Posted on 04/10/2009 5:31:25 AM PDT by PurpleMan
Soldiers with PTSD present the Army with two problems, both involving scary numbers. First, soldiers suffering serious combat stress should not be returned to combat, and if they cannot fight they represent a significant manpower loss for an already stretched military. A recent Rand Corp. study estimates that nearly 20 percent of those Army troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan might suffer from PTSD or major depression. If they were all barred from the battlefield, the Army could lose as many as one out of every five combat troops while trying to fight two wars.
Second, if soldiers are identified as suffering from PTSD and thus disabled, the Army may have to separate those soldiers from the military and pay benefits -- benefits that are extensive and can last a lifetime. The direct costs to the Army for treating soldiers with PTSD are potentially astronomica
(Excerpt) Read more at salon.com ...
and
"Tale of the secret Army tape" http://www.salon.com/news/special/coming_home/2009/04/09/ptsd/
After my son deployed back to Hawaii from Afghanistan, he had to attend mandatory PTSD Awareness training. Later he was describing the symptoms to his Mom. You know irritability, short temper, argumentative, and explosive behavior. He told his Mom that he thought that he had PTSD (He was joking.) His Mom replied that he had those symptoms a long time before he went to Afghanistan.
After his return from Iraq he no longer mentioned PTSD to his Mom.
It’s early. I missed the point.
This is idiotic. Disability benefits paid to a wounded or injured veteran come out of the budget of the VETERANS ADMINISTRATION. Have any of the geniuses at Salon ever hear of the VA? Second largest civilian bureaucracy in the USG? Thought not.
All service men and women, veterans, military contractors...as well as our police and fireman DO have a fantastic support site for JUST this problem!!!
Go to: www.patriotoutreach.org
It is a program headed up by Colonel Antonio P. Monaco, United States Army for the above mentioned to help with their stresses so they do not need to carry the emotions and bad thoughts that cause PTSD and allows them to remember, but not resent the past...which it has been discovered is one root cause of PTSD...reliving a traumatic event and being unable to stop!
Please pass this on to all men and women who server us in any of the capacities above.
General Patton had to apologize for his treatment.
ping
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