longtime du military vets.

[seabeyond]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9504488

i was reading this op and started thinking about this. i dont know people that have been in military and effected by the ugliness of war. i am curious about longterm reactions. how after time, if repercussions mellowed. tools used. lifelong behaviors.

military today seems to be taking this issue much more seriously than ever before.

[HereSince1628]

1. I sit among some Vietnam vets still treated for PSTD at Zablocki VAMC

Though I sit among a lot more Iraq and Afghanistan vets. One thing to consider is PTSD is often times co-occurring with other issues and personality problems and so the way individuals present can be quite different.

This about flashbacks from the DSM-IV TR as presented at

http://www.mental-health-today.com/ptsd/dsm.htm

the traumatic event can be reexperienced in various ways. Commonly the person has recurrent and intrusive recollections of the event (Criterion B1) or recurrent distressing dreams during which the event is replayed (Criterion B2)...



...In rare instances, the person experiences dissociative states that last from a few seconds to several hours, or even days, during which components of the event are relived and the person behaves as though experiencing the event at that moment (Criterion B3)

[Bigmack]

5. Only last night I had a little "taped replay" in my dreams...

That shit never goes away.

[HereSince1628]

7. I don't know if you are getting treatment but here is an introductory link

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/va-ptsd-treatment-programs.asp


There are a LOT of resources dedicated to PTSD at Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee.

[Ozymanithrax]

2. Fourty years after 'nam...

I sometime still wake up in the shit, with smell of cordite and blood in nostrils, feeling the mud in boots, and tears running down my face, and so scared I could crap diamonds.

[lector]

3. war

After 40 years I still have issues, both physical and mental. When you go from 18 months in a combat zone to the streets San Francisco in 48 hours, having problems dealing with it is an under statement.

[pinboy3niner]

4. Mental health pros say PTSD is treatable, but not curable

It doesn't really 'mellow' all by itself--that takes some work. And even then, symptoms can recur with intensity at any time of life--often in response to 'triggers'--smells, sights, sounds, anniversary dates and even other life stressors--that bring back the powerful feelings associated with the traumatic event(s).

It's also worth noting that some war vets who stayed in the military and seemed to be unaffected suddenly began experiencing seriously problematic symptoms only after they retired.

For more information on PTSD, see the resource links posted by unhappycamper in a pinned thread in the Veterans Forum:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=259x12011

[UTUSN]

6. This is what is so infuriating about the VA, how it actively sabotages claims

Some of the effects are buried and not obvious and not obviously LINKED.

The VA has a history of grasping at any loopholes in the applicants' accounts to deny claims, besides underhanded tricks like the memos that came to light last year about "downgrading" diagnoses and ruling that there were pre-existing conditions.

What makes it more despicable is that nearly ALL of the VA employees are vets themselves, sabotaging other vets.