Countdown to After the Uniform: Behavioral Health

6/8/2013

We're ten days out from this year's 'After the Uniform' Panel at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. This year's panel is dedicated to addressing PTSD. With this in mind I will be outlining the major issues facing veterans with PTSD. First up:

The State of Behavioral Healthcare
Behavioral healthcare in the United States is a disgrace. Little has been done to truly modernize care and the stigma associated with having a behavioral disorder is damaging and debilitating. Americans with behavioral disorders are treated like second class citizens by many and ignored by others. This is felt even more strongly by our military and veteran populations. The stigma associated with PTSD is such a strong deterrent that thousands never come forward to get the treatment they need out of fear of stigmatization - fearful of either torpedoing their military careers or severely limiting their employment prospects after they transition back to civilian life. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of groups out there dedicated to educating the general public about behavioral disorders. The real problem is that the stereotypes are so ingrained that people don't want to listen.

The advent of the internet age should have facilitated a fundamental paradigm shift in the way we approach treatment and awareness. The sad truth - nothing has changed. In our country, the internet is not used effectively to reach veterans or facilitate treatment. While this deficiency has been recognized by our Federal Government, little has been done to rectify the situation.

Case and Point: Earlier this month, the Federal Government announced the creation of a new website -

To Visit, Click on Image.

It opened to such huge fanfare that no one I know even knew it existed or that it had launched. Seriously, click on the image and take a look. It's only taken the United States until the middle of 2013 to get these types of basic aspects of facilitating care onto the internet.

Great Britain, Canada and Australia on the other hand...They have online access to anonymous peer-to-peer support, online therapy, and the ability to refer people to 'real world' professional care. One of the major pioneers in this modernization of behavioral healthcare in these countries is The Big White Wall -

To Visit, Click on Image.

Their approach is modern and allows people to come forward and get support without the fear of stigmatization. Their work has been lauded in many circles as the 'proof of concept' for the future of behavioral healthcare. Ever heard of them? No? Did you know they have been trying to gain entry into the US market?

It makes me wonder how many more of our brethren-in-arms would reach out for help if they had this kind of option for support and care accessible to them.

So there you have it. I think I have adequately drawn attention to the state of behavioral healthcare in this country. Up next: The VA

K. Dault link

6/10/2013 04:24:51 am

Sadly, you're right. I've never heard of either of them. Sadder still, all I HAVE heard voiced is what you expressed; Ask for help and get treated like an alien with the plague. One of our soldiers told me, "Once you're broken, the Army doesn't want you any more." That's just plain WRONG! You send a man/woman to do a job, you don't turn your back on them when the "job", for lack of a better phrase, goes wrong.

I watched an HBO documentary this weekend called "Alive Day", which not only showed the physical aspects of what soldiers have suffered, by the emotional side effects as well. I was in tears, for many reasons. I wanted to grab my stupid federal politicians and make them watch it, then challenge them to answer those soldiers' questions face to face, not from the safety of a form letter.

There have to be some kind, helpful souls at the VA but they're probably being strangled by red tape as well. For a country built on Freedom, when did we get to the point that forms are more important than the people?

Keep it up, Max! The more you aid in educating, the more you will spur on the rest of us to start taking those complaints about what is wrong with the system to those who create the system, rather than sit around and nod in sympathetic anger.

Max Harris link

6/11/2013 02:07:03 pm

Alive Day was emotional as all hell. There is another HBO Documentary on PTSD. It's called Wartorn. I was in that one. It was only a short blurb because the quality of the rest of the footage wasn't up to snuff. That was an intense process. If you haven't seen it, take a look.

I just hope that people actually start to stand up and notice the sad state of affairs, what with all of the tragedies that have happened in recent years. So many of the violent incidents could have been avoided with proper and attentive care...

6/13/2013 05:59:32 am

Max, I went back and watched "Wartorn". I wanted to reach through the screen, put my arms around all of these soldiers and look them in the eye while reassuring them that they ARE worth so much more than they can see at times. I have to wonder why 95% of soldiers aren't effected by PTSD...just watching this made me insides churn, even knowing I could walk away. But I couldn't. I even found myself angry at the wife who kept talking down to her husband. I would move heaven and earth to help my husband. Rather than walk away, she'd turned bitter and it felt like she was punishing him for existing. Even under the worse circumstances, I can't imagine making someone's life worse by pointing out perceived "failures". God, the things we expect soldiers to do "on our behalf" without expecting to do anything in return for them.

You're doing a wonderful service by sharing here, please DON'T STOP in your quest to obtain everything you deserve as well. And please give your wife and daughter a hug for me...the caregiver role can be a tough one, but I bet they'll never give up on you.

6/14/2013 02:14:36 pm

Thank you for the vote of confidence. Wartorn is very in your face. If only the average citizen shared your concern and compassion!

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Living with PTSD:
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