thedrifter
04-04-06, 01:52 PM
April 10, 2006
PTSD care improving, still uneven, panel says
Senator questions redeployment of vets on antidepressants
By Rick Maze
Times staff writer
The government is devoting more resources to help returning combat veterans with mental health issues, but plenty remains to be done, said panelists at a March 29 forum on mental health reform.
The forum was held the same day that Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., asked the Pentagon to explain why some troops diagnosed with combat-related mental health problems are being redeployed to Iraq.
Boxer, responding to a March 19 article in The San Diego Union-Tribune that said some people taking antidepressants or anti-anxiety drugs for combat-related psychological problems are being assigned to new Iraq tours, said she wants more information.
“I believe such practices could have extremely serious consequences, particularly due to the violent and stressful nature of the situation in Iraq,” she said, asking the Pentagon to undertake a “prompt review.”
The mental health forum, held on Capitol Hill, involved members of a 2003 presidential commission who reunited to see what progress has been made on recommendations in their final report. That report called for expansion of early identification and treatment measures for combat veterans at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder, things the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs have tried to do, with varying success.
Former Army Capt. Stefanie Pelkey, who became an advocate for mental-health programs after the November suicide of her husband, said visits to military installations show mixed results.
Some, such as Fort Sill, Okla., where she and her husband were assigned when he died, and Fort Bragg, N.C., have created effective programs, but that’s not the case at all bases, she said.
She advocated a centralized program so service members and families can expect the same help no matter where they live.
“If only the military community had reached out to family members in some manner to prepare them for, and make them aware of, the symptoms of PTSD, my family’s tragedy could have been averted,” Pelkey said.
Her husband, Michael, a field artillery officer who spent four months in Iraq in 2003, reported on his post-deployment health assessment that he was feeling depressed and helpless, but was not diagnosed with PTSD until a week before his death.
Missed warning signs, long waiting lists for mental-health appointments and reluctance to seek help because of the stigma attached to mental-health treatment in the military were factors, his wife said.
“When my husband returned from Iraq, there were no debriefings for family members or service members, or required evaluations,” she said. “I never received any preparation on what to expect.”
Dr. Frances Murphy, the VA’s deputy undersecretary for health policy coordination, said PTSD diagnoses rose 30 percent from October to January due to a dramatic increase in the number of veterans seeking treatment.
Murphy said the increase is troubling, however, because the VA will be stretched to provide treatment at those levels.
“In some communities, VA clinics do not provide mental-health or substance-abuse care, or waiting lists render that care virtually inaccessible,” she said.
Army veteran Joy Ilem, assistant national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, said the situation has improved, but funding for mental-health programs has been a “continuing struggle” that could worsen.
“With increased outreach and internal mental-health screening efforts, we are concerned that VA’s estimates are low and could result in a shortfall in funding necessary to meet demand,” she said.
Pelkey said her husband was treated for various health issues, but “no doctor ever asked him about depression” or whether his problems were combat-related, and his command never mentioned that he was growing forgetful and easily stressed, lacked interest in his work and had problems concentrating.
She said when Michael began having nightmares, he “tried to seek help” but was “discouraged that appointments he was given were sometimes a month away.”
Ellie
PTSD care improving, still uneven, panel says
Senator questions redeployment of vets on antidepressants
By Rick Maze
Times staff writer
The government is devoting more resources to help returning combat veterans with mental health issues, but plenty remains to be done, said panelists at a March 29 forum on mental health reform.
The forum was held the same day that Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., asked the Pentagon to explain why some troops diagnosed with combat-related mental health problems are being redeployed to Iraq.
Boxer, responding to a March 19 article in The San Diego Union-Tribune that said some people taking antidepressants or anti-anxiety drugs for combat-related psychological problems are being assigned to new Iraq tours, said she wants more information.
“I believe such practices could have extremely serious consequences, particularly due to the violent and stressful nature of the situation in Iraq,” she said, asking the Pentagon to undertake a “prompt review.”
The mental health forum, held on Capitol Hill, involved members of a 2003 presidential commission who reunited to see what progress has been made on recommendations in their final report. That report called for expansion of early identification and treatment measures for combat veterans at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder, things the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs have tried to do, with varying success.
Former Army Capt. Stefanie Pelkey, who became an advocate for mental-health programs after the November suicide of her husband, said visits to military installations show mixed results.
Some, such as Fort Sill, Okla., where she and her husband were assigned when he died, and Fort Bragg, N.C., have created effective programs, but that’s not the case at all bases, she said.
She advocated a centralized program so service members and families can expect the same help no matter where they live.
“If only the military community had reached out to family members in some manner to prepare them for, and make them aware of, the symptoms of PTSD, my family’s tragedy could have been averted,” Pelkey said.
Her husband, Michael, a field artillery officer who spent four months in Iraq in 2003, reported on his post-deployment health assessment that he was feeling depressed and helpless, but was not diagnosed with PTSD until a week before his death.
Missed warning signs, long waiting lists for mental-health appointments and reluctance to seek help because of the stigma attached to mental-health treatment in the military were factors, his wife said.
“When my husband returned from Iraq, there were no debriefings for family members or service members, or required evaluations,” she said. “I never received any preparation on what to expect.”
Dr. Frances Murphy, the VA’s deputy undersecretary for health policy coordination, said PTSD diagnoses rose 30 percent from October to January due to a dramatic increase in the number of veterans seeking treatment.
Murphy said the increase is troubling, however, because the VA will be stretched to provide treatment at those levels.
“In some communities, VA clinics do not provide mental-health or substance-abuse care, or waiting lists render that care virtually inaccessible,” she said.
Army veteran Joy Ilem, assistant national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, said the situation has improved, but funding for mental-health programs has been a “continuing struggle” that could worsen.
“With increased outreach and internal mental-health screening efforts, we are concerned that VA’s estimates are low and could result in a shortfall in funding necessary to meet demand,” she said.
Pelkey said her husband was treated for various health issues, but “no doctor ever asked him about depression” or whether his problems were combat-related, and his command never mentioned that he was growing forgetful and easily stressed, lacked interest in his work and had problems concentrating.
She said when Michael began having nightmares, he “tried to seek help” but was “discouraged that appointments he was given were sometimes a month away.”
Ellie