[QUOTE]Originally posted by MaryLovesJustice:
PETITION TO SAVE SGT. RUSSEL

Sgt. John Russel was charged with murder resulting from an acute PTSD episode in a Baghdad stress clinic during the last part of his third consecutive Iraq deployment. He went for help but behaved erratically and was escorted AWAY from the only help on base under armed guard.

"What About Our Soldiers? A Discussion on PTSD, by Mary Neal” at ***Hot links deleted as a violation of Terms of Service.


Sgt. Russel requires long-term hospitalization as a wounded soldier, not execution or life in prison. It was well known on base that Sgt. Russel had suffered a mental meltdown, yet he remained on active duty. Corpses should not be required before help is given.

Protest soldiers returning from battlefields to become POWs at home.
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Welcome MaryLovesJustice!
Dave Barker

quote:

Originally posted by DaveBarker:
I must be losing it!

I thought I had responded to the post above, by providing a decent (in my mind) link. To answer the question.

[QUOTE]I was at 30% SC and had 70% added, that should make 100%, right?

Not an easy question to answer but the following link is my best shot.

Dave,

I wasn't looking for an explaination, I know how the program is set up. I was trying to get the point across that it is unfair to deduct already credited disability. It would be much easier to accept being told that, "since I am already 30%, PTSD will add XX% giving me XX% total". Being told I am losing percentage points is insulting and degrading.

quote:

Originally posted by Seabee_Vet:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Seabee_Vet:
I wasn't looking for an explaination, I know how the program is set up. I was trying to get the point across that it is unfair to deduct already credited disability. It would be much easier to accept being told that, "since I am already 30%, PTSD will add XX% giving me XX% total". Being told I am losing percentage points is insulting and degrading.

I understand what you are saying and now what you mean and I totally agree with your point. In my position after all these years, I have found that unless a complete answer is made available, the issue will continue to confuse many people. So I made a link to VA Math.

At the end of May I posted this feature story:

Friday the 28th I filed a claim on this very topic.

A Military.com featured article.

Teague Sponsors PTSD Screenings Bill
May 28, 2009
Knight Ridder|by Steve Ramirez

May 28--LAS CRUCES -- U.S. Rep. Harry Teague, D-N.M., said Wednesday that he intends to introduce legislation to address Post-traumatic Stress Disorder that would be named after a Las Cruces veteran whose suicide was likely linked to PTSD.

The proposed legislation would call for mandatory mental health screening for military personnel upon their induction into the military, before and after deployment, and before discharge.

"When the Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess, I will introduce the Kyle Barthel Veterans and Service Members Mental Health Screening Act, a bill calling for mandatory and confidential mental health assessments for service members so that those who need it can get the mental health treatment they have earned and so we can begin to stem the tide of tragic incidents associated with PTSD," Teague said.

Congress reconvenes Tuesday.

The legislation comes amid rising concerns that undiagnosed and untreated PTSD cases are leading to mental health issues that decrease quality of life for returning combat veterans. The Veterans Affairs National Center for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder estimates that as many as 20 percent of Iraq war veterans have been diagnosed.

Barthel, an Iraq war veteran from Las Cruces, took his life after struggling to receive a PTSD diagnosis and repeated efforts to receive proper treatment. Barthel was a member of the 101st Airborne Division, which has had 14 deaths being investigated as suicides so far this year.

"Kyle reached out and sought treatment, but was never able to get the mental health help that he needed and deserved, ..." Teague said. "Enough is enough. It's time to fix this problem."

Since 2003, suicide rates in the Army have risen 60 percent.

Dona Ana County Commissioner Scott Krahling, a longtime friend to Barthel, said even though his friend ultimately took his own life, Barthel is still trying to help others.

"Although he isn't here with us today, Kyle is here in spirit and we are here because of him," Krahling said. "His life has inspired action that will give hope to the many military personnel and veterans currently suffering from PTSD."

Virginia Chavez Bell, a veterans service officer with the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services, in Las Cruces, said the legislation is badly needed.

"We need to get more people involved," Chavez Bell said. "As a veteran myself, looking back, I probably had it. But I was not aware, I was in denial. If this legislation can become available it should help a lot of people recognize what the symptoms are."

Ralph Misquez, a retired Las Cruces police officer who served in Vietnam, said treatment for PTSD has helped him.

"I didn't start going until about six years ago," Misquez said. "A lot of veterans don't realize they have a problem until one day when it just hits them. For years, I couldn't communicate with my father, who was a World War II veteran. Now I know why."

Teague said he anticipates a "long fight" to get the legislation passed. Until the bill is introduced, he isn't sure how much would be needed to fund mental health screenings. But Teague believes the military may not be willing to accept the additional costs.

Dave,

FYI, your above info on screening.

When a large contingent of Minnesota Reserves where sent to Iraq a couple years ago, the local newspaper did a similar questioning on them. It was not official, etc.

