Traumatic brain injury program for Illinois veterans
IndiaPost.com - Union City,CA,USA
Many of the service members face multiple deployments and the number of Veterans suffering from TBI and battling PTSD is only growing as the wars in Iraq …
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Iraq veterans are denied help for combat trauma
Guardian Unlimited - UK
‘It can be difficult to convince [the MoD] because so much time has elapsed in many PTSD cases, but that is the nature of these illnesses,’ Marsh said. …
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Concussion Experienced During Active Duty Linked to Development of …
Insider Medicine - Kingston,Ontario,Canada
The survey included validated measures of physical health, depression, and PTSD. The investigators compared outcomes among injured soldiers who experienced …
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Study: War Concussions Increase Risk Of PTSD
AHN - USA
They were also asked about possible symptoms of PTSD, depression, and other medical complications. According to WebMD, the results showed that 15 percent of …
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Mild Head Injuries Tied to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
InjuryBoard.com - Tampa,FL,USA
Symptoms of PTSD include irritability, sleep problems, and flashbacks. This study was not designed to detect common but subtle symptoms from brain damage, …
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Rita Watson: Challenges for returning vets
Providence Journal - Providence,RI,USA
When you factor in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that affects so many soldiers, even the strongest relationships will suffer. …
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PTSD, depression surfaces in war returnees
Beckley Register-Herald (subscription) - Beckley,WV,USA
PTSD, a post-war emotional roller-coaster first examined in Vietnam War veterans, covers a range of symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive …
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Ms. Perrin Replies
Am J Psychiatry (subscription) - USA
To The Editor: Dr. Kellyâ€™s comments highlight the importance of repeated exposure to gruesome situations in the risk of PTSD and provide a greater …
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Spouse Calls: Love doesnâ€™t ensure happy ending
Stars and Stripes - Washington,DC,USA
He said because of PTSD, he felt self-conscious and doubted my love. I have been trying very hard to forgive him, but it hurts so much. …
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Learned this week
Vancouver Sun - British Columbia, Canada
Many of the symptoms reported by the soldiers, such as sleep disturbances, memory loss and irritability, appeared related to PTSD and not to brain injury, …
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Study: Symptoms of GIs’ brain injuries, PTSD can be confused
USA Today - USA
Charles Hoge, a psychiatrist and epidemiologist who has conducted landmark research on PTSD.Problems exist with the Army’s method of defining mild TBI and …
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Returning Soldiers From Iraq At Risk Of PTSD
Dog Flu Diet and Diseases - Brantford,Ontario,Canada
These soldiers are also at an increased risk of developing PTSD. In total, up to 5% of the 2500 soldiers surveyed by Walter Reed Army Institute of Research …
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Study Links Vetsâ€™ Symptoms to PTSD, Not to Brain Injuries
eFluxMedia - USA
They were given questionnaires asking about missed war days and dozens of physical and emotional difficulties, as well as symptoms of PTSD. …
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Stress Disorder, Concussion Raise Risks for Iraq Vets
NewsHour - USA
Now, a study conducted by military doctors and praised by outside experts suggests that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and not the physical injuries …
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War Head Injuries: Long-Term Effects
TIME - USA
It seems obvious that living through the terrors of military combat would increase someone’s risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). …
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War is Coming Home
Indymedia Estrecho - AndalucÃa,Ceuta y Melilla,Spain
War is the disease of which PTSD and other mental illnesses that plague our soldiers and veterans are merely symptoms. In my first column two months ago, …
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Yesterday in parliament
Guardian Unlimited - UK
At least 26 troops who served in Iraq or Afghanistan were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a three month period, figures released by …
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Trauma’s impact on US troops & Iraqis
Workers World - USA
According to the National Institute of Mental Health website, â€œPost-Traumatic Stress Disorder, (PTSD), is an anxiety disorder that can develop after …
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Uncomfortably numb
Stabroek News - Georgetown,Guyana
The US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) describes Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as “an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to …
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War concussion linked to PTSD among US soldiers
Xinhua - China
Nearly 44 percent of the soldiers who had the symptom were diagnosed as PTSD, about three times the rate found in soldiers with other injuries. …
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PTSD More of a Problem for Returning Soldiers
MyFox Kansas City - Kansas City,MO,USA
She said her younger son is in jail because of PTSD and she hopes the new study will help convince him he can be treated. “The night before he come home on …
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Combat veterans at risk
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Pittsburgh,PA,USA
By Joe Fahy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Concussions among combat soldiers in Iraq were strongly associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, …
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Soldiers’ ills blamed on stress more than concussion
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
Many symptoms they report appear to be related to PTSD, not mild traumatic brain injury, research finds. By Denise Gellene, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer …
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John Cory: By the Numbers
Scoop.co.nz - New Zealand
My friend Britta Reque-Dragicevic is writing a book on PTSD because she has come to know and care and wants to do something. Her sister has just completed a …
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Study: Soldiers’ stress linked to brain injury
The Virginian-Pilot - Norfolk,VA,USA
“We found that the symptoms and health concerns that we expected to be due to the concussion actually proved to be more strongly related to PTSD” …
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Group organizing help for veterans
Mount Vernon News - Mount Vernon,OH,USA
Veterans of the Army Reserve and the National Guard are seeing PTSD rates as high as 40 percent, said Larry Waltman, spokesman for the newly organized …
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Deepwater man on trial for 96 sex-related crimes
Montgomery Herald - Montgomery,WV,USA
Dr. Aditya Sharma, who diagnosed the girls with PTSD and treated them for such, described â€œflashbacks and nightmaresâ€ of sexual molestation that they have …
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Wounds of the mind and heart: Rescuing the child soldier
San Francisco Bay View - San Francisco,CA,USA
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurs in people following the experience or witnessing of horrific events such as disaster casualties or motor …
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Distorted thinking on military mental health
Foreign Policy (subscription) - USA
It is accused of more or less painting veterans as murderers and sensationalizing the plight of those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). …
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Illinois vets first to get mandatory screening for head injuries
Medill Reports - Chicago,IL,USA
Illinois vets from all wars will also have access to the TBI screening and the PTSD helpline. The traumatic brain injury screening tool was developed at the …
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Illinois Warriors Assistance Program includes TBI screenings and …
IGNN (press release) - IL,USA
â€œMany of our service members are facing multiple deployments and the number of Veterans suffering from TBI and battling PTSD is only growing as the wars in …
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Veterans help VA
The News-Review - Roseburg,OR,USA
Five members of the In Country Vets Motorcycle Club brought 14 boxes full of gifts, primarily for patients with posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. …
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Study: PTSD, not brain injury, may cause vets’ symptoms
CNN - USA
Forty-four percent of these soldiers ended up with PTSD. Researchers were surprised to find symptoms normally associated with concussions — headaches, …
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PTSD Is Main Cause of Vetsâ€™ Symptoms, Not Brain Injury
dBTechno - Boston,MA,USA
The big picture and point here is that the authors of the report want soldiers to know that PTSD and depression may be a major problem for their symptoms …
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Disentangling Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Stress Reactions
New England Journal of Medicine (subscription) - MA,USA
If Hoge and colleagues had not assessed for PTSD and depression, the possible conclusion from this study would have been that mild traumatic brain injury is …
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More veterans returning home with PTSD
phillyBurbs.com - Philadelphia,PA,USA
One in six veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from the disorder and one in three show symptoms of the disorder, also known as PTSD, …
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Authors Study Effects of War
Knoxville News Sentinel - Knoxville,TN,USA
The book is their second collaboration on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Hundreds of veterans of the nation’s last four major wars have committed …
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The State of the Wars, Military, and Veterans
Yahoo! News - USA
… from the largest suicide rate in 20 years to delayed onset of PTSD, which are both related to the length and number of deployments. …
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McCain: â€˜There Will Be Other Warsâ€™
Outside the Beltway - VA,USA
â€œAnd right now - weâ€™re gonna have a lot of PTSD [post traumatic stress disorder] to treat, my friends,â€ he said. â€œWeâ€™re gonna have a lot of combat wounds …
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Lawmakers, Advocates Call on Bush for 9/11 Health Funds
New York Sun - New York,NY,USA
One in eight rescue workers enrolled in the World Trade Center health registry suffered from PTSD as a result of working at the site of the terrorist …
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Returning vets symposium planned
The Tribune-Democrat - Johnstown,PA,USA
Caulfield said that PDVR/VRP has been working with providers of treatment for soldiers suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), …
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Treatment helps Ranger with PTSD rise above incident on plane …
Great Falls Tribune - Great Falls,MT,USA
“And they said my score was so bad, there was no way I could have that much PTSD.” Prosecutors dropped their request for a prison sentence for disrupting …
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In More US Court Cases, Combat Trauma Is Taking The Stand
Free Internet Press - New York,NY,USA
Born during the Vietnam War era, the combat version of what became known as the PTSD defense is being dusted off for a new generation of war veterans. …
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Trauma of Iraq too real for vets
GoErie.com - Erie,PA,USA
Counselors at the Erie Veterans Affairs Medical Center also have seen an increase in PTSD cases. The hospital’s behavioral-health unit saw 1979 Vietnam …
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The Reality of Readjustment
Military.com - USA
Student veterans with extreme physical trauma are sent to MacDill Air Force Base, and those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are treated at the …
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Parents of Iowa veteran hope legislation will help prevent more …
Quad City Times - Davenport,IA,USA
â€œThey will get the attention they need if they show a tendency or a sign or concern about PTSD,â€ Boswell said. The law also supports outreach and education …
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The toxic workplace: On the rise
Toronto Star - Ontario, Canada
TTC drivers, who report these problems more than any other workers in Ontario, suffered PTSD at a rate four times that of Toronto police officers, …
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Possible PTSD Legislation
WDIO-TV - Duluth,MN,USA
In an hour long emotional meeting, Cheryl Softich and Congressman Jim Oberstar discussed the troubles facing our soldiers. Rep. …
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Today’s news in health
Prince George Citizen - Prince George,British Columbia,Canada
In 2002, before large-scale deployments of troops to Kandahar, the ombudsman’s office issued a critical report on PTSD that contained 31 recommendations for …
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House Subcommittee Considers VA Health Care Bills
U.S. Medicine - Washington,DC,USA
“Thirty per cent of veterans returning are being diagnosed with PTSD. Less than half of those are receiving the care they require. …
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VA says disability claim rare
Press-Register - al.com - Mobile,AL,USA
… course on April 21, 1975, and also reflects that a VA analyst has since diagnosed him as having PTSD as a result of the waterboarding that he described. …
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Ombudsman probes how PTSD affecting troops returning from Kandahar …
The Canadian Press -
In 2002, before large-scale deployments of troops to Kandahar, the ombudsman’s office issued a critical report on PTSD that contained 31 recommendations for …
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More must be done for PTSD vets, panel says
NavyTimes.com - Springfield,VA,USA
Most veterans receiving disability benefits for PTSD and other mental health issues are from the Vietnam era, but Scott said VA needs to be prepared for …
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Medtronic Sprint Fidelis Lead Caused PTSD, Lawsuit Claims
Newsinferno.com - New York,NY,USA
Medtronic has been sued by a man who says a faulty Sprint Fidelis Defibrillator Lead caused him to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). …
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Trauma workshop today
PSU Daily Vanguard - Portland,OR,USA
Posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is, according to the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs, a psychiatric stress disorder that follows …
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72000 American casualties: toll of war on terror
The Herald - Glasgow,Scotland,UK
It also showed 52375 veterans had been diagnosed with PTSD and 34138 have received approval for disability claims for the psychological disorder. …
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Our Montana National Guard members need our help
Liberty County Times - Chester,MT,USA
We have other families who are facing a financial crisis because of issues related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Members have been unwilling to …
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Military tactics no use against drugs
Montgomery Advertiser - Montgomery,AL,USA
There is no sane, logical explanation for ever placing an Iraq war veteran, who might have a real bad case of PTSD, in charge of provocative, rebellious, …
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Iraq vet kicked out of treatment may be jailed
Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription) - Minneapolis,MN,USA
The court had ordered treatment for PTSD instead of jail after Tony Klecker killed a teen in a drunk-driving accident. Tony Klecker, who killed a teenager …
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The FREAK-est Links
New York Times Blogs - New York,NY,USA
Is PTSD the only result for Iraq veterans? Just how dangerous is personal data on the Internet? (Earlier) How do people describe themselves with one word? …
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Screw the Bandaids. Pull the Goddam Knife Out
OpEdNews - Newtown,PA,USA
… the subprime mortgage crisis, the 47 million without health insurance, the hundreds of thousand of troops coming home with head injuries or PTSD… and …
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Letters - Wednesday
Colorado Springs Gazette - Colorado Springs,CO,USA
Some suggest that members of the military and veterans make fraudulent PTSD claims to obtain Veteranâ€™s Administration â€œlifelongâ€ benefits. …
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Charity to combat soldier mental health issues
Craegmoor News - UK
The charity will offer a dynamic treatment to military personnel who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of experiencing upsetting …
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â€˜War is Coming Homeâ€™ to roost in our lives
The Rolla Daily News - MO, United States
As Lawrence Sherman, director of the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology remarked, â€œThe real tragedy in these veteransâ€™ cases is that, where PTSD is a factor, …
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Bringing the war home
Edmonton Journal - Edmonton,Alberta,Canada
With Canadian soldiers continuing to die in Afghanistan and NATO commanders facing new US criticism of their fighting tactics there, Kevin Patterson thinks …
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EDITORIAL: In sickness and in health
McGill Tribune (subscription) - Montreal,Quebec,Canada
Thousands of former Canadian soldiers like Bell suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)-and that number will only grow with long-term Canadian …
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PTSD Combat and Suicide: The Price of Battle
Salem-News.Com - OR,USA
I have written before in several PTSD articles that the VA has not and can not provide adequate services to even a small fraction of PTSD veterans. …
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More mental health woes for the US military
Foreign Policy Passport - USA
He doesn’t disagree: I can’t completely, honestly say that, yes, PTSD was the sole cause of what I did. I don’t want to use it as a crutch. …
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New charity for military
Charities Aid Foundation - West Malling,England,UK
With military personnel often experiencing horrific events while in action, it is no surprise that many develop of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in …
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Psychologist’s book dissects trauma of war
El Paso Times - El Paso,TX,USA
What inspired your interest in this area of psychology — war/combat/conflict and PTSD? A My cousin, Marcia Gates, an Army nurse, was a prisoner of war in …
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Charity to help war veterans
The Press Association -
Many men and women suffer from some form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and the PTSD Resolution Project has been set up to offer help …
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The Toll - 1/20/08 - The Dilemma of Veterans’ Crimes
Gather.com - Boston,MA,USA
While the signature wounds from our current wars are brain injuries, in the form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD’s), as in Walter’s case, …
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PTSD trebles among troops
News-Medical.net - Sydney,Australia
