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News Claims Ptsd Is Being Faked In Military

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I have registered with her newspaper rag and am awaiting confirmation that I may contact her via email.

Having read the article she has selected those sound-bites/word-bites that reflect badly on PTSD as a diagnosis in order to further her story. That is what all journalists do - whether we like their story or not, they all do this because THEY(journalists) are experts on nothing but like to have big opinions. Add the fact that you can always find some expert to say something that will bolster your opinion and you have journalism.

As for people faking PTSD - of course there are! Just like people who fake back pain, or any other illness that can get them disability. I had a patient this weekend who is on disability from his back. But when I asked him about his heart health and exercise he told me he had just finished shoveling 1/2 ton of dirt for flower beds the day before - as he does landscaping for additional cash. I shovel my own dirt, so I cannot imagine being "disabled" and doing that. But it is people who 'fake' their diagnosis along with doctors and therapists who misdiagnosis people that create this jam. I know I was diagnosed with other things before I got my real diagnosis.

Anyway - I am on the attack.
 
I support the Wounded Warriors.ca who help returning Canadian service members who return with PTSD. Last month they did a big bike ride to promote Operational Stress Injury Awareness with over 200 riders with PTSD to help cope and educate people about what this is really about.

Often citizens don't even know what is going on. It is not politically popular. The news is what they have to base their opinions on and it becomes an ignorant chorus. If you listen to fools the mob rules.

We did not receive adequate medical care while serving in the military for simple things like orhtopedic so it is hard to go to them later ( :eek::mad:) for something sophisticated like the brain. I do not advise anyone to join the military lightheartedly if they are not fully prepared to survive after your brain and body have changed because you may not be able to treat it without personal cash for medical treatment and rehab. That college incentive will go real fast.

My home Seattle is located near Ft. Lewis (US base) and recently there was a big problem because the docs were reversing guys PTSD claims. People were trying to save $$$ and as a result the chain of command had to deal with congress people and eventually the Dept of Defense came to look and see.

I was put through the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and another PTSD severity test as procedure by my new T's and I couldn't finish them I was shaking so hard. People have been ready to pill me up and send me along the paper trail as soon as I tell them my story. I can't handle it.

While the author of the article feels inclined to speak about trauma as we all experience it to some degree she is typical of missing the point that soldiers experience repeated terror, shock and awe combined with chemical exposure and T.B.I.'s which is does not often resemble civilian trauma scenarios. Many soldiers are sent to civilian therapists that are used to hearing about sexual, domestic, and vehicular traumas and have not heard about military traumas which seems like the case here.

I will cede malingering in any time period but to fake PTSD is a stretch.

Money for treatment does not necessarily solve the attitude. I have gained far more from running, fasting, and (free:tup: ) reading the experiences of others with PTSD and their coping mechanisms than sessions. My T's have been like life pre-servers when I get in too deep. Sometimes I would like VA money to pay for physical therapy but I just can't get motivated to deal with the paper monster. It triggers me.

There needs to be a fundamental change in the attitude towards people like Police, Fire, EMS and military with regards to realities of the job. The longer any person serves the more need to be allocated to process all the traumas once its time to rest. You break it you bought it.
 
You make an excellent point thedude, when I started therapy my T had never treated a paramedic and she quickly had her eyes opened to the culture I existed in.
She thinks that there should be specialized training to deal with traumatized emergency services/military personnel because our issues & how we deal with trauma actually differs from non-frontline people.
My Dad fought in Korea and three of my brothers served in the Canadian Forces. We do not abandon those who sacrifice for our country.
 
There are those of us whose lives began with sexual abuse, beatings, torture, followed by multiple beatings, rapes, and yes TBIs, and while none of it was done in the name of war, it was no less harrowing to survive. PTSD is what it is. There person who gets it didn't get there selling girl scout cookies.

The psychiatrist I work with - who made my definitive diagnosis - studies both veterans and civilians and he would tell you the brain is what matters - not how the person got it. He is NIH and DOD funded in his research. He makes NO difference in how anyone got their PTSD.

I have a friend who is a retired general who started his career in Vietnam. Depsite my PTSD I carved out a career in medicine. We both understand that we endured horrific things - things that no one should have to experience in any form. My friend acknowledges he had a great family with lots of support and that helped him not be so damaged from what he experienced in war. I was sexually and physically abused from as early as I can remember and my life went on like that for all of my childhood and teen years. The gang rape left me with physical damage to the point that I was told I wouldn't bear children. I have hearing loss from TBI and nearly lost vision in my left eye from being beaten. Twice I was assaulted and put in the hospital; one of those times requiring surgery during which I had awareness. I still have no family support - so I have created my own support system.

I do not advocate any special treatment for one type of PTSD - I don't think raped women merit different/better treatment than GI's or anyone else. I don't think tortured children require less help than someone who saw his buddies blown to bits. The reality is that people who develop PTSD need treatment. Treatment needs to be effective, meaning that more research is required because as of now there is no definitive treatment.

At least I have the cahones to participate in research despite the risk to me and my career.
 
There are not enough therapists and PsyD's and MDs who are trained to deal with PTSD - which is why most people get minimal help from therapy. It isn't that therapy doesn't work - it's that the wrong therapy doesn't do much for PTSD.
 
