Wednesday, September 28, 2011
NYU Langone Leads Clinical Evaluation of Study on Effects of PTSD on Veterans
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Retroactive Traumatic Injury Benefits No Longer Just For OEF/OIF Injuries
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is extending retroactive traumatic injury benefits to Servicemembers who suffered qualifying injuries during the period Oct. 7, 2001 to Nov. 30, 2005, regardless of the geographic location where the injuries occurred.
“Now all of our nation’s Servicemembers who suffered severe traumatic injuries while serving their country can receive the same traumatic injury benefits, regardless of where their injury occurred,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “We at VA appreciate the efforts of Congress and the President to improve benefits for our troops.”
Effective Oct. 1, the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) Traumatic Injury Protection benefit, known as TSGLI, will be payable for all qualifying injuries incurred during this period. This retroactive benefit is payable whether or not the Servicemember had SGLI coverage at the time of the injury.
The Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2010, passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in October of 2010, removes the requirement that injuries during this period be incurred in Operations Enduring or Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF). This is welcome news for the many Servicemembers who suffered serious traumatic injuries while serving stateside or in other areas outside of OEF/OIF during this time period, but until now have not been eligible for TSGLI.
TSGLI provides a payment ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 to Servicemembers sustaining certain severe traumatic injuries resulting in a range of losses, including amputations; limb salvage; paralysis; burns; loss of sight, hearing or speech; facial reconstruction; 15-day continuous hospitalization; coma; and loss of activities of daily living due to traumatic brain injury or other traumatic injuries.
http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2169
Monday, September 26, 2011
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
The more you know about your health, the better prepared you are to make informed healthcare decisions. Our health library gives you the information you need to take charge of your health.
(PTSD)
Definition
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that develops after a traumatic event. PTSD has also been called shell shock or battle fatigue.
Causes
The exact cause of PTSD is unknown. PTSD is triggered by exposure to a traumatic event. Situations in which a person feels intense fear, helplessness, or horror are considered traumatic. PTSD has been reported in people who experienced.
http://mercymiami.org/your-health/index.dot?id=11604&lang=English&db=hlt&ebscoType=healthindex&widgetTitle=EBSCO%20Health%20Library%20Index
Friday, September 23, 2011
Final day of wounded warrior conference focuses on survivor guilt
Wounded military personnel were offered advice, camaraderie and comfort Thursday during the final session of the USO Wounded Warrior and Family Caregivers Conference.
The conference, which is in its second year, was held over two days at two locations.
At Wednesday's session, held at the Doubletree Hotel & Conference Center in Fayetteville, speakers focused on caregivers to wounded warriors.
On Thursday, the conference moved to the O Club on Fort Bragg. Information and topics concentrated on the issues surrounding wounded warriors, including survivor guilt, suicide prevention and overcoming physical and emotional obstacles.
During his presentation, "Survivor Guilt & Health Coping Mechanisms," Dr. Kim Norman, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, said the symptoms of survivor guilt were similar to post-traumatic stress disorder, which include depression and anxiety.
By Jennifer Calhoun
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2011/09/16/1123130?sac=Home
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Camp Pendleton Working To Combat Marine Suicides
For the last few years, the suicide rate among US Marines has been a concern for military leaders. In fact, suicide rates for members of the armed forces in general have been on the rise since 2004.
Marine officials have been trying to reverse that trend with new programs aimed at identifying Marines who are in emotional distress...and removing the stigma involved in seeking mental health services.
Guest: Kim DiSarro, prevention and education specialist with Marine Corps Counseling Services, Camp Pendleton.
CAVANAUGH: This is KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. For the last few years, the suicide rate among U.S. marines has been a concern for military leaders. In fact, suicide rates for members of the armed forces in general have been on the rise since 2004. Marine officials have been trying to reverse that trend with new programs aimed at identifying marines who are in emotional stress and removing the sigma in seeking mental health services. Joining us to talk about the causes of marine suicides and how the corps is addressing the situation is my guest, Kim DiSarro, prevention and education specialist with Marine Corps counseling services at Camp Pendleton. And govern, Kim.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH,
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/sep/13/camp-pendleton-working-combat-marine-suicides/
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Army Widow Shares Impact of Suicide
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
PTSD: THE WAR WITHIN WOMEN
Mothers, wives, and daughters all serve in the military. And women who served in combat zones continue to struggle with their war-time experiences when they're home.
Research shows women are twice as likely to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder as men.
Now, one woman is talking about her problems to help others, but for Army Sergeant Megan Krause the battlefield is still fresh on her mind.
Megan served as a combat medic and struggles with the violence and trauma she experienced.
According to the Psychiatric Times, Archives of Internal Medicine, in recent years, nearly 20-thousand female veterans were diagnosed with PTSD and other war-related mental disorders.
Research shows women are four-times more likely than men to have long-lasting PTSD. In one study it took women five years to recover compared to two years for men.
Another study found women vets with PTSD were more likely to suffer from arthritis, lower back pain, obesity and hypertension than women without the disorder. Therapists say the key is to acknowledge the symptoms.
Sergeant Krause is now a college graduate and helps other vets. She says a lot of counseling saved her.
In July, the government established new PTSD regulations to help simplify and streamline the claims process
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Social marketing campaign targets military for health support
This June, the campaign added a mobile site, m.realwarriors.net, which currently makes up 21 percent of the campaign's overall web visits.
