Capitol Hill Tackles Combat PTSD

News of the introduction of S 479, the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act by Sen. Tom Harkin [D-IA]. The bill focuses on "reducing the stigma of service members seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems and would provide 24-hour access to suicide counselors." In addition, "medical personnel and support staff at VA hospitals would receive more training in suicide prevention and education so they could identify veterans at risk."
Another bill introduced in the Senate, the Veterans Employment and Training (VET) Act of 2007, "would help veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to transition into the civilian workforce by making short-term, high-cost training programs more affordable for them."
Meanwhile, S 117, the Lane Evans Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, "requires the Department of Veterans Affairs' and the Department of Defense to share data for greater accountability for veterans returning home and entering the VA system; [extends] the window of time to allow new veterans to obtain mental health care from the VA from two years to five years, [and requires] face-to-face medical exams. Because Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental health problems can take many years to manifest themselves, this bill would require the DOD to conduct in-person physical and mental health exams with every service member 30-90 days after deployment to a war zone to better identify and care for those at risk for PTSD."

Please contact your elected representatives and ask them to support these important measures.

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Considerable Quotes

"The first shamans earned their keep in primitave societies by providing explanations and rituals that enabled man to deal with his environment and his personal anguish. Early man, no less than we, dealt with forces that he could not understand or control, and he attempted to come to grips with his vulnerablity by trying to bring order to his universe." -- Richard Gabriel in No More Heroes

"War stories end when the battle is over or when the soldier comes home. In real life, there are no moments amid smoldering hilltops for tranquil introspection. When the war is over, you pick up your gear, walk down the hill and back into the world." -- OIF vet John Crawford in The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell

"After wars' end, soldiers once again become civilians and return to their families to try to pick up where they left off. It is this process of readjustment that has more often than not been ignored by society. -- Major Robert H. Stretch, Ph.D in Textbook of Military Medicine: Vol. 6 Combat Stress

Friday, February 09, 2007

Capitol Hill Tackles Combat PTSD

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