PTSD and Brain Trauma...

[J.B. Stone]

Group effort reunites veteran and dog veteran

George Vincent greets his service dog, Vanilla, at Glacier Park International Airport Friday afternoon. Vincent had not seen his miniature American Eskimo dog in nearly a year after he became homeless.

Posted: Friday, February 24, 2012 7:27 pmGroup effort reunites veteran and dog

George Vincent greets his service dog, Vanilla, at Glacier Park International Airport Friday afternoon. Vincent had not seen his miniature American Eskimo dog in nearly a year after he became homeless.

Posted: Friday, February 24, 2012 7:27 pm

By Candace Chase/The Daily Inter Lake
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/loca ... 963f4.html

Nearly a year’s separation did not dim the love of a little fluffy white dog named Vanilla for George Vincent, the veteran she serves.

As Vincent approached her crate Friday afternoon at Glacier Park International Airport, Vanilla began to whine and wag her tail.

Vincent wiped tears from his eyes as his dream came true of a reunion with the miniature American Eskimo dog that he trained to help with his post traumatic stress disorder.

“Being without her has been pretty rough,” he said. “Simple things are hard, like going to the grocery store.”

A Navy veteran, Vincent had to leave Vanilla with his mother in Florida when he became homeless. He subsequently moved to Kalispell to pursue his dream of living among the mountains of Montana.

Karen Blackbird, who works with the Veterans Affairs housing voucher program, recalled Vincent’s first request when he applied for the HUD/BASH program last October and was accepted for housing.

“He said, ‘You have to help me get my dog,’” she said. “I said, ‘What?’ Then he explained.”

Vincent, 42, was in the Navy in the late 1980s but then deployed overseas as a civilian in classified work related to the military. He officially received his diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder five years ago.

Vanilla, now 6, came into his life when she was 6 months old. He rescued the dog when his apartment manager no longer wanted to put up with a puppy that wasn’t housebroken.

“Within a week, I had her housebroken,” he said.

Vincent then began working on training her to help him control his manifestations of PTSD. After receiving his diagnosis, he found resources for the basics through service dog organizations, although none specialized in dogs to help with this condition.

He came up with his own solutions.

“She wakes me up when I’m having flashbacks by licking my hands,” he said. “She picks up my keys if I drop them. She helps me out in large crowds of people and she reads my emotional state very well. If I get anxious, she crawls up into my lap.”

Vincent said she lets him know when people come up behind him. He worries about overreacting in public when someone suddenly appears in his peripheral vision.

“The worst thing you can do to someone with PTSD is come up suddenly behind them,” he said.

Although Vanilla wears a T-shirt that says “PTSD service dog, please do not pet,” Vincent said people can’t resist coming up and petting the adorable dog who also loves people. He said that has actually proved to be therapeutic.

“It makes me start opening up and communicating with people,” he said.

Vincent grew to depend on Vanilla’s services, so their separation was more than just the loss of a canine companion. She plays a key role in stabilizing his mental health and helping him heal.

For this reason, Blackbird began a personal crusade to find a way to fly Vanilla across the country once Vincent found a duplex that accepted service animals. It was discouraging when he got a quote of $750 from an air service that specializes in shipping animals.

Although he has a very low income, Vincent tried to find small jobs such as shoveling snow and chipping ice to raise the money. He currently is working with vocational rehabilitation to market his art carvings that can be seen at myspace.com/woodcarvingartist.

Blackbird wrote to animal and veterans organizations and posted requests for help on social media. A group called Pilots N Paws tried to link up flights, but it was just too far and didn’t work out.

Through local DJ Brew Michaels at B98.5, Blackbird linked up with Nancy Krause and Capt. Dan Handlin of Delta Air Lines who live at Bitterroot Lake, not far from Capt. Chris and Kathy Saucier, who also work for Delta. Those four jumped into the effort, providing employee discounts to reduce the dog shipping cost to $300.

When the Kalispell VFW post chipped in $200, the two couples donated $100 to pay Vanilla’s airline shipping cost. Because the Sauciers have a second home in Florida, Kathy picked up Vanilla on Thursday from Vincent’s mother in Ormond Beach.

Speaking by phone Friday from Florida, Kathy Saucier said Vanilla was the perfect overnight guest and even got along with their two cats.

“We wanted to keep her,” she said with a laugh. “She’s an amazing dog.”

Kathy left home at 4 a.m. Friday to make the hour and a half drive to the Orlando airport where Vanilla left at 6 a.m. for a connection in Minneapolis. Handlin came on board Delta Flight 5690 in Minneapolis and made the flight back from a business trip on the same plane with Vanilla.

Handlin, Krause and Blackbird were at the airport with Vincent for his reunion with Vanilla. Everyone beamed when an official finally brought the crate with the little white dog into the baggage area.

Handlin said that so many people at Delta, including a pilot in the Middle East, had made calls to try to make this happen.

“This became an international effort,” he said.

Vincent struggled to keep his emotions under control as he finally opened the door to the crate and Vanilla jumped into his arms and licked his face. He quickly got her on a leash and out the door for a break after the long flight.

Earlier that day, he said he initially was afraid to get his hopes up when he learned just Thursday that the flight was arranged. He called it a “shock and awe moment” when he learned it was really happening.

“All the people who have helped — I’m truly grateful for what they have done,” he said.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a letter-to-the-editor I just submitted today:

Let's thank Candace Chase for the great job she did in capturing the substance and the flavor of the heartwarming story of PTSD sufferer George Vincent and his sweet little service dog named Vanilla.

