Post Traumatic Stress Blog
Came across a new blog, PTSD Combat, that focuses on post-traumatic stress among combat veterans, many now returning from Iraq. The site’s purpose is to provide resources for recognizing, understanding and dealing with combat PTSD. In addition, the site is compiling a record of PTSD related incidents, the timeline, with the intent of documenting this long ignored cost of war.
PTSD Combat also presents the results of the Zogby poll of active duty military in Iraq. The results show that the overwhelming majority of troops want out of Iraq within the year. As many soldiers the US to withdraw immediately as support BushCheney’s “as long as it takes” strategy. Almost 60 percent say their mission is clear yet 77 to 85 percent believe the war’s purpose is to retaliate against Saddam for 9-11 and prevent him from further aiding al-Qaeda.
Check it out.
posted by Rez Dog at 6:27 PM
2 Comments:
Hi Rez Dog,
Wanted to chime in and say THANK you for sharing with your readers; I'm the author/researcher who's put the blog up to serve as a clearinghouse of information related to PTSD in our returning veterans.
It's a much overlooked issue, and that makes me all the more appreciative of your help in spreading the word. We finally got some national press coverage with both the Zogby poll you mention here in your post and Wednesday's JAMA article revealing more fascinating results culled from another ground-breaking study on the mental health of our troops during the first year of war (by noted Walter Reed MD Charles W. Hoge). It was a one-two punch, and did much to bring solid attention to this issue.
Unfortunately, as bronxboy59 points out, there does exist a very real ugly element to this story: those who would call our veterans malingerers (as in the NYT opinion piece). A recent hard-hitting article that I was humbly able to join together in producing with two ePluribus Media (the same organization hosting my PTSD Timeline work that you mention) colleagues reveal this angle of this story. Please read Blaming the Veteran: The Politics of Post-Trauamatic Stress Disorder for more on this.
Again, many thanks for your help on this issue. We need as many of us out here as possible advocating for the proper care and treatment (and that means fuly funding the VA) of our returning troops.
Sorry about that long blaring link; I'm not sure what happened there -- it looked fine on preview. Doh! :o)
Post a Comment
<< Home