TAMPA, Fla. — Standing before a packed hall of 700 military doctors and medics here, the deputy commander of the nation’s elite special operations forces warned about an epidemic of chronic pain sweeping through the U.S. military after a decade of continuous war.
Be careful about handing out narcotic pain relievers, Lt. Gen. David Fridovich told the audience last month. “What we don’t want is that next generation of veterans coming out with some bad habits.”
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
3-star opens up about battle with addiction - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times
Monday, January 31, 2011
3-star opens up about battle with addiction - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times
TAMPA, Fla. — Standing before a packed hall of 700 military doctors and medics here, the deputy commander of the nation’s elite special operations forces warned about an epidemic of chronic pain sweeping through the U.S. military after a decade of continuous war.
Be careful about handing out narcotic pain relievers, Lt. Gen. David Fridovich told the audience last month. “What we don’t want is that next generation of veterans coming out with some bad habits.”
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
3-star opens up about battle with addiction - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times
Be careful about handing out narcotic pain relievers, Lt. Gen. David Fridovich told the audience last month. “What we don’t want is that next generation of veterans coming out with some bad habits.”
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
3-star opens up about battle with addiction - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times
Friday, January 28, 2011
Defense.gov News Article: Center Provides Advice on Post-deployment Intimacy Issues
BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 27, 2011 – In the list of problems that can confront service members after a combat deployment, few can be harder to talk about or more devastating than the inability to resume intimate relationships.
Couples who have survived multiple combat deployments know the situation all too well.
“The first few years of the war, everybody thought they’d get off the plane and the honeymoon would start,” Rebekah Sanderlin, an Army wife at Fort Bragg, N.C., and “Operation Marriage” blogger, told American Forces Press Service. “The first two weeks are good, then it’s downhill for several months.
“We had a hard time just feeling like we knew each other,” Sanderlin said of her husband, who has deployed several times. “It was like there was a stranger in the house. Even if we were physically intimate, we really didn’t feel connected.”
The Sanderlins are far from alone. “I haven’t met anybody who just bounces right back,” she said of redeployed couples.
By Lisa Daniel
Defense.gov News Article: Center Provides Advice on Post-deployment Intimacy Issues
Couples who have survived multiple combat deployments know the situation all too well.
“The first few years of the war, everybody thought they’d get off the plane and the honeymoon would start,” Rebekah Sanderlin, an Army wife at Fort Bragg, N.C., and “Operation Marriage” blogger, told American Forces Press Service. “The first two weeks are good, then it’s downhill for several months.
“We had a hard time just feeling like we knew each other,” Sanderlin said of her husband, who has deployed several times. “It was like there was a stranger in the house. Even if we were physically intimate, we really didn’t feel connected.”
The Sanderlins are far from alone. “I haven’t met anybody who just bounces right back,” she said of redeployed couples.
By Lisa Daniel
Defense.gov News Article: Center Provides Advice on Post-deployment Intimacy Issues
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Age, Gender Linked to Mental Health Diagnoses Among Recent Vets : Internal Medicine News
Female Iraq and Afghanistan veterans were more likely to be diagnosed with depression than their male counterparts, who were more likely to be diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder, a retrospective study of U.S. veterans has shown.
These were among the significant gender differences between the male and female veterans identified in the study, which looked at sociodemographic and mental health characteristics among 329,049 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who went to a Veterans Affairs health care facility at least once between April 2002 and March 2008, the first time they had used the facilities since the start of the two wars (Am. J. Public Health 2010;100:2450-6).
By: ELIZABETH MECHCATIE, Internal Medicine News Digital Network
Age, Gender Linked to Mental Health Diagnoses Among Recent Vets : Internal Medicine News
These were among the significant gender differences between the male and female veterans identified in the study, which looked at sociodemographic and mental health characteristics among 329,049 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who went to a Veterans Affairs health care facility at least once between April 2002 and March 2008, the first time they had used the facilities since the start of the two wars (Am. J. Public Health 2010;100:2450-6).
By: ELIZABETH MECHCATIE, Internal Medicine News Digital Network
Age, Gender Linked to Mental Health Diagnoses Among Recent Vets : Internal Medicine News
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Defense.gov News Article: DOD Leaders Discuss Critical Troop, Family Health Care Needs
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2011 – Military health care has improved troop survival, recovery and rehabilitation, but providers, patients, families and leaders must keep investing time, effort and communication, Defense Department leaders said today.
