3 Tours In Iraq. Ptsd. Amazing Guitars

[longknife]

See this amazing video and read the story of a USMC vet who finds his own way to overcome the disability of a disability many cannot yet overcome.


See and read @ MiVT Hand built guitars - WCAX.COM Local Vermont News Weather and Sports-

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Unfortunately, refusing assistance from mental health professionals is a common symptom of PTSD. So while I applaud another thread about PTSD, I advise against advocacy positions on 'individual treatment methods' vs. professional counselling.

 

[waltky]

PTSD treatment gettin' better...

Psychologist: Headway Made on Treatments for PTSD
Dec 14, 2015 | Before he launched into his lecture on the long-term consequences of "the blast," Alan Peterson, a clinical psychologist, took a moment to pay tribute to his subjects -- and to get his audience's attention.

"This time of year, keep in mind, we have a lot of people who are deployed," said Peterson, who is the behavioral medicine chief at the medical school of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. "For our troops who are deployed, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and ... " "BOOM!" he said, in a sudden shout. Beside him, images flashed across a screen: ripped, ragged limbs, pools of blood, furniture -- and people -- thrown like rag dolls. Peterson's voice was shaky. "There was just this incredible, loud boom, and all you could, just, like, the smell was of carbon, like a metal taste in my mouth," he said. "There was moaning and there was screaming and the medics showed up. People were just blown to pieces. And they were helping people and there was just so much blood."

The images came quickly now. A torso pierced by shrapnel. A stretcher. Body parts. "Oh God, that one dude, I could see inside of his head. And there was just kind of mass chaos. There was just so much blood ... so much blood." He paused. The screen stopped on an image of the tent, giant holes torn through its walls and roof in jagged, violent angles. Peterson turned to the room full of medical colleagues. "That's the way that blast occurs, right?" he said. "You are at a rock concert, in Paris, you are having a good time, the next thing you know it is mass, mass chaos."

The IED, or improvised explosive device, is considered the number one culprit for battle wounds in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It evolved into the go-to weapon for enemies of U.S. forces as they patrolled the streets trying to reach out to people. Nearly 80 percent of combat injuries to U.S. forces in those conflicts were from blasts -- the highest proportion in the history of large-scale conflict, Peterson said. For U.S. forces, that has meant myriad complex injuries ranging from burns and amputations to musculoskeletal, skin, genital, organ and brain injuries, as well as psychological consequences that can last decades.

But the proliferation of the blast also has meant a robust focus on protection and treatment. Forces are now equipped with better body armor, bomb detectors, robots and protective vehicles, along with more focused training and human intelligence. Far more survive. And while some injuries -- to the brain in particular -- are still confounding scientists, doctors are making tremendous headway in treating not only the physical wounds of these wars, but also another signature injury: post-traumatic stress disorder.

MORE

See also:

Photo of Injured Military Dog With Purple Heart Goes Viral
Dec 14, 2015 | A military K-9 injured in a bomb explosion in Afghanistan along with his military police officer partner now has a lot of support after a photo of the dog wearing a Purple Heart Medal in a hospital in Germany has gone viral, the Killeen Daily Herald reports.

Spc. Andrew Brown, 22, and his military dog, Rocky, were searching a structure for explosive materials in southern Afghanistan's Helmand Province on Dec. 3 when the bomb exploded, the Texas newspaper reported Friday. "They were working with Special Operations Forces in an effort to identify explosive materials," Army spokesman Sgt. Michal Garrett told the paper.

Brown and Rocky survived the blast and were taken to a military hospital in Germany. There, a photo was taken of Rocky wearing the Purple Heart and posted on the Facebook page of Fort Hood's 89th Military Police Brigade. Brown is assigned to the brigade. The photo had more than 89,000 likes, 118,000 shares and more than 9,500 comments as of Sunday morning. "The Army typically does not process awards for our working dogs the same way we do for our other soldiers," Garrett told the Daily Herald. "The Purple Heart in the photo was placed on Rocky as a sign of respect and solidarity between him and Brown during their recovery."

Two days ago, the brigade posted another photo of Brown and Rocky in a hospital room on Facebook that said, "They are both very thankful for your thoughts and prayers and are in the process of heading back home. The post said Brown had arrived earlier Friday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center Hospital in Washington where he was met by his waiting family. The Daily Herald reported that Brown, of Eliot, Maine, suffered non-life threatening injuries and will undergo a series of tests for traumatic brain injury. The tests are routine for soldiers injured by roadside bombs. Rocky is expected to return to Fort Hood in the coming weeks. The canine suffered shrapnel wounds and a broken leg.

Photo of Injured Military Dog With Purple Heart Goes Viral | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says, "Hey, if it works - it works...