But, the replies upon their return ware surprising. Most replied "there was no difference", they DID NOT have any problems. Which is the same answer I would have given after my 2nd tour to 'Nam.

I told the newspaper to check back with these same people every 5 years, it took me 40 years to realize what was wrong with me. The paper did not like my reply. They were trying to show that combat DOES NOT effect the average soldier.

Bless you Bob! You got it right...

hey y'all. I need help. I gotta vet at home who's got big time ptsd problems and is refusing to get help. how do I get him to see how bad it is and get some help??

quote:

Originally posted by ali_squidz:
hey y'all. I need help. I gotta vet at home who's got big time ptsd problems and is refusing to get help. how do I get him to see how bad it is and get some help??

Do you have a "power of attorney" or other similar document for him?

You are not married, or otherwise a first family member, right?

Without one of these types of relationship, I would suggest finding someone he trusts and will listen to, such a parent, sibling, old friend, doctor, minister, etc.

If none of these work or are available and he becomes violent and in danger of hurting himself or anyone else, it sounds like time to take extraordinary steps by contacting law enforcement. Florida, has the Baker act where law enforcement has the power have a person omitted for physic evaluation.

The tough situation that often follow such action is that the person blames you.

Remember you may need help and maybe even counseling for you to handle the situation.

Please do not wait until it is too late.

We are all pulling for you and the vet.

so Im pretty much on my own with this then...sigh. I tried the friends calling and talking to him. Didnt work. Not married, no power of atty.

Stick around here a little while to give an opportunity for other to give input.

We are wishing you the very best possible outcome,

Bruce

thanks. i feel like im at the end of my rope. he's in complete denial that there is an issue but when i took him in to the va for his disability claim i put together for him, he got diagnosed with ptsd and a possible tbi as well.

Alicia here are links to help you. Read the information carefully:
PTSD http://forums.military.com/eve...1001/m/8290078391001
PTSD http://forums.military.com/eve...1001/m/6710008191001
PTSD http://forums.military.com/eve...1001/m/1070020212001


TBI
http://forums.military.com/eve...1001/m/1880013902001

Remember to follow the links, you will find answers.
Bless you!

What you report about your friend is a very common problem. He has a condition that is usual among psychiatric patients called "anosognosia."

I wrote about it in an article on NowPublic called - OREGON MAN MURDERS HIS SISTER I cannot put links here, so please Google it.

Unfortunately, there is not much you can do to help your friend if he does not want help, depending on the state where you live. The name of the game is prison profiteering. People like your friend are not treated unless and until they do something to warrant arrest. At that point, they become commodities in the prison system which incarcerates 2.3 million people, and 1.25 million of them are mentally ill. For each prisoner, the system bills taxpayers up to $50,000 annually. If your friend or any other mental patient does something like murder due to mental illness, the prison owners and investors look forward to billing taxpayers around $3 million over the course of his lifetime. Therefore, laws were passed that make it nearly impossible to enforce treatment for mentally ill persons until there is a dripping knife or smoking gun.

It costs much more to imprison mental patients after crimes ranging from simple vagrancy and disturbing the peace to murder, but the system chooses to wait until they do some crime to help them in order to enrich prison profiteers. In today's bad economy, prison investors are in a very lucrative enterprise.

You could check with mental health services in your state and see if there is something you can do to help your friend, but there probably is not. The system will do something if he hurts himself or you. That is the game. Visit our group online. We are trying to decriminalize mental illness. That may never be done unless and until there are no private prisons. The private prisons do not begin to make money until the public facilities are full and overflowing. They only get the overflow. Therefore, even inmates who are sent to county jails and state-owned prisons help improve the portfolios of private prison investors.

America incarcerates more people than any nation that has ever been on the face of the earth. This is why it will be hard to help your friend and many other vets who suffer PTSD. They are apparently preserved untreated for jail. Please visit our group online.

ASSISTANCE TO THE INCARCERATED MENTALLY ILL

quote:

Originally posted by ali_squidz:
thanks. i feel like im at the end of my rope. he's in complete denial that there is an issue but when i took him in to the va for his disability claim i put together for him, he got diagnosed with ptsd and a possible tbi as well.

As discussed before, his friends can guide him to get help. Often a trip to the Vet Center will produce a good result. Vet Centers are designed to avoid the 'official VA look' of the VA Clinics and hospitals. A Vet Center program may be just the thing to get him into some workable therapy and back on the good road to recovery.
One thing for sure, now is not the time to give up, just reorganize.

quote:

As discussed before, his friends can guide him to get help. Often a trip to the Vet Center will produce a good result. Vet Centers are designed to avoid the 'official VA look' of the VA Clinics and hospitals. A Vet Center program may be just the thing to get him into some workable therapy and back on the good road to recovery.
One thing for sure, now is not the time to give up, just reorganize.

Great reply.