Clifford L. Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, and Deborah Mullen, wife of Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke on these issues to an audience of thousands at the 2011 Military Health System Conference opening session.
By Karen Parrish
Defense.gov News Article: DOD Leaders Discuss Critical Troop, Family Health Care Needs
Clifford L. Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, and Deborah Mullen, wife of Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke on these issues to an audience of thousands at the 2011 Military Health System Conference opening session.
By Karen Parrish
Defense.gov News Article: DOD Leaders Discuss Critical Troop, Family Health Care Needs
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Fort Hood Hosts UFC Fight, Helps Raise Money For Vets
During the first of three such events, White raised $4 million in late 2008 to help fund the construction of a research center for traumatic brain injury—and has since sent thousands of Ultimate Fighter Championship DVDs and other merchandise to troops overseas.
“It’s just what we feel we have to do for our troops,” White said. “I really feel our country has lost its patriotism. These kids sacrifice themselves and we do have to take care of them—but we don’t.”
This weekend, the UFC held two “premium” fights on the base, which were broadcast on cable television and online via Facebook as 6,000 base personnel squeezed into a helicopter hangar there, watching the event for free. After some weaker preliminary fights, fans got a good show with three of the bouts stopped in the first round and one of the fighters, Mark Hominick, winning a title shot in his division for later this year
by mmientka
Fort Hood Hosts UFC Fight, Helps Raise Money For Vets
“It’s just what we feel we have to do for our troops,” White said. “I really feel our country has lost its patriotism. These kids sacrifice themselves and we do have to take care of them—but we don’t.”
This weekend, the UFC held two “premium” fights on the base, which were broadcast on cable television and online via Facebook as 6,000 base personnel squeezed into a helicopter hangar there, watching the event for free. After some weaker preliminary fights, fans got a good show with three of the bouts stopped in the first round and one of the fighters, Mark Hominick, winning a title shot in his division for later this year
by mmientka
Fort Hood Hosts UFC Fight, Helps Raise Money For Vets
Monday, January 24, 2011
Virtual world aims to help soldiers battling PTSD
Troops who don't want to appear weak, unreliable, or crazy to their commanders or peers often hide their symptoms of post traumatic stress.
"I have seen too many warriors who came home from deployment and silently suffer for years before they get help," said psychologist Dr. Greg Reger.
But this week the military has a new virtual weapon to combat the problems that haunt soldiers long after the battle is over.
The Department of Defense launched a virtual space where avatars attack stigmas attached to post traumatic stress disorder.
The game tells the soldier, "Getting information and help doesn't make you less of a soldier, airman, sailor, or Marine."
The creators hope people suffering hidden war wounds will feel safe anonymously navigating this virtual space, learning about symptoms they're too ashamed to share.
http://draft.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4490840812499875356
"I have seen too many warriors who came home from deployment and silently suffer for years before they get help," said psychologist Dr. Greg Reger.
But this week the military has a new virtual weapon to combat the problems that haunt soldiers long after the battle is over.
The Department of Defense launched a virtual space where avatars attack stigmas attached to post traumatic stress disorder.
The game tells the soldier, "Getting information and help doesn't make you less of a soldier, airman, sailor, or Marine."
The creators hope people suffering hidden war wounds will feel safe anonymously navigating this virtual space, learning about symptoms they're too ashamed to share.
http://draft.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4490840812499875356
Friday, January 21, 2011
Defense.gov News Article: Army Sees Slight Reduction in Active-duty Suicides
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2011 – Suicides among active-duty soldiers dropped slightly last year to 156 confirmed deaths, from 162 in 2009, the Army vice chief of staff said today.
At the same time, suicides among National Guard soldiers increased, Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli told reporters at a Pentagon news briefing.
“While we achieved modest success in reducing the number of suicides of these soldiers on active duty, we saw a significant increase in the number of suicides of soldiers not serving on active duty, to include a doubling in the Army National Guard,” he said.
In 2009, the number of Guard and Reserve soldiers who committed suicide while not serving on active duty was 80. In 2010, that number nearly doubled to 145
By Rob McIlvaine
Defense.gov News Article: Army Sees Slight Reduction in Active-duty Suicides
At the same time, suicides among National Guard soldiers increased, Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli told reporters at a Pentagon news briefing.
