Having Your Warfare & Consuming Them Too: Fixing the Global Experienced Crisis

We live in a time in which nations are sending unprecedented amounts of allied troops to combat zones in the name of terrorism prevention, the full price of which is unforeseen and staggering. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has hit record numbers and garnered record attention, and it's the primary culprit for high suicide, homelessness, divorce and substance abuse in international battle veteran people.

The here and now

Since 2000, 5 trillion dollars have been surpassed by the cost to allied nations for these military operations, and treating those injured both psychologically and physically continues to hemorrhage billions more. It is approximated that 30% of combat veterans will return demonstrating either total or partial symptom expression of PTSD.

Fight veterans are glorified for having served their country in combat, focusing attention on this group, notably where the public sees battle veterans homeless and unsupported in the consequences of their service. Military injury is the greatest statistical group for PTSD, as they're concentrated within organizations including Veterans Administrations (VAs) and so easily studied.

There are much greater amounts of PTSD from childhood and sexual trauma than battle injury, yet combat veterans have excessive rates of suicide and homelessness due to the lack of governmental and societal support systems available to adequately cater the currently astronomical influx of demand.

Think of it like this: civilians with PTSD are naturally spread amongst states, a country, cities and towns. They often have a structure of friends and family around them. The military runs in large clusters. Soldiers frequently call their base places home. VAs are generally established close to military bases, further isolating support for combat veterans.

At present there are billions of dollars spent on a ton of plans and studies in an attempt to find and solve the PTSD veteran crisis. You might think progress is being made, with all this money spent, yet the results do not represent the cost or attempt to date. There are programs that work, and there are known variables with high achievement rates, yet these in many cases are dismissed as a result of funding, time conditions or, worse, as funding keeps going to new trials and plans.

So what are the problems that have to be solved?

Thousands of returning soldiers are suffering complex, therapy resistant injury due to multiple operational tours.

VAs are under-equipped to deal with the returning PTSD quantities.

The effectiveness of pharmaceuticals is not consistent, causing more problems than they fix for the majority yet used as the first line treatment protocol.

There's a shortage of systems that are effective to treat self medication.

There's a deficit of injury therapists to effectively treat the amount of those affected.

Successful therapies need a decade even, to be actually successful per individual.

Federal handicap systems are stretched to capital limitations with PTSD sufferers.

Stigmatization strains reintegration within society both socially and for employment.

Collateral damage is done to the veteran's family.

Issues are fairly simple to identify. The above list is far from exhaustive in presenting issues for combat veterans with PTSD. I am an Australian battle veteran, and I don't speak for the whole world's battle veteran community whilst the ideas ptsd in soldiers here are merely that. I consider myself fortunate, as Australia has rather an exceptional fight veteran support system and affiliated applications in place. I trust other combat veterans add their own comments to what they believe could be simple, powerful solutions to the present problems.

By no means is the following discussion some of the alternatives address, and a total alternative to the preceding problems and intertwine several of our listed problem areas.

Continued tours broaden PTSD complexity

Just like a child within a hazardous home environment, surrounded by abuse with nowhere to go, a soldier resides in a similar situation when deployed within a combat zone. For six to twelve months, this is traumatic for many soldiers as an isolated tour, yet when compounded by multiple tours -- such as six on, six off, six on, six off -- the repeated vulnerability provides little relief towards readjustment or effective downtime following a fight tour. Most will stay in an activated and prepared state, knowing they again, let alone that they'll most probably begin pre-deployment training within 3 months, further reducing downtime.

The easy solution to the whole issue? Stop sending troops into foolish wars that make little tactical sense. The lies, deceit and contradictory information from all the recent wars does little towards credibility to support troop deployments. Defend your nation; do not invade others. A simple solution to the entire issue!

Saying that, politicians and secret bureaus can't get enough deceit and power, so troop deployments need to be drastically altered to curb repeated, extreme exposure to combat. A ratio of 1:3 should be For every month deployed, you spend house, reintegrating in training, general responsibilities, classes, social life, family and so on.

To put it simply, most deployments are six month in duration for reasons that are tactical and economic, making every spinning 18 months home. That leaves a minimum of 15 months cope with any psychological issues that present, to decompress, then begin pre- deployment again.

If militaries desire to believe long term, then they should get onboard such rotation intervals. Losing experienced combat veterans works against every military, so looking after them is in the best interest for all involved.

VAs are under-equipped

VAs are far under-equipped to take care of the current inflow of PTSD combat veterans. Wait times can be many hours for what should be an one-hour appointment. Furthermore, it can take months just to make that appointment.

Group therapy is neglecting to treat the individual stabbing components of each combat veteran. Whilst group therapy has value, in addition, it has result limits.

VAs in America are under-funded, using over worked, drained, frustrated workers. The solution is that funding should be focused on the difficulty, not wasted on experimental options that are diverse. The alternatives are present -- effective therapies that supply 60 to 80% restoration, with more time.

Money could wisely be spent letting battle veterans to seek Va-funded therapy through local, private trauma therapists who deliver trauma therapy techniques that were approved to treat the trauma. That may be difficult to hear for some in the United States, as that's socialism vs capitalism. Is every man for themselves really helping the trouble? No, no it's not.

In the United Kingdom and Australia, the difficulty is being helped by it. Battle veterans aren't left to be homeless and dismissed. Instead they have government support in place for disability and treatment capital while seeking treatment. Getting folks back and fixed to being productive members of society is in every nation's finest long term interest.

