Ptsd Conference

[Packo]

Hey y'all, just got back from Cherry Point, MCAS. Left at 0430 today and got home about 1130 hours. Long drive....man do I hate going through Myrtle Beach...what a dump. Anyway, I'm a bit tired but will pass on some stuff.

This conference was mainly about treatment modalities and what is real interesting to me is that the best treatment is still the treatment that the Vet Centers and the DAV Forgotten Warrior Project started over 26 years ago. Two of the presenters disagreed about treatment in that one says individual therapy is better, the other believes that group is. I think you need both. One presenter was kinda acting like he invented the group process he uses at Camp Pendelton. I think his model is better than what I did at the Vet Center.....but the context is basically the same.

Now, what some have been waiting for, some stats.

Recently the news media's were saying that according to combined miltary statistics, and this caused a hoopla, 31% of returning Iraqi Veterans are seeking treatment for PTSD. This is what got Congress going and some stuff on this site. What the combined military report actually states is that 31% have sought counseling services which includes everything from marital counseling to drug and alcohol problems. Not just PTSD. Right now the amount of returning active duty military getting treatment for the diagnosis of PTSD is around 7% not 31.

Now, what does this mean. Well....we don't know. My statistics at the Naval Hospital are more in line with single digits, but there are many caveats here. One, Corpsman seek treatment less than other combat arms mos's due to not wanting to look weak or that they are unable to handle their jobs, which they feel could make them look bad in the eyes of their grunts. Two, can there be career consequences for getting PTSD treatment? I think that some believe that and I'm sure there are some units that might discourage it, but basically most of the military is very open to this and want their men/women to get treatment if they have a problem. I talked with the people from Pendleton, Le Jeune, and Ft. Stewart, and found the same co-op I'm getting at Parris Island. I also hear through scuttlebutt that even though CO's want this done, sometimes it doesn't trickle down through the E-7, E-6, level to the junior troops.

We also discussed the multiple tours these guys are doing and the affect it is having. Right now, there are thousands who've done 3 and 4 tours in Iraq, but we are still not seeing the high levels you would expect. Why.....we don't know other than that people are more in tune and if a guys having a problem he is able to say....I got a problem...and they get him help. Each branch of the service has Combat Psychiatrist in Iraq and men are sent back to them as soon as possible. Unlike other wars.

Larry has a point...and a good one....what will happen after these people leave the military. Nobody knows. Still too early in the game. Another reason to keep the VA fully funded and the Vet Center Program continued. I have a feeling that the statistics will go up, but then again, if they get treatment early, the disorder is much easier to handle and these guys may not need a lot on the outside.

Besides treatment stuff, which I'm too tired to get into and is probably pretty boring, the major consenses is that, PTSD is real, we don't seem to be having it in the great numbers expected, and that getting treatment early, one of the things that really really helped me out, seems to be working, and finally, many of the retuning vets are symptomatic BUT most are having "readjustment" problems more than full blown PTSD, which is entirely normal.

Now that I've made my report, I am open for comments, questions, attacks, or accolades........right after my nap. It was one of the better conferences I've been to in a long time.

Dr. Pack

[Bill Farnie]

At the end of January, I was offered a three month contract to do work at Verizon?s new world headquarters here in New Jersey. The Sunday before I was to start, I called the guy who I was going to report to. I introduced myself and told him that I was contracted by Raize Solutions to work with him and asked where I should go when I get to Verizon?s site and he was really taken aback that I was calling. He had expected that some guy who had already worked there was going to be the one coming on Monday. After we went back and forth by him calling people and then me, he finally told me what I had to do and where to go. Well I went there Monday and started work. When I got home there was a message on my answering machine from the guy from Raize Solutions who contracted me asking that I give him a call ASAP. I called and he told me that the Verizon people had made a big stink that the other guy wasn?t coming back and claimed that he was the one they wanted and that I wouldn?t be going back.

I got really depressed about what happened and started to think that I will never get a job in my field and that I need to do something else. I went to the unemployment office and they have what is called the One Stop Job Center upstairs from the regular unemployment office. Both Maria and I went there and I saw the Veterans rep and he was hardly any help at all. He gave me the url of the NJ Works web site to search for jobs but I already knew about it and had used it. I found out later that he was wrapped up in his own concerns for they were moving him from the Bloomfield office to the Jersey City office and although he didn?t blow me off, he didn?t go out of his way to help either.

