It is very important that all thinking citizens consider and understand the policies toward US Veterans in this NYT report. Ironically, I recently mentioned this very problem and how the government efforts, over decades, also sought to deny the devastating effects of chronic stress caused by chronic poverty.
What is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not the only source of debilitating stress disorder!! The government spent decades denying Veterans psychiatric treatment by using this flawed criteria for PTSD diagnosis. (I spent many years studying the problems of Veterans. I watched them self medicating with drugs like heroin and alcohol as the government used bullshit science to fuck them. Delete now or consider the Times report and my explanation.) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/us/08vets.html?_r=1&hp "...eliminate a requirement that veterans document specific events like bomb blasts, firefights or mortar attacks that might have caused P.T.S.D., an illness characterized by emotional numbness, irritability and flashbacks." For decades, clinicians have reported that the vast majority of their chronically poor behavioral health patients have the same cluster of symptoms as PTSD!! PTSD is a cluster of symptoms such as anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, etc. No blood test can diagnose it with a quantifiable scale. (Note: The military is currently using Personality Disorder, another subjective diagnosis, to deny treatment and benefits to combat victims using the famous corporate scheme known as "pre-existing condition." Receiving no attention in the corporate media, this fact was recently reported.) What happens if a Veteran reports PTSD symptoms and wants treatment because he thinks he slaughtered an innocent victim??- claim denied! Demanding inclusion of a single horrific event in the diagnosis was a great way to deny Veteran's benefits!! But the "science" also needed to discount the emergence of stress disorder from the chronic stress of war! That is how the science, largely based on samples of Veterans, served the dual purpose of also denying stress disorder caused by the chronic stress of poverty! The emergence of "PTSD" is more likely in individuals with certain predispositions. Many soldiers are recruited from chronically impoverished communities and have the backgrounds which predispose them to developing this disorder. Treating PTSD has generally been done by treating the individual symptoms. (There is an experimental eye movement treatment) Of course all Americans should receive psychiatric treatment when necessary, but the majority of Americans consider stress disorder symptoms willful laziness caused by the devil. Because the corporate military empire needs to continue to lie to young people in order to recruit them to murder millions of people around the planet, they created this bizarre criteria for PTSD. If Americans were willing to act on the truth and the serious implications of stress disorders, we would transform our society!! We also deny the chronic stress disorders we cause in millions of people in countries around the world with this bizarre PTSD crap. Ignoring the effect of chronic stress, as opposed to the very narrow "traumatic" stress diagnosis, allows us to treat the poor and civilians in occupied lands, as evil freeloaders instead of people having a normal response to chronic stress! Please think about these issues and take them seriously. By the way, many Veterans report that marijuana is one of the few medicines that actually helps them with the symptoms of PTSD. You need to consider that as well! Sincerely, Glenn PS: Mr Moyer has years of clinical and research experience with Vietnam Veterans as well as behavioral health patients in the city of Philadelphia ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