We cope differently and our everyday topics are horrific to normal people. Why is there a special forum dedicated to combat vets on this site? Culture and belonging. Peer support. It actually aids in the healing process.

I have none of this. My peers still deny anything is wrong and the "otherly traumatized" still have this way of making me feel like I don't get it. To be honest, yes, sometimes I don't understand the way they look at things either because I knew who I was before my trauma occurred.
The aftermath is essentially the same but our ES culture is what sets us apart. If u haven't been there you can't get it.
 
Medic72 - I agree about the fact that if you respond to medical emergencies - people with their faces shot off, bitten off, degloved due to ATV accidents, blue children because someone poured something down their throats, smashed their heads in, hit their bellies with whatever implement they could - I see it daily and take these to the OR. It can be truly disturbing how people treat themselves or one another.

By the same token, my personal history (which includes incest, physical abuse, gang rape, mugging/assault, domestic violence, being paralysed and awake while having surgery, having my daughter taken away from me by my husband during a time when we were fighting) is what actually makes the 'ES' stuff so poignant.

So my question to you Medic72 - is why do you actually have PTSD? Most paramedics and EMT's don't get PTSD. What else in your history is making you susceptible? When I have to intubate a baby or kid who's been abused, I get awfully angry - ugly angry - because of my history. When I have to intubate a suicide attempt I get horrifically sad. It makes me remember my own suicide attempts. But I don't feel like I need my own section where MD PTSD patients need to gather. We all have PTSD here and how we got it is in some ways irrelevant.

If a person has a single incidence of terrible trauma and gets PTSD that IS different than someone whose entire life was filled with trauma. Those of us who were traumatized starting from before we started elementary school - we have additional issues - we've always been damaged as far back as we can remember. But if you had a great identity prior to your trauma - no previous issues - and developed PTSD - then you should respond to EMDR and some of the more focused therapies.

Otherwise - there is a lot to be learned from the multitrauma PTSD patient - we've usually survived a host of things.
 
In that same logic, combat vets ARE faking PTSD then, or were previously traumatized prior to combat. Thanks for that demonstration of extreme misunderstanding of the nature of PTSD and just how easy it is to fall prey to the misconception. Great work Doc, you just fell into the pile with the people at my former workplace. :)
 
And you missed my point entirely. I didn't say that you don't have PTSD. I didn't say that everyone in the military is faking it. My psychiatrist who is funded by both the Department of Defense and NIH however does know of cases where people have faked having PTSD. Whenever there is secondary gain, you'll find people who will scam the system.

What I did say and will say again, is that "Do you have something else in your history that contributed to your PTSD?" I lived for nearly 50 years before I got an appropriate diagnosis. For thirty years I was diagnosed with depression. Getting treated for depression didn't help. Getting therapy for PTSD has helped. But EMDR didn't help - yoga made me worse - message therapy is terrible because strange people touching me when I am relatively undressed is akin to being sexually abused.

Your entire history and how you got your PTSD will determine what helps you. If you were bullied as a child, had no support system, and suffered a significant trauma yourself but didn't manifest anything until you became an emergency services worker, then you need different therapy than say a sixteen year old who had a very bad car accident but whose life was totally peachy prior to the accident.

The comorbid diagnoses that PTSD patients often have can also play a significant role. Dissociation for instance can make therapy much more prolonged and intricate. Since my own insurance won't pay for any of the experimental therapy I undergo, and there are no therapists or psychiatrists in my area who deal with PTSD with DID, I have participated in several clinical trials - mostly around NYC and New Haven, CT. Although I just had to drop out of one due to side effects as the dose of treatment drug was increased, I will start participating in another in a couple of months. The studies in which I participate have been open to both military and civilian, with the usual multilevel testing to determine the authenticity of the PTSD.

So lump me where you like, I was not 'dissing' you or your problem - merely stating a number of facts. I certainly hope you get the help that you need and that you are able to heal. The ClinicalTrials.gov website lists international studies - not just those in the US. Furthermore - not sure where you are in Canada, but many cities close to the Canadian border have major universities that might be part of multicenter trials. You should look into the idea of entering a study - it can be immensely helpful.
 
I have registered with her newspaper rag and am awaiting confirmation that I may contact her via email.
Anyway - I am on the attack.
I still await an email from this woman. I had to leave my name and address along with the email so she has several means of contacting me.
 
I couldnt make it through the article. Its not just that its not true, its that its the exact opposite of reality. So many servicemen and women DON"T report or get diagnosed for their PTSD because they dont want to appear weak in a military culture that values strength and dependability. I do not doubt there are SOME people who have faked it, but I am positive their numbers are a small fraction of those who have it and havent been diagnosed.
 
You are right Loner - the numbers are small - but those are the ones that make great news stories. You are also right about under-reporting; it isn't just veterans, though. Incest victims rarely report their abusers. People raped by people they know often don't report - or if they do, they drop charges for fear of what will happen in the court room. Upper and middle-class domestic violence victims, especially male victims, do not report because of the social stigma. Children abused or molested rarely turn in their abusers even when given the opportunity.

The stigma attached to having PTSD is still significant - like you'll "go postal" or you cannot possibly be functional in society. And then there are those who still think anyone who got raped was asking for it. There are so many reasons for people to deny they have it.

It takes courage to hear the diagnosis and work through it.
 
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