PTSD

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Rules Eased for Vet PTSD Disability

Conservatives wary of $5 billion plan

(Newser) - A new rule will make it easier for American veterans to get disability payments for post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD . The $5 billion plan erases the need for warriors to document the specific horror, be it bomb blast or raid, that made them sick. That's especially good news for those...

Georgia Passes Bill to Note PTSD on License

Veterans could opt-in voluntarily

(Newser) - Georgia legislators have passed a bill that, if signed, would allow veterans suffering from PTSD to note the disorder on their driver's license. It would be the first state to mark a medical condition on a driver's license, but some veterans doubt anyone would opt in. “Why would I...

VA Doctors Can't Prescribe Medical Pot

New Mexico allows it for PTSD, but veterans can't get it there

(Newser) - New Mexico is the only state that explicitly allows people with PTSD to smoke pot under its medical marijuana law—and that's created a conundrum for the VA, which does not allow its doctors to prescribe pot because the drug is illegal in the eyes of the federal government. If...

AP Scribe Debunks HuffPo Blogger's War Tale

Media darling with lovable dog has sketchy lawsuit and criminal past

(Newser) - Huffington Post blogger Luis Carlos Montalván started out as an anti-war liberal's dream: a decorated Iraq vet with a compelling war story, vocally opposed to the war and accompanied by a lovable golden retriever to stave off PTSD-related anxiety. But an AP reporter who's been digging into the self-promoting...

Vets With PTSD May Have Been Denied Benefits

Military is reviewing thousands of records

(Newser) - The military is speeding up a review of the records of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans discharged with post-traumatic stress disorder to determine whether they were improperly denied benefits. The agreement stems from a class action lawsuit filed by seven combat veterans who alleged the military illegally denied benefits...

Stop Making Excuses for Hasan
 Stop Making 
 Excuses 
 for Hasan 
OPINION roundup

Stop Making Excuses for Hasan

Murderous Islamic extremism was his motive, not PTSD

(Newser) - Commentators are working overtime to explain away the Fort Hood shootings as a personal breakdown rather than what it obviously was, three conservative columnists argue today: a terrorist assault by an Islamic extremist.
  • The explanation for Major Hasan's actions should be crystal clear to anybody not afraid of offending Muslim
...

Blame 'Vicarious' PTSD
  Blame 'Vicarious' PTSD 
fort hood shooting

Blame 'Vicarious' PTSD

Trauma is infectious, Essig writes, and therapists can catch it

(Newser) - When Todd Essig learned the Fort Hood shooter “was an Army psychiatrist who treats post traumatic stress disorder, himself on the cusp of deployment, I thought, ‘I’m not surprised.’” Why? Because there is a documented transfer of trauma disorders from sufferers to caregivers, dubbed “...

Army's Stress Most Obvious at Fort Hood
Army's Stress Most Obvious
at Fort Hood
ANALYSIS

Army's Stress Most Obvious at Fort Hood

Repeat deployments prompt record levels of suicide, depression

(Newser) - Fort Hood has had more suicides than any other US Army facility since the start of the Iraq war, and while Nidal Hasan, the man officials say is responsible for yesterday's massacre, likely had unique motivations, he was perhaps only the most troubled member of a volunteer force buckling under...

Injured Vets Seeking Closure Return to Iraq

Operation Proper Exit reveals war's progress to wounded

(Newser) - The military has been aiding injured veterans to return to Iraq to help them find closure and assure them that their sacrifices were worth it. Operation Proper Exit—believed to be the first such program to facilitate vets' return to a battlefield while a war is still in progress—has...

DC Sniper's Ex: Rampage Was Scheme to Kill Me

Muhammad hoped to pass off murder on madman and regain custody of kids

(Newser) - The ex-wife of convicted Beltway Sniper John Muhammad was the ultimate target of his murderous 2002 DC rampage that killed 10 people. Mildred Muhammad says her ex intended to pass off her murder as the work of a madman and regain custody of their three children. She got wise to...

