Decades back when we returning Vietnam veterans, and many in the pro-peace movement then, fought to finally get recognized, that which had always been, and finally had a real name "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder", with Vets helping Vets as well as civilians who recognized what was happening giving listen to and taking training or higher education into helping or joining in the professions, as to the results of the trauma of wars especially wars of choice, though 'disorder' is a misleading end word.
Instead it was ignored, by the masses, as some even made very comfortable livings off as well as a star quality, in demand, of denying it even existed while being funded by so called {all political} think tanks who only seek to have money and thus wealth shifted to the hands of the few and not used to help the many nor move societies forward. Which in turn has not only extremely damaged many of our brothers and sisters of our wars but the private citizens who've lived through traumatic life experiences and silently, or misdiagnosed, suffered the damage caused for the rest of their lives.
We've finally come a long way, sadly because of two more wars of choice, what we were saying decades ago and since is finally being not only recognized, combat PTS, but also better understood in the greater majorities of the private nonmilitary of societies and has always been. But within war theaters, occupations of others, the trauma of war hits all and is in existence of possibilities 24/7 for the soldier as well as the populations occupied.
Just think where we, as a whole society, military and non military, as well as much of the rest of the planet, would be if Only, instead of where we allowed ourselves to be led, creating more hatreds thus long running retaliations and blowback with more wars of choice and some within following those already damaged lives from their extreme trauma experiences and causing damage to lives around them!
Military medicine has made advances in prevention, detection and treatment.
Thousands Of Returning Soldiers Face A New Enemy »
June 2, 2011 - The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 10 to 18% of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans may have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.
The sleeplessness, anger, anxiety and sense of isolation that can accompany PTSD pose tremendous challenges for veterans and their families. And an enduring stigma around mental health care still discourages many veterans from seeking help.
Dexter Pitts deployed to Iraq at age 19, in 2004. Less than a year later, he was seriously injured by a bomb while driving a Humvee in Baghdad. He sustained some serious physical injuries, and was later diagnosed with PTSD.
"Soon after I got back," he tells NPR's Neal Conan, Pitts realized the damage he sustained was more than physical. When he was recovering at Walter Reed, he was laying in his room, and his cousin kept running in and bothering him. When his cousin hit his injured arm, "I just lost it. I blacked out. I chased him down the hallway, grabbed him by his shirt, picked him up, and punched him in his chest as hard as I could." {continued}
June 2, 2011 - It used to be that troubled kids who ran afoul of the law ended up in one place: juvenile hall. And there, for the most part, they found little help for their psychological problems. But slowly that attitude has been changing as more and more states are trying to treat the mental health problems at the root of chronic lawlessness.
In California, for example, counties are working to diagnose and aid the ever-increasing needs of their mentally ill juvenile offenders. In Los Angeles, the nation's second largest city, the changes are fitful and imperfect, but promising.
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Academic researchers say about half of LA's young offenders suffer from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or other forms of mental illness. But it's difficult to say who gets help. In any given year, Los Angeles has some 20,000 juvenile offenders. Fifteen thousand are released on probation, and the county has no reliable data on who receives treatment and whether it works.
snip
Despite the shortcomings, many experts say the changes going on in Los Angeles, and in many California counties, are significant. Pamela Robertson, who works for a nonprofit mental health provider called Starview Community Services, says county leaders have made it clear that mental health is a priority.
"The word is going out ... into the ranks of probation officers that this is a good thing: Utilize these services!" she says. "And they're starting to respond to that, sending more referrals in."
There are other changes, too. Some of those probation officers are now trained therapists. A special phone line connects kids to treatment, and there's intensive, outpatient care for 12,000 particularly troubled teens.
The most concentrated effort though is with kids in jails. There are now four times the number of mental health staff in county jails and special areas for those on suicide watch. But even there, the quality of care remains a big question mark. {continued}
The VA's National Center for PTSD is working to increase awareness for the entire month of June. Learn how you can help increase PTSD awareness. Continued with Links
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