thedrifter
01-01-09, 10:04 AM
Last modified Thursday, January 1, 2009 12:10 AM PST
BRETT: Project offers hope, healing
By BRIGID BRETT
If you drive through Camp Pendleton you'll see signs and billboards offering counseling and psychological support to Marines and their families. The problem is, many of the people who most need these services are too afraid to use them.
"Jane" is one of them. For reasons of confidentiality she has asked me not to use her or her husband's real names. When "Tom," a gunnery sergeant, came back from his second deployment to Iraq he seemed OK. But after a couple of months he started drinking heavily, thrashing in his sleep and every time their toddler cried he ran out the house "because he was scared he'd hurt her if he stayed."
Jane suspected these might be symptoms of post traumatic stress. When she suggested he get help he threatened to leave her.
"If they think I'm damaged goods it's all over for me," he said.
One of the Marines he'd been deployed with had recently told his commanding officer he was "scared he was going crazy."
"You were one of the toughest (expletive) we had out there," his CO responded. "Now you're back home where there's nothing to worry about and you're crying like a baby. What's your problem?"
A week later the young Marine tried to kill himself.
Although there are many commanding officers at Camp Pendleton who do take the issue of PTSD seriously and do what they can to help their Marines, including referring them to the Wounded Warrior Battalion for treatment, there is still a pervasive code of silence surrounding this invisible injury. Many Marines fear they have too much to lose with a written diagnosis of PTSD ---- from financial security to opportunity for promotion to being separated from the military.
"Our daughter was born when he was deployed, so they lost all that bonding time. Now she's nearly two and he's home but he still can't be there for her," says Jane.
I've told Jane about The Soldiers Project, the 501c(3) not for profit organization that provides free and confidential therapy to service members, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families in the Los Angeles, Orange County and Ventura areas. She's trying to hang in until they expand their services to San Diego County in the next few months.
Dr. Judith Broder, who started the Soldiers Project four years ago, believes that post traumatic stress is a normal reaction to the trauma of war. She saw the need for confidential therapy ---- not only for men and women returning from war, but for their loved ones ---- and now has more than 200 volunteer therapists in private practice working to serve this population.
With no bureaucracy, phone calls are returned quickly, appointments set up for the same week. Therapy is as frequent and long-lasting as needed. Some Marines and soldiers maintain contact with their therapists while they're deployed.
For the first time, the Soldiers Project is asking for financial support so they can expand their services. Funds are needed to coordinate outreach, to maintain a telephone referral line, and to invite specialists in combat trauma to conduct workshops so that the volunteer mental health professionals are best prepared to help wounded troops and their families deal with the consequences of war.
For more information, go to www.thesoldiersproject.org
Brigid Brett writes from Valley Center. Contact her at brigidbrett@aol.com.
Ellie
BRETT: Project offers hope, healing
By BRIGID BRETT
If you drive through Camp Pendleton you'll see signs and billboards offering counseling and psychological support to Marines and their families. The problem is, many of the people who most need these services are too afraid to use them.
"Jane" is one of them. For reasons of confidentiality she has asked me not to use her or her husband's real names. When "Tom," a gunnery sergeant, came back from his second deployment to Iraq he seemed OK. But after a couple of months he started drinking heavily, thrashing in his sleep and every time their toddler cried he ran out the house "because he was scared he'd hurt her if he stayed."
Jane suspected these might be symptoms of post traumatic stress. When she suggested he get help he threatened to leave her.
"If they think I'm damaged goods it's all over for me," he said.
One of the Marines he'd been deployed with had recently told his commanding officer he was "scared he was going crazy."
"You were one of the toughest (expletive) we had out there," his CO responded. "Now you're back home where there's nothing to worry about and you're crying like a baby. What's your problem?"
A week later the young Marine tried to kill himself.
Although there are many commanding officers at Camp Pendleton who do take the issue of PTSD seriously and do what they can to help their Marines, including referring them to the Wounded Warrior Battalion for treatment, there is still a pervasive code of silence surrounding this invisible injury. Many Marines fear they have too much to lose with a written diagnosis of PTSD ---- from financial security to opportunity for promotion to being separated from the military.
"Our daughter was born when he was deployed, so they lost all that bonding time. Now she's nearly two and he's home but he still can't be there for her," says Jane.
I've told Jane about The Soldiers Project, the 501c(3) not for profit organization that provides free and confidential therapy to service members, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families in the Los Angeles, Orange County and Ventura areas. She's trying to hang in until they expand their services to San Diego County in the next few months.
Dr. Judith Broder, who started the Soldiers Project four years ago, believes that post traumatic stress is a normal reaction to the trauma of war. She saw the need for confidential therapy ---- not only for men and women returning from war, but for their loved ones ---- and now has more than 200 volunteer therapists in private practice working to serve this population.
With no bureaucracy, phone calls are returned quickly, appointments set up for the same week. Therapy is as frequent and long-lasting as needed. Some Marines and soldiers maintain contact with their therapists while they're deployed.
For the first time, the Soldiers Project is asking for financial support so they can expand their services. Funds are needed to coordinate outreach, to maintain a telephone referral line, and to invite specialists in combat trauma to conduct workshops so that the volunteer mental health professionals are best prepared to help wounded troops and their families deal with the consequences of war.
For more information, go to www.thesoldiersproject.org
Brigid Brett writes from Valley Center. Contact her at brigidbrett@aol.com.
Ellie