The Continuing Plight of Our Female Veterans
December 30, 2009
By Ginny Estupinian
According to some reports there have been more than 230,000 American women who have fought in our recent wars with at least 120 having died. Sadly, for the most part the American public is not aware of the contributions these women have provided on the modern day battlefield.
Yet, many of these women suffer from the same disabilities that men are afflicted with when returning from war such as post traumatic stress disorder.
The statistics show that female service members have much higher rates of divorce and are more likely to be a single parent. The VA Medical centers report that these veterans also show higher rates for military sexual trauma, meaning they indicated experiencing sexual harassment, assault or rape. As pointed out in a previous post on this blog, some studies have shown that female veterans are at a greater risk for homelessness.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs committee, explained it best when she states, “What worries me is that women themselves still don’t see themselves as veterans, so they don’t get the care they need for post- traumatic stress syndrome or traumatic brain injury or even sexual assault. which obviously is more unique to women, so we still have a long ways to go”.
The work to help these veterans can not only fall on the shoulders of our elected officials. It also falls upon us as citizens to make their concerns a priority. Perhaps as a citizen we too can acknowledge the work and commitment of these brave women when we see them in public, and thank them personally for their service. It will not solve the problems mentioned here, but it is a start in the right direction.
How a letter can wreck your emotional stability
August 25, 2009
By Ginny Estupinian
The Associated Press and other news organizations reported that at least 1800 veterans across the country mistakenly received a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs telling them that they had Lou Gerhrig’s disease. The letter was intended to notify the recipients of the benefits that they were now entitled to as a result of having this disease. Evidently the letters were sent by mistake due to a coding error.
Lou Gerhring’s disease is officially know as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.
Half of all people affected with ALS live at least three or more years after diagnosis. Statistics show that twenty percent live five years or more; up to ten percent will live more than ten years.
So how can a letter affect someone psychologically?
Well a lot depends on the individual who receives this type of letter. Some will receive it and think there must be a mistake and for all intensive purposes just move on with their lives. For others, it may be a whole different experience. Those veterans who are dealing with trust issues and may not be as strong mentally, receiving this kind of notification can put them under a great deal of stress. After all the letter is coming from a recognized and trusted source of medicine. For many veterans their only health treatment comes through the VA. Therefore, receiving something like this with this authority has some serious weight.
The important thing here to stress is that any veteran who has been affected by this type of error, or similar errors, and feels stress should not ignore their feelings. Getting help is important and should be done sooner than later. There are many resources through the VA and other agencies that can help any veteran get the support and treatment they need.
Kayak Fishing Trips Help Wounded Veterans Heal
July 8, 2009
By Ginny Estupinian
Heroes on the Water (HOW) is a Texas-based volunteer organization that takes wounded veterans on kayak fishing trips. This nonprofit was formed in 2007 and has served about 130 veterans.
HOW schedules these fishing trips on private waters because this provides a safety aspect of not sharing the water with power boats. Also, the game fish are generally easier to catch on private lakes.
Aiken, who’s starting a nationwide U.S. Marine Corps Chamber of Commerce, said that having an organized activity involving other veterans is a good transitional activity for men and women reconnecting with society.
“During service, and particularly on deployment, military personnel operate as a team,” he said. “Transition is reverse culture shock. Most veterans groups focus their attention inward or to the past. HOW focuses on an activity, and most young warriors would rather do something other than swapping war stories around a bar. With HOW, we’re swapping stories across a pond, without the hangover.”
HOW went national in June, with events in Georgia, Virginia and Washington state, said Dolan, a commercial airline pilot who lives in Allen. The Air Force veteran got involved in kayaking through his love of coastal fishing.
“Fishing from a power boat is like driving a car through Yellowstone National Park,” he said. “Fishing from a kayak is like riding a bike through Yellowstone. The kayak experience is much more personal.”
HOW volunteers have been told that kayak fishing may have the same impact on wounded warriors suffering traumatic brain injury as horseback riding has on autistic children.
Heather Gardner is a recreational therapist at the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center. Her specialty is adaptive sports with ties to the U.S. Paralympics. Gardner defines recreational therapy as a way of distracting one’s mind from the toll the body may be taking on and diverting it to something that is pleasing to the mind, body, soul, or a combination of those aspects.
