Editor’s Pick
FEBRUARY 9, 2009 3:40PM
Rate: 18 Veterans suffering from emotional and mental trauma which we now call PTSD is certainly devastating. Though today's access to treatment and support is botched, limited and greatly underdone, at least it exists. We all know that treatment for visible injuries is inadequate within the VA system.
Hopefully the Obama administration can start producing adequate and applicable resources for the numbers of people who need to be treated. including the family who also suffers right along with the Veteran they love.
What about the older Veterans? Since PTSD became an actual DSM diagnosis in the 80's can one then say that it didn't present in troops in any other war before that time? Obviously not. But we often speak about in terms of Viet Nam, the Gulf War, and Iraq/Afghanistan.
All wars subject troops to witness or be the target of unspeakable action that scars the soul. Each war, while virtually the same, is vastly different in operation just by the simple fact of geography, technology, and government.
My father, a WWII Vet, was a troubled man. As a child born more than a decade after the war ended, I knew little difference. But there were plenty of stories about who he was before the war and the differences were clear. While he was never on the front in those foxholes, he was there on the front in a supporting position and was witness to things that gave him his own personal demons and clearly made a difference in his mental health.
I inherited hundreds of letters from him to my mother that she carefully pasted into leather scrapbooks, envelopes and all, covering his entire term in the army. Reading through them you can follow the deterioration of his mental well being, ending with his short lived euphoria about returning home. He never ever spoke of anything having to do with those years ever again. It was as if they did not exist.
But since those memories stayed within, they managed to grow legs and become apart of who he became. Lonely, yet he had family. Selfish, yet he reached out to others when he briefly came out of those moments. Angry at little provocation. Bigoted in a global way, when his own family was the target of bigotry growing up. Unpredictable, manic, depressed, euphoric and weighted were the moods we became accustomed to living with.
Before the 80's the labels were a little more creative: shell shocked, fatigue, exhaustion, soldier's heart, chronic fatigue syndrome (hey, at least that sounds like a diagnosis). I am guessing that my dad would fall under the "soldier's heart" label more easily than the other. I think his heart just broke at what he saw. And as a Jew, I think it broke even more at what he witnessed. Many of those slaughtered were distant relatives who never made it to America with the earlier generation. I think he must have also had a bit of survivor's guilt.
Interestingly PTSD is being diagnosed in elderly Veterans, called late onset PTSD. Though this may be what mental health specialists are seeing, I would bet that there were lots of other behaviors that were manifested after the war, a very long time ago that just got integrated into everyday mannerisms and everyone just lived with it.
Years later, after his insurance ran dry, he died in an overcrowded, understaffed VA hospital with his hands tied to the bed rails because there just wasn't enough staff to monitor him after his stroke.
There is nothing more critical for each soldier than the solid knowledge that they will be taken care of for the remainder of their life, with dignity and adequate state-of-the-art resources, whether their injury is visible or bubbles up over time from the inside out. It is the least we can do. And the least we can do for their families who suffer along right beside them.
Are you listening President Obama?
What about the older Veterans? Since PTSD became an actual DSM diagnosis in the 80's can one then say that it didn't present in troops in any other war before that time? Obviously not. But we often speak about in terms of Viet Nam, the Gulf War, and Iraq/Afghanistan.
All wars subject troops to witness or be the target of unspeakable action that scars the soul. Each war, while virtually the same, is vastly different in operation just by the simple fact of geography, technology, and government.
My father, a WWII Vet, was a troubled man. As a child born more than a decade after the war ended, I knew little difference. But there were plenty of stories about who he was before the war and the differences were clear. While he was never on the front in those foxholes, he was there on the front in a supporting position and was witness to things that gave him his own personal demons and clearly made a difference in his mental health.
I inherited hundreds of letters from him to my mother that she carefully pasted into leather scrapbooks, envelopes and all, covering his entire term in the army. Reading through them you can follow the deterioration of his mental well being, ending with his short lived euphoria about returning home. He never ever spoke of anything having to do with those years ever again. It was as if they did not exist.
But since those memories stayed within, they managed to grow legs and become apart of who he became. Lonely, yet he had family. Selfish, yet he reached out to others when he briefly came out of those moments. Angry at little provocation. Bigoted in a global way, when his own family was the target of bigotry growing up. Unpredictable, manic, depressed, euphoric and weighted were the moods we became accustomed to living with.
