Vets and PTSD
 

This is going to be a subject that we will all hear about for decades to come. The financial cost is $4.3 Billion/year and rising. The human cost? Not possible to calculate ...

A Political Debate On Stress Disorder
As Claims Rise, VA Takes Stock

By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 27, 2005; A01

The spiraling cost of post-traumatic stress disorder among war veterans has triggered a politically charged debate and ignited fears that the government is trying to limit expensive benefits for emotionally scarred troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the past five years, the number of veterans receiving compensation for the disorder commonly called PTSD has grown nearly seven times as fast as the number receiving benefits for disabilities in general, according to a report this year by the inspector general of the Department of Veterans Affairs. A total of 215,871 veterans received PTSD benefit payments last year at a cost of $4.3 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 1999 -- a jump of more than 150 percent.

Experts say the sharp increase does not begin to factor in the potential impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, because the increase is largely the result of Vietnam War vets seeking treatment decades after their combat experiences. Facing a budget crunch, experts within and outside the Veterans Affairs Department are raising concerns about fraudulent claims, wondering whether the structure of government benefits discourages healing, and even questioning the utility and objectivity of the diagnosis itself.

"On the one hand, it is good that people are reaching out for help," said Jeff Schrade, communications director for the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. "At the same time, as more people reach out for help, it squeezes the budget further."

Among the issues being discussed, he said, was whether veterans who show signs of recovery should continue to receive disability compensation: "Whether anyone has the political courage to cut them off -- I don't know that Congress has that will, but we'll see."

The rest here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/26/AR2005122600792_pf.html

I would also expect a whole new generation of children with sand allergies.
"We've had to refill all of the sandboxes with inert plastic repli-sand....."
No peanuts, no sand, what next?

No money

I have pollen allergies. I find flowers offensive.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread, but I think it may be somewhat relevant. I support our miliatary thoughout the world 100%, but much like everything else in the past 20 years, there's a reason for every ailment or malady that somehow requires some sort of 'treatment'. And by the way, because I wake up tired every morning, or can't poop, somebody needs to pay!
I was having lunch with our corporate medical officer today, discussing just these sorts of things. Peanut allergy, Herbal cures for cancer, dietary supplements, and entitlements for all.
The end of the human species will be caused by our own whining and expectation of being taken care of by someone else...

You are going to see some fierce fights over PTSD military disability payments, some of which will undoubtedly echo what you are saying above. Major dollars at stake, and I mean dollars like you or I can't begin to imagine today. It's almost a perfect political storm:

Veterans to whom we owe our gratitude and loyalty
Non-physical disabilities
Money. Lots of it

Hold your hat, if you think the war is expensive now, wait until those disability pensions start coming in.

From the same article

"We have young men and women coming back from Iraq who are having PTSD and getting the message that this is a disorder they can't be treated for, and they will have to be on disability for the rest of their lives," said Frueh, a professor of public psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina. "My concern about the policies is that they create perverse incentives to stay ill. It is very tough to get better when you are trying to demonstrate how ill you are."

Most veterans whom Frueh treats for PTSD are seeking disability compensation, he said. Veterans Affairs uses a sliding scale; veterans who are granted 100 percent disability status receive payments starting at around $2,300 a month. The VA inspector general's report found that benefit payments varied widely in states and said that was because VA centers in some states are more likely to grant veterans 100 percent disability.

Psychiatrist Sally Satel, who is affiliated with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said an underground network advises veterans where to go for the best chance of being declared disabled. The institute organized a recent meeting to discuss PTSD among veterans.

Once veterans are declared disabled, they retain that status indefinitely, Frueh and Satel said. The system creates an adversarial relationship between doctors and patients, in which veterans sometimes take legal action if doctors decline to diagnose PTSD, Frueh said. The clinician added that some patients who really need help never get it because they are unwilling to undergo the lengthy process of qualifying for disability benefits, which often requires them to repeatedly revisit the painful episodes they experienced.

The concern by Frueh and Satel about overdiagnosis and fraud -- what researchers call "false positives" -- has drawn the ire of veterans groups and many other mental health experts.

I have no doubt that many of the claims are genuine, but am no less certain that this will be abused mercilessly.

Ah, so veteran's syndromes are a liberal plot... and veteran's groups are kind of like labor unions.

Whatever happened to the 'thanks of a grateful nation?'

Under Bush, per-veteran benefits have dropped dramatically. And hasn't combat pay dropped, too? But of course, pro-soldier rhetoric is up.

Maybe this is why all those 'good conservatives' haven't vounteered for the military.

All the good conservatives are too old, peole generally become more conservative as they get older. By the way to miss the point, which is from a doctor's perspective, I don't care who is trying to push it down my gullet. If you don't agree that filing a lawsuit against your physician because you disagree with his professional opinion is a bad trend, I am stupefied. I am sure the President fights tooth and nail to force down military pay, I hear about that at least once a day in the news

People forget that we did not have this situation to the same extent during WW2. Had some but for the most part it was very low.

At this time the vast majority of all combat soldiers went to and from the theater in a ship. Took 2-3 weeks to return home. They did so with their buddies and could hash out what happened and "decompress" along the way.

Now we put them in a small aluminum tube and fly them to and from in a matter of hours then dump them back home where they are supposed to fit in immediately.

Anyone see a large difference in the way this is being handled and possible outcome? Combat to apple pie in the blink of an eye...

JoeA

Excellent point Joe.

A friend of a friend just got back from Iraq. If I understand correctly, they kept him on base in the U.S. for three weeks after getting home before being discharged. This is to give him time to adjust to life stateside and to monitor him for PTSD. I think this is standard procedure now.

It's funny, we (our government) talk about cutting benefits to those we owe the most too...I don't think this draws nearly as much ire from the left as cutting benefits to welfare recipients or medicare and the like.

Well, Actually, No, it isn't funny at all.

I clicked on the thread since my neighbor's kids got a dog for Christmas. I thought it was "Veterinarians and Puppies that Santa dropped off". Being a Veteran ( Army, Combat Engineer) and experiencing alot of engagement, it's something that goes with the territory. When you enlist, you enlist to serve your country, and we ain't talking Hors d' ouveres. You enlist to FIGHT to keep the freedoms WE ALL enjoy, Concientious Objector or not. If you have a problem upon returning Home and need counseling, The V.A. is available. A Fireman doesn't retire after fighting his first fire and neither should a Soldier.

I don't think you've been paying attention. Only the left has been protesting the Bush administration's VA cuts. Maybe a few Republicans have spoken up about combat pay cuts... but it's been an issue for the left. 1/3 of military families qualify for some form of Federal welfare assistance because of inadequate pay.

I qualified for food stamps whenI was in the Navy in the 1980's

Forgive me, I have been paying attention and I have seen that.

Sorry, nothing to see here...

As an aside, I am a military brat. My dad was enlisted in the air force for 20 years. I lived on base housing for most of that and worked in the commisary bagging groceries for tips.