Veterans are Using Pot to Ease PTSD, Despite Scant Research
Mar 22, 2016 | A growing number of states are weighing whether to legalize marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. But for many veterans, the debate is already over. They're increasingly using cannabis even though it remains illegal in most states and is unapproved by the Department of Veterans Affairs because major studies have yet to show it is effective against PTSD.

While the research has been contradictory and limited, some former members of the military say pot helps them manage their anxiety, insomnia and nightmares. Prescription drugs such as Klonopin and Zoloft weren't effective or left them feeling like zombies, some say. "I went from being an anxious mess to numbing myself with the pills they were giving me," said Mike Whiter, a 39-year-old former Marine who lives in Philadelphia, where marijuana is illegal. "Cannabis helped me get out of the hole I was in. I started to talk to people and get over my social anxiety." Others, though, have seen little benefit from the drug. And the VA has documented a troubling rise in the number of PTSD-afflicted veterans who have been diagnosed with marijuana dependence, which some experts say can hamper recovery from war trauma.

Sally Schindel, of Prescott, Arizona, said the VA diagnosed her son Andy Zorn with PTSD after he served in the Army in Iraq. The agency later diagnosed him with marijuana dependence as well as depression and bipolar disorder, she said. Schindel said her son was using marijuana not for recreation but as self-medication, particularly to help him sleep. He killed himself at age 31 in 2014, writing in his suicide note that "marijuana killed my soul & ruined my brain." "He told me he found it much harder to quit than he thought it would be," Schindel said. "He'd buy it and smoke it and then flush the rest of it. The next day he bought it again."

http://images.military.com/media/news/people/smoking-marijuana-ts600.jpg[img]
ormer U.S. Marine, Mike Whiter smokes marijuana before he starts editing a video project at his home in Philadelphia.[/center]

The stories of vets like Zorn and Whiter have helped fuel the debate over whether states and the federal government should legalize the drug for PTSD treatment. Lawmakers are increasingly sympathizing with vets like Whiter, despite the lack of scientific evidence. While some limited studies have shown that marijuana helps people manage PTSD symptoms in the short term, another suggested it may make symptoms worse. Starting with New Mexico in 2009, 10 states have listed PTSD among the ailments for which medical marijuana can be prescribed, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, which seeks to end criminalization of the drug. A few more states give doctors broad enough discretion to recommend pot to PTSD sufferers.

Similar measures have been introduced in Georgia, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Utah. In November, the U.S. Senate passed an amendment that would allow VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana to vets in states where it's legal. The proposal failed to pass the House. Federal law requires randomized, controlled trials to prove that a drug is effective before VA doctors can recommend it. Such studies are underway, including two funded by Colorado, where the state health board held off on legalizing marijuana for PTSD because of the lack of major studies. "There surely is not enough scientific evidence to say marijuana helps PTSD," said Marcel Bonn-Miller, a University of Pennsylvania professor who is leading the Colorado-backed studies. "But we'll get a heck of a lot closer to getting to know the answer in two to three years."

[url=http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/03/22/veterans-are-using-pot-ease-ptsd-scant-research.html]MORE[/url][/quote]​

 

[ZackB]

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!'

Just kidding!

 

[waltky]

They asked what?!...

Combat Vet With PTSD Sues American Airlines for Barring Service Dog
Oct 31, 2016 - An Army vet who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan claims in a lawsuit that American Airlines refused to let her board a plane with her service dog.

The Army Times reports that Lisa McCombs, of Gulfport, Miss., brought the lawsuit, saying she was humiliated last year when airline staff refused to let her fly home with the dog who helps her deal with her disability and has the papers to prove it. McCombs left the Army as a captain in 2009 after four years of service. The dog is a chocolate Labrador retriever named Jake. The Army Times reported that it tried to interview McCombs about the lawsuit but she referred a reporter to her attorney.

This photo July 17, 2015, photo shows the tails of four American Airlines passenger planes parked at Miami International Airport, in Miami.​

The paper reported that when it reached the attorney he declined to comment. The lawsuit says Jake wasn't allowed to fly with McCombs even though the airline says it welcomes service dogs on flights. It took McCombs and Jake two days to fly home. WLOX-TV reported that the lawsuit says American Airline agents were rude and condescending to McCombs in Kansas.

The lawsuit says agents asked her "Are you trying to fly with that?" and "What is your disability anyway?" according to the station. Her lawusit claims violations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and seeks unspecified damages. American Airline spokesman Matt Miller told the Army Times that Jim Palmersheim, the airline's senior manager of Military and Veterans Programs, spoke to McCombs immediately after the incident. He also said the airline had no comment on the lawsuit.

Combat Vet With PTSD Sues American Airlines for Barring Service Dog | Military.com