Tag: veterans and mental health
The Persistent, Misdirected Search for Causes of Trauma-based Suffering
In the United States and other countries that have a military, there is often a great deal of talk about supporting veterans, but way too often, research aimed at learning what will be helpful is misguided and can even be harmful. The same applies to nonveterans who have been through traumatic experiences. Two new studies exemplify such wrongheaded approaches.
Prescribing an Epidemic: A Veteranâs Story
Had I known what I know now, I never would have taken any of these drugs, and I absolutely would not have taken a role in which my outreach efforts to get veterans into mental health treatment might place thousands of lives at risk.
Vets Who Receive Legal Aid Show Improved Mental Health
From Yale News: A new study shows that veterans who receive legal help with housing, benefits, and consumer or personal matters have increased income, fewer...
Using Shakespeare to Ease the Trauma of war
From The New York Times: Learning Shakespeare can be a valuable way for veterans to begin to understand and heal from the trauma of war.
Article âÂ
âThe Lobotomy Files: Forgotten Soldiersâ
The Wall Street Journal published a large multimedia report on documents revealing a time when the US lobotomized some 2,000 veterans. âBesieged by psychologically...
Congress Proposes Research on the Link Between Psychiatric Drugs and Suicide
The meaning of veteransâ reactions to war is quite simple; they are trying to find a way to integrate the incredible horrors theyâve witnessed and to find a way to come back into a society that cannot possibly fully understand them. Drugging them into a stupor is not the answer. Congressman David Jolly (FL-13) has recently introduced the Veteran Suicide Prevention Act (H.R. 4640). The bill calls for the VA to study veteran suicides over the past five years and to determine what extent psychiatric drugs are implicated in those suicides. I encourage everyone to support Mr. Jollyâs bill by writing or calling your congressional representatives and encouraging them to cosponsor the bill.
âVeterans Let Slip the Masks of War: Can This Art Therapy...
âService members suffering from PTSD often feel like theyâre wearing a mask,â Samantha Allen writes in Invisible Wounds. Melissa Walker, an art therapist, asks them to make one. âThe results are stirring. One mask, striped in red and black with hollow chrome-colored eyes, is wrapped in razor wire with a lock where its mouth should be.â