“While we achieved modest success in reducing the number of suicides of these soldiers on active duty, we saw a significant increase in the number of suicides of soldiers not serving on active duty, to include a doubling in the Army National Guard,” he said.
In 2009, the number of Guard and Reserve soldiers who committed suicide while not serving on active duty was 80. In 2010, that number nearly doubled to 145
By Rob McIlvaine
Defense.gov News Article: Army Sees Slight Reduction in Active-duty Suicides
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Job barriers, yes, but vets can climb
What used to be only whispered is finally public knowledge: Human resource managers are leery of hiring veterans.
There are two reasons for this, according to Chad Storlie, 44, author of "Combat Leader to Corporate Leader: 20 Lessons to Advance Your Civilian Career."
One regards post traumatic stress disorder and how hiring someone with it or other lingering combat issues might impact an existing workforce.
The second revolves around questions of just how transferable military skills are to civilian employment.
Storlie attended last June's Society for Human Resource Management conference and exposition held in San Diego. He said human resources and hiring managers there talked about their misgivings.
There are two reasons for this, according to Chad Storlie, 44, author of "Combat Leader to Corporate Leader: 20 Lessons to Advance Your Civilian Career."
One regards post traumatic stress disorder and how hiring someone with it or other lingering combat issues might impact an existing workforce.
The second revolves around questions of just how transferable military skills are to civilian employment.
Storlie attended last June's Society for Human Resource Management conference and exposition held in San Diego. He said human resources and hiring managers there talked about their misgivings.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
U.S. Department of Defense supports study of brain, eye injuries in military personnel
(PressZoom) - BLACKSBURG, Va., Jan. 12, 2011 – The Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University Center for Injury Biomechanics has been awarded a $2.8 million contract from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command for phase 2 of an overall project focusing on brain and eye injuries in military personnel.
Specifically, blast induced brain trauma will be investigated using experimental and computational models. Given improvements in helmet design and body armor and the resulting reductions in penetrating injuries, including penetrating head trauma, blast-related closed head injuries have become the signature injury of most military operations.
http://presszoom.com/story_163690.html
Specifically, blast induced brain trauma will be investigated using experimental and computational models. Given improvements in helmet design and body armor and the resulting reductions in penetrating injuries, including penetrating head trauma, blast-related closed head injuries have become the signature injury of most military operations.
http://presszoom.com/story_163690.html
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Program helps Soldiers return to duty after brain injury
BAMBERG, Germany -- Since 2000, the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center has counted 178,876 cases of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) amongst U.S. Military personnel. Seventy-seven percent of those cases were determined to be mild. Based on these numbers, the number of confirmed cases of TBIs has surpassed recorded cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by nearly 100,000.
The Army has responded to these numbers by increasing behavioral health and clinic services, teaching Soldiers to recognize evidence of TBI or PTSD in themselves and their battle buddies and implementing treatment programs at installations across the globe.
By Ashley Bateman, USAG Bamberg
The Army has responded to these numbers by increasing behavioral health and clinic services, teaching Soldiers to recognize evidence of TBI or PTSD in themselves and their battle buddies and implementing treatment programs at installations across the globe.
By Ashley Bateman, USAG Bamberg
Friday, January 14, 2011
Radical surgery for brain injury can ease skull pressure
The horrific shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords spotlights a radical operation to treat a massive brain injury that was nearly abandoned three decades ago for being too dangerous.
During the procedure, called decompressive craniectomy, surgeons remove a section of skull 5 to 6 inches in diameter. The approach is used routinely by civilian and military trauma surgeons and is accepted as a standard treatment for trauma, stroke and other ailments that cause the brain to swell.
"When it's applied appropriately, it absolutely works," says Geoffrey Manley, chief of neurosurgery at San Francisco General Hospital.
By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Report examines combat stress care of women vets
The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General released a report studying the growing number of women who suffer from combat stress.
Among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, a smaller pecentage of women than men were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, while a higher percentage were diagnosed with depression.
That's according to a report requested by Sen. Mark R. Warner and prepared by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General.
By Veronica Chufo
Among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, a smaller pecentage of women than men were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, while a higher percentage were diagnosed with depression.
That's according to a report requested by Sen. Mark R. Warner and prepared by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General.