There has been a threefold increase in new cases of self reported post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among combat-exposed military personnel since 2001 …
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Veterans battling PTSD, depression
Times-West Virginian - Fairmont,WV,USA
Itâ€™s not only the nearly 3000 of the stateâ€™s 6400 veterans of those conflicts who are affected by PTSD or depression, said Dr. Joseph R. Scotti. …
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Iraq War’s punishing toll on veterans
Sioux Falls Argus Leader - Sioux Falls,SD,USA
About one in six of the 750000 US veterans who have been to the Middle East have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, according to …
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Back from war, but not the same
Houston Chronicle - United States
But even those who do not have PTSD can benefit from counseling, he added. Velasquez said he resisted at first, but because of the free medical service he …
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Tester: More must be done for veterans
The Missoulian - Missoula,MT,USA
The letter cited a McClatchy News Service report that found Montana’s Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been given PTSD disability ratings far below those …
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JRRD Publishes Review of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Mild …
Newswise (press release) - USA
Based on recent studies of combat veterans, brain injury, acute stress disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been linked. …
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PTSD Triples Among Military
PsychCentral.com - Boston,MA,USA
Wednesday, Jan. 16 (Psych Central) — Self-reported post-traumatic stress disorder has elevated 3-fold among combat-exposed military personnel since 2001, …
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Senators call for inquiry into vets’ mental-health care
Great Falls Tribune - Great Falls,MT,USA
PTSD cases are ranked by severity with a 100 rating being the most severe; and Finally, the Rocky Mountain District, including Montana, ranked last in what …
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Agenda Over Women’s Health: LAT Continues Abortion Falsehoods
NewsBusters - USA
Second - The Times is also grossly irresponsible to deny that abortion causes post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in many women. …
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Changing thought patterns crucial in treating Post Traumatic …
U.S. European Command (press release) - Stuttgart,Germany
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, occurs when a person gets “stuck” in the grip of that fear. The cause, though not completely understood, …
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Veterans tell Tester concerns about care
Billings Gazette - MT, USA
“There are too many people coming back from Iraq with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) symptoms who are left to self-medicate,” Vietnam veteran Pete …
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RX for Big Pharma - heal thyself. Hey, try this pill.
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
As reported by the Washington Post and the Guardian, as far as PTSD alone is concerned, some docs already see MDMA as potentially lifesaving, a true wonder …
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Montana senators call for investigation into VA mental health care
KPAX-TV - Missoula,MT,USA
A letter has been drafted to the VA Inspector General, asking for a thorough review of any ’significant disparity’ in post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD …
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Fuel on the fire: adding more war vets to the nationâ€™s PTSD population
Bay Area Indymedia - San Francisco,CA,USA
Victims of violent crime, catastrophic events and war, children in particular, have a high incidence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), …
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Army Secretary Vows More Support for Deployed, Families
WRAL.com - Raleigh,NC,USA
The Army also is working beef up psychiatric treatment for soldiers, especially recognizing post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, Geren said. …
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Husband Abandons Young Wife for the “Free Love” Movement
PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA
Ella learned through years of counseling that she had been suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Complex PTSD, Dissociative Identity …
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Caring for Mental Health
American Chronicle - Beverly Hills,CA,USA
A person must be exposed to a traumatic event to suffer from PTSD and the symptoms must be present for a year or greater. But even this is not a complete …
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Vets Cleared to Sue US over PTSD Claims
OneWorld.net - London,England,UK
… San Francisco has cleared the way for a major national class action lawsuit on behalf of veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). …
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Study: Majority of Sderot children exhibit symptoms of post …
Ha’aretz - Tel Aviv,Israel
The study found 28 percent of adults and 30 percent of children in Sderot have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study was conducted by Dr. Rony …
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Price tag is $52 million for one new school; PTSD bond vote date …
Port Townsend Leader - Port Townsend,WA,USA
By Blythe Lawrence, Leader Staff Writer The Port Townsend School District 50 Board of Directors has not yet set a date when voters could be asked to pay a …
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More Vets Diagnosed With PTSD
Dog Flu Diet and Diseases - Brantford,Ontario,Canada
January 16 2008 - Results of a new study finds that the rate of post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD has trippled amongst war veterans since 2001. …
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Video game helps Iraq war veterans battle post-traumatic stress
Hilton Head Island Packet - Hilton Head Island,SC,USA
… at the University of Southern California are using to help war veterans deal with the debilitating symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. …
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Readers’ Forum: Jan. 15, 2008
Terre Haute Tribune Star - Terre Haute,IN,USA
Many of us remember, and had to live with, the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that arose after Vietnam. Warfare has now escalated to such a highly …
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Federal Judge Permits Class-Action Lawsuit To Proceed Against VA
InjuryBoard.com - Tampa,FL,USA
The ruling affirms the rights of veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to sue in federal court over the huge backlog of claims, …
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PTSD and Murder Among Newest Veterans
Yahoo! News - USA
The trend of our newest veterans being involved in killings on the homefront can be largely attributed to four letters — PTSD. Our failure to properly …
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The Wacko-Vet Myth
The Weekly Standard - USA
It also quoted criminologist Lawrence W. Sherman: “The real tragedy in these veterans’ cases is that, where PTSD is a factor, it is highly treatable. …
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Article on Veterans Committing Murder Stirs Debate
Newsweek - USA
Writing for the Huffington Post he used the article as a launching pad for highlighting the continued issue of PTSD among veterans. …
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in Brief
Annals of Family Medicine - USA
This study describes factors related to depression or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among pregnant Latinas in Los Angeles, California, …
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What do the Presidential Candidates offer Veterans?
OpEdNews - Newtown,PA,USA
Will help for PTSD be made available to veterans for their entire lives or only in the first few years after discharge? Many veterans never admit to PTSD …
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Soldier haunted by war, leaving comrades on front
Spartanburg Herald Journal (subscription) - Spartanburg,SC,USA
In 2005, he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and has since been medically discharged and denied entrance into any military programs, …
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Traumatised veterans ‘have killed 120 in US’
Independent - London,England,UK
The disorder has been a major concern since veterans’ associations found that 15 per cent of Vietnam vets still suffered from PTSD a decade after the …
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Echoes Of Foreign Battles Heard In Vets’ Crimes
TheDay - New London,CT,USA
Today the focus is on PTSD, but military health care officials are seeing a spectrum of psychological issues, with an estimated half of the returning …
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Majority of Psychiatric Patients Suffer from More Than One Disorders
MedIndia - Chennai,India
Patients with principal diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and bipolar disorder had the highest number of diagnoses. …
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Across US, lines of battle remain blurry for some veterans
Houston Chronicle - United States
A well-respected and decorated non-commissioned officer who did not want to endanger his chances for advancement, O’Neil did not seek help for the PTSD that …
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Veterans Day in Court
TIME - USA
The suit claims that the VA violates the constitutional rights of PTSD victims by denying them medical care and benefits as well as the power to hire …
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Most psychiatric patients have more than 1 diagnosis
HULIQ - Hickory,NC,USA
Patients with principal diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and bipolar disorder had the highest number of diagnoses. …
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Yoga Nidra: Pretzel-free relaxation
IdahoStatesman.com - ID,USA
The protocol is being used at Walter Reed Army Hospital with active duty soldiers suffering from PTSD, insomnia and anxiety from wartime experiences. …
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Study: September 11 Caused PTSD, Extreme Anxiety
Associated Content - Denver,CO,USA
Her team found that within a few days after the attacks, 10.7% of the individuals suffered from some form of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) including …
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Desensitizing Soldiers to Horrors of War Could Distort Their …
MedIndia - Chennai,India
This guilt manifests itself as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and it has damaged the lives of thousands of men who performed their duty in combat.
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Veterans’ groups win PTSD ruling
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
… veterans’ civil rights by taking too long to provide mental-health care and disability benefits, and in some cases denying them completely, for PTSD. …
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Shocking Details About Men Charged with Roscoe Soldier Murder
WIFR - Rockford,IL,USA
“I hear them talk of PTSD That’s no excuse. They made a conscious choice to pull that trigger,” says Debra Pearson, Kevin Shields’ mother. …
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World Trade Center Causing Heart Problems
InjuryBoard.com - Tampa,FL,USA
… traumatic stress disorder after 9/11. This study has found that for those that suffered from PTSD had more than double the risk of suffering heart problems.
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Local Veteran Receives Recognition Six Decades Later
WNBC - New York,NY,USA
Hall said that all members of the military must be screened for PTSD when they are discharged, not just those who show signs of problems or ask to be …
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Hughes on Future Neurotech for Future Problem Solvers
Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies - Hartford,CT,USA
The case of PTSD” Neurotechnology â€“ Neurotechnology is technology that makes it possible to manipulate the brain. Already one young patient has had a chip …
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Blame stress for just about everything
Hindustan Times - India
Researchers now say these brain changes are at the heart of the link between stress and depression as well as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). …
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Notable cases involving Carson vets
Colorado Springs Gazette - Colorado Springs,CO,USA
Marquezâ€™s public defenders attempted to introduce PTSD as a possible defense, but dropped the effort when a judge ruled against them, court records show. …
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Predictors of Enduring PTSD After an Industrial Disaster
Psychiatric Services (subscription) - USA
Fifteen months after the explosion, the 200 participants who responded to the second survey were sent the same questionnaire assessing PTSD symptoms, …
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WELCOME TO THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN COMMUNITY
Scientific American - USA
Meanwhile, studies in adults with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) related to either early childhood abuse or adult traumas like combat have found …
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Understanding the have-knots: The role of stress in just about …
EurekAlert (press release) - Washington,DC,USA
And recent research shows that PTSD may be the result of stressors adding up like building blocks, remodeling the plastic brain in a cumulative rather than …
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Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders Among Toronto Hospital Workers …
Psychiatric Services (subscription) - USA
Only one health care worker who identified the SARS experience as a traumatic event was diagnosed as having PTSD. New episodes of psychiatric disorders …
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Collateral damage: The murder of Richard Davis
Belfast Telegraph - United Kingdom
Much was made of the influence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) â€“ mental instability provoked by war â€“ on their actions. In this interview, his only …
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City reservist gets three years for sex assault on recruit
Edmonton Sun - Alberta, Canada
… has been damaged irreversibly,” she said, telling court she now suffers from depression and is being treated for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). …
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Phoebe to get funds for PTSD
Albany Herald On-line - Albany,GA,USA
By some federal estimates, about 18 percent of war veterans have PTSD, sometimes referred to as â€œshell shock.â€ â€œThere is a menacing, silent, deadly illness …
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Center for war stress on drawing board
Moultrie Observer - Moultrie,GA,USA
An estimated one in five men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan will suffer the effects of PTSD at some point in their lives, said Bishopâ€™s press …
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Soldier sentenced to 3 year’s prison
Edmonton Sun - Alberta, Canada
… damaged irreversibly,â€ she said, telling court she now suffers from depression and is currently being treated for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). …
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Recruit relieved at soldier’s 3-year sentence
CBC.ca - Alberta, Canada
She said she’s tried to commit suicide and is being treated for PTSD. “I have forgiven him for what he’s done, even if he won’t admit what he has done,” …
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Women are serving with honor in Iraq
Clarksville Leaf Chronicle - Clarksville,TN,USA
This isn’ta case of PTSD, it’s a case of concurrent receipt. I’m sure the VA will award her at least a 50 percent disability rating, which means her …
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Retired Air Force Major Offers Hope and Understanding to Returning …
Christian News Wire (press release) - Washington,DC,USA
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, roughly thirty percent of these soldiers can expect to experience PTSD sometime in their lifetime. …
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Post Traumatic Stress
KSPR - Springfield,MO,USA
As the global war on terror sends more troops on longer and more frequent deployments, PTSD is having a devastating impact on the military family. Maj. …
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Continue to serve
Daily Press - Newport News,VA,USA
As many as one in five Iraq veterans meets the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. And if this war has a signature wound, it’s traumatic brain injury. …
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Scocos looks ahead on veterans issues in 2008
Wisconsin Radio Network - Madison,WI,USA
“And when we talk about new programs we need to look at how we can continue to work with PTSD â€“ Post Traumatic Stress Disorder â€“ also the Traumatic Brain …
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Fairness for vets
News & Observer - Raleigh,NC,USA
They’ve been to war, and they’ve come home with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other serious mental ailments. The Department of Veterans Affairs …
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Reservists hard hit by public antipathy to war
Times Online - UK
It found that as many as 6 per cent, or about 700, of the 12000 reservists who have served in Iraq may be suffering from PTSD and that rates of depression …
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Brit Probably Bipolar
TMZ.com - Glendale,CA,USA
PTSD can manifest years after a single traumatic event, and may be triggered by a situation that seems similar. With those who have undergone trauma, …
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Soldier faces huge hurdles recovering from wounds
Midland Daily News - Midland,MI,USA
Now he’s part of the Wounded Warrior Program at Womack Army Medical Center in Fort Bragg, NC His injuries are serious and besides PTSD include traumatic …
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Problems with the post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis and its …
British Journal of Psychiatry (subscription) - UK
Yet, applications of the PTSD â€˜modelâ€™ have been extended to an increasing array of events and human reactions across diverse cultures. …
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Presidential Candidates On Veterans, Part II
Newsweek - USA
… post contains five more front-runners: JOHN EDWARDS: In November Edwards laid out a $400 million, five-point plan to aid in treating veterans with PTSD. …
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Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Press Releases January 2008
Politics.co.uk - London,UK
Studies carried out in the year after the disaster reported a significant prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but little is known about its …
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More women soldiers return with PTSD
United Press International - USA
WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (UPI) — Thousands of US military women are serving in what amounts to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and large numbers of them are …
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Veterans and PTSD
Windy City Times - Chicago,IL,USA
Evan Kanter, MD, Ph.D., staff psychiatrist in the PTSD Outpatient Clinic of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, said, â€œThe most common [ of mental …
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Son’s suicide prompts mother of Iraq vet to act
WCCO - Minneapolis,MN,USA
She said that although he grappled with PTSD, he would also routinely would miss his counseling appointments. Softich thinks there should be a “Noah …

