Jan 07 2009
Veterans Fight Battles At Home After Returning from War
Unfortunately, many times when soldiers come home from fighting in a war, the war isn’t really over. Instead, they often struggle with depression, anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and/or anger management problems. Such was the case for Lamort Christian. He reports after he got home from Vietnam, he often felt angry, anxious, and depressed.
It wasn’t until years later when he was living in a homeless shelter did he reach out for help from the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System to get help. At the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, he learned he was suffering from anger management issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and depression. He wants other veterans to learn from his own experience and urges them to seek help.
Marcia Valenstein, M.D., clinical psychiatrist with the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Health System asserts that nearly one-third of all veterans seeking help at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System suffer from depressive symptoms, and 13% of veterans suffer from clinical depression. She also says that depression is a very strong risk factor for suicide. In fact, veterans who suffer from depression are three times more likely to commit suicide than the general VA patient population.
For these reasons, Valenstein and her colleagues examined when the best time to provide an intensive intervention to veterans suffering from depression would be to prevent suicide. They discovered that veterans are at highest risk of committing suicide in the 12 weeks after they had been hospitalized for a psychiatric condition.
Valenstein said, “This finding highlights the need for very close follow-up for patients who are discharged from our inpatient services because this is a particularly vulnerable time for them.”
While current government funding focuses on close follow-ups after starting a veteran on an anti-depressant, Valenstein believes that government funding should focus on closer follow-ups after psychiatric hospitalizations in order to prevent suicide.
If you or someone you love needs help with depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or any other mental or physical health condition and is a veteran, please visit the Veteran Affairs website for more information and locations where you can receive help.
Source:
University of Michigan Health System: Vets and Depression: Returning from War to Fight New Battle
My poor brother when he came back from his 3rd tour in Iraq has had a slight problem or so he says it is slight with PTSD. I hear the horror stories talking to his wife about how things at times happen.
I am sorry to hear about your brother. Have you talked to him about his PTSD at all? Maybe you and/or his wife can encourage him to get some help. Living with PTSD isn’t fun, and I know it can get better with good treatment.
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