By Veronica Chufo
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Arizona shooting: Gabrielle Giffords' surgeon had trained on the battlefield - latimes.com
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, gunshot wound through her brain, was fortunate enough to be wheeled into the emergency room of a uniquely qualified surgeon: Dr. Peter Rhee, a 24-year military surgeon who has treated "hundreds and hundreds" of battlefield injuries during stints in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Rhee, 49, chief of trauma at University Medical Center in Tucson, said his work in the Navy tending to injured soldiers and Marines and teaching the next generation of battlefield medical personnel unquestionably played a role in his ability to treat Giffords and direct care for the 10 other victims who began arriving in his unit Saturday morning.
"There's no doubt," he said. "I was in the Navy 24 years, and I trained to do nothing but battlefield casualty care. When I did go to Afghanistan and Iraq, I wasn't in a hospital. I was in very forward surgical units, so I was very accustomed to working with very little gear and people and personnel, very little resources, with wounds that are very different than civilian injuries," Rhee said Sunday. "Did it prepare me? I would say of course it did. And that makes it so that when we have a mass casualty of 11 people here, it's really not as bad as it can get."
By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times
Arizona shooting: Gabrielle Giffords' surgeon had trained on the battlefield - latimes.com
Rhee, 49, chief of trauma at University Medical Center in Tucson, said his work in the Navy tending to injured soldiers and Marines and teaching the next generation of battlefield medical personnel unquestionably played a role in his ability to treat Giffords and direct care for the 10 other victims who began arriving in his unit Saturday morning.
"There's no doubt," he said. "I was in the Navy 24 years, and I trained to do nothing but battlefield casualty care. When I did go to Afghanistan and Iraq, I wasn't in a hospital. I was in very forward surgical units, so I was very accustomed to working with very little gear and people and personnel, very little resources, with wounds that are very different than civilian injuries," Rhee said Sunday. "Did it prepare me? I would say of course it did. And that makes it so that when we have a mass casualty of 11 people here, it's really not as bad as it can get."
By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times
Arizona shooting: Gabrielle Giffords' surgeon had trained on the battlefield - latimes.com
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Northwestern professor works on cure for PTSD - The Daily Northwestern - Campus
A Northwestern professor says she may have found a way to help those afflicted by post-traumatic stress disorder, a mental condition which affects about 8 million Americans from soldiers to abuse victims.
Jelena Radulovic, a professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has discovered drug compounds that can help prevent the development of PTSD in mice if injected within five hours after initial stress.
Clinical literature demonstrates that people who have had stress previously in their lives have a much higher rate of developing PTSD if they experience a traumatic event, like a car accident, later in life, said Natalie Tronson, a post-doctoral fellow in Radulovic's laboratory.
By Vasiliki Mitrakos
Northwestern professor works on cure for PTSD - The Daily Northwestern - Campus
Jelena Radulovic, a professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has discovered drug compounds that can help prevent the development of PTSD in mice if injected within five hours after initial stress.
Clinical literature demonstrates that people who have had stress previously in their lives have a much higher rate of developing PTSD if they experience a traumatic event, like a car accident, later in life, said Natalie Tronson, a post-doctoral fellow in Radulovic's laboratory.
By Vasiliki Mitrakos
Northwestern professor works on cure for PTSD - The Daily Northwestern - Campus
Monday, January 10, 2011
Sleep Deprivation May Help Treat PTSD
Sleep deprivation may be therapeutic for some people with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and other anxiety disorders, a new study suggests.
Previous research has shown that sleep plays a crucial role in the consolidation of memories, and that the development of fear-related memories is an important part of anxiety disorders such as PTSD.
In this study, researchers investigated what happened when they deprived people of sleep after they had seen disturbing images. Healthy volunteers were shown video clips of both safe driving and traffic crashes. Half of the participants were then deprived of sleep while the others got a normal night's sleep.
Robert Preidt
Previous research has shown that sleep plays a crucial role in the consolidation of memories, and that the development of fear-related memories is an important part of anxiety disorders such as PTSD.
In this study, researchers investigated what happened when they deprived people of sleep after they had seen disturbing images. Healthy volunteers were shown video clips of both safe driving and traffic crashes. Half of the participants were then deprived of sleep while the others got a normal night's sleep.
