Having Your Wars & Ingesting Them Too: Solving the Global Experienced Crisis

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

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 physically and emotionally continues to hemorrhage billions. It's approximated that 30% of combat veterans will return demonstrating either partial or full symptom expression of PTSD.

Fight veterans are glorified for having served their nation in battle, focusing attention on this group, especially where the people sees battle veterans unsupported and displaced in the wake of their service. Military injury is the largest statistical group for PTSD, as they can be focused within organizations like Veterans Administrations (VAs) and thus easily analyzed.

There are much greater numbers of sexual injury than combat trauma and PTSD from childhood, yet battle veterans have excessive rates of homelessness and suicide as a result of lack of both governmental and societal support systems available to satisfactorily cater the now astronomical influx of demand.

Think of it like this: civilians with PTSD are naturally disperse amongst a nation, states, cities and towns. They often have a construction of family and friends around them. The military runs in big bunches. Their base locations are often called by soldiers residence. VAs are usually established close to military bases, further isolating support for combat veterans.

At present there are billions of dollars spent on a ton of studies and plans in an attempt to find and solve the PTSD veteran catastrophe. You might believe progress is being made with all this money spent, yet the results don't represent effort or the price to date. There are plans that work, and there are known factors with high success rates, as backing keeps going to new trials and plans, yet these are often dismissed due to time conditions or, worse, funding.

So what are the difficulties that need to be solved?

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

VAs are under-equipped to take care of the returning PTSD amounts.

The effectiveness of pharmaceuticals is inconsistent, causing more problems than they fix for the majority yet used as the first line treatment protocol.

That is a deficit of systems that are powerful to treat self-medication.

There's a shortage of trauma therapists to efficiently treat the amount of those affected.

Effective treatments require years, a decade even, to be truly successful per person.

National disability systems are stretched with PTSD sufferers to funding limits.

Stigmatization strains reintegration within society both socially and for employment.

Collateral damage is done to the veteran's family.

Difficulties are pretty simple to identify. The preceding list is far from exhaustive in presenting issues for combat veterans with PTSD. I'm an Australian battle veteran, and I do not speak for the entire world's fight veteran community, whilst the suggestions veterans and ptsd here are just that. As Australia has quite an extraordinary fight veteran support system and affiliated applications in position I consider myself blessed. I trust other combat veterans add their own comments to what they believe could be easy, effective alternatives to the present dilemmas.

By no means is the following discussion a complete solution to the preceding issues, and some of the alternatives address and intertwine several of our issue areas that are listed.

Perennial tours extend PTSD intricacy

Like a kid within a hazardous home surroundings, surrounded by mistreatment 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 aid towards re-adjustment or powerful downtime following a fight tour. Most will remain in an activated and ready state, understanding they again, let alone that they'll most likely start pre-deployment training within 3 months, further reducing downtime.

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

Saying that, politicians and secret bureaus can not get enough deceit and power, so troop deployments need to be radically altered to check repeated, extreme exposure to combat. A ratio of 1:3 should be used for all deployments. For every month deployed, you spend dwelling, reintegrating in general duties, training, classes, social life, family and so on.

Simply put, most deployments are six month in duration for economic and tactical reasons, making every turning 18 months dwelling. That leaves a minimum of 15 months deal with any psychological dilemmas that present, to decompress, then start pre- deployment.

If militaries need to think long term, then they should get onboard such rotation periods. Losing seasoned 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 handle the current influx of PTSD combat veterans. Wait times can be many hours for what should be an one-hour appointment. Also, it can take months to make that appointment.

Group therapy is neglecting to treat the individual wounding parts of each combat veteran. Whilst group therapy has value, additionally, it has result limits.

VAs in America are under-funded, using over worked, tired, frustrated workers. The solution is that funds should be focused on the problem, not squandered on experimental options that are diverse. The solutions are present -- powerful treatments that supply 60 to 80% restoration, with more time.

Cash could wisely be spent letting combat veterans to seek Va-financed therapy through local, private trauma therapists who deliver injury therapy techniques that were approved to treat the trauma. That may be difficult to hear for some in America, as that's socialism vs capitalism. Is every man for themselves actually helping the difficulty? No, no it's not.

In Australia and the United Kingdom, the problem is being helped by it. Battle veterans ignored and are not left to be homeless. Instead they have government support in place for disability and treatment capital while seeking treatment. Getting people back and healed to being productive members of society is in every nation's finest long term interest.

Pharmaceuticals are not the response

Shrinks are using pharmaceuticals to treat PTSD with little evidence to support the effectiveness of this type of treatment regimen. Pharmaceuticals have an approximate 25% success rate, much less than injury therapies. Sure, they're cheaper than treatment, but they cause way more issues than they mend.

