic event
* difficulty experiencing a normal range of feelings
* difficulty connecting with other people
* sleeping problems
* difficulty concentrating
* hypervigilance or an exaggerated "startle response"
* outbursts of anger

For a broader description of the clinical criteria for Posttrauatic Stress Disorder, you can visit the Veterans Affairs PTSD fact sheet page at http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_dsm_iv_tr.html.

Saturday March 7, 2009, 4:53 pm
CYNTHIA,

It would have been wise for you to read my comments with an open mind. Your facts about PTSD are right but the greater problem is that Traumatic Brain Injury is a far worse condition for one to deal with than PTSD. I use the DSMR too.

But the fact about TBI is not just some mental depression regression or mental shut down ----- it is caused by a shock to the frontal lobe of the brain that causes swelling. And that causes permanent injury to our cognitive reasoning. And that sets folks back for a long time in their abilities to re-enter society as a contributing part. Thus many become disabled for life. And that is why the VA calls many cases PTSD instead of TBI. Because the VA does not want to pay the huge numbers of men and women coming home disability benefits for life.

Saturday March 7, 2009, 4:53 pm
CYNTHIA 2

Now the shock to ones brain is caused in the violent thrust of the head forward [called acceleration phase] the brain is thrown into the spiny part of the skull and most time bleeding occurs that causes the swelling. In the deceleration phase of the heard moving rearward at great velocity the soft tissues in the neck that send signals to our vital organs sometimes become torn apart and when one lives through that ------- the results are that the brain and nerves will build around the torn apart [healing] to re-start the electrical flow back again. But records have proved that the repairs sometimes do not leave the person with all the needed mental and body connectivity to again enter the work force in doing rugged and similar tasks as before. Thus most injured with TBI must have jobs that do nor require much dialog with others [for they lack the cognitive reasoning abilities to communicate quickly] and then they need NOT push their body beyond the limits of endurance because in them the lacks found in electrical signals in the brain to the internal organs are limited.

Saturday March 7, 2009, 5:19 pm
Dwight,

When I saw the word hogwash, I immediately thought you were minimizing the affects of PTSD and I do know the difference between the two. If I misunderstood, I do apologize. But in the future when you use such terms, it is bound to be misunderstood by anyone. Maybe try and phrase it a different way.

Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate it!

Sunday March 8, 2009, 4:35 pm
I'm lost Dwight! What's going on?

Sunday March 8, 2009, 4:36 pm
Dwight what doe any of this have to do with this story..

Sunday March 8, 2009, 4:39 pm
Dee, I'm leaving this one alone...there appears to be another agenda here...

Sunday March 8, 2009, 6:12 pm
DEE

I think you missed the idea----[1] look at the amount of people that have seen this information---yet to date no genuine psychiatric care for our vets is available. TBI men and women must go through a long process to become a productive member of society. [2] Following is an expert of what was in my comment [a] Thus the Veterans Hospital would be the core of the needed development in our city along with offering our vets a setting for serenity.

2. Work toward obtaining from 1 to 2 thousand acres near the new hospital for development:

a. Veterans Hospital specializing in IN-and OUT patient for Mental Health Issues, Traumatic Brain Injury and addictions.
b. New Maverick County Park with 200 to 400 acre lake suitable for overnight camping with attractions to aid Eagle Pass and Maverick County in Tourism.
c. Eighteen hole golf course and county club with housing development opportunities planed in and around golf course.
d. To aid in funding these projects I believe that the present 50 acres known as the Maverick County Park could be sold for commercial ventures. I believe that Wal-Mart reality would be the best candidate. In my research I believe the Park might bring $25 million.
e. Archived relics and other attractions could be easily moved when new park is complete.