Robert Preidt
Friday, January 7, 2011
Fisher House Program Still Growing After 20 Years
The Fisher House program started as a relatively modest endeavor, with Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher donating a home to provide free temporary lodging for military families while their loved ones received care at the Navy’s flagship medical center, foundation president Dave Coker told American Forces Press Service. That original Fisher House, perched on a hillside overlooking the towering hospital, opened its doors June 24, 1991.
By Donna Miles
By Donna Miles
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Study: PTSD signals longer-term health problems
| Post by: |
Since Operation Desert Storm launched 20 years ago, millions of U.S. troops have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Combat exposure often places troops at risk of suffering psychological trauma and injury when they are exposed to the blasts from improvised explosive devices, according to background information in the study, and traumatic brain injury has often been called the “signature injury” of the conflicts. The study says that most TBIs are mild – better known as concussions. The symptoms of concussion, or MTBI, include loss of consciousness, loss of memory, dizziness, and headache.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Three High-Risk Populations Targeted for National Suicide Prevention Efforts
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention today added three new task forces to address suicide prevention efforts within high-risk populations: American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN); youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT); and military service members and veterans. This brings to six the number of task forces formed by the Action Alliance, the public-private partnership forged in September to advance the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP) (http://www.actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org/).
"I am heartened that we are focusing attention on communities hardest hit by suicide. By shining a light on their struggles I am optimistic we can help them identify solutions and bring hope for a better tomorrow," said Gordon H. Smith, co-chair of the Action Alliance. Smith, a former U.S. senator who championed passage of the 2004 Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act following the loss of his son to suicide, now serves as President and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters.
"I am heartened that we are focusing attention on communities hardest hit by suicide. By shining a light on their struggles I am optimistic we can help them identify solutions and bring hope for a better tomorrow," said Gordon H. Smith, co-chair of the Action Alliance. Smith, a former U.S. senator who championed passage of the 2004 Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act following the loss of his son to suicide, now serves as President and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Military kids taking more psychiatric drugs - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times
Military kids taking more psychiatric drugs - Military News News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times
Before his father deployed to Iraq, Daniel Radenz was a well-adjusted fifth-grader earning straight A’s and B’s in school near Fort Hood, Texas.
But shortly after Army Lt. Col. Blaine Radenz left home in June 2008, his 11-year-old son became withdrawn and anxious. His grades at school slipped and his mother noticed mood swings. The child’s longtime pediatrician referred him for counseling.
A psychiatrist at Fort Hood’s Darnall Army Medical Center prescribed the antidepressant Celexa. Daniel also saw a psychologist there. Doctors added to and changed Daniel’s drug regimen, but his problems grew worse, said his mother, Tricia Radenz.
By Karen Jowers and Andrew Tilghman
Before his father deployed to Iraq, Daniel Radenz was a well-adjusted fifth-grader earning straight A’s and B’s in school near Fort Hood, Texas.
But shortly after Army Lt. Col. Blaine Radenz left home in June 2008, his 11-year-old son became withdrawn and anxious. His grades at school slipped and his mother noticed mood swings. The child’s longtime pediatrician referred him for counseling.
A psychiatrist at Fort Hood’s Darnall Army Medical Center prescribed the antidepressant Celexa. Daniel also saw a psychologist there. Doctors added to and changed Daniel’s drug regimen, but his problems grew worse, said his mother, Tricia Radenz.
By Karen Jowers and Andrew Tilghman
Monday, January 3, 2011
Defense.gov News Article: Army Officials Work to Treat Invisible Wounds of War
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=62239
WASHINGTON, Dec. 26, 2010 – Military leaders and troops alike need more time at home between deployments to help diagnose and receive treatment for the "invisible" wounds of war such as posttraumatic stress, a senior Army officer said today.
"It affects everything. It affects the divorce rate. It affects substance abuse. It affects everything. And we've kind of taken our focus and shifted it to ensure that we're getting at that," Army Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the vice chief of staff of the Army, said on ABC's "This Week" with Christiane Amanpour.
By Fred W. Baker III
WASHINGTON, Dec. 26, 2010 – Military leaders and troops alike need more time at home between deployments to help diagnose and receive treatment for the "invisible" wounds of war such as posttraumatic stress, a senior Army officer said today.
"It affects everything. It affects the divorce rate. It affects substance abuse. It affects everything. And we've kind of taken our focus and shifted it to ensure that we're getting at that," Army Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the vice chief of staff of the Army, said on ABC's "This Week" with Christiane Amanpour.
By Fred W. Baker III
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