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PTSD Not Just a Soldier’s StoryBy Brenda Brown-Grooms The Iraq War and 9/11 have occasioned the largest number of new post-traumatic stress disorder victims in the history of this nation. People all over the country — not only those close to Ground Zero — have experienced PTSD symptoms, directly resulting from the plane crash in Pennsylvania and the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City. The disorder highlights both the times in which we live and this country’s entry into the kind of upheavals that people of war-torn nations routinely live with. Post-traumatic stress disorder is defined as “a common anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened.” Family members of victims also can develop the disorder. PTSD can occur in people of any age, including children and adolescents. More than twice as many women as men experience PTSD following exposure to trauma. Depression, alcohol or other substance abuse, or other anxiety disorders frequently co-occur with PTSD. The latest medical news indicates that: -Anxiety disorders are tied to physical illness; -PTSD patients have diminished pain response; -A common PTSD drug may be useless; -Stress disorder is more common in women; -Neurological problems may boost PTSD risks; -Although the psychological toll on Vietnam veterans has been shown to be less than previously thought, mental health woes afflict almost a third of the vets of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts; -“Virtual 9/11” helps Ground Zero survivors to heal; -The death toll from 9/11 is still rising; -PTSD can take months to strike wounded Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers. Variously known as shell shock (WWI), combat fatigue (WWII) and (mistakenly) the Post Vietnam Syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder has only been recognized by organized psychiatry for the past 20 years. Pierre Janet, a contemporary of Freud, was the first person to describe the group of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Having strong reactions to terror, and a range of reactions, is normal, but pathological (abnormal), persistent stress symptoms may indicate the developmental of PTSD illness. In August 2004, the Seattle Post Intelligencer published a study of 1,709 Army and Marine Corps soldiers, detailing the kinds of traumas American soldiers bring home with them from Iraq. The results: -95% had been shot at or received small-arms fire; -94.5% saw bodies or human remains; -92% had been attacked or ambushed; -86% knew someone seriously injured or killed; -76% saw ill or injured women or children they were unable to help; -56% were responsible for the death or an enemy combatant; -18.3% perceived themselves to have moderate or severe mental health problems; -16.4% reported anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder; -10.4% had sought professional health services the month before the study. The problem is so widespread that the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs, taking a lesson from Vietnam, have focused on early intervention of PTSD among active-duty soldiers by sending teams of chaplains, counselors and other mental health personnel into the field. The Department of Defense offers counseling to prepare service members for overseas duty, and all members meet with a chaplain as part of the counseling. The Department of Defense also provides services to family members. A Transition Assistance Program and Disabled Transition Assistance Program in the United States and around the world are provided by the Veterans Administration for soldiers who have left active duty. In addition, the National Center for PTSD worked with the Department of Defense to develop the Iraq War Clinician Guide for medical personnel, Returning from the War Zone and other guides for soldiers and their families. The National Center for PTSD works with community-based veterans centers to offer readjustment counseling services and diagnostic evaluations to any veteran who has served in a war zone or in a military conflict, at no cost. Even so, many soldiers fall through the cracks, and others admit to being harassed and/or stigmatized when they report psychological effects from combat. Take the case of blind and disabled Iraq war veteran Salvatore Ross, Jr. Ross is finally getting treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, but not before he went into a downward spiral that landed him in jail for attempted homicide and arson. He burned down a family trailer in February, fought the assistant fire chief at the scene, and threatened a state trooper with his prosthetic leg. “I came home (to Dunbar, Penn.) a hero, and now I’m a bum,” Ross said to New York Times reporter Deborah Sontag. The story began on May 18th, 2003, when 15 unexploded ordnances detonated in a pit in south Baghdad as Ross and his squad tried to deactivate mines in the area. Ross later underwent more than 20 surgical procedures, “five on my right eye, one on my left eye, two or three when they cut my left leg off, three or four on my right leg, a couple on my throat, skin grafts, chest tubes and, you know, one where they gutted me from belly button to groin” to remove metal fragments from his intestines. According to Sontag’s story, although he was prescribed psychiatric medication, Ross said he never received in-patient treatment for the post-traumatic stress disorder that was diagnosed at Walter Reed. In retrospect, he and his relatives say he should have been placed in an intensive program soon after his urgent physical injuries were addressed. Later, Ross declined outpatient psychiatric treatment at the Pittsburgh veterans hospital because he said he felt disrespected by the people there. After repeated run-ins with the law, drug and alcohol abuse, and many suicide attempts, in early February of this year, he agreed to be driven to the veterans hospital in Coatesville, Penn., to apply for its in-patient program for post-traumatic stress disorder. He was so severely affected that he was immediately accepted into the program, though he could not be placed until after Valentine’s Day. According to the Times story, five days before he was supposed to go there, he changed his mind and did not attend. He tried to hang himself in jail. Now his lawyer, James Geibig, is committed to getting Ross placed in “the post-traumatic stress disorder program he was supposed to attend.” Congressman John P. Murtha (D-Penn.) credits learning of Ross’ “shattered life” with changing his mind about the country’s involvement in the Iraq War. According to reporter Sontag: “Mr. Murtha’s office assisted Mr. Ross in negotiating the military health care bureaucracy. Homes for Our Troops, a nonprofit group based in Massachusetts, built him a beautiful log cabin. Military doctors carefully tended Mr. Ross’ physical wounds: loss of his eyesight, of his left leg below the knee and of his hearing in one ear, among other problems. But that help was not enough to save Mr. Ross from the loneliness and despair that engulfed him. Overwhelmed by severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, including routine nightmares of floating over Iraq that ended with a blinding boom, he ‘self-medicated’ with alcohol and illegal drugs. He finally hit rock bottom when he landed in the state psychiatric hospital, where he is, sadly, thrilled to be.” The Times article quoted Ross, speaking in the forensic unit of the Mayview State Hospital in Bridgeville: “Seventeen times of trying to commit suicide, I think it’s time to give up. Lots of them were screaming out cries for help, and nobody paid attention. But finally somebody has.” ****************************** Brenda Brown-Grooms is an independent living coordinator with the Blue Ridge Independent Living Center in Roanoke, Va. |
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