Having endured PTSD and Clinical Depression myself for 40 years now, I can attest whole heartedly to the value of a caring and faithful canine companion. While Mr. Mellow, my 2 1/2 year-old Welsh Terrierist, is not "officially" a service dog, my ability to cope with said maladies has increased greatly since I got him as a lifelong friend. The medical field is learning daily about PTSD, it's causes and potential cures. In the mean time I highly recommend anyone experiencing the angst and anguish of PTSD to try this route to healthfulness.

My constant companion is never more than a few feet from me unless he's outside barking at squirrels. He's a great comfort when I'm feeling down or anxiety ridden. I have previously had PTSD so bad that it hampered my ability to do simple things such as grocery shopping.

If you haven't walked in these shoes please don't discount what George and I are telling you. I can't count the ways I benefit from having that happy-go-lucky furry pal at my side day and night. I have met other Veterans who also have service dogs and it's obvious what a calming effect they have just by their presence.

Should you want to pursue this avenue of therapeutic companionship, the VVK-9 Center has opened The first “Save a Pet- Save-a-Vet” OJT/Education Center on March 17, 2011 in Lauderhill, Florida. They can be reached at http://vvk-9.org/program/sober.housing.php They also have a branch in the Bronx and are working to open more centers across the country. If you are internet inept you can call them toll-free at: 877-498-7838.
Any Veteran interested in acquiring free PTSD care from local professionals should contact the Kalispell Vet Center, at 690 North Meridian Rd., Suite 101. They can be reached at (406) 257-7308. I've also provided more information on PTSD and other illnesses our Veterans deal with every day at: http://tinyurl.com/yl5a5n3

I strongly urge anyone interested in more information or getting involved to contact one of the organizations listed above. Mr. Mellow thanks you from the bottom of his scruffy heart!

J.B. Stone, Kalispell

By Candace Chase/The Daily Inter Lake
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/loca ... 963f4.html

Nearly a year’s separation did not dim the love of a little fluffy white dog named Vanilla for George Vincent, the veteran she serves.

As Vincent approached her crate Friday afternoon at Glacier Park International Airport, Vanilla began to whine and wag her tail.

Vincent wiped tears from his eyes as his dream came true of a reunion with the miniature American Eskimo dog that he trained to help with his post traumatic stress disorder.

“Being without her has been pretty rough,” he said. “Simple things are hard, like going to the grocery store.”

A Navy veteran, Vincent had to leave Vanilla with his mother in Florida when he became homeless. He subsequently moved to Kalispell to pursue his dream of living among the mountains of Montana.

Karen Blackbird, who works with the Veterans Affairs housing voucher program, recalled Vincent’s first request when he applied for the HUD/BASH program last October and was accepted for housing.

“He said, ‘You have to help me get my dog,’” she said. “I said, ‘What?’ Then he explained.”

Vincent, 42, was in the Navy in the late 1980s but then deployed overseas as a civilian in classified work related to the military. He officially received his diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder five years ago.

Vanilla, now 6, came into his life when she was 6 months old. He rescued the dog when his apartment manager no longer wanted to put up with a puppy that wasn’t housebroken.

“Within a week, I had her housebroken,” he said.

Vincent then began working on training her to help him control his manifestations of PTSD. After receiving his diagnosis, he found resources for the basics through service dog organizations, although none specialized in dogs to help with this condition.

He came up with his own solutions.

“She wakes me up when I’m having flashbacks by licking my hands,” he said. “She picks up my keys if I drop them. She helps me out in large crowds of people and she reads my emotional state very well. If I get anxious, she crawls up into my lap.”

Vincent said she lets him know when people come up behind him. He worries about overreacting in public when someone suddenly appears in his peripheral vision.

“The worst thing you can do to someone with PTSD is come up suddenly behind them,” he said.

Although Vanilla wears a T-shirt that says “PTSD service dog, please do not pet,” Vincent said people can’t resist coming up and petting the adorable dog who also loves people. He said that has actually proved to be therapeutic.

“It makes me start opening up and communicating with people,” he said.

Vincent grew to depend on Vanilla’s services, so their separation was more than just the loss of a canine companion. She plays a key role in stabilizing his mental health and helping him heal.

For this reason, Blackbird began a personal crusade to find a way to fly Vanilla across the country once Vincent found a duplex that accepted service animals. It was discouraging when he got a quote of $750 from an air service that specializes in shipping animals.

Although he has a very low income, Vincent tried to find small jobs such as shoveling snow and chipping ice to raise the money. He currently is working with vocational rehabilitation to market his art carvings that can be seen at myspace.com/woodcarvingartist.

Blackbird wrote to animal and veterans organizations and posted requests for help on social media. A group called Pilots N Paws tried to link up flights, but it was just too far and didn’t work out.

Through local DJ Brew Michaels at B98.5, Blackbird linked up with Nancy Krause and Capt. Dan Handlin of Delta Air Lines who live at Bitterroot Lake, not far from Capt. Chris and Kathy Saucier, who also work for Delta. Those four jumped into the effort, providing employee discounts to reduce the dog shipping cost to $300.

When the Kalispell VFW post chipped in $200, the two couples donated $100 to pay Vanilla’s airline shipping cost. Because the Sauciers have a second home in Florida, Kathy picked up Vanilla on Thursday from Vincent’s mother in Ormond Beach.

