Vet Families Can Access Mental Health Tools Online

http://www.thedailyarmonk.com/wellness/vet-families-can-access-mental-health-tools-online

MONTROSE, N.Y. – The VA Medical Center in Montrose has become the epicenter for a new online veteran’s mental health initiative. “Family of Heroes” is a website which uses avatars, realistic animations of people, to allow people to anonymously work through conversations with veterans recently returned from deployment.

“We’re trying to help families attain some skills,” said Benny Linneman, a therapist for residents of the Montrose VA. “A lot of vets think the problem is theirs, and that they can deal with it,” he said about veterans afflicted with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The program was launched on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

“Family of Heroes”is meant to provide those who know a veteran recently returned from deployment with the skills to defuse arguments, approach a veteran who may need help and recognize signs of PTSD. The metropolitan area has about 34,000 veterans home from theaters of war, according to Linneman, and there are about two million veterans nationwide who served in both the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters.

“Family of Heroes” is only available to residents of southern New York and New Jersey as it undergoes development.

According to Linneman, stressors for veterans returning home from a theater of war can run the gamut of what civilians consider everyday activities. Difficulty driving, dealing with packages or garbage (which in Iraq or Afghanistan may indicate explosives) and behavioral changes in the veteran can all be difficult for friends and extended family of veterans to understand.

Julie Kelly, a military wife and veteran suicide-prevention advocate, said there is almost no training for friends and extended family of veterans. Kelly says immediate family members are debriefed by the military regarding a homecoming veteran's experiences abroad. Frequent encounters with live fire or casualties the veteran may have witnessed are all subjects of debriefing. Extended family members, employers and friends do not have the benefit of this training and information.

For returning troops, horses can help rehabilitate

WASHINGTON - Max Brewer can't pinpoint the exact moment his body began to degrade while serving in Iraq, but the physical rigors of war took their toll and left him partially paralyzed by 2009.

"I was expected to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life," the 47-year-old says.

"I'm not the only one. There's a lot of soldiers who have had issues with their knees, their backs, their hips, because of the equipment."

Brewer served in Iraq for the entirety of 2005. During that time he suffered nerve damage in his spinal cord that he thinks was exacerbated by unknown pre-existing issues. Although he hoped to remain in active duty after returning home, his condition continued to deteriorate, requiring three major surgeries that left him bedridden for weeks.

Amy Hunter

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=149&sid=2675971

Veteran's best friend: Trained dogs help soldiers with disorder

Columbia's 1st Sgt. Will Roberts, a U.S. Army paratrooper, has been deployed into combat seven times with the elite 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. 


Kosovo. Bosnia. Two deployments to Iraq. Three to Afghanistan.


 Each of those deployments involved intense, front-line fighting with Roberts leading some of the nation's most hardened soldiers: Army Rangers. 


"I lived for that war stuff," said Roberts, 45. 


Today, Roberts is one of the estimated 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). And with the Iraq war winding down - the last U.S. troops are leaving that country this month - more and more service members are returning home. Many are returning with injuries, including psychological trauma, and many are in the Midlands.


By JEFF WILKINSON


http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/12/19/2860381/trained-dogs-help-soldiers-with.html

Crisis hot line saves suicidal war veterans

Canandaigua, New York (CNN) -- Suicide continues to plague the American military, with an estimated 18 war veterans in the United States ending their lives each day. One of the last resorts for veterans struggling with the return to civilian life is a suicide-prevention hot line based in upstate New York.

The humble offices of the Veterans Crisis Line in Canandaigua, New York, are like any other office space: desks, computers, telephones. But as you walk past each cubicle, you begin to hear extraordinarily disturbing conversations.

"I have a .45 pointed at my head," one caller says.

"Can you put that knife away for a bit while we talk? Can you do that for me? Can you hold off just for a little bit?" a hot line worker asks.

"What sort of weapons do you have?" another calmly responds.

The men and women who answer the Veterans Crisis Line phones are on the front lines of an all-out war on suicide. Each speaks to the caller with a very clear purpose: keep the person on the phone long enough to get help.

By Christina Ginn

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/18/us/war-veterans-suicide-hot-line/?hpt=us_t2

VA issues guidelines for handling sexual trauma

In light of a Veterans Affairs Department study showing that one-third of female Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder report being raped, sexually assaulted or harassed, and one in 100 military men say they’ve experienced unwanted sexual contact, VA issued guidelines to regional offices Dec. 2 on assessing claims for PTSD caused by military sexual trauma.

Most VA disability claims require a statement from the veteran, along with objective documentation such as a doctor’s statement or evidence of a traumatic event, a diagnosis or participation in combat for supporting a claim.

The sexual trauma guidelines encourage examiners to look for evidence that an assault or harassment occurred, including requests for reassignment, pregnancy tests, seeking treatment for depression and other signs that something happened in addition to considering statements from the veteran.

“VA is aware that, because of the personal and sensitive nature of the [military sexual trauma] stressors in these cases, it is often difficult for the victim to report or document the event when it occurs,” the guidelines state.

By Patricia Kime

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/12/military-ptsd-sexual-trauma-120811w/

Maine top soldier says help is available for PTSD

AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) - Soldiers returning from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan may suffer a variety of problems adjusting to civilian life--- and some of those may be serious problems. 

