Having Your Warfare & Ingesting Them Too: Fixing the Worldwide Veteran Catastrophe

We live in a time in which countries are sending unprecedented amounts of allied troops to combat zones in the name of terrorism prevention, the full cost of which is unforeseen and staggering. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has hit record amounts and garnered record focus, and it's the primary culprit for high suicide, homelessness, divorce and substance abuse in global combat veteran people.

The here and now

Since 2000, 5 trillion ptsd and veterans dollars have been surpassed by the cost to allied nations for these military operations, and treating those injured both psychologically and physically continues to hemorrhage billions. It truly is approximated that 30% of combat veterans will return illustrating either full or partial symptom expression of PTSD.

Fight veterans are glorified for having served their nation in battle, focusing attention on this group, notably where the public sees combat veterans unsupported and homeless in the wake of their service. Military trauma is the greatest statistical group for PTSD, as they are focused within organizations like Veterans Administrations (VAs) and consequently easily analyzed.

There are far greater amounts of sexual injury than battle trauma and PTSD from youth, yet combat veterans have excessive rates of homelessness and suicide as a result of deficiency of governmental and societal support systems available to satisfactorily cater the currently astronomical influx of need.

Think of it like this: civilians with PTSD are disperse amongst states, a country, cities and towns. They often have a structure of relatives and buddies around them. The military runs in big bunches. Soldiers frequently call their base places dwelling. VAs are normally established close to military bases isolating support for combat veterans.

At present there are billions of dollars spent on a multitude of programs and studies in an effort to find and solve the PTSD veteran catastrophe. With all this money spent, you might believe progress is being made, yet the results do not represent the price or effort to date. There are programs that work, and there are known variables with high achievement rates, yet these in many cases are ignored due to financing, time conditions or, worse, as backing keeps going to new trials and programs.

So what are the problems that need to be solved?

Thousands of returning soldiers are suffering sophisticated, therapy immune injury due to multiple operational tours.

VAs are under-equipped to deal with the PTSD amounts that are returning.

The effectiveness of pharmaceuticals is not consistent, causing more problems than they fix for the majority yet being used as the first line treatment protocol.

There is a deficit of systems that are effective to first treat self medication.

There's a deficit of injury therapists to efficiently treat the number of those impacted.

Effective therapies need years, a decade even, to be really powerful per individual.

National impairment systems are stretched to funding limits with PTSD sufferers.

Stigmatization forms reintegration within society both socially and for employment.

Collateral damage is done to the veteran's family.

Issues are reasonably easy to identify. The preceding list is far from exhaustive in presenting issues for combat veterans with PTSD. I am an Australian combat veteran, and whilst the ideas here are merely that, I do not speak for the combat veteran community of the whole world. I consider myself fortunate, as Australia has quite an extraordinary fight veteran support system and affiliated applications in position. I hope other battle veterans add their own comments to what they feel could be easy, powerful solutions to the current problems.

By no means is the subsequent discussion intertwine several of our listed problem areas, and some of the solutions address and a complete alternative to the preceding issues.

Repeated tours extend PTSD intricacy

Like a kid within a toxic home surroundings, encircled by abuse with nowhere to go, a soldier resides in a similar scenario when deployed within a combat zone. For six to twelve months, this is traumatic for many soldiers as an isolated tour, however when compounded by multiple tours -- such as six on, six off, six on, six off -- the continued vulnerability provides little help towards re-adjustment or successful downtime following a fight tour. Most will remain in an activated and ready state, understanding they redeploy let alone that they will most likely start pre-deployment training within 3 months, further reducing downtime.

The straightforward alternative to the whole problem? Cease sending troops into ridiculous wars that make little tactical sense. The contradictory, lies and deceit information from all the recent wars does little towards credibility to support troop deployments. Defend your nation; do not invade others. A simple alternative to the entire problem!

Saying that, politicians and secret agencies can not get enough deceit and power, so troop deployments need to be radically altered to check repeated, extreme exposure to battle. A ratio of 1:3 should be used for all deployments. For every month you spend three months dwelling, reintegrating in training, general responsibilities, classes, social life, family etc.

Simply put, most deployments are six month in duration for reasons that are tactical and economical, making every turning 18 months house. That makes a minimum of 15 months to decompress, deal with any emotional issues that present, then begin pre- deployment.

If militaries desire to think long term, then they have to get onboard such rotation intervals. Losing experienced combat veterans works against every military, so looking after them is in the best interest for all involved.

VAs are under-equipped

VAs are way under-equipped to cope with the current inflow of PTSD combat veterans. Wait times can be many hours for what should be an one-hour appointment. Moreover, it can take months just to make that appointment.

Group therapy is failing to treat the individual traumatic parts of each combat veteran. Whilst group therapy has value, additionally, it has results limitations.

VAs in America are under-financed, using over worked, drained, frustrated workers. The solution is that funding should be focused on the issue, not wasted on diverse experimental alternatives. The alternatives are already present -- effective therapies that supply 60 to 80% recovery, with more time needed for some.

Money could prudently be spent enabling combat veterans to seek Va-funded treatment through local, private trauma therapists who deliver injury therapy techniques that were approved to treat the injury. That may be difficult to hear for some in the U.S., as that is socialism vs capitalism. Is every man for themselves really helping the problem? No, no it is not.

In the United Kingdom and Australia, the issue is being helped by it. Combat veterans discounted and aren't left to be homeless. Instead they've government support in place for treatment and disability funds while seeking treatment. Getting people back and treated to being productive members of society is in every nation's finest long term interest.