Speaking by phone Friday from Florida, Kathy Saucier said Vanilla was the perfect overnight guest and even got along with their two cats.

“We wanted to keep her,” she said with a laugh. “She’s an amazing dog.”

Kathy left home at 4 a.m. Friday to make the hour and a half drive to the Orlando airport where Vanilla left at 6 a.m. for a connection in Minneapolis. Handlin came on board Delta Flight 5690 in Minneapolis and made the flight back from a business trip on the same plane with Vanilla.

Handlin, Krause and Blackbird were at the airport with Vincent for his reunion with Vanilla. Everyone beamed when an official finally brought the crate with the little white dog into the baggage area.

Handlin said that so many people at Delta, including a pilot in the Middle East, had made calls to try to make this happen.

“This became an international effort,” he said.

Vincent struggled to keep his emotions under control as he finally opened the door to the crate and Vanilla jumped into his arms and licked his face. He quickly got her on a leash and out the door for a break after the long flight.

Earlier that day, he said he initially was afraid to get his hopes up when he learned just Thursday that the flight was arranged. He called it a “shock and awe moment” when he learned it was really happening.

“All the people who have helped — I’m truly grateful for what they have done,” he said.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a letter-to-the-editor I just submitted today:

Let's thank Candace Chase for the great job she did in capturing the substance and the flavor of the heartwarming story of PTSD sufferer George Vincent and his sweet little service dog named Vanilla.

Having endured PTSD and Clinical Depression myself for 40 years now, I can attest whole heartedly to the value of a caring and faithful canine companion. While Mr. Mellow, my 2 1/2 year-old Welsh Terrierist, is not "officially" a service dog, my ability to cope with said maladies has increased greatly since I got him as a lifelong friend. The medical field is learning daily about PTSD, it's causes and potential cures. In the mean time I highly recommend anyone experiencing the angst and anguish of PTSD to try this route to healthfulness.

My constant companion is never more than a few feet from me unless he's outside barking at squirrels. He's a great comfort when I'm feeling down or anxiety ridden. I have previously had PTSD so bad that it hampered my ability to do simple things such as grocery shopping.

If you haven't walked in these shoes please don't discount what George and I are telling you. I can't count the ways I benefit from having that happy-go-lucky furry pal at my side day and night. I have met other Veterans who also have service dogs and it's obvious what a calming effect they have just by their presence.

Should you want to pursue this avenue of therapeutic companionship, the VVK-9 Center has opened The first “Save a Pet- Save-a-Vet” OJT/Education Center on March 17, 2011 in Lauderhill, Florida. They can be reached at http://vvk-9.org/program/sober.housing.php They also have a branch in the Bronx and are working to open more centers across the country. If you are internet inept you can call them toll-free at: 877-498-7838.
Any Veteran interested in acquiring free PTSD care from local professionals should contact the Kalispell Vet Center, at 690 North Meridian Rd., Suite 101. They can be reached at (406) 257-7308. I've also provided more information on PTSD and other illnesses our Veterans deal with every day at: http://tinyurl.com/yl5a5n3

I strongly urge anyone interested in more information or getting involved to contact one of the organizations listed above. Mr. Mellow thanks you from the bottom of his scruffy heart!

J.B. Stone, Kalispell

[J.B. Stone]

Ron Paul, PTSD, and active duty Suicides:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... QCEP7gXvwQ

[J.B. Stone]

A fog of drugs and war
More than 110,000 active-duty Army troops last year took antidepressants, sedatives and other prescription medications. Some see a link to aberrant behavior.


By Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times

April 7, 2012, 3:24 p.m.
SEATTLE — U.S. Air Force pilot Patrick Burke's day started in the cockpit of a B-1 bomber near the Persian Gulf and proceeded across nine time zones as he ferried the aircraft home to South Dakota.

Every four hours during the 19-hour flight, Burke swallowed a tablet of Dexedrine, the prescribed amphetamine known as "go pills." After landing, he went out for dinner and drinks with a fellow crewman. They were driving back to Ellsworth Air Force Base when Burke began striking his friend in the head.

FOR THE RECORD:
An earlier version of this story said that Bart Billings, a former military psychologist, hosts an annual conference at Camp Pendleton on combat stress. He now holds the conference at other venues.


"Jack Bauer told me this was going to happen — you guys are trying to kidnap me!" he yelled, as if he were a character in the TV show "24."

When the woman giving them a lift pulled the car over, Burke leaped on her and wrestled her to the ground. "Me and my platoon are looking for terrorists," he told her before grabbing her keys, driving away and crashing into a guardrail.

Burke was charged with auto theft, drunk driving and two counts of assault. But in October, a court-martial judge found the young lieutenant not guilty "by reason of lack of mental responsibility" — the almost unprecedented equivalent, at least in modern-day military courts, of an insanity acquittal.

Four military psychiatrists concluded that Burke suffered from "polysubstance-induced delirium" brought on by alcohol, lack of sleep and the 40 milligrams of Dexedrine he was issued by the Air Force.

In a small but growing number of cases across the nation, lawyers are blaming the U.S. military's heavy use of psychotropic drugs for their clients' aberrant behavior and related health problems. Such defenses have rarely gained traction in military or civilian courtrooms, but Burke's case provides the first important indication that military psychiatrists and court-martial judges are not blind to what can happen when troops go to work medicated.