PTSD Vets Montana: Oncoming Disaster
Salem-News.Com - OR,USA
… a travesty above and beyond the comprehension of me and probably any and all combat survivors and especially those with mind and soul destroying PTSD. …
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Mental toll of war hitting female servicemembers
USA Today - USA
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The military’s mental toll of war has historically hit men. But more women are joining these ranks. …
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Soldiers at war can escape blast shrapnel, yet suffer brain injuries
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
Anger outbursts, in particular, can be a sign of concussion, or PTSD, said Dr. Evan Kanter, a psychiatrist who works at the University of Washington and the …
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Shock Wave: When the Guard comes home
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
The symptoms of brain injury can mimic, or overlap with, PTSD, a phenomenon the military has only recently begun to address. The military is sufficiently …
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A soldier’s words push a mother to act
Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription) - Minneapolis,MN,USA
Raising awareness about PTSD is a mission of the post, which was chartered in April and has about 35 members: A lot of Vietnam vets are saying, …
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Scientists Probe PTSD Effects, Treatments
Journal of American Medical Association (subscription) - Chicago,IL,USA
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than 5 million individuals in the United States have PTSD in any given year. …
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From the Jungles of Southeast Asia to the Deserts of Southwest …
PR.com (press release) - Levittown,NY,USA
Tripwire strips away the falsehoods and specters that PTSD embeds in its victims, forcing it into the light of truth where it can be seen for what it really …
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Violent attacks trigger post-traumatic stress
ic Wales - United Kingdom
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating consequence of having been involved in, or witnessing, alarming events, from natural disasters to …
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‘Returning home is a unique experience for each soldier’
Muncie Star Press - Muncie,IN,USA
Not everyone who has been in combat automatically suffers from PTSD, he said, “but it is common.” “One of things most important (to returning veterans) is …
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FIGHTING AN ONGOING WAR
The State - Columbia,SC,USA
… the troops readjust to civilian life and treating any fallout from their year in Afghanistan â€” particularly post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. …
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Treatment of the victims of trauma
Adv Psychiatric Treat (subscription) - USA
[Abstract/Free Full Text] National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (2005) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Management of PTSD in Adults and …
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California center offers free therapy for veterans with PTSD
KOAA - Pueblo,CO,USA
Returning troops can now get help for drug and alcohol addiction for free, thanks to a California rehab center that’s decided to step in and help addicted …
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Statistics contradict praise of mental health programs Mental …
Great Falls Tribune - Great Falls,MT,USA
On the more specific measurement of treating post-traumatic stress disorder, the Rocky Mountain region was last in the number of specialized PTSD treatment …
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At Fort Monroe, let history provide a blueprint
Daily Press - Newport News,VA,USA
Let Fort Monroe lead the way in treating PTSD and TBI, from whatever source, by partnering with the Veterans Administration hospital, Hampton University …