Before the 80's the labels were a little more creative: shell shocked, fatigue, exhaustion, soldier's heart, chronic fatigue syndrome (hey, at least that sounds like a diagnosis). I am guessing that my dad would fall under the "soldier's heart" label more easily than the other. I think his heart just broke at what he saw. And as a Jew, I think it broke even more at what he witnessed. Many of those slaughtered were distant relatives who never made it to America with the earlier generation. I think he must have also had a bit of survivor's guilt.
Interestingly PTSD is being diagnosed in elderly Veterans, called late onset PTSD. Though this may be what mental health specialists are seeing, I would bet that there were lots of other behaviors that were manifested after the war, a very long time ago that just got integrated into everyday mannerisms and everyone just lived with it.
Years later, after his insurance ran dry, he died in an overcrowded, understaffed VA hospital with his hands tied to the bed rails because there just wasn't enough staff to monitor him after his stroke.
There is nothing more critical for each soldier than the solid knowledge that they will be taken care of for the remainder of their life, with dignity and adequate state-of-the-art resources, whether their injury is visible or bubbles up over time from the inside out. It is the least we can do. And the least we can do for their families who suffer along right beside them.
Are you listening President Obama?
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Comments
So true and so sad. My grandfather came back from WW I with scars and he was never the same, my relatives tell me. He was a medic in the fields and it affected him, his future, and sadly he let alcohol take over.
Painful to read but necessary.
Painful to read but necessary.
Thank you for telling this story. It's funny; there's been quite a bit of work on the shell-shocked veterans of WWI, but not a lot on WWII. Your father needed help he never got. Even now, when we know what it is, people are still not getting help. Thank you so much for the heartbreaking historical perspective.
Thank you for telling this story. It's funny; there's been quite a bit of work on the shell-shocked veterans of WWI, but not a lot on WWII. Your father needed help he never got. Even now, when we know what it is, people are still not getting help. Thank you so much for the heartbreaking historical perspective.
Thank you very much.
Rated
Rated
This is a touching but all too common story. The manner in which America has treated its veterans after the fighting has ended is disgraceful. After the Vietnam War, many veterans found their way to the Big Island of Hawaii where they sort of disappeared in the wild, jungle-like landscape. One veteran, when interviewed for a story, said that he would go berserk and fire his pistol at anything and everything. He choose the Big Island because, he said, no one would be around to observe his behavior or hear the gunshots. I don't know the outcome of his story, but I detected inner shame at his inability to control his moods. Sad. Thanks for writing the story of your dad. cy
Thank you for writing this.
There are thousands of stories like this. Thanks for writing such a heartfelt and informative post.
Thanks. That's all I can say, thanks.
MJ
MJ
Thanks. For my dad it was Korea and Vietnam. He was never diagnosed with anything, but it took him decades to understand how to express his rage without hurting people.
Wow. Powerful. My own uncle came back from WW II with stress induced diabetes which eventually killed him.
Thank you everyone. It surely is something that every one of us has witnessed or been through. It helps knowing we aren't alone with this. Let us hope that the future is not more of the same.
L&P, to paraphrase Richard Dreyfuss from "Jaws", when addressing the Mayor of Amity Island he said, "I know some people aren't going to be convinced that this shark exists until it swims up and bites them in the ass!" Well, that's PTSD for you. Unless someone has experienced it, or lived with someone who has experienced/experiences it, they will never be empathetic to it.
It's so sad, but it's awfully true. I keep hoping that the only good thing that could ever come from these wars is the light shed on PTSD and especially considering the use of "Stop Loss" and it's indemnifying of PTSD exponentially.
(rated)
It's so sad, but it's awfully true. I keep hoping that the only good thing that could ever come from these wars is the light shed on PTSD and especially considering the use of "Stop Loss" and it's indemnifying of PTSD exponentially.
(rated)
Greg Thomas,
I note you use the word empathetic rather than sympathetic.
Empathy implies a sense that action may be required to help a person or a group in need.
Sympathy can be a rather cheap emotion, like wearing costume jewelry. It can be expressed in a reception line, or maybe at a funeral. A person can express "sympathy" while dabbing a tear in the eye with a hankie, and make a great show, blubbering a bit if tears come - yet do nothing. It's like saying, "I feel your pain."
As far as veterans, their families, and there needs go - in terms of the national obligation - we need to feel and express genuine empathy, bear witness, and resolve to act.
I note you use the word empathetic rather than sympathetic.
Empathy implies a sense that action may be required to help a person or a group in need.