After two long-running wars with escalating levels of combat stress, more than 110,000 active-duty Army troops last year were taking prescribed antidepressants, narcotics, sedatives, antipsychotics and anti-anxiety drugs, according to figures recently disclosed to The Times by the U.S. Army surgeon general. Nearly 8% of the active-duty Army is now on sedatives and more than 6% is on antidepressants — an eightfold increase since 2005.

"We have never medicated our troops to the extent we are doing now.... And I don't believe the current increase in suicides and homicides in the military is a coincidence," said Bart Billings, a former military psychologist who hosts an annual conference on combat stress.

The pharmacy consultant for the Army surgeon general says the military's use of the drugs is comparable to that in the civilian world. "It's not that we're using them more frequently or any differently," said Col. Carol Labadie. "As with any medication, you have to look at weighing the risk versus the benefits of somebody going on a medication."

But the military environment makes regulating the use of prescription drugs a challenge compared with the civilian world, some psychologists say.

Follow-up appointments in the battlefield are often few and far between. Soldiers are sent out on deployment typically with 180 days' worth of medications, allowing them to trade with friends or grab an entire fistful of pills at the end of an anxious day. And soldiers with injuries can easily become dependent on narcotic painkillers.

"The big difference is these are people who have access to loaded weapons, or have responsibility for protecting other individuals who are in harm's way," said Grace Jackson, a former Navy staff psychiatrist who resigned her commission in 2002, in part out of concerns that military psychiatrists even then were handing out too many pills.

For the Army and the Marines, using the drugs has become a wager that whatever problems occur will be isolated and containable, said James Culp, a former Army paratrooper and now a high-profile military defense lawyer. He recently defended an Army private accused of murder, arguing that his mental illness was exacerbated by the antidepressant Zoloft.

"What do you do when 30-80% of the people that you have in the military have gone on three or more deployments, and they are mentally worn out? What do you do when they can't sleep? You make a calculated risk in prescribing these medications," Culp said.

The potential effect on military personnel has special resonance in the wake of several high-profile cases, most notably the one involving Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, accused of murdering 17 civilians in Afghanistan. His attorneys have asked for a list of all medicines the 38-year-old soldier was taking.

"We don't know whether he was or was not on any medicines, which is why [his attorney] has asked to be provided the list of medications," said Richard Adler, a Seattle psychiatrist who is consulting on Bales' defense.

[J.B. Stone]

A Veteran’s Death, the Nation’s Shame
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: April 14, 2012

HERE’S a window into a tragedy within the American military: For every soldier killed on the battlefield this year, about 25 veterans are dying by their own hands.


A filmmaker explores the fate of Ryan Yurchison, who returned from Iraq with P.T.S.D. and died after failing to find treatment.
Damon Winter/The New York Times

Nicholas D. Kristof

An American soldier dies every day and a half, on average, in Iraq or Afghanistan. Veterans kill themselves at a rate of one every 80 minutes. More than 6,500 veteran suicides are logged every year — more than the total number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq combined since those wars began.

These unnoticed killing fields are places like New Middletown, Ohio, where Cheryl DeBow raised two sons, Michael and Ryan Yurchison, and saw them depart for Iraq. Michael, then 22, signed up soon after the 9/11 attacks.

“I can’t just sit back and do nothing,” he told his mom. Two years later, Ryan followed his beloved older brother to the Army.

When Michael was discharged, DeBow picked him up at the airport — and was staggered. “When he got off the plane and I picked him up, it was like he was an empty shell,” she told me. “His body was shaking.” Michael began drinking and abusing drugs, his mother says, and he terrified her by buying the same kind of gun he had carried in Iraq. “He said he slept with his gun over there, and he needed it here,” she recalls.

Then Ryan returned home in 2007, and he too began to show signs of severe strain. He couldn’t sleep, abused drugs and alcohol, and suffered extreme jitters.

“He was so anxious, he couldn’t stand to sit next to you and hear you breathe,” DeBow remembers. A talented filmmaker, Ryan turned the lens on himself to record heartbreaking video of his own sleeplessness, his own irrational behavior — even his own mock suicide.

One reason for veteran suicides (and crimes, which get far more attention) may be post-traumatic stress disorder, along with a related condition, traumatic brain injury. Ryan suffered a concussion in an explosion in Iraq, and Michael finally had traumatic brain injury diagnosed two months ago.

Estimates of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury vary widely, but a ballpark figure is that the problems afflict at least one in five veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq. One study found that by their third or fourth tours in Iraq or Afghanistan, more than one-quarter of soldiers had such mental health problems.

Preliminary figures suggest that being a veteran now roughly doubles one’s risk of suicide. For young men ages 17 to 24, being a veteran almost quadruples the risk of suicide, according to a study in The American Journal of Public Health.

Michael and Ryan, like so many other veterans, sought help from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Eric Shinseki, the secretary of veterans affairs, declined to speak to me, but the most common view among those I interviewed was that the V.A. has improved but still doesn’t do nearly enough about the suicide problem.

“It’s an epidemic that is not being addressed fully,” said Bob Filner, a Democratic congressman from San Diego and the senior Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee. “We could be doing so much more.”

To its credit, the V.A. has established a suicide hotline and appointed suicide-prevention coordinators. It is also chipping away at a warrior culture in which mental health concerns are considered sissy. Still, veterans routinely slip through the cracks. Last year, the United States Court of Appeals in San Francisco excoriated the V.A. for “unchecked incompetence” in dealing with veterans’ mental health.

