Soldiers Haunted by War Struggle to Get Care

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WALTER REED AND BEYOND
The War Inside
Troops Are Returning From the Battlefield With Psychological Wounds, But the Mental-Health System That Serves Them Makes Healing Difficult


Army Spec. Jeans Cruz helped capture Saddam Hussein. When he came home to the Bronx, important people called him a war hero and promised to help him start a new life. The mayor of New York, officials of his parents' home town in Puerto Rico, the borough president and other local dignitaries honored him with plaques and silk parade sashes. They handed him their business cards and urged him to phone.

But a "black shadow" had followed Cruz home from Iraq, he confided to an Army counselor. He was hounded by recurring images of how war really was for him: not the triumphant scene of Hussein in handcuffs, but visions of dead Iraqi children.

In public, the former Army scout stood tall for the cameras and marched in the parades. In private, he slashed his forearms to provoke the pain and adrenaline of combat. He heard voices and smelled stale blood. Soon the offers of help evaporated and he found himself estranged and alone, struggling with financial collapse and a darkening depression.

At a low point, he went to the local Department of Veterans Affairs medical center for help. One VA psychologist diagnosed Cruz with post-traumatic stress disorder. His condition was labeled "severe and chronic." In a letter supporting his request for PTSD-related disability pay, the psychologist wrote that Cruz was "in need of major help" and that he had provided "more than enough evidence" to back up his PTSD claim. His combat experiences, the letter said, "have been well documented."


By Dana Priest and Anne Hull
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061600866.html?hpid=topnews

[babylonsister]

1. Rec'd! So what does the VA do? They turn him down flat. More from article:

None of that seemed to matter when his case reached VA disability evaluators. They turned him down flat, ruling that he deserved no compensation because his psychological problems existed before he joined the Army. They also said that Cruz had not proved he was ever in combat. "The available evidence is insufficient to confirm that you actually engaged in combat," his rejection letter stated.

Bullshit, I tell ya. And I'm glad to see Dana Priest and Anne Hull writing about the deplorable (non)treatment the soldiers continue to get.

[UrbScotty]

2. There's something wrong with this picture. (nt)

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3. Now 'Wash Post' Goes 'Beyond Walter Reed' for Priest-Hull Report

Now 'Wash Post' Goes 'Beyond Walter Reed' for Priest-Hull Report on Vets' Mental Health Woes

The Washington Post team of Dana Priest and Anne Hull, who broke the Walter Reed scandal sky high earlier this year, return for a front-page report on Sunday called "Beyond Walter Reed: The War Inside."

It looks at veterans' mental health woes, such as Post-Traumatic Shock Disorder (PTSD) and inadequate treatment they receive.

(snip)
One of the bitter legacies of Vietnam was the inadequate treatment of troops when they came back. Tens of thousands endured psychological disorders in silence, and too many ended up homeless, alcoholic, drug-addicted, imprisoned or dead before the government acknowledged their conditions and in 1980 officially recognized PTSD as a medical diagnosis.

Yet nearly three decades later, the government still has not mastered the basics: how best to detect the disorder, the most effective ways to treat it, and the fairest means of compensating young men and women who served their country and returned unable to lead normal lives....

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003599908