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If you know anything about PTSD you would know that you don't have to be wounded or receive a TBI to contract it. Your figures are that 372,000 vets were wounded haw many soldiers came into contact with them? How many were with them, transported them, treated them, or otherwise witnessed the horror of their injuries? I'm surprised the figures are not higher for contracting PTSD.
There's been so many wrong statements in the field made in the past and so many "assumptions of fact" that simply were not fact and reliance on theories that were dead wrong and those theories treated as fact. That's why I call it that. True snake oil science may be an overstatement, but it's not a "hard science" field like other branches of medicine. This is due to our primitive understanding of the brain. Think of it like molecular biology research before the discovery of the structure of dna
It is just in the earlier stages compared to other medical fields. All branches of medicine go through this but it is just not highlighted as much.
In dermatology about 30 yrs ago we thought that "cutting off moles causes cancer." And remember the "avoid all fat" advice by cardiologists in the 1990s? Obstetricians/gynecologists used to put women on "bed rest" into the 1960s for every single pregnancy. And I'm sure you know of cigarettes' history and how doctors would promote them for asthma!
People just remember all of psychiatry's mistakes because it makes for more interesting copy and pop culture conversation.
Sounds like underlying mental health condition simply exasperated by the molestation.
Perhaps, but I don't think so.
These are classic symptoms of severe PTSD. The *totality* of her symptoms are incongruous with any other disorder. No doubt that she was more primed to develop it since the abuse started when she was a child and her brain was still fragile and developing.
I just because you are rated 100% disabled by the VA does not mean you can't work. Only if you are rated " un- employable".
I know several that are disabled and still working. It takes a lot for someone with PTSD to make it day to day.
Then there not truly disabled if they are still working. The definition from ssa of disabled means unable to work.
Anyway, certainly SOME vets with really bad ptsd definitely are disabled and should get disability. It's just very difficult to determine who needs it when you can't read someone's mind. Mental health disabilities(depression ect) are very difficult to gauge severity for the social security administration. There can be debilitating depression where you truly can't work and it won't go away and then there's depression that is hard to deal with it, but not as severe and you can work and function. Telling the difference is tough.
I'll say it is, and we're what you'd call a "military family" going way back. Yet no one's on disability.
And don't get me started with this PTSD bleep, either. What is it with so many of today's military that they can't suck it up like their fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers before them? Those soldiers saw much, much worse and didn't carp about it to anyone who'd listen. For crying out loud, I didn't know half of what my dad endured until I found his medals.
And I don't want to hear about the "selfless calling." We used to think that about firefighters and first responders, too, and look how it's been exposed that a huge number of them jumped at the chance to take "9/11 disability"--while raking in money under the table and taking part in athletic pursuits.
We've created yet another victim class in our military, and it sucks.
Then there not truly disabled if they are still working. The definition from ssa of disabled means unable to work.
Anyway, certainly SOME vets with really bad ptsd definitely are disabled and should get disability. It's just very difficult to determine who needs it when you can't read someone's mind. Mental health disabilities(depression ect) are very difficult to gauge severity for the social security administration. There can be debilitating depression where you truly can't work and it won't go away and then there's depression that is hard to deal with it, but not as severe and you can work and function. Telling the difference is tough.
Well SSA and VA are two different animals.
My other half is 100% va disabled, but at 68 years of age will be receiving his BA on Saturday. Years and years of struggle, counseling etc. He did work for almost 40 yrs and if he has ever had a full nights sleep since he came back from Vietnam, it is a miracle. Two Purple Hearts.
The only reason I can see that the rate of application is so high is because when you retire or leave the military, you have to go throu a week long out processing. Everyone meets with a VA rep and paper work is started for benefits.
It might not be for disability, but for continued medical care or education benefits.
I am retired military. And I don't know about this 15 minute exam. I had about five different exams after the initial screening. If everyone was awarded disability, you wouldn't see all these stories about backlogs.
Everything is "overdiagnosed" so probably. Sadly there will always be people who should be diagnosed with it (or something) that never will be...they just suffer through.
I was diagnosed with PTSD a year after I was the victim of a home invasion. It was an extremely traumatic experience in addition to the fact that I was injured. I got through the experience in a way that made everyone think I was fine. Then a year afterward a friend of mine was shot on the street in broad daylight fending off a robbery attempt. He lived but I fell apart. Cracked up.
I had an explosive temper. I would hyperventilate at the drop of a hat. I would shake for no reason and cry for absurd reasons. I had a very good job at the time. Lucky for me, my employer recognized that I was not in my right mind. I was sent to a psych hospital for an evaluation. The intake examination was so upsetting, they made me stay the night. I took a couple of additional days off for further evaluation and was set up for outpatient therapy appointments and I was put on anti-depressant medication.
Had I not had a job at the time, I definitely was in no shape to go out and get one from people who didn't even know me. So I have a lot of sympathy for vets, seriously distressed from active duty, who are expected to separate from the service and then just go about procuring a civilian job as if they were never damaged by the emotional trauma they suffered. Do I think there are malingerers who claim PTSD who don't have it? Yes. Do I think it's a good idea for someone who has had PTSD never to work again? Absolutely not. But I also think it's pretty easy to get PTSD and we should not overlook those who need help. If it means some losers fall through the cracks and take what they don't really need, that's better than underestimating the number of sufferers.
We owe these people support and treatment, and SS disability payments when necessary. They didn't start the conflicts they were sent to address. We have to trust the VA doctors to get sufferers through their ordeal so they can function productively in their futures. It might take awhile but I have every faith, based on my experience, that PTSD is treatable for the vast majority of people.
But one of the primary components of recovery is support from friends and family. My stable job also provided my life with structure that I have no doubt aided me in rebuilding my life. PTSD sufferers need to take their treatment seriously, do what the doctors tell them, and try to transition back to normal responsibilities as soon as possible. Structure and having to fulfill responsibilities help us to achieve mental health.
Our society needs to take this illness very seriously and not expect people to buck up and cure themselves from the results of their very real psychic trauma. Because if they don't get help, the symptoms often resurface later and are even harder to treat. I know both WWII and Vietnam vets who are prime examples of that. They buried what happened to them but it came back to haunt them.
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