Patrick Bellon, head of Veterans for Common Sense, which filed the suit in that case, says the V.A. has genuinely improved but is still struggling. “There are going to be one million new veterans in the next five years,” he said. “They’re already having trouble coping with the population they have now, so I don’t know what they’re going to do.”

Last month, the V.A.’s own inspector general reported on a 26-year-old veteran who was found wandering naked through traffic in California. The police tried to get care for him, but a V.A. hospital reportedly said it couldn’t accept him until morning. The young man didn’t go in, and after a series of other missed opportunities to get treatment, he stepped in front of a train and killed himself.

Likewise, neither Michael nor Ryan received much help from V.A. hospitals. In early 2010, Ryan began to talk more about suicide, and DeBow rushed him to emergency rooms and pleaded with the V.A. for help. She says she was told that an inpatient treatment program had a six-month waiting list. (The V.A. says it has no record of a request for hospitalization for Ryan.)

“Ryan was hurting, saying he was going to end it all, stuff like that,” recalls his best friend, Steve Schaeffer, who served with him in Iraq and says he has likewise struggled with the V.A. to get mental health services. “Getting an appointment is like pulling teeth,” he said. “You get an appointment in six weeks when you need it today.”

While Ryan was waiting for a spot in the addiction program, in May 2010, he died of a drug overdose. It was listed as an accidental death, but family and friends are convinced it was suicide.

The heartbreak of Ryan’s death added to his brother’s despair, but DeBow says Michael is now making slow progress. “He is able to get out of bed most mornings,” she told me. “That is a huge improvement.” Michael asked not to be interviewed: he wants to look forward, not back.

As for DeBow, every day is a struggle. She sent two strong, healthy men to serve her country, and now her family has been hollowed in ways that aren’t as tidy, as honored, or as easy to explain as when the battle wounds are physical. I wanted to make sure that her family would be comfortable with the spotlight this article would bring, so I asked her why she was speaking out.

“When Ryan joined the Army, he was willing to sacrifice his life for his country,” she said. “And he did, just in a different way, without the glory. He would want it this way.”

“My home has been a nightmare,” DeBow added through tears, recounting how three of Ryan’s friends in the military have killed themselves since their return. “You hear my story, but it’s happening everywhere.”

We refurbish tanks after time in combat, but don’t much help men and women exorcise the demons of war. Presidents commit troops to distant battlefields, but don’t commit enough dollars to veterans’ services afterward. We enlist soldiers to protect us, but when they come home we don’t protect them.

“Things need to change,” DeBow said, and her voice broke as she added: “These are guys who went through so much. If anybody deserves help, it’s them.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/opini ... .html?_r=1

[J.B. Stone]

Canada’s military to test breakthrough procedure to identify and treat PTSD in soldiers
Published On Fri Jun 22 2012 Ottawa Bureau


OTTAWA—The defence department is looking to cutting-edge medical technology in its battle to identify and track legions of Canadian soldiers who have developed or are being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Defence Research and Development Canada, the scientific agency that supports the military, will spend a quarter of a million dollars to test the finding that the psychological disorder that has appeared in up to 20 per cent of Canada’s front line war fighters can be detected through magnetic fields given off by the electrical impulses in the brain.

The study, to be completed by early next year, is based on research that was able to detect distinct patterns of brain activity in American veterans diagnosed with PTSD — patterns that did not appear in people without the condition.

That work has come as a relief to hundreds of U.S. soldiers who have taken the tests, said Dr. Brian Engdahl, a professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota who has been treating patients with PTSD for decades.

“To put it simply in the words of one veteran, you now have physical evidence of my emotional injury,” he recounted. “I think that sums it up pretty well.”

The work started in 2007 when Dr. Apostolos Georgopoulos, a University of Minnesota neuroscientist, employed a magnetoencephalographic (MEG) device to map the distinct magnetic impulses of a constellation of brain disorders, including schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.

His team applied those findings to post-traumatic stress disorder in 2010 and found that the re-enactment and memory of traumatic events was caused by electrical activity in the right temporal lobe of the brain.

“PTSD was a challenge because it is a disease that people suffer from, but there’s no known structural, neurotransmitter or other malady where you open the brain . . . and see something that really makes the difference,” Georgopoulos said.

Before this, diagnosing the psychological disorder had been complicated. The symptoms, including depression, anxiety and substance abuse, could be the problem themselves or could be symptoms of other diseases. Those symptoms can also be masked by veterans reluctant to admit they have a problem or to get help.

Another difficulty is tracking the success of the various treatments in those seeing a psychiatrist or taking medication for PTSD.

Engdahls says they have not been able to follow affected veterans through the course of their PTSD treatment, but there have been scans of veterans whose PTSD is in remission and the magnetic signature given off by their brains is distinctly different.

“With people who have recovered from PTSD the stamp is still there, but it is far less intense.”

The defence department plans to perform the MEG diagnostic scans on Canadian soldiers who have been diagnosed with PTSD, those with no mental illness as well as civilians with and without minor traumatic brain injuries (concussions).

Getting a handle on the new procedure and being able to see how well patients respond to treatment, the department says, “is critical to be able in helping them with their recovery, and determine when they could be safely redeployed.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/poli ... n-soldiers

[J.B. Stone]

Tuesday, August 21, 2012
US Veterans Suffering From Head Trauma May Become Violent and Dangerous, Says DoD
Susanne Posel,

US Army statistics show that the suicide rate among military personnel is rising exponentially. Last July, an estimated 38 suicides were “confirmed or suspected” by soldiers making that month the deadliest time in Army history.

