Female veterans fight PTSD, MST
Sara Cardine of The (Stockton, Calif.) Record reports on a PTSD treatment group for female veterans.
Cardine writes:
... The program helps women deal with multiple sources of trauma. It's not uncommon for veterans to be living with PTSD and military sexual trauma, according to Dr. Darrah Westrup, a clinical psychologist and director of the Women's Mental Health Center.
A total of 3,796 women who left the military since Sept. 11, 2001, and sought VA care were thought to have PTSD, and an additional 500 sought mental services for chemical dependency, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Among all female veterans using VA services, about one in five screened positive for military sexual trauma, roughly 20 times the rate of male veterans.
1 Comments:
In the case of VCS vs. Nichols, a lawsuit was brought against the VA on behalf of California combat vets from the Iraq/Desert Storm wars. This lawsuit exposed that the VA was purposely denying PTSD claims of those vets through outright fraud.
Vets requesting treatment and compensation for combat PTSD would be sent to "friendly" psychiatrists who might or might not diagnose PTSD. They then also labelled the Vet as having a "disorder."
A "disorder," such as bi-polar or borderline personality disorder, is presumed to be part of the person from birth, rather than mental illness caused by stress or trauma.
The VA then laid blame for the Vet's problems on the supposed underlying "disorder" and the claim for PTSD was magically swept under the rug.
Unfortunately, the lawsuit covered only California vets and only California vets from the Gulf wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, Desert Storm, etc.)
It completely omitted veterans from Vietnam and Vietnam era and veterans suffering from non-combat PTSD, such as PTSD from military sexual trauma ("PTSD/MST").
There needs to be a lawsuit on behalf of *all* veterans, combat and non-combat, from all states, male and female alike, suffering PTSD or PTSD/MST. We need meaningful treatment and deserve compensation as well.
The government must step up to the plate and clean out the riff raff from the top down to the VA claims examiners facilitating it this longstanding fraud within the VA.
A good reporter really breaking this story open would probably help a lot, too.
Vets should call congress, their local press, and do what they can to get this exposed.
Most importantly, *all* veterans who served their country deserve better than this.
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