Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

They're Not All Soldiers

By Joshua S. Hill

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Recent studies have shown that those soldiers returning home from war are finding it harder and harder to find therapists that will accept their insurance. Military doctors are overworked, and waiting lists to see them extend for months. It has gotten to the point where civilian doctors aware of the problem are providing an hour of their time a week for free, to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Barbara Romberg, a clinical psychologist in Washington; "They're not going to pay me much in terms of my regular rate anyway, so I'm actually feeling positive that I've given, rather than feeling frustrated for what I'm going through to get payment."

And it isn't just those who are returning from foreign war fields. The widows of those killed in action have to wait just as long to find someone to take their case. Joyce Lindsey, 46, of Troutdale, Oregon had to seek someone out after her husband died in Afghanistan. The therapist her physician recommended would not take Tricare -- the military's health insurance program -- and when she finally found one that would, the wait was 2 months.

The problems are only greater for those of the National Guard and Reserve troops who are predominantly from rural areas where one would be lucky to find one therapist, let alone a therapist who will take Tricare.

But the problem hasn't only hit those involved in or with the military. Private contractors are all but left out in the cold after returning from their stint in locations like Iraq. Often working side by side the soldiers, witnessing the same sights that will eventually send a soldier to seek out therapy, these contractors will be sent home with nothing but a pat on the back.

Very few mental health professionals have decided to focus on the issue, and there are many contractors who are simply unaware that they are suffering from illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I think the numbers are in the thousands, maybe tens of thousands," said Paul Brand, a psychologist and chief executive of Mission Critical Psychological Services, a Chicago firm hired by Dyncorp International, a major contractor in Iraq, to assess and treat its workers. "Many are going undiagnosed. These guys are fighting demons, and they don't know how to cope."

The lack of care does not end with mental healthcare either, with many injured civilians failing to receive any help -- financially or medically -- when they return home. Though they will have been originally treated in a military hospital, upon returning home, they are swept under the carpet. For some 13,000 civilians who have been wounded since the beginning of this latest Iraqi conflict, there are very few advocates in their corner.

One advocate is Gary Pitts, a Houston lawyer, who says that "The contrast between the way the military and the civilian contractors are handled on PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is like night and day. The contractors have to figure it out on their own, and they often have to litigate it with the insurance company."

With advocates for Veterans and Civilians alike all calling for improvements in the systems for which their constituents are involved, there will need to be action soon. PTSD has been one of the most under-investigated mental disorders affecting those who have been to war, and now the heightened awareness of this illness needs to be coupled with a heightened awareness of who is suffering and what can be done for them to make it back to full health.

Why? Well ask Nathaniel Anderson, a Texan whose truck was hit by rockets in Iraq, and who lost a contractor friend to suicide. That's why!