Last month Maria went back by herself for an appointment she had there and the person she met with had her desk directly across from the supervisor of the Veterans Reps and he over heard Maria talking about me and that I was a Vet. He came over, gave her his card and told her to have me give him a call. I called and he told me to come in and see him. I went and we talked awhile and he looked into a few jobs for me but he didn't have my resume on file (I had sent it to the first guy and he didn?t print it and put it in my file). I went home and before I was able to email him my resume, he called and asked if I was a combat vet and when I told him yes I was, he said for me to bring a copy of my DD 214 to him the next day. I went and he asked if I ever went to the VA and was really surprised when I told him no. He pretty much ordered me to go, get in the system and then file a claim with the help of the DAV. I told him that I have always felt that I didn't need the VA because I was doing OK and that someone else could use it more then me. He explained to me that even if I never use the system that every Vet should sign up because when it comes time to go to congress and ask for the money to fund the VA that every person the VA has on file means dollars. Since he put it that way, it made a lot of sense so I went.
He wants me to file a claim for PTSD, when I get my VA card, and also for the tremor that I have had ever since the blast from the bobby trap bomb buried under an LZ sent me flying into a tree where I hit my head pretty good, besides getting grazed by a piece of shrapnel below my right knee. He also wants me to put a claim in for the hearing loss that I have. When I registered with the VA the lady helping me with the paper work was told me to go upstairs and see the person who administers the Agent Orange screening program. He told me that if the tests come back with anything on the list of what the VA recognizes as AO related problems to file a claim for that too. I was supposed to have taken the physical today but he called me last week and said that they had to cancel, for lack of a doctor to do the screening, and re-scheduled me for the 28th. This is all new to me and I don?t know what I?ve gotten myself into and will most likely need help from time to time for answers to questions I might have that pop up.

[DMZ-LT]

Your getting into what you earned Homie. Had the same feelings. They ain't giving you nothing you ain't earned . Peace Bill

[Packo]

Good point LT.

Bill, I haven't worked for the VA since 1992....but will do anything I can to help. The unemployment rep told you to get represented by the DAV. Do it! The VA ain't gonna "help" you unless you sign a POA, (Power of Attorney) with one of the service orgs like the DAV. Believe me. Dan, (Pighmpr, 327th, 101 Abn..was with James,) and I are both being screwed right now on our claims, and WE HAVE REPRESENTATION. So...just letting you know, without it, they will not do what's right for sure.

Pack

[1CAVCCO15MED]

I've been where you are too, Bill. It is a pretty alien world at first. As far as PTSD claims, you need a treatment paper trail and you should take some form of treatment from them.

Tom, very interesting thing about the corpsmen. The only reason I can think of from my perspective is they have their grunts on a pedestal and don't want to disappoint them. The old selfless thing. Let me know what they find out.

[PHO127]

You have a lot of help here just. Most of us have been through the system several times. I have been down the same road you are on and can help. James also.

We will be there to help and answer all questions.

Bill-

Not to worry. Your situation is very similar to mine as of 4 yrs. ago when Curtis was good enough to introduce me to this site and the good people here.

I had had no real contact with the VA (for about the same reasons as your's) and had heard nothing but horror stories concerning them. Found myself without the med. insurance I was used to having, little money, and a probable cancer eating a hole in my face. Pretty much had to deal with the VA then and was both scared spitless and embarrassed to do so.

Now this is gonna be a little hard to swallow...cause they don't talk like it, mostly don't act like it, and damn sure don't look like it...but there are some honest-ta-God Saints that hang on this site. Their accurate and timely advice waltzed me into the system with no muss,no fuss, just plain slicker than owl...well you get the idea;and the benifits to myself and my family were greater than anything I mighta hoped.

Confused? Have a question? Don't be bashful, start a thread on the Vietnam forum.

ALL Vietnam vets need to be on the AO register. You never know when that documentation might be needed.

[Gimpy]

Mah deah Suthern brother..............

Once again you are a voice of reason in a world of confusion for all of us.

We are blessed to have your insight and expertise with regards to this subject matter (and many others).

I always thought that the old DAV "Forgotten Warriors Project" was the best thing that EVER happened for our brothers and sisters from 'our' war.

Hopefully the DoD and the VA will continue to use them as a model and guide to help our 'new' young warriors.

PS-----Bill F.--------I can only echo what everyone before has said, anything I can do to help, please let me know!

LIstine to all the advice from the posts by all the guys above. Just don't let the VA railroad YA, use the DAV as your rep, I did, they helped me get my 100%. Actually I'm 80% disabled, and 20% unemployable. So stay with it.

[MORTARDUDE]

Bill :

I would strongly suggest you go to the nearest Vet Center and fill out the necessary paperwork and start going to a weekly support group. The folks that work there are super folks and can answer lots of your questions. There are also a lot of great volunteers that work at the VA hospital that will gladly help you.

I also encourage you to seek the help of the DAV or other service organizations to help you. In my case, the folks I contacted were of very little help, or very difficult to see, so I did it all myself. Not a good idea in most cases....
There is a great knowledge base here. All you have to do is ask.

May God Bless,

Larry