Having Your Warfare & Ingesting Them Too: Fixing the International Experienced Crisis

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

The here and now

Since 2000, the cost to allied countries for these military operations has surpassed 5 trillion dollars, and treating those injured both mentally and physically continues to hemorrhage billions. It's approximated that 30% of combat veterans will return showing either complete or partial symptom manifestation of PTSD.

Fight veterans are glorified for having served their country in battle, focusing attention on this group, notably where the people sees battle veterans unsupported and displaced in the wake of their service. Military trauma is the largest statistical group for PTSD, as they may be concentrated within organizations for example Veterans Administrations (VAs) and hence easily analyzed.

There are much greater amounts of PTSD from youth and sexual trauma than combat injury, yet fight veterans have excessive rates of suicide and homelessness as a result of lack of governmental and social support systems available to satisfactorily cater the now astronomical influx of demand.

Think of it like this: civilians with PTSD are naturally distribute amongst a nation, states, cities and towns. They frequently have a structure of family and friends around them. The military manages in big clusters. Their base locations are frequently called by soldiers home. VAs are generally created close to military bases, further isolating support for combat veterans.

At present there are billions of dollars spent on a multitude of plans and studies in an effort to find and solve the PTSD veteran crisis. You might think progress is being made with all this money spent, yet the results don't represent the price or effort to date. There are plans that work, and there are known variables with high success rates, yet these in many cases are dismissed as a result of time requirements or, worse, capital, as funds keeps going to new trials and plans.

So what are the difficulties that have to be solved?

Thousands of returning soldiers are enduring complex, treatment immune injury due to multiple operational tours.

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

The efficacy of pharmaceuticals is inconsistent, causing more problems than they fix for the majority yet being used as the first line treatment protocol.

That is a deficit of powerful systems to first treat self-medication.

There's a deficit of trauma therapists to effectively treat the amount of those affected.

Effective treatments need years to be actually powerful per individual.

Federal impairment schemes are stretched with PTSD sufferers to funding limits.

Stigmatization strains reintegration within society both socially and for employment.

Collateral damage is done to the veteran's family.

Issues are reasonably simple to identify. The preceding list is far from exhaustive in presenting issues for combat veterans with PTSD. I am an Australian battle veteran, and I do not speak for the entire world's battle veteran community, whilst the ideas here are merely that. As Australia has quite an extraordinary combat veteran support system and affiliated software in place, I consider myself blessed. I expect other combat veterans add their own comments to what they feel could be simple, effective alternatives to the issues that are present.

By no means is the following discussion intertwine several of our trouble areas that are listed, and some of the alternatives address and a complete alternative to the above difficulties.

Perennial tours broaden PTSD sophistication

Like a kid within a hazardous home environment, surrounded 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, though when compounded by multiple tours -- such as six on, six off, six on, six off -- the continued exposure provides little relief towards re adjustment or successful downtime following a fight tour. Most will remain in an activated and prepared state, knowing they again, let alone that they will most likely begin pre-deployment training within 3 months, further reducing downtime.

The simple alternative to the entire issue? Discontinue sending troops into absurd wars which make little tactical sense. The lies, deceit and conflicting information from all the recent wars does little towards credibility to support troop deployments. Defend your country; don't invade others. A simple solution to the whole issue!

Saying that, secret agencies and politicians can not get enough deceit and power, so troop deployments need to be drastically altered to control repeated, extreme exposure to battle. A ratio of 1:3 should be used for all deployments. For every month deployed, you spend house, reintegrating in training, general obligations, classes, social life, family and so forth.

To put it simply, most deployments are six month in duration for tactical and economical reasons, making every rotation 18 months home. That leaves decompress, cope with any emotional dilemmas that present, then begin pre- deployment again with a minimum of 15 months.

If militaries need to believe long term, then they should get onboard such spinning times. Losing seasoned combat veterans works against every military, so looking after them is in the best interest for all involved.

VAs are under-equipped

VAs are far under-equipped to deal with the present influx of PTSD combat veterans. Wait times can be many hours for what should be an one-hour appointment. Also, it can take months just to make that appointment.

Group therapy is failing to treat the individual wounding elements of each battle veteran. Whilst group therapy has value, it also has results limits.

VAs in America are under-funded, using over-worked, exhausted, frustrated employees. The solution is that funds should be focused on the issue, not wasted on diverse alternatives that are experimental. The solutions are present -- effective therapies that provide 60 to 80% recovery, with more time needed for some.

Money could wisely be spent enabling combat veterans to seek Va-financed treatment through local, private trauma therapists who deliver approved injury treatment techniques to treat the trauma. As that's socialism vs capitalism, that may be hard to hear for some in the U.S.. Is every man for themselves actually helping the trouble? No, no it's not.

In Australia and the United Kingdom, the problem is being helped by it. Combat veterans dismissed and aren't abandoned to be displaced. Instead they've government support in place for disability and treatment capital while seeking treatment. Getting folks back and cured to being productive members of society is in every nation's finest long-term interest.

