Mr. Kristof details the sad – but all too-often heard tale – of the debilitating problems of headaches, fatigue, insomnia and fainting spells that threatened to destroy his life and that of his family caused by repeated concussions while serving in Iraq. Unfortunately, Major Richards can’t get adequate treatment to deal with the injuries he has received serving our country. More disturbing is the fact that this growing problem is rarely addressed by either candidate running for President. As ...
Continue Reading →Senate Unanimously Approves National PTSD Awareness Day
The United State Senate unanimously approved legislation authored by
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The event is part of Senator Conrad’s continuing efforts tobring greater awareness to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”), a severe anxiety disorder often associated with having experienced the trauma of combat.
For the third year in a row the Senate passed Senator Conrad’s resolution designating June 27 as National Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day. The day is intended bring greater awareness about PTSD and help eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health issues.”National ...
Continue Reading →PTSD and the VA: A Disservice to Disabled Troops
In an editorial opinion published in the New York Times on May 26th entitled ”
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The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have repeatedly promised to do a better job of handling the medical evaluations of wounded and disabled service members. Instead, they are doing worse.
The processing of disability cases is getting slower, not faster. Efforts to ensure a “seamless transition” out of the military are falling short. Men and women are languishing without treatment, struggling to readjust ...
Continue Reading →The Tragic Cost of PTSD: Anyone Listening?
Daily, SFTT receives disturbing reports of the tragic consequences of post traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”) among our brave warriors returning from the front lines of Afghanistan and Iraq. With a returning veteran committing suicide every 80 minutes, the ongoing tragedy has triggered the well-deserved attention of investigative journalists, but it still does not resonate in the corridors of power, much less public opinion. This is an unfolding tragedy of our own making and – make no mistake – we ...
Continue Reading →PTSD: The Chain of Hypocrisy
Discussing war is never an easy topic, since most people have very strong views. Personally – and I don’t speak for SFTT on this issue – I tend to agree with Marcus Tullius Cicero who said that “An unjust peace is better than a just war.” Now, one can read whatever they want to into that quotation, but Cicero was the ultimate politician scheming to keep his head in the Roman Senate while far more powerful political and military leaders ...
Continue Reading →PTSD and Alienation
Daily SFTT receives gut-wrenching stories of warriors suffering from PTSD. For many of us, it is difficult to comprehend what goes on in the minds of these veterans and, unfortunately, we are left with the bitter after-taste of the harm they are causing to themselves and their loved ones. We would like to lend a helpful hand, but most of don’t know where to start. This poem from Universal Blogger is one person’s attempt to explain the alienation ...
Continue Reading →PTSD: Happy Talk from the Spin Masters
I have never believed that one becomes wiser with age, but I do believe that watching the same sitcom over and over dulls your interest for the inevitable punch line. Our military seems to react publicly in lock-step trying to explain the shocking story of a decorated Army Staff Sergeant who allegedly murdered 16 Afghan civilians. This horrific incident has caused great distress within the ranks of active duty personnel and it is quite understandable that senior officers would try ...
Continue Reading →PTSD: The Emperor has no clothes
My dad, a retired Air Force officer, used to tell me as a kid that “If you don’t have anything smart to say, keep your mouth shut.” Now I don’t always follow this advice, but I do think that society would be better served if we kept disingenuous chatter to a minimum. Sadly, it would seem that our leaders – both civilian and in the military – are unable to keep their mouths shut when they have little to contribute ...
Continue Reading →PTSD: A Question of Diagnosis
The recent decision by the US Army to sack PTSD screeners at the Madigan Army Medical Center for questionable diagnoses raises more questions that it actually answers.
As reported by Hal Benton in the Seattle Times, “the Army Medical Command has identified some 285 Madigan Army Medical Center patients whose diagnoses of they went through a screening process for possible medical retirements, according to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.”
The issue here is not to determine whether there has been any ...
Continue Reading →Dr. Henry Grayson on PTSD
Over a week ago, I attended a fascinating lecture and discussion with Dr. Henry Grayson, Chairman of SFTT’s Medical Task Force, on the exploration of new treatments for veterans suffering from PTSD. The meeting was hosted at the headquarters of the Organization for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) in midtown NYC.
The meeting was designed to explore some of the new methods to treat veterans with PTSD. Together with the physicians and clinical psychologists ...
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