Most combat veterans will be on several medications. Why? Because other issues will be caused by one, so then shrinks are prescribing medications to treat the symptoms that another drug created. Seriously? This is a sign of how poor pharmaceuticals are, in that the solution is giving a pill to a problem created by a pill. Is this ok? Pharmaceuticals are creating more problems than they solve.

Shortage of effective pre-treatment programs

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a foundational treatment protocol that's history support effectiveness in treating substance abuse with PTSD and to demonstrate. Why are billions being spent on experimental, radical, vague efforts to find other alternatives for treating the veteran crisis when the alternatives exist? Put the billions of dollars toward training staff to deliver the affected combat veterans the techniques. More will get solved in a briefer span than what is happening now.

Pre-treatment isn't restricting its use to make therapy overall more efficient although about stopping substance abuse. Hell, the effectiveness of pre-treatment can be used as a mark towards having full injury treatment paid for at a doctor local to the battle veteran.

Deficit of effective therapists

Therapists are not created equal. This focus on throwing them within a VA and hiring therapists is antiquated, to say the least. You limit a therapist's potential by exposing them to nothing besides battle trauma to learn and treat trauma. Limits become imposed on their learning and techniques. They become desensitized and become less effective at treating their client.

The remedy isn't to create a military therapist but to support therapists in private practice, where they have a combination of customers and thus have a combination of treatments they're using and assessing for effectiveness. Moreover, they aren't becoming burnt out on the atrocities of combat trauma and are not being screwed into provide their service for next to nothing.

A good therapist is made by a joyful therapist. Pay them nicely. Treat them nicely. Ensure they have diversity of clientele, and ensure they have mandatory exposure to ongoing learning and techniques.

Powerful treatments take time

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

I 'm advocating training more therapists in EMDR, Prolonged Exposure (PE), Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT), ACT, and receiving these treatments used as first line treatment for PTSD instead of tossing pharmaceuticals approximately. Using this money to finance the longevity treatment durations required to efficiently change 60-80% of returning troops suffering PTSD to civilians that are fully healed, functional again. This merely makes sense.

Yes, this is socialism at work, but let us be honest, it's really needed to treat the veteran crisis happening internationally. The cash is being spent but instead of being squandered, it can be used to truly treat the problem, not just appear like something is being done.

National handicap stretched to the limits

Disability given to combat veterans has climbs to dizzying highs. Throwing money at veterans isn't going to solve their problems nor the overall problem. Handicap schemes will finally break authorities. As we are an international economy now, this issue has far reaching economic impact for all countries concerned.

Sure, money needs to be there to support veterans during treatment, but the trouble is that cash isn't being used towards the treatment and the impacted. To reduce the overall event of impairment, authorities need to ensure money is being effectively spent on providing treatment to the changed. It's rather simple really -- to get your disability payments you truly partaking towards recovery and must be attending therapy. Once deemed recuperated by the therapist, aid towards re-employment training and then full employment opportunities.

Impairment is subsequently used effectively, and those who are actually resistant after years of therapy then stay on disability. Keep supplying them the support they want, and you've decreased the weight that is longevity by a minimum of 60% yearly capital. Well... unless you keep sending troops into idiotic wars, that's.

Reintegration employment stigmatization

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

If authorities get their act together and do figure out how to shift the present strategy of treating battle veteran PTSD an awareness media campaign would additionally have to be established -- or motivators to hire span, battle veterans -- to thwart the erroneous blot associated with PTSD.

Families are collateral damage

Lastly, the forgotten in all this is the family behind the veteran. They desire access to government-assisted support in relation to fight veterans. Siblings, parents and spouses want help in how exactly to help their fight veteran that is affected. They desire self-care support. They need access to educational tools to help get their combat veteran back on course in life, towards stability and employment.

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

Whether online support structures are in place for schooling, 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 assistants to band together, help each other, and help themselves towards helping their veteran.

Judgment

There are some rather big problems that presently are just getting worse. Things need to change as the present strategy is a dismal failure. We have effective treatments available. They just need time, cash and locality enactment for effectiveness: more official resources accessible online, campaigns targeting the stigma of PTSD and use the truth to blanket the myths that propagate the discrimination and maybe even motivators to apply battle veterans.

What can you add towards solving the veteran PTSD crisis? Do you feel there's a bigger problem at play that we haven't mentioned? Please share your ideas and maybe, just maybe, someone that issues might take initiative and implement the change needed to fix the issue.