Pharmaceuticals are not the answer

Shrinks are using pharmaceuticals to treat PTSD with little evidence to support the efficacy of this kind of treatment regimen. Pharmaceuticals have an approximate 25% achievement rate, far less than injury therapies. Sure, they are cheaper than treatment, but they cause far more issues than they fix.

Most combat veterans treated with pharmaceuticals will be on several medications. Why? So afterward psychiatrists are prescribing medications to treat the symptoms that another drug created because other problems will be caused by one. Seriously? This is an indication of just how bad pharmaceuticals are, in the alternative is giving a pill to a difficulty created by a pill. How is this okay? Pharmaceuticals are creating more problems than they solve.

Shortage of powerful pre-treatment systems

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a foundational treatment protocol that has history support effectiveness in treating substance abuse with PTSD and to demonstrate. Why are billions being spent on experimental, radical, vague efforts to find other alternatives for treating the veteran crisis when the remedies already exist? Place of dollars toward training staff to deliver the techniques to the affected battle veterans. More will get solved in a shorter span than what's happening now.

Pre-treatment is not restricting its use to make therapy overall more efficient although about quitting substance abuse. Hell, the effectiveness of pre-treatment can be used towards having full trauma treatment paid for at a physician local to the combat veteran as a mark.

Deficit of effective therapists

Therapists are not created equal. This focus on throwing them within a VA and hiring therapists is antiquated, to say the least. You restrict a therapist's possible to learn and treat injury by exposing them to nothing other than combat trauma. Limits become demanded on their learning and techniques. They become desensitized and become effective at treating their client.

The alternative isn't to create a therapist that is military but to support therapists in private practice, where they've a mixture of customers and consequently have a blend of treatments they are using and evaluating for effectiveness. Furthermore, they aren't becoming burnt out on the atrocities of combat trauma and aren't being screwed into supply their service for next to nothing.

A happy therapist makes a good therapist. Pay them nicely. Treat them nicely. Ensure they've diversity of clientele, and ensure they have mandatory exposure to techniques and ongoing learning.

Powerful therapies take time

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprogramming (EMDR) took 20 years to grow and evolve into one of the most effective treatments for injury. The billions being spent towards programs and idiotic studies by authorities should cease, and we must repurpose this cash towards real accessible treatments that work.

I 'm recommending training more therapists in EMDR, Prolonged Exposure (PE), Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT), ACTION, and receiving these treatments used as first line treatment for PTSD instead of tossing pharmaceuticals approximately. Using this cash to finance the longevity treatment durations required to efficiently alter 60-80% of returning troops suffering PTSD to completely healed, practical civilians . This only makes sense.

Yes, this is socialism at work, but let us be fair, it is really needed to treat the veteran catastrophe happening worldwide. The money is being spent but instead of being squandered, it can be used to truly treat the problem, not merely look as if something is being done.

National disability stretched to the limitations

Disability given to combat veterans has climbs to dizzying highs. Throwing cash at veterans is not going to solve their problems nor the total problem. Impairment schemes will eventually break authorities. As we're a global market today, this issue has far reaching economic impact for all states concerned.

Sure, cash needs to be there to support veterans during treatment, but the difficulty is that cash isn't being equally used towards the treatment and the affected. To reduce the overall occurrence of handicap, governments need to ensure money is being effectively spent on providing treatment to the changed. It is quite easy really -- to get your disability payments you truly partaking towards recovery and must be attending therapy. After deemed recovered by the therapist, support towards re-employment training and then full employment opportunities.

Disability is then used efficiently, and those who are truly resistant after years of therapy then remain on disability. Keep providing them the support they want, and the longevity burden has reduced by a minimum of yearly funds that is 60%. Well... unless you keep sending troops into idiotic wars, that is.

Reintegration employment stigmatization

A more urgent problem for veterans, especially those who are prepared to transition to employment once again, employable, have healed and are functional, is that PTSD consciousness has reached employers. These companies have erroneous beliefs of PTSD sufferers and are now discriminating when learning of military history on resumes. Employers are now asking questions which are not permitted to be asked relating to mental health. They're passing over battle veterans on the assumption that PTSD may become an issue for them as an employer.

If governments get their act together and do manage to alter the current strategy of treating combat veteran PTSD , then an awareness media campaign would also need to be found -- or motivators to hire combat veterans, span -- to thwart the wrong stigma associated with PTSD.

Families are collateral damage

The forgotten in all this is the family behind the veteran. They need access to government-assisted support in relation to battle veterans. Siblings, parents and partners need help in how exactly to best help their affected fight veteran. They desire self-care support. They need access to educational tools to help get their fight veteran back on track towards stability and employment, in life.

Family play a larger part in helping their loved one back to health than therapists, but they can't do it alone. For serving employees with an approximate 80% divorce rate, the PTSD divorce rate is much higher. Having combat veterans left their family, or vice versa, is not helping the veteran, family, community or market. A snowball effect occurs with far reaching impact.

Whether online support structures are in place for schooling, access to free copies of popular PTSD relationship publications, telephone counselling support, even video conferencing and on-line support groups, all of these resources assist supporters to band together, help each other, and help themselves towards helping their veteran.

Judgment

There are some rather large issues that at present are only getting worse. Things need to change as the present strategy is a dismal failure. We've effective treatments available. They only need money, time and locality enactment for effectiveness: more official resources available online, campaigns targeting the stigma of PTSD and use the truth to blanket the myths that propagate the discrimination and maybe even motivators to employ combat veterans.

What can you add towards solving the veteran disaster that is PTSD? Do you believe there is a larger problem at play that we haven't mentioned? Please discuss your ideas and maybe, just perhaps, someone that matters might take initiative and implement the change needed to repair the problem.