Tag: Veterans

Suicidal Thoughts, Psychiatric Diagnosis, and What Really Helps: Part Two

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This piece is the second of a two-part essay about suicide, diagnosis, what doesn't help, and what does help. This part is about barriers to seeking help and about the ways we actually can be of help to people who are considering suicide.

Suicidal Thoughts, Psychiatric Diagnosis, and What Really Helps: Part One

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This piece is the first of a two-part essay about suicide, diagnosis, what doesn't help, and what does help. This part is about suicide, diagnosis, and some of what fails to help.

The Persistent, Misdirected Search for Causes of Trauma-based Suffering

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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.

Paula J. Caplan – Listen to a Veteran

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This week on MIA Radio, we chat with Paula J. Caplan, clinical and research psychologist, author of books and plays, playwright, actor, director, and activist. Paula is also a passionate and steadfast advocate for service members, veterans and their families.

David Joslin – Remedy Alpine, Giving Veterans the Power to Seek...

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An interview with David Joslin. David is a retired army medic, having been deployed to Iraq in 2003 and Afghanistan in 2008. David currently works as a senior healthcare administrator and he has co-founded Remedy Alpine, a Veterans therapeutic recreation non-profit dedicated to providing wilderness therapy adventures in Alaska.

Hearing Veteran Narratives is Key to Suicide Prevention

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Current suicide assessment practices of the VA are reductive and do not allow for the individual’s narrative to be heard.

Amanda Burrill: Self-Advocacy and Self-Belief – Escaping Psychiatric Drugs

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An interview with Amanda Burrill, who, after a successful career as a Surface Warfare Officer and Rescue Swimmer in the US Navy, was on track to continue her career as a professional triathlete and marathon runner. Around the time of her discharge, she was prescribed a cocktail of psychiatric medications that caused physical injuries, leading to an early end to her rapidly accelerating career.

Prescribing an Epidemic: A Veteran’s Story

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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.

Lindsay Church: Military Mental Health – Journey from the Brink to...

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US Navy Veteran Lindsay Church describes how a surgical procedure led to her being prescribed 16 medications in 18 months and ultimately to consider taking her life. Lindsay now focuses on supporting minority veterans through social engagement and community building.

Abandoned in VA Purgatory — Misdiagnosed, Overprescribed & Fighting for Answers

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Today I’ve recovered a semblance of my old life, and I, like millions of others, deserve answers. What have these drugs actually done to us? Everything I’ve learned thus far shows that antidepressants were poorly researched, and society, especially our military service members and veterans, were used as test subjects.

Veterans Find A Path to Healing Through Shakespeare

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Veterans struggling with a diagnosis of PTSD, or depression and other difficulties find that learning to perform Shakespearean monologues, and developing their own dramatic monologues, can help them "unwire" from the traumas of war.

Dan Hurd – One Pedal at a Time

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An interview with U.S. Navy Veteran Dan Hurd, founder of Ride With Dan USA and The One Pedal at a Time Movement. After surviving his third suicide attempt, Dan became inspired to bicycle to all 48 States in the continental U.S. to help raise awareness and make connections.

Psychotropic Medications Serve as Powerful Tools for U.S. Military, Imperialism

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Ethnographic research sheds light on extensive psychopharmaceutical use by soldiers in post 9/11 U.S. wars.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation No Better Than Placebo for Treatment-Resistant Depression

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A new study in JAMA Psychiatry found that transcranial magnetic stimulation was no better than placebo for treatment-resistant depression.

To Treat Pain, PTSD and Other Ills, Veterans Try Tai Chi

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From NPR: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a new program that offers wheelchair tai chi classes in order to help veterans manage...

Vets Who Receive Legal Aid Show Improved Mental Health

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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...

PTSD and Psychiatric Medication Linked to Dementia in Older Veterans

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Veterans diagnosed with PTSD and taking SSRIs, novel antidepressants, or atypical antipsychotics are more likely to develop dementia.

Veterans with both PTSD and Dementia More Likely to be Prescribed...

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Researchers found that veterans with both conditions had higher odds of being prescribed second-generation antipsychotics than those presenting with just PTSD.

Patient Race Associated with Varied Psychiatric Treatment Experiences

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Findings point to association between race and the mental health care experiences of African-American and White veterans.

FDA Safety Warning For Citalopram Did Not Improve Outcomes for Vets

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Instead of reducing risk, the dose reduction recommendation made by the FDA in their safety message was associated with an increase in hospitalizations.

A Bill to Explore the Relationship Between Veteran Suicides and Prescription...

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The objective of [these] bills is to combat suicide deaths by ensuring that accurate information is available on the relationship between suicides and prescription "medication". At the present time, 20 US veterans a day are dying by suicide.

“McCain Introduces Bill to Prevent Overmedication and Suicide Among Veterans”

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Last week, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) introduced the Veterans Overmedication Prevention Act in the House of Representatives to prevent the overmedication of veterans and combat suicide...

“Transgender Veterans Have High Rates of Mental Health Problems”

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A new study finds that ninety percent of military veterans who identify as transgender have at least one mental health diagnosis. “Traumatic brain injuries...

Electroshocking Veterans and Their Fetuses

I have long been concerned with the way society responds to people who come back from war. Veterans are routinely funneled into psychiatry’s grasp. Over the decades, some people who fought in wars have shared with me their experiences of being psychiatrized upon return from war. Sometimes these experiences included veterans being stripped of their second amendment rights, and a host of other constitutional, civil, and human rights violations as they began to be forced into complying with psychiatric regimens, and on several occasions this included veterans being subjected to electroshock.