Thanks for the coffee and bagel Matt! You rock!!! I made it to San Antonio!!! And all my luggage showed up!!!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
This is really why I'm going
An Army official said Thursday that 115 troops committed suicide in 2007, a nearly 13 percent increase over the previous year's 102.
Surpisingly (or not) suicide is a major issue in military mental health. Not a major issue in the sense that we just worry about it a lot, but a major issue in that suicidal active duty military members walk through our clinic doors all the time.
It's related to this (and I need to note that I did not know that 2007 had the heaviest US military casualties):
More U.S. troops also died overall in hostilities in 2007 than in any of the previous years in Iraq and Afghanistan. Overall violence increased in Afghanistan with a Taliban resurgence and overall deaths increased in Iraq, even as violence there declined in the second half of the year.
and this:
Records show roughly 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with the illness, also known as PTSD, since 2003. Officials believe that many more are likely keeping their illness a secret...
More troops also were serving their second, third or fourth tours of duty — a factor mental health experts say dramatically increases stress. And in order to supply enough forces for the buildup, officials also extended tour lengths to 15 months from 12, another factor that caused extra emotional strain.
Surpisingly (or not) suicide is a major issue in military mental health. Not a major issue in the sense that we just worry about it a lot, but a major issue in that suicidal active duty military members walk through our clinic doors all the time.
It's related to this (and I need to note that I did not know that 2007 had the heaviest US military casualties):
More U.S. troops also died overall in hostilities in 2007 than in any of the previous years in Iraq and Afghanistan. Overall violence increased in Afghanistan with a Taliban resurgence and overall deaths increased in Iraq, even as violence there declined in the second half of the year.
and this:
Records show roughly 40,000 troops have been diagnosed with the illness, also known as PTSD, since 2003. Officials believe that many more are likely keeping their illness a secret...
More troops also were serving their second, third or fourth tours of duty — a factor mental health experts say dramatically increases stress. And in order to supply enough forces for the buildup, officials also extended tour lengths to 15 months from 12, another factor that caused extra emotional strain.
PTSD in the news
Wartime PTSD cases jumped roughly 50 pct. in 2007
There has been a lot of PTSD press lately, and naturally I find this interesting. I guess that increased visibility is the first step towards validation for these men and women. I've noticed that discussion of PTSD is more accepted here among the Army Guard than it is in the Air Force, but it's still grossly misunderstood and no one really has any sense that there is a treatment (other than drugs) for PTSD. Even in the military medical world I have been stunned that no one really knows much about it, other than it's something you don't want, and if you get a patient who says they have it, you must immediately refer...
This weekend I'm traveling to San Antonio for a 1 week US Army course/conference on Combat Operational Stress Control. Ostensibly it will provide me with the Army doctrine for prevention and treatment of combat/ operational stress. It isn't a training for PTSD treatment (that's what I do at home), but it is the template for front-line psychological interventions for troops. I'll provide updates.
There has been a lot of PTSD press lately, and naturally I find this interesting. I guess that increased visibility is the first step towards validation for these men and women. I've noticed that discussion of PTSD is more accepted here among the Army Guard than it is in the Air Force, but it's still grossly misunderstood and no one really has any sense that there is a treatment (other than drugs) for PTSD. Even in the military medical world I have been stunned that no one really knows much about it, other than it's something you don't want, and if you get a patient who says they have it, you must immediately refer...
This weekend I'm traveling to San Antonio for a 1 week US Army course/conference on Combat Operational Stress Control. Ostensibly it will provide me with the Army doctrine for prevention and treatment of combat/ operational stress. It isn't a training for PTSD treatment (that's what I do at home), but it is the template for front-line psychological interventions for troops. I'll provide updates.
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