War Games Help Vets Cope With PTSD

Psychologists say virtual reality allows vets to confront and overcome trauma

(Newser) - Using realistic war games to re-create the sights, sounds, and even smells of combat is helping veterans overcome post-traumatic stress disorder in several clinical trials. Games like Virtual Iraq—modeled on Full Spectrum Warrior—help psychologists bring patients back to traumatic events and break down mental barriers. Researchers say the...

Dogs Trained to Heal Iraq Vets' Mental Scars

'Psychiatric service' pooches respond to PTSD sufferers' needs

(Newser) - The golden retriever nuzzles his master as though he wants a treat, trots into the kitchen, and waits patiently. His master walks over and, under the pet’s watchful gaze, takes a series of pills. The dog wags his tail with approval. He is a psychiatric-service dog, part of a...

Shrinks Single Out Next PTSD: Bitterness

Over-the-top reactions to being thwarted may signal mental illness

(Newser) - Some psychiatrists believe embitterment is so common and so destructive that it should be classed as a mental illness, the Los Angeles Times reports. Sufferers are described as people who have worked hard at something like a job or relationship, only to be transformed into angry, pessimistic, brooding individuals consumed...

Let's Help Vets Avoid Extremist Urge
 Let's Help Vets 
 Avoid Extremist Urge 
OPINION

Let's Help Vets Avoid Extremist Urge

(Newser) - The recent Homeland Security report detailing right-wing extremist recruitment of veterans is “true, true, true,” Charles M. Blow writes in the New York Times. But “conservatives reacted by throwing a knee-jerk hissy fit,” suggesting that vets “were being vilified by a partisan document.” Instead...

Senate Likes Shinseki for Veterans Affairs

War, economy burden system former Army general would inherit

(Newser) - Retired Gen. Eric Shinseki garnered bipartisan support for his Veterans Affairs Secretary nomination today in outlining his priorities before Congress, the Military Times reports. The former Army chief of staff admitted to little experience with veterans issues, but his vows to streamline the agency won support from the likes of...

Troop Brain Injuries Often Overlooked

Wounded suffer blast affects that stump medical experts

(Newser) - An alarming number of US veterans are returning home from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars suffering long-term effects from concussions, the New York Times reports. Half of those who have suffered concussions quickly recover, but others have symptoms—including memory loss and mood swings—that can resurface months after the...

Did Iconic Photo Drive Soldier's Death?
 Did Iconic
 Photo Drive
 Soldier's Death? 
OPINION

Did Iconic Photo Drive Soldier's Death?

Photographer reflects on the power of a moment captured

(Newser) - A photo turned an American medic in Iraq into a hero, showing him carrying an Iraqi child to safety. But the photographer, Warren Zinn, wonders whether it also contributed to his suicide. Joseph Dwyer suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from Iraq; Zinn worries, in the Washington Post, whether his...

Vets Slipping Into the Bottle
 Vets Slipping Into the Bottle 

Vets Slipping Into the Bottle

Military blames troubled vets turning to booze for rise in misconduct

(Newser) - A rise in alcohol abuse among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is worrying military officials, the New York Times reports. Counseling services for vets suffering post-traumatic stress disorder are stretched to the limit and many tormented former soldiers are turning instead to the bottle. The increase in binge drinking, and a...

Vets Used to Test Drugs Linked to Suicide

VA accused of treating troubled patients like 'lab rats'

(Newser) - Combat veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder were recruited for clinical trials of drugs linked to suicide and mental disorders, ABC reports. In a trial involving the smoking-cessation drug Chantix, the VA did not warn patients of the drug's serious potential side effects until 3 months after the FDA and the...

Combat Troops Turn to Prozac
 Combat Troops Turn to Prozac 

Combat Troops Turn to Prozac

Anti-depressants keep soldiers in the field

(Newser) - A growing number of American troops serving abroad are taking Prozac and other antidepressants, Time reports. A survey last year found 12% of troops in Iraq are using the drugs, with 17% relying on them in Afghanistan. The drugs help the military keep stressed combat troops in the field—but...

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