Active duty suicides have climbed up to 22% with 116 deaths so far in 2012. Veterans are in most danger of committing suicide. While the Army has traditionally viewed younger soldiers as “at risk” for suicide, since the majority of deaths are occurring with veteran and older soldiers, that assumption is shifting.

Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, US Army vice chief of staff, said:

Suicide is the toughest enemy I have faced in my 37 years in the Army. And, it’s an enemy that’s killing not just soldiers, but tens of thousands of Americans every year. That said, I do believe suicide is preventable. To combat it effectively will require sophisticated solutions aimed at helping individuals to build resiliency and strengthen their life coping skills. As we prepare for Suicide Prevention Month in September we also recognize that we must continue to address the stigma associated with behavioral health. Ultimately, we want the mindset across our force and society at large to be that behavioral health is a routine part of what we do and who we are as we strive to maintain our own physical and mental wellness.

Leon Panetta, US Defense Secretary testified before Congress about solider suicides, saying “that this is an epidemic . . . something’s wrong.”

Doctors have classified Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) as an incurable brain disease that soldiers returning from war suffer from. After having injured the brain during battle, soldiers are being touted as displaying large bursts of anger and depression while having their vital motor skills and memory impacted. With CTE, veterans can be singled out as suffering from this condition which is being linked to massive suicides occurring in the military.


CTE is a progressive and degenerative disease which manifests from repetitive brain trauma (i.e. constantly being hit in the head), triggers progressive degeneration of brain tissue. The effects can come months or even years after the last traumatic event. Symptoms of CTE are recognized as memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia.

Air Force Lt. Col. Randall McCafferty, chief of neurosurgery at the San Antonio Military Medical Center, explains: “We don’t fully understand the incidence of CTE with the occurrence of traumatic brain injury. But we may be able to learn that early treatment of the initial acute [brain] injury may avoid this cascade from brain injury to CTE.”

US veterans, being diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are being tracked by the Department of Defense (DoD) because they may display personality changes that could come on without warning and effect their ability to acclimate back into American society.

Researchers are claiming that even mild TBI can develop into CTE, which will cause veterans to possibly become a danger to themselves and those around them.

Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist and co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy in Boston, says that microscopic evidence of protein build up in the brains of military veterans show that this mental effect is “a problem”. McKee said:

Four years ago we really did not understand this injury at all. Now we know it exists. But we have no idea of the level of risk. All we can say is we have identified it and it is a problem with some individuals.

McKee’s focus on this “progressive disease” is devising pre-emptive measures to treat the disease “so [that] we don’t have individuals who suffer these injuries coming down with a devastating disorder later in life.”

The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke are working on clinical trials for head injury effects on personality and mental capacity. Correlating head injury, brain trauma and mental deterioration is a major point of this project in an effort to create the prospect that US veterans may become a danger to society.

At Fort Detrick, the Army Combat Casualty Care Research Center is conducting clinical trials on 2,000 patients to devise a medical procedural test to detect an individual’s propensity of developing CTE by measuring biomarkers. More clinical trials are being performed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

The Army is expecting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve their clinical test for TBI/CTE. Army doctors want soldiers identified with TBI/CTE to be treated by recovery centers provided by the US armed forces.

The University of Indiana School of Medicine was given $3 million to come up with a pharmaceutical to combat suicides in the armed forces. Dr. Michael Kubek, associate professor of neurobiology developed an anti-suicide nasal spray that releases a neurochemical called thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) that is touted as being euphoric, calming and has anti-depressant properties.

This spray utilizes “nanotechnology delivery systems” that may extend to the civilian population as well as become a staple for the US armed forces. TRH can cross the blood-brain barrier when administered through the nasal passages. Human clinical trials using soldiers is slated to start soon. The NIH are interested in the findings of the human trials and have already allocated funding to use TRH to treat the general population who are diagnosed with bipolar and other depressive disorders.

Kubek explains: “This is far from a soldiers-only solution. Potentially, if this works, we have an entirely new type of pharmacology.”

While patients taking Zoloft or Prozac wait 3 weeks for the drugs to take effect, this nasal spray may have more immediate results that would “stabilize them right away, while they wait for the [antidepressants] to do their job,” according to Kubek.

This therapy is purported to replace spinal taps that soldiers have been forced to undergo in order to inject anti-depressant medication to reduce suicides.

[J.B. Stone]

Veteran's psych hospital to open in October
Updated 11:04 a.m., Thursday, September 20, 2012

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The eight-bed inpatient psychiatric wing at a new mental health hospital at Fort Harrison west of Helena is on target to open next month, more than a year after the hospital was completed, its interim director said.

The opening of the acute-care wing for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder has been delayed over the hospital's inability to hire enough psychiatrists to provide around-the-clock coverage and avoid staff burnout. It meant Montana veterans needing such care would have to travel out of state.

However, the hospital recently hired one psychiatrist, which allows it to open with some creative staffing options, Veterans Affairs Montana Interim Director Steve Young told The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/QF1BFc ) on Wednesday.

The plan is to open the unit using psychiatrist Robert "Walt" Lovell, who began work on July 30, the hospital's outpatient psychiatrist and two psychiatric nurse practitioners with support from on-call psychiatrists at the Salt Lake City VA Medical Center.

Nurse practitioners can perform clinical duties and prescribe medications with backup from the Salt Lake psychiatrists for complex patient issues, Young said.