Pharmaceuticals aren't the response

Shrinks are using pharmaceuticals to treat PTSD with little evidence to support the efficacy of this type of treatment regimen. Pharmaceuticals have an approximate 25% achievement rate, far less than trauma treatments. Sure, they're cheaper than therapy, but they cause much more issues than they mend.

Most combat veterans veterans with ptsd treated with pharmaceuticals will be on several drugs. Why? So subsequently shrinks are prescribing drugs to treat the symptoms that another medication created, because one will cause other issues. Seriously? This is a sign of just how bad pharmaceuticals are, in the solution is giving a pill to a difficulty created by a pill. Is this ok? Pharmaceuticals are creating more problems than they solve.

Deficit of effective pre-treatment programs

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

Pre-treatment isn't restricting its use to make therapy overall more effective although about quitting substance abuse. Hell, the effectiveness of pre-treatment can be used as a mark towards having total injury treatment paid for at a physician local to the combat veteran.

Shortage of effective therapists

Therapists are not created equal. This focus on pitching them within a VA and hiring therapists is antiquated, to say the least. You restrict a therapist's possible by exposing them to nothing besides combat trauma to learn and treat trauma. Limits become enforced on techniques and their learning. They become desensitized and become capable of treating their client.

The solution isn't to create a therapist that is military but to support therapists in private practice, where they've a blend of clients and therefore have a mix of treatments they're using and assessing for effectiveness. Also, they aren't becoming burnt out on the atrocities of combat trauma and aren't being screwed into provide their service for next to nothing.

A happy therapist makes a great therapist. Pay them nicely. Treat them well. Ensure they've diversity of clientele, and ensure they've mandatory exposure to techniques and on-going learning.

Effective treatments take time

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprogramming (EMDR) took 20 years to grow and evolve into one of the best treatments for trauma. The billions being spent towards idiotic studies and plans by governments needs to stop, and we must repurpose this money towards actual available treatments that work.

I 'm advocating 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 needed to efficiently change 60-80% of returning troops suffering PTSD to entirely healed, practical civilians . This only makes sense.

Yes, this is socialism on the job but let us be honest, it is really needed to treat the veteran crisis happening internationally. The cash is being spent but instead of being wasted, it can be used to actually treat the issue, not merely seem as if something is being done.

Federal impairment stretched to the limits

Impairment given to combat veterans has climbs to dizzying highs. Throwing money at veterans isn't going to solve their problems nor the total problem. Governments will finally break. As we're an international market today, this issue has far reaching economic impact for all nations concerned.

Sure, cash must be there to support veterans during treatment, but the issue is that cash isn't being used towards the impacted and the treatment. To reduce the overall incidence of impairment, governments need to ensure money is being effectively spent on providing treatment to the affected. It is rather easy to get your disability payments you must be attending therapy and actually partaking towards recovery. After deemed recuperated by the therapist, support towards re-employment training and then full employment opportunities.

Incapacity is then used effectively, and those people who are really resistant after years of therapy then stay on handicap. Keep supplying them the support they desire, and you have decreased the burden that is longevity by a minimum of yearly funding that is 60%. Well... unless you keep sending troops into idiotic wars, that's.

Reintegration employment stigmatization

A more urgent issue for veterans, especially those who employable, are practical, have cured and are prepared to transition to employment once again, is that PTSD awareness has now reached employers. These companies are discriminating when learning of military history on resumes and have incorrect beliefs of PTSD sufferers. Companies are currently asking questions that are not allowed to be asked relating to mental health. They may be passing over combat veterans on the assumption that PTSD may become an issue about them as a company.

If governments get their act together and do figure out how to shift the present strategy of treating combat veteran PTSD an awareness media campaign would also need to be established -- or motivators to hire battle veterans, span -- to thwart the incorrect blot connected with PTSD.

Families are collateral damage

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

Family play a larger part than therapists in helping their loved one back to health, but they can't do it alone. For serving employees with an approximate 80% divorce rate, the PTSD divorce rate is much greater. Having battle veterans left their family, or vice versa, isn't helping the veteran, family, community or economy. 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 novels, phone counselling support, even video conferencing and online support groups, all of these resources assist assistants to band together, help each other, and help themselves towards helping their veteran.

Conclusion

There are some fairly big issues that currently are only getting worse. Things must change as the present strategy is a dismal failure. We've effective treatments available. They just need money, time and locality implementation for effectiveness: more official resources available online, efforts targeting the stigma of PTSD and use the truth to blanket the myths that propagate the discrimination and possibly even motivators to employ battle veterans.

What can you add towards solving the veteran PTSD crisis? Do you believe there's a bigger problem at play that we haven't mentioned? Please share your ideas and maybe, just maybe, someone that matters might take initiative and implement the change needed to fix the dilemma.