Sympathy can be a rather cheap emotion, like wearing costume jewelry. It can be expressed in a reception line, or maybe at a funeral. A person can express "sympathy" while dabbing a tear in the eye with a hankie, and make a great show, blubbering a bit if tears come - yet do nothing. It's like saying, "I feel your pain."
As far as veterans, their families, and there needs go - in terms of the national obligation - we need to feel and express genuine empathy, bear witness, and resolve to act.
So "their."
Rather than make a pitch to fix the VA system, we should have health care for all. Why pick and choose "deserving" groups? Yes, vets should have decent health care, but so should the rest of us.
I have often thought that all of America deserves as good health care as my family gets from my husband's service (which is pretty good). But likewise, I think we should do more to earn our citizenship - maybe two years service straight from high school. We could have our youth working on our infrastructure, in the peace corps, or many other things - thus earning ownership into a system which is supportive of all.
Malusinka,
Two reasons at least for emphasizing veterans care, with universal health care in mind: 1) The VA hospital system is the largest in the world, and, 2) it is fully computerized, from the hospital bed to the street; doctors can look up records anywhere with a click and patients can take their records with them on a CD if they move.
This is part of a template, already in service.
Two reasons at least for emphasizing veterans care, with universal health care in mind: 1) The VA hospital system is the largest in the world, and, 2) it is fully computerized, from the hospital bed to the street; doctors can look up records anywhere with a click and patients can take their records with them on a CD if they move.
This is part of a template, already in service.
poetTess,
And I'd agree with you on the question of service, not restricted to military service.
And I'd agree with you on the question of service, not restricted to military service.
Wonderful post.
Must add my take on empathy vs sympathy. Sympathy is feeling another's pain because it is something that you have been through yourself. Empathy is the deep understandingof others who have suffered what you never have suffered. Neither demands action unless it is to bake a blueberry pie to take to the funeral.
Wars are expensive, and we must accept the cost of caring for men and women who have given their mental health for their country.
When my first FIL came back stateside after nine major Pacific landings under fire, he was incarcerated in a barracks surounded by barbed wire and told he had to be "reeducated" for civilization because he was not fit to be in public. He scaled that fence and made is own way, never looking back.
War tends to make folks more aware of the needs of our soldiers--perhaps out of guilt as survivors or perhaps empathy and gratitude. Nevertheless, advances in rehab are made during this window of opportunity. I expect to see some major changes.
Must add my take on empathy vs sympathy. Sympathy is feeling another's pain because it is something that you have been through yourself. Empathy is the deep understandingof others who have suffered what you never have suffered. Neither demands action unless it is to bake a blueberry pie to take to the funeral.
Wars are expensive, and we must accept the cost of caring for men and women who have given their mental health for their country.
When my first FIL came back stateside after nine major Pacific landings under fire, he was incarcerated in a barracks surounded by barbed wire and told he had to be "reeducated" for civilization because he was not fit to be in public. He scaled that fence and made is own way, never looking back.
War tends to make folks more aware of the needs of our soldiers--perhaps out of guilt as survivors or perhaps empathy and gratitude. Nevertheless, advances in rehab are made during this window of opportunity. I expect to see some major changes.
personally i think that one of the most heinous crimes that the bush administration committed against our own country (not even gonna delve into the realm of crimes against other countries) was the underfunding of veterans' programs. thanks for giving your own perspective on what's at stake and what we owe to people who fight our wars.
I finally stopped sending students to all but a few, very select rotations at VA locations, and then only with practitioners I could absolutely trust to educate them well, because the VA is a truly horrid health-care system. Thanks for writing this.
"We all know that treatment for visible injuries is inadequate within the VA system."
That's not true, and there's a confusion here. There's the medical system for the branch of the armed forces that the soldier is assigned to. We've heard horror stories about those, especially concerning the Army.
After the soldier is stabilized and discharged, he or she enters the VA system. Getting home alive does not by any stretch mean that the soldier is automatically dumped into the VA system. Discharge and transition can take a while.
I've been with the VA system for over 20 years. There have been incredible efforts to locate Vietnam vets who were wrongly denied their benefits, and there are incredible efforts to get us women to talk about any rapes or sexual abuse. I don't recall a time during the last 12 years when there weren't questions about PTSD and other trauma at every doctor's visit.
The only real disgrace is in the elderly and hospice level Veteran's homes, and we have to be careful to find out whether it's a state run or VA facility. Huge investigations, resolutions, and improvements are being made there, too.