US police slogan: Go out, Cause PTSD
PRESS TV - Tehran,Iran
The US police face a new scandal after revelation that the slogan of one its academies is ‘Cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)’. …
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Police academy slogan stirs controversy with veterans
KTVB - Boise,ID,USA
“Donâ€™t suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it.” The police academy’s director was mortified when he learned about the slogan. A local counselor who sees many …
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ID police academy ‘mortified’ by PTSD slogan
Twin Falls Times-News - Twin Falls,ID,USA
The program read, “Don’t suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it.” Jeff Black, who heads up the academy in Meridian, Idaho, where the latest class graduated …
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Acquired brain injuries can stop PTSD
Craegmoor News - UK
“It appears that if you have damage to either of those areas, you’re not likely to develop PTSD,” said Dr Grafman of the research team. …
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Government ignores veteran and soldier suicides
Party for Socialism and Liberation - USA
An Iraq war veteran suffering PTSD, he tried to check himself in to a VA psychiatric unit in Minnesota. With the aid of his parents, he explained to his …
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Virginia AMVETS post named for Iraq veteran who committed suicide
Dickinson Press - Dickinson,ND,USA
“In naming this post Noah C. Pierce AMVETS Post 33, we wish to give Noah a fitting memorial, raise community and public awareness of PTSD and in some way …
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The following editorial appeared Saturday in the Chicago Tribune:
Arizona Daily Star - Tucson,AZ,USA
Under this law any person in the Military or Veteran that has seeked mental help (PTSD) will not be allowed to own a weapon. It’s been tried before in …
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No veteran left behind
MetroWest Daily News - Framingham,MA,USA
“PTSD is the signature injury of this current war,” Verga said. “I don’t think there’s anything that can match it.” Verga said the committee is working on a …
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Letter: A Call To Soldiers
Yankton Daily Press (subscription) - Yankton,SD,USA
These wounds, commonly known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), run deeper than any cut to the flesh and must be treated in order to live a full and …
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Emotional Support Dog Helps In PTSD Recovery
WKRC TV Cincinnati - Cincinnati,OH,USA
Michelle completed a seven-week residential PTSD program, leaving with a new sense of confidence that the worst of her fears were behind her. …
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Certain brain injuries reduce PTSD risk
United Press International - USA
The participants were classified as either having developed PTSD at some point in their lifetime or having never developed PTSD. Computerized tomography …
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Paging Dr. Fear
Popular Science - New York,NY,USA
It could relieve soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or rid sexual abuse and rape victims of haunting memories. …
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‘Every year … we celebrate ‘Thank God I’m Alive Day’ ‘
Mail Tribune - Medford,OR,USA
Sunday: Suffering from PTSD after sustained combat in Baghdad, Christopher Kilian nearly landed in jail after returning home to Fieldbrook, Calif. …
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Tiger escapes, kills visitor and injures 2
Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Sarasota,FL,USA
This class came up with “Don’t suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it.” The disorder is blamed for nightmares, flashbacks and physical symptoms that make …
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Enthusiasm greets veterans’ art show
The Republican - MassLive.com - Springfield,MA,USA
“I went down there complaining about my hearing and found out I had PTSD,” Tencza said. “When you’re over there and you get involved in really horrible, …
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Idaho police academy ‘mortified’ by gung-ho PTSD slogan
Twin Falls Times-News - Twin Falls,ID,USA
The slogan, “Don’t suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it,” was emblazoned on the Dec. 14 graduation programs for 43 officers who completed the Idaho Police …
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Police Academy Class Slogan: Cause PTSD
The Columbian - Vancouver,WA,USA
According to the Veterans Association, tens of thousands of US soldiers suffer from PTSD, which causes nightmares, flashbacks and physical symptoms that …
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Coping with post-traumatic stress disorder during holidays
Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Sarasota,FL,USA
People with PTSD may have difficulties experiencing certain emotions, especially positive emotions. A person with PTSD may know that an event is enjoyable …
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PTSD Payments Vary State to State
Military.com - USA
Of those, more than 31000 have PTSD. Given the number of troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, that’s likely a fraction of what the total will be. …
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Health Highlights: Dec. 23, 2007
Washington Post - United States
People who have certain brain injuries are less likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a new study of combat-exposed Vietnam War veterans …
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Wounded Island soldier struggles with post-traumatic stress
CBC Prince Edward Island - Charlottetown,Prince Edward Island,Canada
His PTSD was diagnosed last month. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that give sufferers intense, prolonged feelings of fright and distress for no clear reason. …
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Dharamsala project to test Tibetan meditations efficacy against PTSD
Thaindian.com - Bangkok,Bangkok,Thailand
Based on the results of the study, a new means for treating victims of PTSD and combat soldiers returning from war or victims of natural disasters like …
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‘I believed in the commandment ‘thou shalt not kill’ ‘
Mail Tribune - Medford,OR,USA
Nearly 20 percent of Vietnam veterans suffer from PTSD, according to a 2006 study published in the journal Science. An anxiety disorder brought on by trauma …
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Head wounds can stop stress disorders, study shows
Guardian Unlimited - UK
The study raises the prospect of new treatments for PTSD, using drugs and other therapies to dampen down regions of the brain that become overactive in …
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Gary woman is paying her blessings forward
Gary Post Tribune - Gary,IN,USA
It all caught up to him earlier this year when he couldn’t shake the nightmares and the sadness; he had post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. …
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Study suggests some brain injuries reduce the likelihood of post …
EurekAlert (press release) - Washington,DC,USA
PTSD involves the persistent reliving of a traumatic experience through nightmares and flashbacks that may seem real. Twenty percent to 30 percent of …
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White City center helps vets combat the enemy within
Mail Tribune - Medford,OR,USA
About 12 to 20 percent of soldiers and Marines had PTSD after serving in Iraq, compared to 6 to 11 percent of Afghanistan veterans. …
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Be ashamed of veterans’ shabby treatment
MiamiHerald.com - Miami,FL,USA
But many of the VA hospitals didn’t have the PTSD programs that experts say are vital. Soldiers returning from Iraq are allowed to slip unnoticed into their …
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Number of jailed soldiers jumps in Springs
Colorado Springs Gazette - Colorado Springs,CO,USA
It was the fifth straight year with an increase in the number of soldiers being diagnosed with PTSD. â€œYou talk to some of these guys and you sense a lot of …
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More Good News from Iraq
Gather.com - Boston,MA,USA
These stats don’t take into account the worsening tragedy of returning vets with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The Army said that since the US went …
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Vets who have PTSD can get help in Modesto
Modesto Bee - Modesto,CA,USA
Modesto will soon have a center to serve a most deserving population — combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and their families. …
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No Peace For Peacekeepers
Torontoist - Ontario, Canada
There is a prominence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression in peacekeepers, suggests a new study [PDF] that also tries to shed light on …
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McClatchy Analysis Reveals State-to-State Variance in Mental …
Kaiser network.org - Washington,DC,USA
McClatchy found that PTSD ratings — which range from 0 to 100 — are far more likely to be higher at certain regional offices. The analysis showed that …
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Former security guard retains $2m payout
The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
A former Nationwide News security guard who developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following years of racial abuse by his supervisor has retained a …
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Is The Military Neglecting PTSD Troops?
CBS News - New York,NY,USA
Veterans advocates say itâ€™sa military-wide problem, where symptoms of PTSD - from substance-abuse to rage to suicidal depression - are misdiagnosed or …
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The War Over PTSD
CBS News - New York,NY,USA
“I’ve never had a guy in my unit develop PTSD,” one senior general from Iraq told me. ‘It’s nonsense.” “You’re only scratching the surface,” of cases from …
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Veterans’ disability payments for post-traumatic stress disorder …
Kansas City Star - MO,USA
Judging a condition such as PTSD, however, can be difficult, he said. So far, 1.5 million Americans have served in the global war on terrorism, …
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Actually, I Support Yesterday’s FCC’s Cross-Ownership Decision
Huffington Post - New York,NY,USA
… there would be less news about Britney (and her preggo sister), and more investigations about “stolen elections,” guys back from Iraq with bad PTSD, …
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My Twin’s have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder
Gather.com - Boston,MA,USA
They both are Bipolar with my daughter also having Schizoaffective Disorder and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). I thought I would share today with …
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Canadian peacekeepers also get PTSD
United Press International - USA
“The high rates of depression observed in deployed veterans can have a significant impact when they seek treatment for PTSD because depression must be …
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AMVETS Remember Soldier & Raise Awarness For PTSD
Northland’s NewsCenter - Duluth,MN,USA
By KBJR News 1 AMVETS Post 33 in Virginia now bears the name of Noah Pierce, a soldier from Gilbert who suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, …
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Local Start-Up Acquires Portfolio of Potential New Drugs Through …
PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA
… insomnia, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The agreement with the University of Nebraska Medical Center is the company’s second in six months. …
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Launch of Resolution - a New National Charity for Military PTSD …
The Open Press (press release) - USA
We have a network of 150 practitioners, highly experienced in this kind of PTSD work, so we can usually arrange treatment reasonably close to where you live …
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Ancient ways go around the world
Prescott Daily Courier - Prescott,AZ,USA
By Derek Meurer, The Daily Courier PRESCOTT - To Navajo medicine man Albert Laughter post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a curse. …
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Tibetan meditation and post-traumatic stress disorder
News-Medical.net - Sydney,Australia
Researchers are working with women diagnosed with PTSD who live in Amethyst House, a women’s treatment program for alcohol and drug addiction in Columbus. …
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War experience turns graduate in new direction
Dothan Eagle - Dothan,AL,USA
Fisher said more attention should be paid to PTSD and other disorders soldiers often experience after serving in the war. She said her own experience of …
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Boxer and Lieberman Pleased Defense Authorization Bill Includes …
All American Patriots (press release) - Taeby,NA,Sweden
… Armed Forces are afforded the finest treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury and mental health conditions, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). …
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Veterans Affairs Center soon to open in Heights
Killeen Daily Herald - Killeen,TX,USA
… will offer a number of services to combat veterans including: readjustment counseling for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), understanding PTSD, …
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Predicting Post-traumatic Stress Disorders In Deployed Veterans
Science Daily (press release) - USA
Psychiatrist J. Donald Richardson and his co-investigators also found that PTSD rates and severity were associated with younger age, single marital status …
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E. Everett McFall’s Book Demands Attention!
Gather.com - Boston,MA,USA
If you read nothing else, but the two pages, “The Valley of Despair, aka PTSD,” you will come face to face with a man’s deepest despair! …
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UNCUT CRITIC: In which we outline the weekend’s forbidden fruit on …
San Diego Union Tribune - United States
But when loud fake guns do a cameo in two current productions (and in a sketchy, post-9/11, mall-shooter world), some of us PTSD-types might like a little …
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Senate Committee Endorses VA Secretary Nominee James Peake
Kaiser network.org - Washington,DC,USA
Peake also said he would consider automatic acceptance of claims for PTSD by veterans with records that prove symptoms of the disorder. …
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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Prediction In Deployed Veterans
Medical News Today (press release) - UK
The rates of probable PTSD were 11% for those deployed once and 15% for those deployed more than once. The authors also found soldiers were more likely to …
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No Shortage of Recruits
Strategy Page - USA
During World War II, it was found that 200 days was the average combat exposure a soldier suffered before starting to experience debilitating PTSD …
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Galloway: Disgraceful treatment of veterans stains America’s honor
Salt Lake Tribune - United States
But many of VA hospitals didn’t have the special PTSD programs that experts say are vital. Soldiers returning from Iraq are allowed to slip unnoticed into …
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Veterans’ lawsuit moves forward
abc7news.com - San Francisco,CA,USA
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of veterans suffering from combat stress disorders like PTSD. “With all the experience I’ve had with the VA so far, …
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‘The American Veteran’ Targets TBI and PTSD
PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA
A second feature looks at the services available to any combat veteran suffering from the often debilitating effects of PTSD, as well as the benefits of …
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Full Text
Science Magazine (subscription) - USA
For example, the gold standard treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is cognitive behavior therapy that involves repeatedly and intentionally …
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Residents Hit By Hurricane Katrina Suffer Mental Illness
Medscape (subscription) - USA
Researchers used the K6 screening scale of anxiety mood disorders and the Trauma Screening Questionnaire for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). …
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Area veterans cope with post traumatic stress
KCBY.com 11 - North Bend,OR,USA
But he says, it can be treated and SOVO does offer resources like licensed psychiatrists and peer counselors to help veterans with PTSD and to let them know …
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Clinton To Bush:Rescind 9/11 Veto Threat
Wave of Long Island (subscription) - New York,NY,USA
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and other health effects have also been diagnosed among many of those who were exposed.
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Stress, depression high among Canadian peacekeepers
Western News - London,Ontario,Canada
By Communications Staff Canada’s peacekeepers suffer similar rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) as combat, war-zone soldiers, according to a …
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Hollywood wrongly depicting veterans
Zanesville Times Recorder - Zanesville,OH,USA
The recent letter to the editor by a writer about PTSD and depression leading to homelessness among our veterans has prompted me to write. …

