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Veterans Today | For Better or For worse
May 12, 2009: Moving a Nation to Care among Sandy Cook's distinguished reading recommendations at Veterans Today.
Marine Week - Chicago - May 11-17, 2009
I am pleased to announce the inaugural Marine Week activities held in partnership with the great city of Chicago from 11-17 May 2009. This is the first of many celebrations honoring country and Corps in cities across the Nation.
Established to recognize the contributions of local Marine heroes, their families, and the cities from which they came, Marine Week also showcases the rich history and traditions of our beloved Corps. During the week, citizens will find Marines volunteering at local food kitchens and community parks, inspiring students by sharing their stories of service to their country, conducting intense physical fitness challenges and martial arts demonstrations, and performing with local musical groups. The Marine Corps will also display aircraft, vehicles, and the latest technology and equipment used to protect and preserve our Nation and its citizens.
New Scientist | How brain chemicals help soldiers keep their heads
Researchers are now starting to understand the physiological origins of this cognitive "fog of war", finding that the severity of soldiers' symptoms correlates with the levels of various hormones and neurotransmitters. This work has revealed why some soldiers manage to keep their head amid the chaos while others are clouded in confusion, and it has even suggested drugs and supplements which could one day help all troops to think more clearly under fire.
Such intervention might also reduce the number of lives - like Wells's - that have been shattered by post-traumatic stress disorder, since it seems soldiers who experience the greatest cognitive disturbance during combat are most likely to suffer subsequently from PTSD. Although war leaves its mark on almost every combatant (see "Battle lines drawn in the brain"), drugs that clear the mental fog during battle might significantly reduce the severity of the symptoms that linger long after the soldiers have returned home.
"If we understand the physiology, that gives us clues as to where and how we might intervene," suggests Charles "Andy" Morgan, a psychiatrist at Yale University and the US Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD in West Haven, Connecticut.
Jacksonville Daily News | Wounded Warriors break ground on new barracks
Marines and sailors broke ground Friday on a place where wounded warriors will be able to heal, mentally and physically.
The new Wounded Warriors barracks, which is scheduled to take about 18 months to build, will include 100 two-man rooms, living area and kitchenette, fitness, physical therapy and counseling space.
The rooms are designed to accommodate two wheelchair-bound Marines without collisions, said Lt. Col. Thomas Siebenthal, commander of Wounded Warriors Battalion-East.
Camp Lejeune's wounded warriors are currently housed in a 1940s-era building across base from the Naval Hospital. The new facility is just steps away from the hospital.
USA Today | Stressed troops take cues from ancient plays
Christopher Tramontana
Seattle Times | Veterans hope to rebuild their lives through Conservation Corps
On this day, they are laboring at one of many small wetlands created by developers to compensate for marshland filled in for housing. Most of these spots are overgrown with blackberries and other invasive species, and the restoration work is tough labor that often leaves scratched-up arms.
"It's been like a breath of fresh air," said Jeremy Grisham, the leader of the crew. "When I first got back, I couldn't find work and gained so much weight. When I started getting outside, it was the first time I felt good about things."
Grisham was a Navy medic who took part in the initial U.S. invasion of Iraq. One of his most harrowing tasks was helping civilians suffering from burns and wounds. As Grisham was medically retired in 2005, he was diagnosed with a disabling case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Grisham is now in his second year in the conservation corps, taking classes and field work at Green River Community College, which offers a two-year degree in natural-resources management. He is one of about 70 Washington veterans who have been able to attend Green River and four other community colleges around the state with the help of the conservation corps, which pays $1,000 per month in living expenses.
Dayton Daily News | Army, Air Force confront suicide problem
The Air Force reported 13 suicides through April 24 this year, compared with 39 in 2008 and a recent peak of 49 in 2004. That compared with 17 Air Force combat deaths within the past two years, including three in the past six months. The American Psychiatric Association is working with the armed services to help provide counseling to combat veterans and spouses, said Dr. Carolyn Robinowitz, the organization’s immediate past president. “The military is trying to address this. But it’s kind of a conflict,” Robinowitz said. “The culture is one of not admitting weakness.”
Amherst Bulletin | Editorial: War and memory
Amherst artist Matt Mitchell is closing in on the halfway point of his project to paint portraits of 100 U.S. citizens affected by war. Mitchell has more than 50 portraits to create - and years of work ahead of him to document the ways wars change everyone. Also here in our midst, the nonprofit Veterans Education Project continues its efforts, in schools and the wider community, to get people to see through war's myths. Their work helps us avoid being lulled into the belief a changing war no longer needs our attention, our compassion and our political voices.
Acupuncture Today | Weighing the Costs
Advocates for the integrated approach in the treatment of PTSD at both Ft. Hood (El Paso, Texas) and Ft. Bliss (Killeen, Texas) were convinced that the traditional methods of treating PTSD weren't long enough in duration, intense enough or comprehensive enough. A program was created that would address all aspects of PTSD and treat the whole soldier. This integrative approach treats many of the symptoms of PTSD that are not addressed through the standard mental health protocols, including cognitive-behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy. The concept eventually led to the implementation of the Ft. Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center and the Warrior Combat Stress Reset Program at Ft. Hood that incorporated medical massage, meditation, yoga, acupuncture, marital/family therapy and reiki with the standard treatment protocols of cognitive-behavioral and cathartic psychotherapies and pharmacotherapy.
