President Obama says country must help vets with PTSD

[cal04]

Source: Associated Press

With the military fighting two wars, President Barack Obama said Saturday the country has a "solemn responsibility" to ensure that veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder get the help they need.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki is to announce new regulations Monday intended to make it easier for veterans with PTSD to receive government benefits. The new rules will not only apply to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but also those who served in previous conflicts.

The regulations drop a provision requiring veterans to prove what caused their illness. Instead, veterans would have to show that the conditions surrounding the time and place of their service could have contributed to their illness.

(snip)
In his weekly radio and online address, Obama said the new regulations are part of the country's "solemn responsibility to provide our veterans and wounded warriors with the care and benefits they've earned when they come home.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100710/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_veterans

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Weekly Address: Help for Vets with PTSD
http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/weekly-address
Weekly Address: President Obama Announces Changes to Help Veterans with PTSD Receive the Benefits They Need
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/weekly-address-president-obama-announces-changes-help-veterans-with-ptsd-receive-be

[jaxx]

1. Good news for the vets.

I remember before when the doctors were told to limit a diagnose PTSD.

[mdmc]

2. yup - good idea to help the vets..

[madrchsod]

3. "must"......

that should be "will"


http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/05/201052574726865274.html

[burnsei sensei]

4. I certainly hope that the government is tired of

1. watching them commit suicide.
2. watching them go to jail for violence.
3. watching them commit homicide.
4. watching them die from lethal cocktails of drugs administered by falsely compassionate administrating doctors.
5. watching them in homelessness and abject poverty.

Yes, the government has been watching for too long.

[Yeahyeah]

5. Got to.And he's making so many more of them.

[saigon68]

12. Yes lets make another 300,000 or so Zombies

</sarcasm> They are fighting for FREEDOM don't you know

[bowens43]

6. Prevention is the best cure......

Obama get the fuck out of Iraq and Afghanistan right now!!!!!

[fascisthunter]

7. While This is a Very Good Thing and Very Important

I am on the side of prevention, as in no wars unless absolutely necessary. How about we bring our men and women home?

[jody]

8. Better yet, bring our troops home from an immoral war so they won't have PTSD from obeying orders to

murder innocent people.

[jwirr]

9. Bingo.

[pinboy3niner]

11. Further stigmatizing PTSD isn't a good idea

I don't believe that was your intention, but associating PTSD with those who "murder innocent people" conveys the misleading impression, or at least a suspicion, that the PTSD sufferer must have committed war crimes.

Obviously, PTSD can be caused merely by witnesing the carnage of war, including carnage to civilians (and I know some Vietnam vets whose PTSD is directly linked to their having witnessed horrific injuries to Vietnamese civilians).

We have to remember, too, the incidence of PTSD among victims of rape and of natural and man-made accidents and disasters--people who never injured, killed, or "murdered" anyone.

It's difficult enough for a trauma survivor to reach out to get help. It's even more difficult when stigmatization associates what is as normal human reaction to extraordinary traumatic experience with commission of atrocities or war crimes.

[jody]

13. I have a close relative with PTSD from that immoral war and several close friends with PTSD. There

lives are destroyed although their bodies bear no physical scars.

McChrystal understood the damage it did to US efforts build a stable government which is one of Obama's two COIN goals. He imposed ROE that put our troops at great risk but the choices were only two. Either ROE that killed more innocent civilians OR ROE that killed more innocent US troops.

Now Petraeus is reviewing McChrystal's ROE and the expected result is revised ROE that will kill more innocent civilians.

IMO it's immoral to ask my relatives and friends on active duty in Afghanistan to put their lives and minds at risk for a war "to establish a stable government".

Call death what you will, it makes no difference to me but several things are indisputably true. (1) innocent civilians die and (2) they are dead.

[cheneyschernobyl]

14. Thank you;

I was diagnosed with PTSD and medically retired from the military in late 2008. Had other issues, but the PTSD was the thing specifically listed in Medical Board's report. Sometimes can't sleep well for several days in a row; things like that kind of hinder job performance.

No regrets from me regarding joining the military. I wanted to help our nation, and served on 4 continents during my career.

[pinboy3niner]

15. You're welcome

Welcome Home, and welcome to DU!

Living with PTSD can be a real struggle, but it's possible to manage if you hang in there, and take care of yourself. One thing I believe can't be emphasized enough is the importance of maintaining a good support system.

Wishing you all the best, cheneyschernobyl. :patriot:

Love & Peace,
pinboy3niner

[Desertrose]

10. Then stop making MORE of them!!

How hard is that to figure out...really?!

[Romulox]

16. End the war. Hypocrite! nt

[No Elephants]

17. Of course we must see they get treated. Even better: Stop sending them them where

they will get dead, maimed or otherwise damaged. We have more than enough blood on our hands for this entire millenium already.