Major general John "Bill" Libby, commander of the Maine National Guard, says he wants to help all returning service members, regardless of their branch of the military, to make sure they get the help they need. 

Libby says he knows the problem first hand. He is a combat veteran of Vietnam and says he came home in 1969 suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. 

Libby says it hasn't prevented him from being successful in life, but he says he has needed to seek help from time to time. 

Written by

Krister Rollins

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/181792/2/Maine-top-soldier-says-help-is-available-for-PTSD

Expert: U.S. health care must better serve vets - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

The Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department have appropriate protocols for treating service members and veterans with mental health problems but the departments — and the health care system nationwide — must beef up programs so troops are guaranteed access now and in the coming years, says a Rand Corp. researcher who oversees the Washington think tank’s Center for Military Health Policy Research.

Center Director Terry Tanielian wrote in an AcademyHealth blog posting on Monday that the Defense Department and VA must take steps to ensure care, including hiring more mental health care professionals, reducing the stigma and adverse career consequences of seeking treatment, and providing mental health treatment wherever service members or veterans live.

Part of the solution, Tanielian said, is to expand cooperation with civilian providers and train the civilian system to accommodate former service members.

“Improving access to mental health services for veterans will require reaching beyond DoD and VA health care systems to ensure quality care in the civilian world as well. Too often, policy decisions have focused on expanding capacity without attention to the quality of service being offered,” she wrote.

The assessment comes at a time when veterans and service members are seeking help in record numbers. In fiscal 2010, 408,167 veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder were treated at VA health facilities, up from 254,930 in fiscal 2006. About 1.2 million veterans received mental health care from the VA in fiscal 2010. Yet according to Rand, that still accounts for only about half of those diagnosed with PTSD or major depression. And half of those who do seek care don’t complete treatment, according to a survey of VA health providers.

Tanielian is to moderate a panel on the future of military and veterans health care at the 2012 National Health Policy Conference scheduled for February in Washington. She was a main contributor to the Rand report, The Invisible Wounds of War.

By Patricia Kime

Expert: U.S. health care must better serve vets - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

After Farmington shooting, experts say more can be done to prevent PTSD-triggered violence

LEWISTON, Maine — Bruce Morris, an Iraq War combat veteran with 21 years in the Maine National Guard, is a little on edge these days.

So are dozens of his brothers and sisters in arms as they ponder the circumstances that led to the death of Justin Crowley-Smilek, who was shot by a police officer last month in Farmington.

Crowley-Smilek, a U.S. Army Ranger who was disabled in Afghanistan in a 30-foot fall from a helicopter was bipolar and — according to his friends and family — suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

He was shot and killed by Farmington police officer Ryan Rosie on Nov. 19 after Crowley-Smilek confronted Rosie with a knife outside the Farmington police station, police have said.

By Scott Thistle

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/12/04/health/after-farmington-shooting-experts-say-more-can-be-done-to-prevent-ptsd-triggered-violence/

The Military Medical Technologies Month that was

Medical information technology is moving at such as a rapid pace, we sometimes fail to stop and look around. This month is often observed asMilitary Medical Technologies Month, a perfect time to highlight some of the work our partner organizations are doing to merge science and technology for deployable Soldiers.

Check out what Telehealth and Technology (T2) is up to. Aside from developing and fielding some award winning apps, like the Mood Tracker and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) Pocket Guide, they’re actively involved in delivering capabilities to improve behavioral health downrange.

T2 also has a hand in the new capability being released by Military Pathways to assist Soldiers with mental health and alcohol concerns. They’ve launched a new web-based tool called Video Doctors that provides Soldiers with helpful information on risk factors associated with these health concerns.

In the past several weeks we’ve been highlighting telehealth. If you haven’t had a chance yet, I recommend reading Col. Ron Poropatich’s blog about expanding telehealth in Afghanistan. As the deputy director for the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), he and his group remain at the forefront of new technology and will be blogging on The Gateway more regularly, so stay tuned.

Lt. Col. William E. Geesey

http://www.govhealthit.com/blog/military-medical-technologies-month-was

Rise in PTSD cases from two wars strains resources

Ten thousand combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder flooded into VA hospitals every three months this year, pushing the number of patients ill with the disorder above 200,000 and straining resources, Department of Veterans Affairs data to be released today show.

The increase is more than 5% per quarter, according to data obtained by USA TODAY, and it occurs as the VA struggles to move veterans quickly into therapy. New mental health patients at about a third of VA hospitals wait longer than the department's goal of 14 days or less, according to a USA TODAY analysis published this month.

"Demand for mental health care is only going to continue to grow as thousands more troops return home," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairwoman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. "The VA still has work to do to decrease wait times, … reduce the stigma around seeking care and to provide access to care in rural areas."

STORY: Study: Guilt may be a top factor in PTSD

Although the VA said it has enough staffing to handle the increase in patients, "we take these requirements seriously and are continuously monitoring … access to mental health," press secretary Josh Taylor said.

By Gregg Zoroya

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2011-11-29/PTSD-cases-rise/51476604/1