The integrated campaign, developed by Booz, Allen, and Hamiliton, uses a full website,www.realwarriors.net and social media such as Facebook, Twittter and Youtube to inform users of available resources. The campaign was recently outlined by Emily Springer, at the August meeting of the Washington D.C. Health 2.0 meeting.
Springer said the mobile site option was chosen over a downloadable application because studies show that smartphone users access the mobile web at about 88 percent, versus 72 percent of smartphone users who regularly download and use phone applications.
By Simon Lee
http://www.healthcarecommunication.com/Mobile/Articles/Social_marketing_campaign_targets_military_for_hea_7493.aspx
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
How Pets Improve Your Health
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
9/11: VA Attends to Returning Vets
http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/911-va-attends-to-returning-vets/4ae2f49823774a139fb7d8b8158a72d2
Friday, September 9, 2011
They Signed Up to Fight - The 9/11 Decade
Enlistments rose in the months after the attacks, but only modestly. Over the next year, and over the next decade, the work of war fell to a relative few, with less than 1 percent of the nation deploying in Iraq or Afghanistan between 2001 and 2011.
Who, then, were those volunteers — the first to enlist, the first to taste battle, the first to die?
Studies show that starting in 2002, Army recruits scored higher on qualification tests, had high school diplomas more often and came from higher-income areas than in previous years — indications that military service was attracting a broader cross-section of Americans, experts say.
But that wave of interest — spurred by a weak economy in 2002 as well as patriotism — did not last, said Beth Asch, an economist with the RAND Corporation who has studied military recruitment.
In 2005, when civil war raged in Iraq and American casualty rates were hitting new highs, the Army, the largest armed service, missed its recruiting goal by nearly 7,000 soldiers. The quality of recruits fell as well. It took the collapse of the stock and housing markets in 2008 to fuel a new tide of enlistments.
Today, the data points of war continue to rise, like grim statistics from an endless sports season that no one seems to follow anymore. More than two million sent to Iraq or Afghanistan. More than 6,000 killed. About 44,000 wounded in action. One in five returning with post-traumatic stress, major depression or traumatic brain injury. More than 1,000 missing a limb.
By JAMES DAO Published: September 6, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/us/sept-11-reckoning/troops.html?_r=2Thursday, September 8, 2011
Female Veterans Breaking Silence, Beating Trauma
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
My Husband’s Reintegration
In this post, Sheri Hall answers questions about how she supported her family while her husband, Army Maj. Jeff Hall, struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder after his second tour in Iraq, and shares how she encouraged him to seek help through the Deployment Health Clinical Center’s specialized care program. The center is part of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, and offers care for those experiencing PTSD and reintegration concerns.
Q. What was your reaction when your husband returned home?
A. I noticed he had a deep, dark, hollow look in his eyes. I asked him if he needed to talk to someone. I let him know that I was supportive but he wasn’t receptive at the time. I think he felt he needed to be the “macho” soldier.
Q. What was the impact of his post-combat stress on you?
A. I was never fearful for Jeff’s life while he was in combat, since I knew that he trained himself well. When Jeff returned and was having suicidal thoughts, I couldn’t sleep. I was so worried I would sit in bed and watch him. I feared he would just leave. I lost 15 pounds in two weeks. When I’d take the kids to school, I would race home to make sure Jeff was where I last saw him.
By elaine.wilson
http://afps.dodlive.mil/2011/08/29/my-husband%E2%80%99s-reintegration/
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
How to save a life
All Staff Sgt. Tiffany Skelton had to do was take a few extra pills--she was on Zoloft, Paxil and three others--and she would drift off into a peaceful, permanent sleep. Or she could nick her wrists with one of the swords she had collected in Iraq, and let her lifeblood drain away, taking with it all of the worries and pain she had carried for so long.
Skelton had it all planned, down to who would pick up her son. He would probably be better off anyway, she reasoned. How many nights had 18-month-old Kenyen taken care of her as she lay on the couch, too depressed and overwhelmed to move? He covered her with a blanket, and brought her dinner from whatever he could reach in the refrigerator. Then his day care teacher called: Did Skelton know that he no longer smiled or wanted to play? That he was biting?
"I just couldn't take it anymore," Skelton said. "I had made my decision. I was going to die the next day."
Skelton's road to suicide started long before that June day in 2009, when she was an emotionally abused little girl in Georgia. She wanted to serve, but more than that, she wanted to escape her mother's death, and relatives who only cared if Skelton was around to cook for drunken uncles in the middle of the night. An automated logistics specialist, Skelton was excited to escape all the way to Iraq in 2003, until, that is, she realized a new nightmare awaited her.
Skelton's Reserve unit was assigned to the middle of the Sunni Triangle (between Baghdad, Ramadi and Tikrit), otherwise known as the "Triangle of Death." They were soon in the cross hairs of the fast-growing insurgency, facing multiple mortar and rocket attacks a day.
BY: Elizabeth M. Collins
http://www.army.mil/article/64291/How_to_save_a_life/
Friday, September 2, 2011
Reducing Combat Nightmares in Vets
Unlike the few open trials examining treatment of nightmares in Veterans, effect sizes in this study were similar to those that have been found in the civilian randomized controlled trial. These preliminary findings suggest that a nightmare treatment can be adapted to successfully reduce distress associated with combat Veterans' chronic nightmares.
http://belleruthnaparstek.com/hot-research/reducing-combat-nightmares-in-vets.html