"New label considered for post traumatic stress disorder; Calling it injury instead of disorder could nix stigma" by Greg Jaffe | Washington Post, May 13, 2012
WASHINGTON - It has been called shell shock, battle fatigue, soldier’s heart, and, most recently, post-traumatic stress disorder. Now, military officers and psychiatrists are embroiled in a heated debate over whether to change the name of a condition as old as combat.
A rose is still a rose....
The potential new moniker: post-traumatic stress injury.
Military officers and some psychiatrists say that dropping the word
disorder in favor of injury will reduce the stigma that stops troops
from seeking treatment.
Is that what it is really about, what is best for the troops?
On Monday, a working group of a dozen psychiatrists will hold a public hearing in Philadelphia to debate the name change. The issue is up for consideration because the American Psychiatric Association is updating its bible of mental illnesses, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, for the first time since 2000.
What does it say about pathologically-lying, psychopathic leaders and their dutiful mouthpieces?
The relatively straightforward request, which originated with the Army, has raised new questions over the causes of post-traumatic stress disorder, the best way to treat it, and the barriers that prevent troops from getting help for it. The change could also have major financial implications for health insurers and federal disability claims.
Ooooooooooh, NOW we find out this is ALL ABOUT SCREWING VETERANS OUT OF THEIR JUSTLY-DESERVED BENEFITS!!!
Yup, it is NOT the ANTIWAR SCREEDS by the LIKES of ME that is the DANGER to TROOPS! It is the STINK GOVERNMENT that sent them to engage in mass-murdering exercises and war crimes on the basis of LIES!
Of course, none of this is new to veterans. The brass is well-taken-care-of as the grunts must fight tooth-and-nail once they are no longer useful tools.
Oh, I know we have heart-warming stories over here about after-vets care, etc, etc. After a while you just tune out the endless war worship when you realize it's all part of the propaganda.
Chiarelli took on the problems of post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide after two tours in Iraq. He has pressed harder than any other officer to change the way service members view mental health problems. His efforts, however, have not resulted in a reduction in suicides.
That's how some of our soldiers reconcile the "horrors of war" -- in other words, atrocities or the fallout based on lies, can never forget that -- from events that they participated or witnessed.
:-(
Post-traumatic stress disorder refers to the intense and potentially crippling symptoms that some people experience after a traumatic event such as combat, a car accident, or rape.
Or even (gasp) playing football.
To Chiarelli and the psychiatrists pressing for a change, the word injury suggests that people can heal with treatment, while disorder implies that something is permanently wrong.
Translation: They want to GET OUT from PAYING DISABILITY CLAIMS!!
Btw, if I were devising a defense budget for the U.S. the first thing I'm chunking out change for is vets care to the fullest. Priority one, no argument. To hell with the death-dealing weapons and illegal military actions for a while.
Chiarelli was the first to drop the word disorder, referring to the condition as post-traumatic stress.
Chiarelli cares.
The new name was adopted by officials at the highest levels of the Pentagon, including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. But post-traumatic stress never caught on with the medical community because of concerns that insurers and government bureaucrats would not be willing to pay for a condition that is not explicitly labeled a disease, disorder, or injury.
Some psychiatrists suggested post-traumatic stress injury as an alternative, and Chiarelli heartily endorsed the idea.
The question for the working group of doctors debating the change in the Manual of Mental Disorders is whether the nightmares, mood swings, and flashbacks normally associated with post-traumatic stress disorder are best described as an injury.
Those in favor of the new name maintain that post-traumatic stress disorder is the only mental illness that must be caused by an outside force.
Who would be responsible for that, and when do the war crimes trials start?
“There is a certain kind of shattering experience that changes the way our memory system works,’’ said Dr. Frank Ochberg, a professor of psychiatry at Michigan State University.
The intensity of the trauma is so overwhelming that it alters the physiology of the brain. In this sense, post-traumatic stress disorder is more like a bullet wound or a broken leg than a typical mental disorder or disease.
Psychiatrists who oppose the change argue that post-traumatic stress disorder has more in common with bipolar or depressive disorder than a bullet wound.
So if it's an injury the government can stop payment!
--more--"
And while they chatter:
"Court reverses order to overhaul VA mental health care; 10-1 ruling leaves such changes to Congress, Obama" by Paul Elias | Associated Press, May 08, 2012
SAN FRANCISCO - Judge Mary Schroeder dissented, writing that the ruling put veterans into a classic Catch-22 conundrum. Schroeder says the ruling essentially leaves them without recourse to force the VA to change a system they view to be fatally flawed and condemns “veterans to suffer intolerable delays inherent in the VA system.’’
Support the troops!
The veterans lawyer Gordon P. Erspamer said he will ask the US Supreme Court to review the case. “If the courts don’t have jurisdiction, then the veteran is left without a remedy,’’ he said.
Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth filed the lawsuit at the heart of the ruling in San Francisco federal court.
During the two-week trial without a jury in April 2008, lawyers for the groups showed the judge e-mails between high-ranking VA officials that the attorneys said confirmed high suicide rates among veterans and a desire to keep quiet the number of vets under VA care who attempt suicide.
It's called a cover-up.
“Shhh!’’ began a Feb. 13, 2008, e-mail from Dr. Ira Katz, a VA deputy chief. “Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among the veterans we see in our medical facilities. Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?’’
Holy crap!!!
That number is f***ing with my mind.
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