Â County news briefs: Kish YMCA names new CFO
MidWeek - DeKalb,IL,USA
In 2005, after being moved by a news account of veterans of Iraq who had committed suicide, Meagher began collecting media reports of combat-related PTSD …
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February 17th, 2008 Posted by asstdirector | PTSD in the NEWS | no comments

Survivors of military sex trauma band together
Dayton Daily News (subscription) - Dayton,OH,USA
“She would have been arrested, court-martialed, and sent to the brig,” observed Susan Avila-Smith, director of VETWOW, an advocacy group for survivors of …

February 17th, 2008 Posted by asstdirector | vetwow/susan | no comments

Home from war, but not free of it
Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Sarasota,FL,USA
The Department of Veterans Affairs vastly underestimated the number of PTSD patients the war would generate, according to a January report by the advocacy …
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Brown’s legislation will help sufferers of post traumatic stress …
Mansfield News Journal - Mansfield,OH,USA
“We must protect our soldiers suffering from PTSD or TBI from getting lost in an administrative shuffle,” Brown said. “These brave men and women deserve …
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Congressman to visit Drum, discuss PTSD treatment
Watertown Daily Times (subscription) - Watertown,NY,USA
Mr. Murtha said he wants to know more about how PTSD is being handled at Fort Drum, where the 10th Mountain Division is one of the most heavily deployed …
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Vilseck unit soon to start PTSD forums
Stars and Stripes - Washington,DC,USA
The PTSD meetings â€” due to start in the next two weeks â€” will be for soldiers and spouses, he said. â€œSometimes you think you are the only person with this …
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Facing fears may be best way to combat PTSD, say doctors
Pueblo Chieftain - Pueblo,CO,USA
Edna Foa is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of a number of studies on treating PTSD. Dr. Matt Goodwin, a CMHIP psychiatrist and …
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CHESTERTON: Chesterton woman forms foundation to help fight PTSD
Munster Times - Munster,IN,USA
According to the VA’s National Center for PTSD, about 12 to 20 percent of returning Iraqi War vets come home with PTSD and 6 to 11 percent returning from …
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Researchers: PTSD Rates Increased by 61 Percent After Abortion
Lifesite - Niagara Falls,NY,USA
Almost one-fifth of the women had symptoms that met the criteria for PTSD, leading the authors to note that “high rates of PTSD characterize women who have …
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Soldier with PTSD waits for Army transfer from Miami jail
WWSB ABC 7 - Sarasota,FL,USA
AP - February 13, 2008 1:04 PM ET MIAMI (AP) - A soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder is being jailed in Miami on a desertion charge without seeing a …
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Study Finds Women Who Have Abortions Experience Post-Traumatic Stress
LifeNews.com - Helena,MT,USA
The results led the authors to note that “high rates of PTSD characterize women who have undergone voluntary pregnancy termination. …
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PTSD Linked to Chronic Inflammation and Early Death
MedPage Today - Little Falls,NJ,USA
Veterans diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder in the mid-1980s were more than twice as likely to die by 2000 as those who did not have a PTSD …
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Soldier with PTSD waits for Army transfer from Miami jail
Florida Times-Union - Jacksonville,FL,USA
… staffers at Fort Carson last spring, and told The Associated Press then that he had been diagnosed with PTSD in November 2006 after serving in Iraq. …
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PTSD Influences Long Term Health
PsychCentral.com - Boston,MA,USA
13 (Psych Central) — Research on Vietnam veterans finds that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) increases an individualsâ€™ risk for long-term health …
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Soldier with PTSD waits for Army transfer from Miami jail
KRDO - Colorado Springs,CO,USA
AP - February 13, 2008 1:04 PM ET MIAMI (AP) - A veterans group is criticizing the Army for not acting fast enough to transfer a man who has been jailed …
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Montana National Guard secures PTSD pilot program
Great Falls Tribune - Great Falls,MT,USA
By ERIC NEWHOUSE The Montana National Guard has been selected to start a national pilot program to perform additional mental health screenings on military …
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Collateral Damage
Free Times - Columbia,SC,USA
Many of the soldiers who are lucky enough to get home suffer tremendously with severe depression and PTSD more so than any other war, including Vietnam. …
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PTSD: A Medical Warning Sign for Long-term Health Problems
Newswise (press release) - USA
Newswise â€” Geisinger research finds that veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are as likely to have long-term health problems as …
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Helping Veterans Return From War and Prevent Suicide
WSHM-TV - Springfield,MA,USA
He he was distant and depressed, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The Lucey’s sought help from the VA Medical Center where no …
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Ex-Marine Vanishes After Combat ‘Flashback’
ABC News - USA
Hall’s family told authorities that the ex-Marine suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from the bomb blast, which reportedly killed a …
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BTSD Part II: Bush Traumatic Shock Disorder-The Search For A Cure!!
The Spoof (satire) - UK
Mid-Twenty- somethings suffering from PTSD without any traumatic event in their lives led Dr CT Cobb to do a little math. Seventeen is the common age of …
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War is Coming Home
Bay Area Indymedia - San Francisco,CA,USA
by peacehq ( ffpindy [at] hotmail.com ) War is the disease of which PTSD and other mental illnesses that plague our soldiers and veterans are merely …
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Missing Marine may have had PTSD triggered by playing Call of Duty
SlashGear - Scottsdale,AZ,USA
Surely most people out there have seen at least one of the Rambo movies. Basically, youâ€™ve got a Vietnam war vet thatâ€™s been through hell and comes home to …
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Breaking the Drug Taboo: Group of Traumatized Veterans Get …
AlterNet - San Francisco,CA,USA
An experimental study that treats PTSD veterans with the drug MDMA could make life after war a lot more livable. “We need to be positioning ourselves now to …
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Virtual Reality Used to Treat Traumatized Vets
Wall Street Journal - USA
Academic researchers and military docs are developing virtual reality simulators with the hope of treating PTSD by exposing veterans to video game-like …
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Knowledge for Nurses at Career Fair
Nurse.com - Falls Church,VA,USA
Those who attend Terkâ€™s presentation, â€œCare of Patients with Acute PTSDâ€ will be able to define PTSD; discuss current treatment options; …
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How high the toll before the war ends?
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - Rochester,NY,USA
Even more worrisome to me was that more than 9 percent of 1706 soldiers who had not been injured nonetheless had PTSD. The implications of these data are …
See all stories on this topic