Reuters | Brain scans may detect post-trauma stress sooner
The scans of 42 U.S. soldiers who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan in the recent past showed that, compared with healthy veterans, those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had marked differences in some areas of brain activity. The study, presented at the World Psychiatric Association Congress in Italy, suggested identifying certain brain patterns could one day help diagnose PTSD before symptoms appeared and better track treatment, the researchers said.
Honolulu Advertiser | VA nominee Duckworth plans online outreach to veterans
Duckworth told senators yesterday that: "To become a 21st-century organization, the DVA (Department of Veterans Affairs) will have to change some past methods. It's no longer enough to hand out brochures at demobilization ceremonies. We must develop social networking strategies, use nontraditional outlets such as blogs, and employ the wide variety of new media available to get the message of available benefits to our veterans."
The Boston Globe | Dunkin' will help vets with Iced Coffee Day
Dunkin' Donuts, the Canton-based chain of coffee-and-baked-goods shops, announced an Iced Coffee Day on April 21 that aims to benefit injured veterans. On Iced Coffee Day, the price for a small cup of iced coffee will be reduced to 50 cents at participating Dunkin' Donuts shops, the chain said; for every small iced coffee purchased on this day, Dunkin' Donuts said it will donate five cents to benefit Homes for Our Troops, a nonprofit organization that builds specially adapted homes for severely injured veterans. Dunkin' Donuts has created a special website about Iced Coffee Day; to visit it, please click here.
GOOD | The Memory War
We might be on our way out of Iraq but things are just starting to pick up in Afghanistan. With record-high number of veteran suicides and rising rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and clinical depression in every branch of the armed forces, is the nation headed for a mental-healthcare crisis?
Nashville Public Television | Sesame Street Helps Military Families Cope with Change
Last year, Ilona Meagher, author of Moving a Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops joined NPT for a day-long summit on Depression and what we need to do as a nation to help returning serviceman.
Navy Times | Senate OKs creation of Veterans’ Corps
A program in which veterans would volunteer to help active-duty members make the transition to civilian life has moved a step closer to reality with the Senate’s March 26 vote to more than triple the number of national service jobs. The bill, HR 1388, authorizes a new Veterans’ Corps, whose success would be measured by the number of veterans who are helped to go to college or find jobs, the number of military families provided assistance, and the number of homeless veterans who find housing.
IAVA | Iraq Veteran Testifies On Capitol Hill
Today, IAVA Member Veteran Carolyn Schapper testified at a hearing before the House Veterans Subcommittee on Disability & Memorial Affairs about the disparities in PTSD diagnosis for male and female soldiers in combat. During her deployment to Iraq from October 2005 to September 2006, Carolyn participated in over 200 combat patrols as a member of a Military Intelligence unit with the Georgia National Guard.
News-Leader | Videos explain health care benefits to military families
Military families throughout TRICARE’s west region now have a new way to learn about their health care benefits through the movies. ... “TRICARE 2 You” video topics, which run an average of three minutes in a prime-time news format, include explanations of TRICARE plan options, how to access specialty care, behavioral health resources, pharmacy options and newborn enrollment, among others. “We wanted to do whatever it takes to help our beneficiaries maximize use of their TRICARE benefit and avoid out-of-pocket costs,” said David J. McIntyre, president and CEO of TriWest Healthcare Alliance. “This is especially useful for service members, particularly those in the National Guard and Reserve who live or work in rural areas without convenient access to military base resources,” he said. Produced by TriWest, in partnership with TRICARE Regional Office-West, the videos are housed in the company’s new “TRICARE 2 You Online Library” at www.triwest.com/T2U.
USA Today | Military puts focus on epidemic of suicides
In Maj. Thomas Jarrett's stress management class surrounded by concrete blast walls, American troops are urged not to accept post-traumatic stress disorder as an inevitable consequence of war. Instead, Jarrett tells them to strive for "post-traumatic growth." During a 90-minute presentation entitled "Warrior Resilience and Thriving," Jarrett, a former corporate coach, offers this and other unconventional tips on how troops can stay mentally healthy once they return home. He quotes Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Paradise Lost author John Milton and German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, among others. Walking through the crowd of young GIs in the makeshift classroom, Jarrett urges them to fight their "internal insurgents."
The Associated Press: VA hires vets to go find comrades who need help
Graner is one of 100 former service members hired nationally by the Department of Veterans Affairs as outreach specialists to help get Iraq and Afghanistan veterans into programs aimed at easing their transition back to civilian life. They frequent job fairs, welcome-home events and other places where troops back from the wars might congregate and look for those struggling to adjust. The goal is to persuade them to visit one of 230-plus vet centers nationwide, which are operated by the VA to offer free services from job hunting assistance to marriage and mental health counseling.
Experts applaud the effort to actively search for veterans who may need help, even if some advocates say the program should be much bigger.
Mind Hacks | Sweet anaesthesia and the mystery of consciousness
Discover Magazine has an excellent article on the science of anaesthesia and why doctors need to struggle with the problem of consciousness to make someone comfortably numb.
If you're not familiar some of the mysteries of anaesthesia, you may be surprised to know that we don't actually know how most anaesthetics work and we have no reliable way of telling whether someone is unconscious.
This is important because general anaesthesia usually involves two types of drug, muscle relaxants and hypnotics. It's possible that the muscle relaxants have their paralysing effect but the hypnotics don't fully work, so you're awake and aware, but don't respond when you're touched or talked to.
Hence anaesthetists would love a device which says whether someone is concious or not, but unfortunately, divining consciousness from the brain is one of the hardest problems in science.
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