GAO report: VA assets inadequate to handle expected stress disorder cases

[lebkuchen]

The Department of Veterans Affairs does not have the resources to handle the expected posttraumatic stress disorder cases from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

VA officials quickly dismissed the findings, noting that so far they have treated more than 6,400 veterans for those mental health issues, and more than 244,000 veterans in the agency’s history.

But health experts said if the report is right, thousands of current soldiers could find themselves with no way to deal with serious emotional and psychological problems in the near future.

“We have given a lot of attention to the physical side of recovery, but very little to the emotional fallout these soldiers might face,” said Dr. Mark Lerner, president of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. “We have to increase awareness, because this could take months or years to show up.”

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=27372

[TahitiNut]

1. I'm sure the Pharmaceutical Industry will accept IOU's and ...

... pump the vets full of their favorite 'solutions.'

[lebkuchen]

2. Just imagine

what one, two, three, four, five year tours in a war zone can do to the human mind.

Cut veterans' aid on top of that, as well as social services, and you have a country living on the edge, a big fat ticking time bomb.

Glad I don't live there.

[Karenina]

3. Ich auch!

*F*U*B*A*R*
FUCKED UP BEYOND ALL RECOGNITION

[lebkuchen]

4. Hey Karenina

Were you able to go to Mainz?

Ich nicht. Ich bin erkältet.

[Karenina]

5. I paid my "demo dues" 35 years ago

;-) The entire region, as you well know, was SHUT DOWN.
Wieviel kostet das? Darf ich die Rechnung sehen?

[TahitiNut]

6. As a Vietnam vet who damned near had a psychotic break ...

... when I was prescribed Halcion (triazolam) for a recurrence of my sleep disorders while going through a divorce, I pale to think about it. We're still peddling drugs in this country that other countries (without even the PTSD populations) have outlawed. If these guys don't get the kind of support that's trained in PTSD issues, there'll be time-bombs walking around for 10-15 years. Just add the 'right' pharmacological primer and some pretty gruesome events are in our futures.

[lebkuchen]

7. Add to that LT Generals' comments about the joy of killing others

even if PTSD counseling were plentiful, which it isn't as per the article posted, who would be brave enough to seek help?

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's a shame you have to see others suffer what you've been through. Learning from and correcting mistakes is a thing of the past, apparently. Either that, or else caring for war-worn vets was never what the US was truly about to begin with.

[TahitiNut]

8. In the last 40 years, more support has been provided by ...

... Vietnam veterans themselves than by the VA. VVA, VVAW, and other volunteer organizations have been in the lead in dealing with counseling and other support. The VA has been deaf, dumb, and blind.

[lebkuchen]

9. The VA is to vets

as the mainstream media is to viewers.

If the VA/mainstream media won't do its job, somebody else, like vets/bloggers, will step in to fill the vacuum.