Charlotte Officials still Searching for Missing Ex-Marine
eFluxMedia - USA
Hallâ€™s family believe the boy may be wandering in the nearby woods, as he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) under the impression that …
See all stories on this topic

BC-ME-GEN–Iraq-Soldier Trial, 1st Ld-Writethru,1108
PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung) - Wien,Austria
Culp also said military interrogators exploited his client’s PTSD when they interviewed him about the events. Dr. Rosemary Carr Malone, a Navy major, …
See all stories on this topic

Â Easing their troubles
Journal Live - Newcastle upon Tyne,UK
He believes the scheme â€“ which involves ex-service personnel with PTSD being referred to him by SSAFA â€“ is the only one of its kind in the country. …

Â A colourful way to reduce stress
Daily Mail - UK
Steve was diagnosed with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The strain of his illness has affected Sarah so badly that she was registered …
See all stories on this topic

PTSD, Charles Schulz, and Snoopy: A Super Paradox
Salem-News.Com - OR,USA
PTSD comes in many different forms. Some veterans become psychopathic killers. After all, they were trained to become this. Some become total recluses and …
See all stories on this topic

Private Battle, Part 2
WCAX - Burlington,VT,USA
Dubie says in addition to the casualties in Iraq, too many Vermonters suffer from PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injuries– or TBIs– which include concussions. …
See all stories on this topic

Mounting social distress among returning US troops
World Socialist Web Site - Oak Park,MI,USA
After returning from a tour in Iraq, where he had been assigned the task of handling dead bodies, Oâ€™Neil exhibited increasing paranoia and symptoms of PTSD. …
See all stories on this topic

EYE ON YOUR HEALTH: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
WINKNEWS.com - Fort Myers,FL,USA
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal, or after someone got hurt …
See all stories on this topic

Private Battle: Preview
WCAX - Burlington,VT,USA
And there are a few reasons: the constant danger and explosions in Iraq, more awareness about PTSD, and because the National Guard has been called to duty …
See all stories on this topic

Depression tied to early death
Health24.com - Cape Town,South Africa
The same was not true, however, of people with a history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to the researchers, led by Dr Leslie S. Kinder …
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VFW Post Gets $150K For Repairs
Suffolk Life Newspapers - Riverhead,NY,USA
My son is 24 years old and is suffering from PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder]. He’s in a VA [Veterans Affairs] facility now. …
See all stories on this topic

PTSD vets tell their stories through dance
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
But then she began talking to veterans with PTSD. “I realized that disability is not necessarily visible, especially when you consider that traumatic brain …
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VETERANS JOURNAL - Second Wind Foundation Offers New Help for PTSD …
Black Enterprise - New York,NY,USA
The inception of the program follows the recent Department of Veterans Affairs reports that the number of veterans diagnosed with PTSD increased by almost …
See all stories on this topic

Mind-Brain Connection: PTSD and Concussions
GNIF Brain Blogger - Los Angeles,CA,USA
Nearly 44% of soldiers who lost consciousness were diagnosed with PTSD, compared with 27% of those who had concussions but remained conscious, …
See all stories on this topic

Private Battle, Part 1
WCAX - Burlington,VT,USA
He says some soldiers may have PTSD and not know it. A diagnosis could take years. “The more trauma you’re exposed to the more likely you will develop PTSD …
See all stories on this topic

Trauma: Emergency Resuscitation, Perioperative Anesthesia, and …
Journal of American Medical Association (subscription) - Chicago,IL,USA
The chapter on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) emphasizes the importance of this disease process, not only in patients with traumatic brain injury but …
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Private Battle: Preview
WCAX - Burlington,VT,USA
Military officials say nearly half of all National Guard members suffer from PTSD or traumatic brain injuries caused by explosions in Iraq. …
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Suicide Rates at All-Time High Among Active-Duty Soldiers
Science in the Headlines - Washington,DC,USA
Those who were deployed and have PTSD in particular tend to report more symptoms and poorer health. PTSD often occurs in conjunction with other anxiety …
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Soldiers’ Murder Cases May be Joined
My Fox Colorado.com - Denver,CO,USA
Thatâ€™s not PTSD. Thatâ€™s just a human being without any respect for life.â€ Robert James, 23, was robbed, shot and killed and his body left in the parking lot …
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Stressed and Tired Have a New Name: CSS
CareStation - San Ramon,CA,USA
When these elevated hormone levels are coursing through your veins for a prolonged period, symptoms similar to post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, …
See all stories on this topic

February 17th, 2008 Posted by asstdirector | PTSD in the NEWS | no comments

Free workshop offered for women in military
TheReporter.com - Vacaville,CA,USA
Speakers will give updates on benefits, women’s health issues, post traumatic stress disorder, military sexual trauma and other issues concerning women …
See all stories on this topic

Soldiers, families struggling to adjust
East Valley Tribune - Mesa,AZ,USA
… government agencies and church and community groups will learn about post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and military sexual trauma …
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Senator Seeks Help For Survivors Of Military Sexual Trauma
TheDay - New London,CT,USA
According to the Veterans Administration, 19 percent of women who have sought health care in the VA were diagnosed as victims of military sexual trauma. …
See all stories on this topic Does a rapist deserve a military burial?
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
A 2003 Veterans Administration report on military sexual trauma estimated that 60% of women in the Reserves and National Guard experienced rape, …
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Silenced Casualties
American Chronicle - Beverly Hills,CA,USA
… full of stories from sexual assault victims suffering not only from residual effects of their physical injuries but from MST, Military Sexual Trauma. …

Support the Troops Unless They are Raped by Troops
ZNet - Woods Hole,MA,USA
… they have to deal with the Department of Defense which offers inadequate, shoddy, and pathetic resources for victims of “military sexual trauma. …Sexually traumatized female vets will get VA help
Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription) - Minneapolis,MN,USA
… in Bernards Township, NJ, will be the only residential program in the VA system devoted solely to treating women who experienced military sexual trauma. …
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us to open facility to treat sexually traumatized female veterans
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer - Columbus,GA,USA
… only residential program in the national va health care system devoted to solely treating women who experienced what is known as military sexual trauma, …

PTSD Among Military Personnel: A Review
By wpman
Military service at a younger age, less military and professional experience, occupational trauma involving extensive exposure to death and dying were associated with poor post war adjustment (Paul, 1985). Army nurses with less than two …Â Across the area
Augusta Chronicle (subscription) - Augusta,GA,USA
Understanding Warning Signs and Effective Treatment - Oct. 26: Lorraine Braswell, staff psychologist and military sexual trauma coordinator at the …
See all stories on this topic

February 17th, 2008 Posted by asstdirector | MST in the NEWS | no comments

N O T I C E

^{FREE TO ACTIVE DUTY FREE TO ALL VETERANS}

ALL ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY, ALL

VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Southwest Arizona Stand Down is back for itâ€™s 3^RD annual event in Yuma. This year weâ€™ll be providing all these free services: Hot meals, hot showers, fresh clean clothing, shoes, Medical, Dental, Hearing and Optical Clinics,VA Reps, DES Reps, Legal Assistance, Family Assistance, Job Opportunities, blankets, backpacks, BDUâ€™s, care kits, womenâ€™s needs, haircuts, child and pet care, live entertainment and most of all, the camaraderie and family atmosphere that South West Arizona Stand Down is known for. Weâ€™ll be adding a few goodies this year like drawings for bicycles, tarps, bungees, folding chairs, cell phones and calling cards, sleeping bags, portable stoves, battery operated shavers & radios, etcâ€¦

FRIDAY LIVE ON STAGE SATURDAY

DJ EDDIE LINDA CLATONE

TOMMY & THE DRIFTERS DJ EDDIE

TOD HOWARTH (CHEAP TRICK) PAUL STEFAN

HIWAY 61 LEAVINâ€™ RUSTON

MARK GOEFFNEY & BIG TOE SLICK NICKEL

Also appearing: US Congressman Raul Grijalva, Senator Amanda Aguirre, Representatives Lynne Pancrazi and Teresa Ulmer, Mayor Larry Nelson, veterans of all eras, and Stand Downâ€™s successful alumni

FREE TO ALL ACTIVE DUTY PERSONNEL AND ALL VETERANS

Come join your brothers and sisters. Take advantage of these free opportunities to make life a little easier. Work with caring people who want you to feel at home, and be part of this annual event thatâ€™s become so much a part of our community. We provide free transportation to and from the event, so check out Yumaâ€™s own, Z93 for more information.

SOUTH WEST ARIZONA STAND DOWN 2008

14, 15, 16 MARCH 2008

Desert Sun Stadium

YUMA, ARIZONA

REMEMBER, WEâ€™RE HERE FOR YOU, AND NOTHING HAS A PRICE AT STAND DOWN. ITâ€™S JUST ABOUT VETS HELPING OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, SO COME ON DOWN AND TAKE FEW DAYS OFF AT OUR PLACE

SOUTH WEST ARIZONA STAND DOWN IS A CLEAN, SOBER AND WEAPONS-FREE EVENT PROVIDING FOR THE NEEDS OF ALL ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY PERSONNEL AND ALL VETERANS.