Pharmaceuticals are not the answer

Psychiatrists are using pharmaceuticals to treat PTSD with little evidence to support the efficacy of this type of treatment regimen. Pharmaceuticals have an approximate 25% achievement rate, far less than injury therapies. Sure, they are cheaper than therapy, but they cause much more issues than they mend.

Most combat veterans treated with pharmaceuticals will be on several medications. Why? Because one will cause other issues, so then shrinks are prescribing drugs to treat the symptoms that another drug created. Seriously? This is an indication of how lousy pharmaceuticals are, in the alternative is giving a pill to a difficulty created by a pill. Is this ok? Pharmaceuticals are creating more problems than they solve.

Shortage of powerful pre-treatment programs

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a foundational treatment protocol that has history to illustrate and support efficacy in treating substance abuse with PTSD. Why are billions being spent on experimental, radical, obscure attempts to find other options for treating the veteran disaster when the alternatives exist? Put the billions of dollars toward training staff to deliver the techniques to the affected battle veterans. More will get solved in a shorter period than what's happening now.

Pre-treatment is not restricting its use to make therapy overall more efficient although about quitting substance abuse. Hell, the effectiveness of pre-treatment can be used as a marker towards having complete trauma treatment paid for at a doctor local to the combat veteran.

Shortage of effective therapists

Therapists aren't created equal. This focus on hiring therapists and throwing them within a VA is antiquated, to say the least. You restrict a therapist's potential by exposing them to nothing besides combat injury to learn and treat trauma. Limits become imposed on techniques and their learning. They become desensitized and become effective at treating their customer.

The solution is not to create a therapist that is military but to support therapists in private practice, where they've a combination of clients and thus have a blend of treatments they're using and evaluating for effectiveness. Furthermore, they'ren't becoming burnt out on the atrocities of combat injury and aren't being screwed into provide their service for next to nothing.

A great therapist is made by a joyful therapist. Pay them well. Treat them nicely. Ensure they've diversity of clientele, and ensure they have required exposure to on-going learning and techniques.

Powerful therapies take time

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprogramming (EMDR) took 20 years to grow and evolve into one of the best treatments for trauma. The billions being spent towards idiotic studies and plans by governments should quit, and we must repurpose this money towards real accessible treatments that work.

I am advocating training more therapists in EMDR, Prolonged Exposure (PE), Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT), ACT, and getting these treatments used as first line treatment for PTSD instead of tossing pharmaceuticals approximately. Using this cash to fund the longevity treatment durations needed to effectively shift 60-80% of returning troops suffering PTSD to fully healed, practical civilians once again. This merely makes sense.

Yes, this is socialism on the job but let us be fair, it is really needed to treat the veteran catastrophe happening worldwide. The cash is being spent but instead of being wasted, it can be used to actually treat the problem, not simply appear as though something is being done.

Federal impairment stretched to the limitations

Impairment given to combat veterans has climbs to dizzying highs. Throwing cash at veterans is not going to solve their problems nor the overall problem. Governments will finally break. This issue has far reaching economic impact for all states concerned, as we are an international economy today.

Sure, cash has to be there to support veterans during treatment, but the issue is that cash isn't being used towards the treatment and the impacted. To reduce the overall event of disability, governments need to ensure money is being effectively spent on providing treatment to the affected. It is rather simple to get your disability payments you actually partaking towards recovery and must be attending treatment. Once deemed recuperated by the therapist, help towards re-employment training and then full employment opportunities.

Disability is then used effectively, and those people who are actually immune after years of treatment then remain on impairment. Keep providing them the support they want, and the longevity burden has lessened by a minimum of 60% yearly capital. Well... unless you keep sending troops into idiotic wars, that is.

Reintegration employment stigmatization

A more pressing problem for veterans, especially those who are functional, employable, have healed and are ready to transition to employment once again, is that PTSD recognition has reached employers. These companies have erroneous beliefs of PTSD sufferers and are now discriminating when learning of military history on resumes. Employers are currently asking questions which are not permitted to be asked relating to mental health. They're passing over battle veterans on the premise that PTSD may become an issue for them as an employer.

If governments get their act together and do figure out how to alter the present strategy of treating combat veteran PTSD an awareness media campaign would additionally need to be found -- or motivators to hire battle veterans, period -- to thwart the incorrect blot connected with PTSD.

Families are collateral damage

Lastly, the forgotten in all of this is the family behind the veteran. They need access to government-assisted support in relation to combat veterans. Spouses, siblings and parents want help in how to help their affected battle veteran. They desire self-care support. They desire access to educational tools to help get their battle veteran back on track towards stability and employment, in life.

Family play a bigger role than therapists in helping their loved one back to health, but they can't do it alone. For serving staff with an approximate 80% divorce rate, the PTSD divorce rate is greater. Having battle veterans left their family, or vice versa, isn't helping the veteran, family, community or economy. A snowball effect occurs with far reaching impact.

Whether online support structures are in place for education, access to free copies of popular PTSD relationship novels, telephone counselling support, even video conferencing and on-line support groups, all of these resources assist supporters to band together, help each other, and help themselves towards helping their veteran.

Judgment

There are some rather big problems that presently are only getting worse. Things must change as the current approach is a dismal failure. We've effective treatments available. They only need efforts targeting the stigma of PTSD, cash, time and locality enactment for effectiveness: more official resources available online and use the truth to blanket the myths that propagate the discrimination and possibly even incentives to employ combat veterans.

Towards solving the veteran PTSD crisis what can you add? Do you believe there's a bigger problem at play that we haven't mentioned? Please share your thoughts and maybe, just maybe, someone that matters might take initiative and implement the change needed to fix the dilemma.