Kansas City Star: DOD Needs to Do Better on PTSD

The editorial board of the Kansas City Star has a few suggestions for the DOD today regarding its treatment of troops suffering with posttraumatic stress disorder. You can't get any more 'middle America' than the Kansas City Star, now can you? Let's see what they have to say about an issue really heating up in the news lately. Click on 'Article Link' below tags for more...

From the Kansas City Star, reprinted in full for eductional purposes:

Defense should move quickly on PTSD

The U.S. Defense Department should move quickly to deal with problems highlighted in a report on how it handles troops at risk from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The recent report [pdf] by the Government Accountability Office, first revealed by the Kansas City Star, pointed out a worrisome problem with current policy: Pentagon officials couldn't clearly define how medical personnel decide whether troops at risk for the disorder need more treatment.

The Defense Department agreed that such criteria should be clear. But officials disputed a related GAO finding, which asserted that Pentagon officials were unable to verify that all troops needing such care actually get it.

Pentagon officials say the amount of care delivered is actually more extensive than the GAO findings suggested. Help comes "in a variety of ways," said William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

But if officials can't say how doctors determine whether at-risk troops need treatment — something the Pentagon admits — it's not clear how they can know whether troops are getting the help they need.

As the Star has reported, Defense Department officials have underestimated how many troops were expected to return from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq with stress disorder. And a key finding of the recent GAO report said only 22 percent of soldiers considered at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder had been referred for further treatment.

The disorder is the combat veteran's most common mental health problem. It can cause nightmares, anxiety and flashbacks — and it can severely undercut a veteran's ability to readjust to civilian life. The Pentagon has a lot of work to do in this area.

Thank you, Kansas City Star for your strong backing of our troops on this one.


 Related Posts

• VA Reports Nearly 300 Estimated OEF/OIF Veteran Suicides
  
• More than 50% of Army's 948 Suicide Attempts in 2006 Sought Help First
  
• OEF/OIF Vets Seeking PTSD Care from VA Jumps 70%, Mental Health Counseling Tops 100,000
  
• Is the Army 'Spinning' its Increase in Suicides?
  
• Last Year's 99 Army Suicides Highest in Recorded History
  
• Important GAO Request Made By Senators Seeking Answers on PTSD-Deployed Troops
  
• Resolution: No More Troops Sent Back w/PTSD
  
• PTSD Timeline: The Latest Incidents
  
• Back in the News: Troops Returned to Combat Zone with PTSD
  
• 20 War Zone Suicides So Far in 2006
  
• NPR's On Point: Troops in Combat Zone on Anti-Depressants
  
• WUSF 89.7 News: Report on Combat Zone Suicides
  
• Army: 83 suicides in 2005, 67 in 2004
  
• Drug War: More Details on Medicated Troops in Combat
  
• Sens. to DOD: Stop Sending Troops with PTSD Back to Combat
  
• Hartford Courant: DOD Ignoring Troop Mental Health
  
• Troops Medicated, Returned to Combat