(928) 503-0552, 24/7

February 17th, 2008 Posted by asstdirector | Uncategorized | no comments

Press Release Regarding the Murder of Maria Lauterbach

Press Release Regarding the Murder of Maria Lauterbach

Posted Friday January 11, 2008Â

San Miguel de Allende, Gto, Mexico, Seattle, Washington, and Phoenix, Arizona,Â U.S.A.

It is with heavy hearts that the women and men of vetwow.com are compelled, once again, to recognize and publicize the inexplicable and tragic loss of another rape victim who came forward to testify against her perpetrator. We refuse to put the term, â€œallegedâ€ in that phrase because it does not do justice to Maria Lauterbachâ€™s strength and fortitude to carry on in the face of such adversity.

We are alarmedÂ by the appearance of impropriety on behalf of the Marine Corps. We are concerned thatÂ this will be yet one more dangerous precedent set for Military Sexual Trauma victims service wide. Mariaâ€™s status as UA [unauthorized absence] SHOULD have been alarming because of herÂ late termÂ pregnancy,Â and her status as a victim-witness in a sexual assault.Â Â These circumstances aloneÂ should have inspired her command superiors to protect her from unwanted attention and violent assault.

Many members of our organization have come forward with accounts that bear striking similarities to this case.Â Victim character assassination, lack of meaningful protection, and the horror of having to live and work in close quarters with one’s attacker[s]are all-too common occurrances in these situations.

We would like to remind the public of what is lost in this case and every case like it where rape victims living or deceased are thrown away:

One of your best and brightest

A patriot

A young mother

A constituent

A future leader

A child that never took a breath whose lost potential cannot be calculated.

A trained professional

And the belief that our military, and our government can be trusted to care for its own.

All of that is gone.

Our prayers and hearts go out to Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child, and all those individuals who held her dear.

###

Call to Action

We encourage the public to pressure the military to change it’s way of handling sexual assault cases.Â The perpetrator should be punished and the victim protected.Â Please inform military recruits that they have very little to no Â support if they are assaulted.Â

www.vetwow.com Provides liaison services for accessing VA benefits and treatmentÂ for active duty and veteran military sexual assault victims.

Contact Information

Susan Avila-Smith

Director, Vetwow

smith715@comcast.net

Currently in Mexico.Â I can be contacted by phoneÂ through Skype.com at my email address, orÂ

text your number toÂ 206-999-4133, and I will return your call.Â

The Rev. Dorothy Mackey

STAAAMP

dmack500@aol.com

Phoenix, AZÂ cell: 480.686. 6785

February 7th, 2008 Posted by asstdirector | Maria Lauterbach | no comments

Veterans not entitled to mental health care, U.S. lawyers argue

Veterans have no legal right to specific types of medical care, the Bush administration argues in a lawsuit accusing the government of illegally denying mental health treatment to some troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The arguments, filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, strike at the heart of a lawsuit filed on behalf of veterans that claims the health care system for returning troops provides little recourse when the government rejects their medical claims.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is making progress in increasing its staffing and screening veterans for combat-related stress, Justice Department lawyers said. But their central argument is that Congress left decisions about who should get health care, and what type of care, to the VA and not to veterans or the courts.

A federal law providing five years of care for veterans from the date of their discharge establishes “veterans’ eligibility for health care, but it does not create an entitlement to any particular medical service,” government lawyers said.

They said the law entitles veterans only to “medical care which the secretary (of Veterans Affairs) determines is needed, and only to the extent funds … are available.”

The argument drew a sharp retort from a lawyer for advocacy groups that sued the government in July. The suit is a proposed class action on behalf of 320,000 to 800,000 veterans or their survivors.

“Veterans need to know in this country that the government thinks all their benefits are mere gratuities,” attorney Gordon Erspamer said. “They’re saying it’s completely discretionary, that even if Congress appropriates money for veterans’ health care, we can do anything we want with it.”

The issue will be joined March 7 at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti, who denied the administration’s request last month to dismiss the suit. While the case is pending, the plaintiffs want Conti to order the government to provide immediate mental health treatment for veterans who say they are thinking of killing themselves and to spend another $60 million on health care.

The suit accuses the VA of arbitrarily denying care and benefits to wounded veterans, of forcing them to wait months for treatment and years for benefits, and of failing to provide fair procedures for appealing decisions against them.

The plaintiffs say that the department has a backlog of more than 600,000 disability claims and that 120 veterans a week commit suicide.

In his Jan. 10 ruling that allowed the suit to proceed, Conti said federal law entitles veterans to health care for a specific period after leaving the service, rejecting the government’s argument that it was required to provide only as much care as the VA’s budget allowed in a given year. A law that President Bush signed last week extended the period from two to five years.

In its latest filing, however, the Justice Department reiterated that Congress had intended “to authorize, but not require, medical care for veterans.”

“This court should not interfere with the political branches’ design, oversight and modification of VA programs,” the government lawyers argued.

They also said the VA “is making great progress in addressing the mental health care needs of combat veterans.” Among other things, they cited a law passed in November that required the department to establish a suicide-prevention program that includes making mental health care available around the clock.

The VA has hired nearly 3,800 mental health professionals in the last two years and has at least one specialist in post-traumatic stress disorder at each of its medical centers, the government said.

Since June, government lawyers said, the VA has had a policy that all veterans who seek or are referred for mental health care should be screened within 24 hours, that those found to be at risk of suicide should be treated immediately, and that others should be scheduled for full diagnosis and treatment planning within two weeks. A new suicide-prevention hot line has been responsible for “more than 380 rescues,” the lawyers said.

Erspamer, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, was unimpressed.

“Nowhere do I see any explanation of what kind of systems they have in place that deal with suicidal veterans,” he said. “There’s no excuse for not spending the money Congress told them to spend on mental health care and leaving $60 million on the table when people are going out and killing themselves.”

E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com.

February 5th, 2008 Posted by asstdirector | PTSD in the NEWS | no comments

Why did it take a near-tragedy for the Army to do the right thing in the Whiteside case?

Why did it take a near-tragedy for the Army to do the right thing in the Whiteside case?
Sunday, February 3, 2008; B06

“ONE OF THE Army values is integrity, which is defined as doing what is right, legally and morally. The moral thing to do is dismiss these charges . . . . ” That recommendation of an Army investigator more than a month ago in the case of 1st Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside was not acted on until after this vulnerable young woman attempted suicide a second time. The delayed reaction offers another troubling glimpse into the military’s attitude about mental health issues.

Lt. Whiteside is the 25-year-old Army reservist who faced a court-martial after she suffered a breakdown and tried to commit suicide in Iraq. Post reporters Dana Priest and Anne Hull chronicled her story: how she had a spotless record; how she had been harassed by a superior and how she snapped one night in war-torn Baghdad, pulling a gun on a superior before shooting herself in the stomach. The diagnosis of her psychiatrists that she suffered significant mental illness was brushed aside by her commanders, who saw it as an excuse and pressed ahead with charges. In December a hearing officer sided with the doctors and recommended against a court-martial. To do so, he said, would be “inhumane,” but no action was taken. Nor could Lt. Whiteside and her attorneys get any answers. Distraught about her legal limbo, she attempted suicide last Monday, and, with The Post again looking into the circumstances, the charges were finally dropped.

The mishandling of this case is indicative of a military culture dismissive of psychiatric ills as real sickness. Those who seek treatment are too often stigmatized and punished. How else to explain the worry of service members who say they fear being labeled as weak? Think of the message that was sent by the Army’s pursuit of Lt. Whiteside and its apparent reluctance to do the right thing.

The case is also a poignant illustration of the dramatic rise of suicides and attempted suicides in the Army. A draft internal study obtained by The Post showed suicides among active-duty soldiers increased nearly 20 percent in 2007, to the highest level since the Army began keeping such records in 1980. The numbers of attempted suicides and self-inflicted injuries also are increasing.

The Army, to its credit, is paying new attention to mental health issues, including hiring more service providers and putting in place new assessments. The Wounded Warrior legislation increases the coordination between the military and the Veterans Affairs Department for treating troops and veterans with mental health issues. The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Bill, which improves the VA’s suicide prevention procedures, was signed by President Bush in the fall. None of those efforts will succeed, though, if not accompanied by a change in culture and leadership in the Defense Department. Lt. Whiteside, in a desperate note, put it this way: “I’m very disappointed with the Army.”

Between the lines

Between the lines

Sunday, Feb. 03 2008

“I want to speak directly to our men and women on the front lines. You have
done everything we’ve asked of you and more. Our nation is grateful for your
courage.”

So spoke President George W. Bush in his State of the Union speech last week.
We don’t question his sincerity. But our nation â€” and especially Mr. Bush’s
administration â€” seems to have a funny way of showing its gratitude.

Item: The number of regular Army and National Guard troops who killed
themselves, or tried to, was up again last year. As many as 121 soldiers
committed suicide in 2007, a 20 percent increase over 2006. Since 2002, the
number who attempted or committed suicide has increased six-fold, from 350 to
about 2,100 last year.

The leading cause, military officials say, is failed personal relationships,
followed by legal and financial problems. Speaking of difficult personal
relationships, the Pentagon extended normal combat tours from 12 to 15 months
last year.

Item: Army officials at Fort Drum in upstate New York last year instructed
Veterans Administration representatives not to help injured soldiers fill out
disability paperwork, National Public Radio reported last week. The paperwork
is crucial to get disability payments and qualify for continued care.

Army policy allows the help. But members of a special Army investigative “Tiger
Team” that visited Fort Drum last year apparently decided it was inappropriate.
They asked administrators at the VA’s regional office in Buffalo to stop the
practice.

In 2006, NPR reported that soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder at Fort
Carson, Colo., were being forced out of the military, shunned or discouraged
from getting care.

Item: Nine months after VA Secretary Jim Nicholson promised to set up new
traumatic brain injury screenings for combat veterans, the VA is having trouble
working out the kinks. Officials still are trying to decide if the tests are
reliable. Meanwhile, thousands of Iraq war veterans may have received
inadequate care because doctors failed to notify them they’d tested positive.

