Speck 1 Meagan Speck Ms.

Ingram Eng 1103: Accelerated College Writing & Rhetoric

Never Leave a Man Behind Throughout the globe, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is affecting millions of people. PTSD is a type of anxiety disorder that can occur after you've seen or experienced a traumatic event that involved a threat of injury or death. People who are diagnosed with this mental disorder suffer from several symptoms that could easily affect their everyday lives such as flashbacks, avoidance, and increased anxiety. I, however, am focusing on a more specific group of people with PTSD. These people are Americas war veterans and they have been traumatized while fighting for our country. Although several PTSD veterans are getting the proper treatment for their condition, many are not and are forced to live a life held back by their trauma. PTSD is a problem that has to be corrected immediately due to its harmful side effects such as depression, which could lead to suicide. There are several reasons as to why soldiers arent receiving treatment, but there are things being done to solve this issue. The efforts, however, have not been effective enough to solve the problem completely. Because of this, help is desperately needed still. Giving Americas war heroes help is the least we can do for their sacrifices to keep us all safe. Since 9/11, nearly thirty percent of the 834,463 Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans treated at V.A. hospitals and clinics have been diagnosed with PTSD (Reno, 2012). It has also been brought to my attention that the VA downplays this problem.

Speck 2 According to Paul Sullivan at Bergmann & Moore, the V.A. has not been making effort to publicize the updated data of the number of veterans who suffer with PTSD. Another advocate and Gulf War vet stated, In an apparent effort to make the PTSD problem look less serious, V.A. is just making numbers up. The math doesnt add up (Reno, 2012). Evidently, the PR office is a few years behind. Because the V.A. believes the number is smaller than it actually is, the V.A. leaders are not ready for the massive number of PTSD victims they are expected to treat. This means some veterans that are diagnosed will not be able to get the proper treatment. In addition, there also has been a dramatic increase in demand as more and more troops leave active duty and enter the V.A. system. As a result, the numbers of PTSD veterans appear to be outrunning the efforts by the current administration to make things better. According to VA BENEFITS ACTIVITY: VETERANS DEPLOYED TO THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR, 44 percent of post 9/11 veterans diagnosed with PTSD are still not getting their benefits (Reno, 2012). The former executive director of Veterans for Common Sense blames Obamas efforts and mentions that before his regulations, the V.A. was approving about half of the disability claims. Basically, the VA system needs to make the public aware of the actual number of veterans being affected. Not only that, but a higher authority like the president needs to promote a more helpful policy to make sure veterans are getting their rightful benefits. Another reason why veterans dont receive treatment for this disorder is because most feel like it will jeopardize their career. For example, Nick Golbin, a combat medic, chose not to seek treatment. He said, I just didnt want anyone to know I had that issue. I didnt want to know myself (Freking, 2012). A lot of people think this way and several are never helped. It is a huge issue and someone needs to advocate how important coping

Speck 3 with this disorder can be. If a person is diagnosed with extreme PTSD, this could lead them to detrimental thoughts and suicide. As of now, the institute of medicine (IOM) is recommending more annual screening in hopes for more victims to realize they are not alone and have opportunities to get better. The IOM panel also calls for more research to shed light on the brains defense mechanisms for stress and severity of symptoms and identify signs that could help lead to earlier diagnoses. Annual screening of soldiers when they get back from overseas is very important because they may not realize they suffer from PTSD. As a matter of fact, many are in denial and refuse to believe they have this type of mental disorder. I am also aware that several PTSD victims have had a pleasant experience with the VA program and have had an easy time acquiring treatment for their condition. For me, personally, my father who suffers from PTSD has not gotten the treatment he needs. My dad is in the Special Forces and has been overseas a total of 6 times, having put himself in quite a few dangerous situations. When he first returns home, he is not himself and acts very distant. He also gets paranoid very easily and cant stand the loud sounds of things such as fireworks. Think about it this way; soldiers are put into war for however long and expected to kill the enemy, then they are thrown back into reality where this is savage and unacceptable. Its a hard adjustment for anyone, having to live in between two extremes such as those. When my dad arrives home, he is mandated to speak with the therapist and if he shows signs of PTSD he is required to keep attending the therapy sessions. According to him, it is easy to hide symptoms of PTSD at these therapy sessions. My dad, for example, hasnt been completely truthful about the pain he suffers from while he is deployed. He does anything to avoid his thoughts about war. My dad is

