Debate Over Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Politicized by Iraq War

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from the WP:

Much of the debate is taking place out of public sight, including an internal VA meeting in Philadelphia this month. The department has also been in negotiations with the Institute of Medicine over a review of the "utility and objectiveness" of PTSD diagnostic criteria and the validity of screening techniques, a process that could have profound implications for returning soldiers.

"The growing national debate over the Iraq war has changed the nature of the discussion over PTSD, some participants said. "It has become a pro-war-versus-antiwar issue," said one VA official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because politics is not supposed to enter the debate. "If we show that PTSD is prevalent and severe, that becomes one more little reason we should stop waging war. If, on the other hand, PTSD rates are low . . . that is convenient for the Bush administration."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/26/AR2005122600792_pf.html

I'd like to find the government's hand in politicizing PTSD, pushing soldiers off of treatment, limiting the criteria for diagnosis, so I could cut it off. Who are these pencil pushers to decide how soldiers are affected by deployments in war zones? Who are they to judge how Vietnam soldiers were affected decades ago?:mad:



here's a list of resources I've collected:

Readjustment Counseling Services Vet Centers
http://www.va.gov/rcs /

Military Veterans PTSD Reference Manual
http://www.ptsdmanual.com /

National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
http://www.ncptsd.org /

Information on the War in Iraq
http://www.ncptsd.org/topics/war.html

How Terroristic Acts May Affect Veterans
http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/disasters/fs_veterans_disaster.html

Help for Veterans with PTSD and Their Families
http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/veterans/fs_help_for_vets.html

Managing Stress and Recovering from Trauma: Facts and Resources for Veterans and Families
http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/veterans/fs_managing_stress.html

PTSD and Older Veterans
http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/veterans/fs_older_veterans.html

The Legacy of Psychological Trauma from the Vietnam War for American Indian Military Personnel
http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/veterans/fs_native_vets.html

Traumatic Stress in Female Veterans
http://www.ncptsd.org/facts/veterans/fs_women_vets.html

National Military Family Association (NMFA)
http://www.nmfa.org /

The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, Inc. (TAPS)
http://www.taps.org/

[Divernan]

1. Being politicized just like global warming.

All of us who had friends or family members serve in Vietnam can attest to the psychological costs.

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3. The Army Times reported that PTSD rates are higher for Iraq veterans

than for Vietnam vets, and also that symptoms are more severe. (article was apparently locked by the Times)

http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20newsflashes/newsflash12-23-2005-2.htm

[Wordie]

2. K&R

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4. .