AP's Scott Lindlaw reports that even troops shielded and far from the Iraqi combat zone are having similar psychological reactions as those deployed overseas. "The Air National Guardsmen who operate Predator drones over Iraq via remote control, launching missile attacks from the safety of Southern California, 7,000 miles away...[are citing stressors from] the exhaustion that comes with the shift work of this 24-7 assignment; the classified nature of the job that demands silence at the breakfast table; and the images transmitted via video."
Illinois has been on the cutting edge when it comes to finding local solutions to problems caused by inadequate federal veterans' benefits systems. Even before the new GI Bill became law, Illinois picked up the college tuition tab for its vets. It offers a PTSD screening program and 24-hour hotline for returning veterans via its Warrior Assistance Program. And now, Gov. Rod Blagojevich is set to use his amendatory veto to exempt thousands of wounded Illinois veterans from having to pay property taxes. The House and Senate must approve it before it can become law next January.
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While a wide variety of events can trigger what's called post-traumatic stress disorder, this PTSD blog focuses solely on the combat-related variety.
As a new generation of warriors returns to civilian life and seeks out resources, PTSD Combat is here to help.
"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
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2011: Jan