Gardner is not surprised at therapeutic breakthroughs related to kayak fishing. She has led several groups on HOW outings. The first involved wounded warriors who were missing both legs above the knees. The majority of those participants said they wanted to fish but not kayak. A few wanted to kayak but not fish.
Within 20 minutes, with no encouragement from anyone, said Gardner, every one of them was in a kayak with a fishing rod in their hands. How does Gardner assess the therapeutic value of that experience?
“I’m sure it was different for each participant,” she said. “Getting away from the hospital and a daily routine can be therapeutic. Putting them in a boat where they are the sole controller can be therapeutic. Doing an activity that is not physically challenging and entirely in their control can be therapeutic.
“The HOW program is absolutely wonderful,” Gardner said. “Their hard work and dedication to our warriors is truly inspirational and does not go unnoticed.”
A $50,000 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department grant, the cost of a single high-end bass boat, enabled HOW to buy 40 kayaks, paddles, life jackets and other necessary fishing gear. Volunteers for HOW events mostly come from TexasKayakFishermen.com, an online forum with 12,000 members, about 2,000 of them very active.
Dolan said HOW needs access to more private lakes in all Texas regions, as veterans are spread throughout the state. Some landowners have gone beyond merely granting access to their lakes. They host the events, providing food for everyone who shows up. Most outings are small, with 10 or fewer veterans.
By Ginny Estupinian
Returning service veterans who are dealing with post traumatic stress and other disabilities can often benefit from specially trained dogs that provide companionship, help and love for these veterans.
For Example specially trained psychiatric service dogs help veterans overcome their social isolation. One way that they do this is due to the need of the dog to be walked several times. This need causes the veteran to get outside and be in the public. Furthermore, a working dog will often illicit people to ask questions about the service dog and this allows the veteran to socialize and meet people in the community.
Many veterans with these dogs have reported that their anxieties and fears have been greatly reduced as a result of having the dog with them at all times. Some veterans have reported dealing better with nightmares due to the fact that when they wake up they are relieved by the fact that the dog just is tranquil just lying on the floor. Rationalizing that If there really was a threat the dog would have responded.
For wounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan these dogs can help these wounded veterans: by walking alongside a wheel chair, opening a refrigerator, pulling socks off, pushing the light switch on/off, bringing a ringing telephone, and many other duties.
Providing these dogs is an expensive process. The Veterans Administration does not pay for any of this and this is service is left to non-profit organizations.
On Saturday the 11th, of July 2009, you can see these animals in action and visit one of the wonderful groups that train them . The Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) Southwest Regional Center in Oceanside, CA is hosting their second annual “CCI Salutes Independence” event, an open house for active duty military members, veterans, their families, and friends, from 11AM to 3PM.
New Report Shows the Importance of Screening for Brain Injury
December 6, 2008
By Ginny Estupinian
On Thursday the Institute of Medicine released their report recommending that returning Iraq war veterans be evaluated for traumatic brain injury. Some 5,500 military personnel have suffered brain injuries ranging from mild to severe. These wounds account for an estimated 22 percent of all casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq. This rate is twice the amount of the Vietnam war. Experts attribute this increase in part due to the advancements in on-site medical care and body armor that has increased the survival rate of ground troops. In the past a lot of these injuries would have killed these troops but due to medical advancements they now survive. The challenge is finding a way to treat the brain injuries.
Many of the brain injuries are a result of the high impact of roadside bombs. Veterans who have been involved in high impact blasts often complained of persistent, disabling symptoms like sleeplessness, dizziness, and confusion. At times these disorders can resemble other disorders like post-traumatic stress which can complicate psychological assessments.
Post-military monitoring of these returning veterans is another important key issue. Researchers have observed a trend where people with brain injuries proceed for years in a stable condition and then suddenly suffer dramatic drops in mental and physical capacities. Many medical professionals have found brain injury can manifest in more severe ways when a service member switches to a less structured lifestyle.
The National Guard announced that it has launched an effort to screen every one of its Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. The only concern is that the people doing the screening are warning that it is a long process.
It is my view that the screening needs to be done and that processes have to be created to take care of our veterans. There is no other choice and ignoring the problem will not make it go away or diminish the pain suffered by these veterans.
New Report Shows Gulf War Illness Is Real
November 17, 2008
By Ginny Estupinian
In 2002 Congress created The Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veteran’s Illnesses to investigate whether or not there Gulf War illness exists. This was the first report review the hundreds of U.S. and international studies on Gulf War veterans since the mid 1990’s.