"This is so exciting," Young said. "I am confident we can be successful. Sharing between facilities like this really highlights the benefit of a nationwide health care system like VA."

The hospital is still advertising for two psychiatrists with a salary range between $98,000 and $250,000 a year.

The $7 million hospital completed in July 2011 also has an eight-bed substance abuse wing and eight beds for veterans with less-severe cases of PTSD.

The failure to open the acute psychiatric wing was an embarrassment to VA leaders, especially at a time when the agency is increasing mental health services for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Mental health challenges are the signature injury of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and our veterans deserve to have the best available treatment as close to home as possible," said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who has been pushing the VA to open the acute-care facility.

The VA is reviewing applications for the position of director of VA Montana as Young transitions back to his post in Salt Lake City. Young took over in April when former director Robin Korogi was reassigned to Denver after complaints about staff morale and the fact that it took a year to open the substance abuse wing while the acute-care wing sat empty

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Vete ... z2753CVDfA

[J.B. Stone]

Phoenix (CNN) -- Mike Rioux can't go to the grocery store without making a list, even for a single item.

He can't drive without gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turn white. And he can't stand any longer than 30 minutes because of severe back pain.

This is Rioux's life after Afghanistan, where firefights and a roadside bomb blast left him with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

His ears still ring from the explosions. He suffers from vertigo, headaches, insomnia and nightmares. He has terrible anxiety, evident in an interview with CNN -- Rioux could hardly sit still, and his memory loss and inability to concentrate meant questions had to be repeated at times.

"I need to discover who I am again," he said.

As a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, Rioux most recently was deployed in 2010 to one of the most dangerous spots in Afghanistan. There he survived firefights and blasts and witnessed much carnage in Paktia province, near the volatile Afghan-Pakistan border.

After returning home, Rioux faced a much different battle, one that neither he nor his wife, Maggie, expected.

Confusion is 'monumental'

The Department of Veterans Affairs said it is on track to process 1 million disability claims this year.

With the war in Iraq over and the one in Afghanistan winding down, the VA is sorting through a backlog of more than 860,000 disability claims from American veterans. More than a quarter of those vets -- 228,000 -- have been waiting for a year or more.

Rioux has been trying to get his disability claim fully processed since January 2011, shortly after he returned from Afghanistan.

The litany of delays includes lost paperwork, long wait times for appointments and erroneous lab results. At one point, a doctor prescribed him medication for a bladder infection he didn't have; he'd never given as much as a urine sample.

Because of his debilitating injuries, neither Rioux nor his wife, Maggie, is able to work full time. Rioux said without his wife's care, "I'd be in the fetal position. I'd be curled up in a ball. I couldn't do it."

He can afford it, she can't: Couple's health care dilemma

The Riouxes and their 23-year-old daughter, Alex, are living at his mother's home outside Phoenix. Maggie and Alex share a bedroom, while Mike sleeps on the living room couch every night.

At 51, he said that makes him feel ashamed.

"I feel low," he said. "How can I support my family, let alone ... keep a roof over their head so that my daughter can have her own room? My wife and I can't have a bed to sleep together? We're on couches. We sleep separate. ... That hurts a lot. I miss her."

Part of the problem, the VA said, is that many veterans are returning with severe and complex mental injuries. These veterans file multiple claims, far more than ever before, and sometimes they file incomplete paperwork.

The backlog also increased when hundreds of thousands of vets were finally allowed to file claims for Agent Orange and Gulf War syndrome. Last year, the VA said it paid out nearly $5 billion in compensation.

In August 2011, the VA told Rioux his claim was in review and, four months later, he was told to expect a decision by the end of the year. None came.

Both he and Maggie wrote numerous letters seeking help, including one to first lady Michelle Obama, with a copy sent to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.

Three months ago, the Riouxes finally heard from the VA about his claim. It rejected coverage for his traumatic brain injury, granting him limited disability coverage that amounts to about $660 a month.
Mike Rioux\'s combat tour in Afghanistan left him with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Mike Rioux's combat tour in Afghanistan left him with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Attempts to get full disability coverage have left the Riouxes often lost in a morass of red tape and confusing policies at dozens of offices in various veterans medical centers.

"That is trademark VA -- that you get answers, and then a different answer from the same building, but a different floor or a different office," Maggie Rioux said. "And the confusion that ensues is monumental."

The Riouxes are not alone. Two-thirds of the 860,000 applicants have been waiting longer than the 125 days that Shinseki set as a goal for processing claims. On average, the VA said veterans wait more than eight months -- 256 days -- before their claim is resolved.

CNN interviewed 16 veterans for this report, all of whom recounted monthslong waits to get a simple evaluation of their disabilities. Many said they had not received prompt help for serious mental health issues. One vet said he called a VA suicide prevention hotline, was told he would be called back, and a return call never came -- a situation the agency said never should have happened.

VA official: Backlog 'unacceptable'

Tommy Sowers, the VA's assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs, said the current backlog "is unacceptable, and we know that." But he added, "This is a problem that has been decades in the making."

"We're transitioning from a paper-based system to an electronic system, and it is a huge amount. It is a huge undertaking and task," he said.

Only a small fraction of the VA's regional offices has computerized their records so far. The vast majority are still tracking veterans on entirely paper files -- a process that's not only slow and inefficient but also requires massive space and numbers of files.

The toll of war now includes more amputees

"We're moving from these mountains and mountains (of paper), sifting through papers, scanning them, digitizing them, creating a secure environment where these claims can be moved through much quicker," Sowers said.