Otherwise, the medical care is outstanding. We're not talking the dark ages of medicine here. Not by a long shot. We have quality doctors, operate like the best HMO's, and our facilities are being enormously upgraded. I've seen incredible improvements in the past 20 years.
Most VA medical centers operate in conjunction with the nearest University Medical Center, so we often get some of the top Fellows, Residents, and Specialists in the world.
The problem is this: Too many vets and their families just don't get it. If you know a Vet who is having problems, take him or her (plus their DD214) to the nearest large VA facility. There are counselors and benefits advisors right there. And they don't waste time.
Also, the VA website is a monster. There is just about everything a person needs to know, including the VA regulations in PDF form!
In addition, the VA benefits telephone advisors are the most helpful and kind people I've ever dealt with.
Also, every county and state is supposed to have Veteran's Service Officers who are paid to work for us VETS.
Finally, there are several Veterans' Service Organizations, from the Disabled American Vets, to Veterans of Foreign Wars, who volunteer enormous parts of their lives to help Vets.
Most importantly, these VSO's fight like wildebeests, for free, to get Vets their benefits and to get them into the system.
Whew! There's more. In California, we have yearly "stand downs" where homeless and other vets are given food and access to just about every federal, state and local agency possible.
They only real lack of care happens when the Vet won't allow the system to help. Alcohol and drugs? There are state of the art alcohol and drug programs, too.
I'm dead serious. Please don't blame the incredible system for the "lack of care" that people aren't going for. Ask the individual why he or she hasn't stepped up to get into the system.
Most times, you'll find that they don't WANT to, or they feel that it's impossible, or they listen to too many rumors and horror stories.
I was like that, too. Until a sparky VSO made me fight for my benefits.
I got my benefits, and since then I have helped and encouraged others to get past the myths.
That's not true, and there's a confusion here. There's the medical system for the branch of the armed forces that the soldier is assigned to. We've heard horror stories about those, especially concerning the Army.
After the soldier is stabilized and discharged, he or she enters the VA system. Getting home alive does not by any stretch mean that the soldier is automatically dumped into the VA system. Discharge and transition can take a while.
I've been with the VA system for over 20 years. There have been incredible efforts to locate Vietnam vets who were wrongly denied their benefits, and there are incredible efforts to get us women to talk about any rapes or sexual abuse. I don't recall a time during the last 12 years when there weren't questions about PTSD and other trauma at every doctor's visit.
The only real disgrace is in the elderly and hospice level Veteran's homes, and we have to be careful to find out whether it's a state run or VA facility. Huge investigations, resolutions, and improvements are being made there, too.
Otherwise, the medical care is outstanding. We're not talking the dark ages of medicine here. Not by a long shot. We have quality doctors, operate like the best HMO's, and our facilities are being enormously upgraded. I've seen incredible improvements in the past 20 years.
Most VA medical centers operate in conjunction with the nearest University Medical Center, so we often get some of the top Fellows, Residents, and Specialists in the world.
The problem is this: Too many vets and their families just don't get it. If you know a Vet who is having problems, take him or her (plus their DD214) to the nearest large VA facility. There are counselors and benefits advisors right there. And they don't waste time.
Also, the VA website is a monster. There is just about everything a person needs to know, including the VA regulations in PDF form!
In addition, the VA benefits telephone advisors are the most helpful and kind people I've ever dealt with.
Also, every county and state is supposed to have Veteran's Service Officers who are paid to work for us VETS.
Finally, there are several Veterans' Service Organizations, from the Disabled American Vets, to Veterans of Foreign Wars, who volunteer enormous parts of their lives to help Vets.
Most importantly, these VSO's fight like wildebeests, for free, to get Vets their benefits and to get them into the system.
Whew! There's more. In California, we have yearly "stand downs" where homeless and other vets are given food and access to just about every federal, state and local agency possible.
They only real lack of care happens when the Vet won't allow the system to help. Alcohol and drugs? There are state of the art alcohol and drug programs, too.
I'm dead serious. Please don't blame the incredible system for the "lack of care" that people aren't going for. Ask the individual why he or she hasn't stepped up to get into the system.
Most times, you'll find that they don't WANT to, or they feel that it's impossible, or they listen to too many rumors and horror stories.
I was like that, too. Until a sparky VSO made me fight for my benefits.
I got my benefits, and since then I have helped and encouraged others to get past the myths.
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