For the past 17 years veterans suffering from this illness would complain of a combination of memory and concentration problems, persistent headaches, fatigue, and widespread pain. Other characteristics include skin rashes, chronic digestive and respiratory problems
The report that was released today stated that at least one in four U.S. veterans of the 1991 Gulf war suffers from multiple symptoms cause by exposure to toxic chemicals. Previously government officials had denied the existence of any illness and attributed these conditions to the effects of wartime stress.
The report stated that “the extensive body of scientific research now available consistently indicates that Gulf War illness is real, that it is the result of neurotoxic exposure during the Gulf War deployment, and that few veterans have recovered or substantially improved with time”.
The panel reported that they believe that the pesticides and pyridostigmine bromide (PB) aimed at thwarting the effects of never gas were most likely the causes of the illness.
Some Returning Veterans are at Higher Risk for Alcoholism
September 9, 2008
By Ginny Estupinian
In my last post I discussed s few studies that identified the increase in post traumatic stress disorder as a direct result of the amount of exposure to combat zones. Now another study is showing that abuse of alcohol is also an accompanying problem that increases with exposure to combat zones.
In this study on alcohol abuse, returning service members who has seen combat were 63% more likely to experience excess drinking and binge drinking than those individuals who were in non-combat zones. To put this in prospective, the CDC defines excess drinking as more than two drinks daily for men and one drink a day for women .
As was reported in my previous post the studies here also showed that the incidence rate for Reserve or National Guard members are higher compared to members in other military branches.
A separate study on excess alcohol intake lists additional dangers to abusing alcohol as including a greater chance of developing metabolic syndrome, which includes obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
The researchers suggested that returning soldiers often use alcohol as a coping mechanism to help them deal with stress and depression . The researchers went on to suggest that one way to help these returning soldiers is to provide them with a familiar and supportive network of trusted family, friends, or fellow veterans. The idea is to provide other places to meet rather than at a bar.
As the studies have shown the best support comes from fellow veterans who have had similar experiences.
By Ginny Estupinian
In a recent meeting of the American Psychological Association in Boston, various reports were presented that clearly showed the correlation between the amount of time soldiers spend in combat and the subsequent development of symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder and depression. Although on first blush this may appear to be obvious what is different is that these studies looked at the increase in mental health problems specific to the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
One report showed that in a typical unit headed to Iraq, 60% were on their second, third or fourth tour of duty. Each of these tours usually last about a year in duration and as the amount of tours increase the potential risk for developing mental health issues increases. The office of the U.S. Army Surgeon General stated that in their observations, by their third tour more than a quarter of the soldiers begin to show signs of mental health problems.
In another report funded by the Pentagon and produced by RTI International, found that in a survey of 34,000 active duty troops, (made up of reservists, and National Guard members deployed ) reservists had the highest rates of traumatic stress symptoms and of “seriously” considering suicide.
This report was further supported by a Veterans Affairs Analyses that showed that there were 115 Amy suicides and 935 reported attempts in 2007. The report showed that National Guard and reservists sent to Iraq and Afghanistan made up the majority of the returning veteran suicides. Sadly, this is a new record high.
The National Veterans Foundation which runs a crises hotline reported that about 75%of the 400 calls a week come from reserve and national Guard troops or their families.
Although these studies and reports are important we must remember that it is not just the stress that comes from combat that is affecting these soldiers. In many cases it is also the stress that comes from the current economic conditions. At times these mental health challenges fall on top of other serious economic problem that many families are struggling with.
Sleep Problems affecting Veterans
August 5, 2008
By Ginny Estupinian
A federal study showed that one of the problems that many veterans returning from war deal with is lack of sleep and wakefulness issues. Among the problems associated are reoccurring nightmares that simply make sleep a major difficulty.
On Tuesday August the 12th at noon PST, a FREE web chat is scheudled. This chat will include experts from the Veterans Adminsitration who will not only talk about the issues but answer questions live. On the chat will be Dr. Thomas C. Neylan, director of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders Program at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Steve Woodward, director of the Sleep Research Laboratory at the VA’s National Center for PTSD in Palo Alto
You can find more information about the chat by going to:www.latimes.com/sleepchat.