Item: About one in every six soldiers or Marines returning from Iraq has
suffered at least one concussion, often from roadside blasts, according to a
large-scale study paid for by the Army and published last week the New England
Journal of Medicine. Those soldiers are at increased risk for post-traumatic
stress disorder.

Soldiers involved in the study had been home from Iraq for three to four
months. Those who’d had concussions were more likely to report lingering
symptoms such as headache, poor sleep and balance problems.

In his speech last week, Mr. Bush said “we must keep faith with all those who
have risked life and limb so that we might live in freedom and peace.” He has
said something similar in each State of the Union speech since he ordered the
Iraq invasion in 2003. But there is an obvious disconnect between his words
and his actions.

Somewhere between the well-crafted lines of Mr. Bush’s speech and the blurred
front lines of wars he started in Iraq and Afghanistan lie thousands of injured
veterans who still aren’t getting the care they need or the benefits they have
been promised. Mr. Bush has 11 months to make good on his promise. Congress
should help him. Americans should insist on it.

_____________________________________________________________________

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February 5th, 2008 Posted by asstdirector | PTSD in the NEWS | no comments

Protests Planned for Army Specialist Who Went AWOL After Charging Sexual Harassment

Thursday, July 13th, 2006
‘Meet Me in Fort Lewis’ - Protests Planned for Army Specialist Who Went AWOL After Charging Sexual Harassment

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Army Specialist Suzanne Swift remains confined to base. She went AWOL when the military did not address her charges of sexual harassment and abuse. We take a look at sexual harassment in the military. [includes rush transcript]

We take a look at the case of Suzanne Swift. She is the Army Specialist who has been arrested and confined to base for going AWOL after her charges of sexual harassment and assault went un-addressed by the military.
Swift served in Iraq for a year but decided she could not return and went AWOL. She said her superiors repeatedly sexually harassed her while serving in Iraq. On June 11th, the Eugene police knocked on her mother’s front door and Suzanne was arrested and taken to the county jail. She has since been transferred to Fort Lewis Washington where she is confined to her base. So far, no charges have been filed against her and Fort Lewis officials have said they will assign an independent investigator to look into her charges of sexual harassment.
Suzanne Swift turns twenty-two on Saturday. Her family and supporters are urging a national day of action on her behalf. A “Meet Me in Fort Lewis” rally and vigil are planned for noon outside Fort Lewis. Another in her hometown of Eugene, is planned for noon at the Federal Building.
A few days ago, we brought you Suzanne Swift’s mother, Sara Rich. Today we bring you Suzanne Swift’s grandfather, Jim Rich. I spoke with him at the Oregon Country Fair near Eugene.
Jim Rich, Suzanne Swift’s grandfather.
For more on the issue of sexual harassment in the military we are joined by:
Susan Avila-Smith, a Military Sexual Trauma Specialist and founder and director of Women Organizing Women, an advocacy group for survivors of rape in the military.
More information at SuzanneSwift.org. Email Suzanne Swift’s mother, Sara Rich, at formydaughtersuzanne@yahoo.com
We invited a representative from Fort Lewis military base to be on our program but they declined our request.

RUSH TRANSCRIPT
This transcript is available free of charge. However, donations help us provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution.
Donate - $25, $50, $100, more…
AMY GOODMAN: Today, we bring you Suzanne Swift’s grandfather, Jim Rich. I spoke with him at the Country Fair. I asked him how he felt when Suzanne first joined the Army.
JIM RICH: I was very sorry when she succumbed to the blandishments of a very smooth-tongued recruiter. And I thought when she decided not go back, she had made the best possible decision, considering the things that she had gone through, things that no male soldier would ever, ever, ever in his wildest dreams have to endure.
I hope that justice is served. I hope that light is shown on this aspect of the Army that makes women recruits the prey of sexual predators, and that Suzanne is honorably discharged. I also hope that the rest of our soldiers get to come home soon, and no more sent.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Jim Rich, Suzanne Swift’s grandfather. He’s also a blacksmith, and he was at the Oregon Country Fair, made the iron tools for the new film Pirates of the Caribbean.
Well, we’re joined on the phone right now by Susan Avila-Smith. She’s a Military Sexual Trauma Specialist, founder and director of Women Organizing Women, an advocacy group for survivors of rape in the military. We invited a representative from Fort Lewis military base, where Suzanne is confined, to be on our program, but they declined our request.
Susan Avila-Smith, thanks so much for being with us. I realize it’s tough for you to come out of your recovering from cancer, and yet you have chosen to take the time to stand up for Suzanne. Why?
SUSAN AVILA-SMITH: Good morning. Well, I think it’s an extremely important problem going on in the military right now, and they continue to keep sweeping this under the rug. Congress has done multiple investigations, but they have made no changes to any of the accountability within the military. And it’s really time that somebody stands up, and the fact that Suzanne stood up and went AWOL is showing how bad the problem is.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And you had an opportunity to meet with her. In terms of her experiences, how they compare to others that your organization has dealt with in recent years?
SUSAN AVILA-SMITH: The experience that she’s had has been similar to the 600 other cases that Iâ€™ve had. It’s usually a command rape. It’s usually covered up. It’s usually that they try to persecute the victim, rather than persecute the perpetrators.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And have there been any instances where actual rapes or assaults have been prosecuted by the military?
SUSAN AVILA-SMITH: Yeah, there’s been a few, usually the high-profile cases, and sometimes, you know, justice is done. There’s been a 30-year sentence. But generally speaking, of the hundreds and thousands — there’s probably a hundred thousand women who have been raped over the lifetime of women in the service — generally speaking, no, the perpetrator usually is running free, and the victim is usually kicked out of the military.
AMY GOODMAN: Susan, can you tell us your own story, how you got involved with helping women in the military?
SUSAN AVILA-SMITH: When I was in, I experienced some domestic violence and sexual assault, and both times it was dismissed by the military. When I finally got out, I was in a women’s support group at the Seattle V.A. and found out that so many women had been raped in the military, and nobody really knew what to do. And the paperwork to file claims with the V.A. was impossible for anybody with post-traumatic stress disorder. And so we got together and started helping other women with the paperwork, and it evolved into helping other women nationwide with claims as old as from World War II. And now Iâ€™m doing a lot of active duty cases.
JUAN GONZALEZ: In Suzanne Swift’s case, apparently she was asked to fill out a 700-question psychological questionnaire. It seems to me quite extreme in the situation that she was under. Do you have similar instances where those who have come forth, the target then has been on them and on their psychological situation?
SUSAN AVILA-SMITH: Yeah. That was also the same with the Sergeant Audra Wood. I think it’s very typical of the military to do an MMPI on the soldiers. Unfortunately, they’re doing it on the victims, rather than the perpetrators. But it also — it does help to find a baseline to see if there is damage to the victim and to see if there’s mental health counseling that needs to be taken care of and addressed.
AMY GOODMAN: In the case of Suzanne Swift, and we’ve talked to her mother several times, she says that when she was in Iraq and she got into a vehicle with a sergeant, he immediately talked about having sex with her. Even back at Fort Lewis at the base, when she showed up and asked where she should report for duty, she said another sergeant said, â€œIn my bed, naked.â€ Right before July 4th weekend, at the big formation where hundreds of soldiers are there, the person in charge said he wanted 21-year-olds to step forward to tell them, you know, they shouldn’t be drinking on July 4th weekend. And then he said, â€œAnyone who has gone AWOL in the last six months I want to step forward.â€ And, of course, Suzanne was the only one to step forward. Then, she was also that week earlier taken for this psych evaluation without telling her mother, without telling her attorney, taken alone until her mother raised such a fuss she was taken back from the psych testing area, though she had to take it the next week.
What about the response of the military in all of these cases, and her saying she even went to her E.O. officer in Iraq, equal opportunity, to complain about harassment, and the message that was sent when he did nothing about it?
SUSAN AVILA-SMITH: Well, she has followed the chain of command or attempted to follow the chain of command, which has failed her. And they have reprimanded the first sergeant who singled her out at formation. And I don’t believe that that’s going to be happening again. She’s currently with a new command, who has been sensitive to her needs and is acting, what I believe, above and beyond what a normal military command would do. They recognize that this is a high-profile case, and they seem to be now doing the right things for her.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And also, the issue of the impact of war itself on these situations, are you finding that the number of victims is greater in war situations, like in Iraq or Afghanistan, than it is in peacetime efforts of the military?
SUSAN AVILA-SMITH: It’s a little bit more during the war, but I think maybe perhaps people are reporting a little bit more. It continues to go on stateside, continues to go on overseas at other bases. Generally speaking, the concept of sexual assault in the military is handled the same and is the same on every single base.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Susan Avila-Smith, you’re well known in the Puget Sound area as an advocate for sexually assaulted military veterans, have been working very hard on this. Again, you’ve been going through radiation. And you’re quoted in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer saying, â€œCancer is curable. PTSD is not.â€
SUSAN AVILA-SMITH: Well, coming to terms with having my own PTSD has taken about a decade to learn to manage my symptoms, rather than my symptoms managing me. Iâ€™m lucky that Iâ€™m a highly functional person with PTSD, because I sought treatment very early on, after I was diagnosed. And as a result, my level of functioning is good, and that’s my hope for Suzanne, is that she gets out and she’s able to get the treatment that she needs so that she can deal with this. As far as my cancer goes, it’s a bump in the road. It’s kind of unfortunate, because Iâ€™m not able to help the number of women that need help, but Iâ€™m not looking at this as, you know, a life-threatening illness or something that’s going to be continuing to linger like my PTSD.
AMY GOODMAN: Susan Avila-Smith, we thank you very much for joining us, founder and director of Women Organizing Women, an advocacy group for survivors of rape in the military. Again, protests are planned for Eugene and outside Fort Lewis, â€œMeet Me in Fort Lewis,â€ in Washington state, for Suzanne on her birthday on Saturday and, her mother says, for all women in the military to protect them. The website, suzanneswift.org. The email address is formydaughtersuzanne@yahoo.com.
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