Support the Troops When They Get Home, Too
While I am pro-ending the illegal war in Iraq... (no George, it has ZERO to do with 9/11 - and why is Osama bin-Laden still alive in Pakistan? Stop invoking 9/11 and admit that your PNAC buddies used the 9/11 tragedy to push their own agenda!) I am not for "cut and run." Despite being a progressive I understand we can't just leave. I make my children tidy up their messes too.
(And why don't you guys at the White House tell the American public about the billion dollar PERMANENT BASES you are building in Iraq while you count your Exxon and Halliburton shares?)
Now here's another mess - on our doorstep. Those returning from 3 and 4 deployments with serious mental health issues.
Returning vets at higher risk for suicide
VA health clinics lack 24-hour mental health care for troops
Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are at increased risk of suicide because not all Veterans Affairs health clinics have 24-hour mental care available, an internal review says.
The report released Thursday by the department’s inspector general is the first comprehensive look at VA mental health care, particularly suicide prevention.
It found that nearly three years into the VA’s broad strategy for mental health care, services were inconsistent throughout the agency’s 1,400 clinics.
Several facilities lacked 24-hour staff, adequate screening for mental problems or properly trained workers.
With about one-third of veterans reporting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, it is “incumbent upon VHA (the Veterans Health Administration) to continue moving forward toward full deployment of suicide prevention strategies for our nation’s veterans,” the report stated.
In a written response, the VA’s acting undersecretary for health agreed with many of the recommendations. Michael Kussman noted that the VA recently has placed suicide prevention coordinators in each medical center.
The report comes as already-strained troops and veterans say they are suffering more psychological problems due to repeated and extended deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. In a study this month, a Pentagon task force issued an urgent warning for improved care.
In the inspector general report, investigators echoed some of those concerns in calling for additional staffing and better training in VA facilities. It said about 1,000 veterans who receive VA care commit suicide every year and as many as 5,000 a year among all living veterans.
The report said clinics should work harder so veterans can seek treatment with feeling stigmatized. It recommended additional screening for patients with traumatic brain injury.
Among the other recommendations:
- VA clinics and Pentagon military hospitals must better share health information, particularly for patients who might return to active-duty status.
- The department should ease criteria for inpatient post-traumatic stress disorder. Currently only veterans with “sustained sobriety” get treatment; this bars help for many who report increased drug and alcohol dependency as ways to alleviate stress.
- The VA should create a database to help track patients at risk for suicide.
The report follows high-profile suicide incidents in which families of veterans say the VA did not do enough to provide care. In one case, the family of Marine Jonathan Schulze said he told staff at a VA Medical Center in Minnesota twice that he was suicidal in the days before he hanged himself Jan. 16, but that he was turned away. The VA has said that was not the case.
Michael J. O’Rourke, assistant director of veterans health policy at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said he was troubled by the report, given the growing health care demands.
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(And why don't you guys at the White House tell the American public about the billion dollar PERMANENT BASES you are building in Iraq while you count your Exxon and Halliburton shares?)Now here's another mess - on our doorstep. Those returning from 3 and 4 deployments with serious mental health issues.
PTSD is a not a crime and NO, you can't just get over it or suck it up.Just because you can't see pain doesn't mean its not there. That includes mental pain. The brain is an organ and it gets sick, too. Why aren't we helping our soldiers that went over to Iraq and served our country or do we prefer to put blinders on to this one because it makes us 'uncomfortable'?
Returning vets at higher risk for suicide
VA health clinics lack 24-hour mental health care for troops
Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are at increased risk of suicide because not all Veterans Affairs health clinics have 24-hour mental care available, an internal review says.
The report released Thursday by the department’s inspector general is the first comprehensive look at VA mental health care, particularly suicide prevention.
It found that nearly three years into the VA’s broad strategy for mental health care, services were inconsistent throughout the agency’s 1,400 clinics.
Several facilities lacked 24-hour staff, adequate screening for mental problems or properly trained workers.
With about one-third of veterans reporting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, it is “incumbent upon VHA (the Veterans Health Administration) to continue moving forward toward full deployment of suicide prevention strategies for our nation’s veterans,” the report stated.
In a written response, the VA’s acting undersecretary for health agreed with many of the recommendations. Michael Kussman noted that the VA recently has placed suicide prevention coordinators in each medical center.
The report comes as already-strained troops and veterans say they are suffering more psychological problems due to repeated and extended deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. In a study this month, a Pentagon task force issued an urgent warning for improved care.
In the inspector general report, investigators echoed some of those concerns in calling for additional staffing and better training in VA facilities. It said about 1,000 veterans who receive VA care commit suicide every year and as many as 5,000 a year among all living veterans.
The report said clinics should work harder so veterans can seek treatment with feeling stigmatized. It recommended additional screening for patients with traumatic brain injury.
Among the other recommendations:
- VA clinics and Pentagon military hospitals must better share health information, particularly for patients who might return to active-duty status.
- The department should ease criteria for inpatient post-traumatic stress disorder. Currently only veterans with “sustained sobriety” get treatment; this bars help for many who report increased drug and alcohol dependency as ways to alleviate stress.
- The VA should create a database to help track patients at risk for suicide.
The report follows high-profile suicide incidents in which families of veterans say the VA did not do enough to provide care. In one case, the family of Marine Jonathan Schulze said he told staff at a VA Medical Center in Minnesota twice that he was suicidal in the days before he hanged himself Jan. 16, but that he was turned away. The VA has said that was not the case.
Michael J. O’Rourke, assistant director of veterans health policy at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said he was troubled by the report, given the growing health care demands.
“We’ve come to expect the Department of Veterans Affairs to take care of veterans,” O’Rourke said. “I’m glad they’ve acknowledged problems and I hope they follow through. It’s something desperately needed.”Sen. Patty Murray, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said the report pointed to a lack of planning by the department.
“It is far past time for the administration to get its act together and treat invisible wounds with the same vigilance that is given to physical injuries,” said Murray, D-Wash.CLICK HERE FOR ORIGINAL ARTICLE
RELATED ARTICLES
HELP PASS THE WELLSTONE BILL FOR MENTAL HEALTH PARITY
VA URGED TO PROVIDE BETTER CARE FOR PTSD
STIGMA AND BIAS SHAME US ALL
MODERN DAY LEPERS
REALLY WANT TO HELP SUPPORT THE TROOPS?
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