Speck 4 also in love with his job and he knows that if he shows symptoms of this disorder, his job would be taken away from him. He doesnt find that getting treatment is worth it. Like mentioned before, several soldiers choose not to be screened for PTSD in fear of what others may think and what may be taken away. Next, there is the issue that the VA is taking too long while their sorting through a backlog of more than 860,000 disability claims from American veterans. It is said that more than a quarter of those vets have been waiting for a year or more (Kaye, 2012). Some of the delays include lost paperwork; long wait times for appointments and erroneous lab results. According to the VA, part of the problem is that many veterans are returning with severe and complex mental injuries, and sometimes they file incomplete paperwork (Kaye, 2012). Whatever the case may be, help is taking too long and the diagnosed need to see results immediately. However, it may take some time because the Veteran Administration (VA) is transitioning from a paper-based system to an electronic system. At the moment, only a small fraction of the VAs regional offices has computerized their records so far. Until everything is electronic, speed bumps will keep occurring and the veterans will keep their expression among them that the VAs policy is Delay, deny until we die (Kaye, 2012). Obviously there are many contributors as to why the VA is not reaching all the veterans diagnosed with PTSD. Although, it is a rough time now, there is help along the way. An issue that is being focused on currently is that PTSD is too general of a disorder and that most of these patients also suffer from other mental disorders such as depression and insomnia. Now the VA is trying to integrate mental health care into primary health care, introducing programs such as Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness

Speck 5 (Rosenburg, 2012). In efforts to fight the stigma, the military is also starting an awareness campaign called AboutFace, which features veterans talking about their PTSD and how they moved on from it. This AboutFace campaign could eventually persuade those stubborn soldiers to get help so they can have a happier, less stressful life. In addition to new programs, the VA has added 7,500 full-time mental health staff members and trained 6,600 clinicians to do cognitive processing (Rosenburg, 2012). It is a move that was truly needed due to the amount of PTSD veterans outnumbering the doctors. With all this effort, it is still apparent that it is not enough at the moment. Even with the vast increase in research money, the studies have been small and isolated. According to Tina Rosenburg, It is time to take the most promising ideas and try them with thousands of people, not just a dozenand if they work, to expand them further (Rosenburg, 2012). If we dont do it this way, thousands more will be left behind without treatment. Evidently, PTSD veterans are still not getting the proper treatment they deserve. Thousands are being left in the dust, forced to help themselves with their issue. Ive recognized the efforts of those trying to fix this problem, but Ive also recognized that these efforts arent good enough. They are still too many not being helped. Not only that, but there are still those huge numbers scared of the consequences that will happen if they admit to this disorder. It is time that we find ways for PTSD veterans to be able to recognize their conditions and to be able to live with it. Like I said before, this is an issue that needs to be corrected immediately. Soldiers are constantly sacrificing their lives on the battle front without asking for anything. It is time we give thanks to them by providing the soldier with the help to improve their PTSD disorder and by making sure the VA never leaves a man behind.

Speck 6 Work Cited

Admin. "Veterans Disability for PTSD Victims." The Coye Law Disability Center. N.p., 27 Feb. 2007. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.coyelawdisabilitycenter.com>. Brennan, Thomas J. "Living With P.T.S.D. and Allowing Myself to Get Help." At War Blog. N.p., 22 June 2012. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. <http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com> Freking, Kevin. "Panel Calls for Annual PTSD Screening." NBC News. N.p., 13 July 2012. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com>. Kaye, Randi. "Hundreds of Thousands of War Vets Still Waiting for Health Benefits." CNN. N.p., 30 Sept. 2012. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. <http://cnn.com>. Reno, Jamie. "Nearly 30% of Vets Treated by VA Have PTSD." The Daily Beast. N.p., 21 Oct. 2012. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. <http://www.thedailybeast.com>. Rosenburg, Tina. "For Veterans, a Surge of New Treatments for Trauma." NY Times. N.p., 2012. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. <http://opinionator.blogs.nytime.com>.