But Paul Rieckhoff, the founder of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said veterans who are fighting for their disability claims are angry and tired of the rhetoric.

"There's a big difference between what they're saying in Washington, D.C., and what you see on the ground," Rieckhoff said. "The guys on the ground -- they don't care about paperwork, or slow improvements. They care if they got a decision back from the VA."
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has set 125 days as a goal for processing veterans\' disability claims.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has set 125 days as a goal for processing veterans' disability claims.

Mike Grabski is another veteran who knows about the problem. He ultimately got his disability payments, but it took him two years to get his full amount.

"It wasn't just the stress of not having the compensation," he said. "It was the stress of 'Is this going to happen?' or 'When is this going to happen?' or 'How is this going to happen?' or 'What's the next speed bump going to be?' "

Grabski left the Army in 2009 as a staff sergeant after 10 years in the service. He served two combat tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, earning two Bronze Star medals.

But his service left him with a long list of injuries, including degenerative bone disease in both knees, asthma, hearing loss and a mild traumatic brain injury resulting from exposure to constant explosions and gunfire. Grabski was also diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which he said has increased his irritability and affects his concentration.

He formally filed for disability in Oakland, California, in July 2010. It wasn't until after he received media attention for his plight that his file was reviewed nearly two years later.

After 21 months, the VA rated him 40% disabled due to knee injury, asthma and hearing loss, awarding him $560 a month in compensation.

Following new appointments to assess his brain injury and PTSD claims, the VA upgraded Grabski's disability rating to 80% in mid-July. His monthly disability payment went up to $1,427.

Critics told CNN that veterans have an expression among them that the VA's policy is "Delay, deny until we die."

Asked about that complaint, the VA's Sowers responded, "What I would say is that there are many veterans out there that love their VA care. Absolutely love it."

A different man

Rioux plans to appeal the VA's ruling against covering his traumatic brain injury as a disability -- a decision that could mean another two years of red tape.

"He's got the injury, but it's zero for that," Maggie Rioux said, referring to the disability coverage.

She said she thinks the VA made its ruling based on outdated medical information from last year.

"We filed a second claim stating that he has new symptoms, worsening symptoms, like vertigo ... the dizziness, the daily headaches, his agitation, his marked personality changes," she said.

Man's best friend helping war veterans heal

A VA doctor has diagnosed that Rioux has a traumatic brain injury. However, some of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries overlap, Maggie Rioux said, "and we're very well aware of that. But this isn't only PTSD."

She said she wants her husband to get the respect he deserves after he risked his life for his country.

"He could've been killed. Every time I spoke to him on the phone I thought it might be the last time I heard his voice," she said. But she added, "Our relationship has had to take a hit. I'm married to a different man now. I love him. Just as much as I've always loved him. But he's different."

The Riouxes said they are not looking for a handout and want to work.

"We're not a charity case, and we're not looking for sympathy," Maggie Rioux said. "We're angry about the VA. We're angry about so many things, including all of the other soldiers and veterans that are waiting longer than we have."

[J.B. Stone]

Backlog of Veterans' Disability Claims Increases 179% Under Obama
By Matt Cover
October 4, 2012

(CNSNews.com) – The backlog of veterans’ disability claims has jumped by 179 percent during President Barack Obama’s first term in office, reaching 883,949 outstanding claims, according to Veterans Administration (VA) statistics. (Click Oct. 1, 2012 link.)

The backlog of claims is at near-record highs, with 65.8 percent of claims being backlogged for 125 days or more.

The total claims include disability claims by veterans as well as from surviving spouses, children, or parents. As the VA explains, these claims are "based upon the effects of disabilities, diseases, or injuries incurred or aggravated during military service." And the claims by spouses, children, or parents are based "upon the Veteran's death due to service-related causes." (Click Oct. 1, 2012 link.)

When Obama took office, there were approximately 390,000 outstanding claims, of which only 22 percent had been pending for more than 180 days.

That number had been falling during the second George W. Bush administration, despite the military being heavily engaged in two wars. At the beginning of Bush’s second term, the VA had about 480,000 outstanding claims, with only 21 percent backlogged for more than 180 days.

That number fell by almost 100,000 claims by the time Obama took office

In a speech to the American Legion in August, General Eric Shinseki, secretary of Veterans Affairs, said that the VA was working hard to try to process all the claims, noting that “no one is standing at parade rest.”

“The backlog is real, but no one is standing at parade rest,” he said. “This is a dynamic process, and as we pushed 2.9 million claims out the door, 3.5 million claims came in.”

Shinseki promised that his agency would end the backlog by 2015.

Shinseki said the VA had been carrying a backlog “for decades” and added that recent decisions to grant claims related to Gulf War Syndrome and Agent Orange exposure had increased the backlog.

“Three-and-a-half years ago, we were also still grappling with some unresolved issues from past wars -- the Gulf War, over 20 years ago, and the Vietnam War, nearly 50 years ago now,” he said. “We didn't take care of business when we should have decades ago, and some Veterans were dying without benefits.”

However, the backlog problem has more than doubled in the past two years alone. In January 2012, pending claims stood at about 880,000, with 64 percent backlogged for more than 125 days. That number was up approximately 116,000 over the previous year.

The claims are for veterans with some kind of service-related disability such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or some kind of physical disability caused by injury. Once processed and rated by the VA, veterans receive compensation to help offset the cost of their disability. However, so long as their claims are backlogged, they have no access to compensation.