The VA Screwed Up. Big Time.

3/13/2013

So I go to the VA for my CPT Group therapy and I see doc's not in there again. Feeling angry, I track down another doc I know and ask him what the hell is going on. I demanded to know what was going on with Doc Casagrande.

The doc I confronted looked at me, stunned. He had that 'oh, God, you don't know' look on his face. He told me that doc had passed away over two weeks ago. Yep, that's right over two weeks ago. The social worker in the room two weeks ago KNEW and didn't say anything, didn't address the subject or the grief we would feel. To the deepest core of my psyche, I felt violated - emotionally raped.

***UPDATE: They got the date of his passing wrong...It was AFTER my last group session. They never contacted me and no grief counseling was offered when I did find out.

I stood there stunned as I felt the floor fall out from under me. I asked about memorial services - already been held. Could I visit his grave? - Cremated. I asked about a few more things at the desk and then stumbled out to my car.

That's when the anger hit. The most furious and hell-bent anger I have ever felt. I was shaking. I thought, "THEY ROBBED ME OF MY RIGHT TO SAY GOODBYE, TO FIND CLOSURE". I got in the car and started driving home. All the while I was thinking:

Our veterans deserve top quality care. The dangerous actions (or, in my case, inaction) of the VA endanger the veterans they so strongly profess to care about. The VA proved to me today that radical change is needed. They need to be replaced with a system that is patient first, bureaucracy second. Enough is ENOUGH. This is to all of the politicians who want to sit around and squabble like spoiled brats. ENOUGH! You claim to have your constituencies' best interests at heart. Put your money where your mouth is. Your petty partisan politics have continually put funding for the VA programs at risk, making it impossible for them to make long-term plans for improvement. This, Congressmen and Senators, is YOUR dishonor. Prove to me that you are worth even a fraction of the sweat and love that Doc Casagrande gave to the veterans he served. Let his legacy be the standard to which we, as veterans, hold you accountable.

I arrived home and opened the door to get out of my car. As I closed the door to my car, I felt the anger blow away in the crisp spring wind. As quickly as the anger was there, it was gone. Blown away by my resolve to honor the man who had made such a huge impact in my life. Stay tuned for the memorial piece, being written now.

Ginette Blansjaar link

3/14/2013 04:12:54 am

Hi Max,
I wrote this yesterday. I am just as mad as you. Maybe you can use some of it.

Make no mistake
There is a time bomb ticking in billions of people nowadays. It is the experience of horrible events, the mind cannot make sense of. The result is, the incapsulation of this unprocessed information regarding those experiences, as a ticking time bomb in the memory of the victims. Even though the smart human system makes us unconsciously avoid situations that can be a trigger, it is only a matter of time until the day some event touches this protected area. And then the whole thing blows up in the face of the victim.

The question is not, if it will explode; the question is when. With sad eyes, a psychologist specialized in trauma tells me about veterans coming back from war who developed PTSD: 'First there were hundred; then there were twohundred. Now there are eighthundred. They think they can solve it by screening soldiers before they send them out. Screening on what? What are they thinking?' He adds: 'Every soldier needs treatment as soon as they come back. We should not wait for their internal bomb to explode.' And then we're only talking about soldiers; the billions of victims of wars, atrocities, domestic violence and child abuse go through life with the same ticking bomb. There is no such thing as resilience against inhumane treatment; when left alone with the wounds, there is only escape. In suicide, in cutting ones flesh because this pain is better than the other pain, in consuming oneself with fire showing the world what's wrong with it, in alcohol and drugs abuse, in acting out this pain to still the nightmares.

Violence is a global disease; if we don't start treating the cause very soon, the world will face disaster. Those that cause harm continue to function, while those that don't, are loosing it. And how obvious it is, the rate between them is growing faster than we can imagine. There are established treatments for victims, to get the sting out of the wound, to cure the wound and after that, to help build a new resilience. There are established treatments to prevent this time bomb from going off one day, by giving this treatment as soon as possible after the horrific events. Yet there are only a handful of countries where victims are given those treatments.

How obvious also is the sign of the bullying problem between children. Shouldn't we ask ourselves, what the cause is? Isn't it obvious, even the little ones see that in the world today, one does not survive on the side of those that cause no harm? And how about corruption? Could that be a side-effect of those that cause no harm leaving the arena with burn-outs, depression, other symptoms, even unjust removal from their jobs or position, while our world is shaped by those that do cause harm? Why are employers firing people that are being treated for depression? Why do abused people have to flee their home?

There is hope left, but this requires acknowledgement of violence being what the WHO calls a global disease, with an enormous scale. We simply have to start with defining a healthy adult as someone who acts in ways that cause no harm; and to adjust all systems according to this definition. Besides, those with mental problems caused by violence and war, deserve genuine understanding of their condition and good mental health care systems with free, established treatments that have proven their value in preventing and treating trauma. Every leader with vision should help them get back on their feet again, and fight for honesty, ethical principles, peace and non-violence.
Professional mental health care is a necessity, just as necessary or maybe even more important than physical health care. The idea, a belief in God or the afterlife should be the cure for those that are being hurt, is unrealistic: It is our actions in inventing cures, make them available, and our caring for them, that make the change. As to those that cause harm: 'cutting them out of our lives' is condemning the person while tolerating the wrongdoing. This is wrong. To correct harmful behaviour, we have to find more ways to prevent and stop this behaviour than prison alone. It's our common responsibility to help every human being to be able to become a healthy adult who acts in ways that cause no harm.

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