PTSD Being Mishandled

Litbrit has a must-read post on how the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense are trying to bury facts of how many sevice man and women have post traumatic stress disorder.

Litbrit's post reminded me of the Veterans Administration using the cartoon The Epic of Gilgamesh. A Groucho Marx-sounding doctor tells Gilgamesh that "simple things, like exercise, sleep, hygiene and a few less lattes in the morning" will cure PTSD. The VA have taken the video and transcript offline. The bad publicity generated from the Huffington Post will make a government organization go into damage control.

Creative Loafing ran good stories on here and here on Tampa area vets dealing with PTSD. It is inspiring to hear about the good work Steve Fletcher are doing.

Like the hospitals, Taylor´s program could use more funds and more staff. But he´s determined to help vets, no matter what comes down from above.

¨They could cut our budget,¨ says Fletcher, who often carries a double load of clients, ¨and we would still be doing the work. Because you´ve got dedication out here. Money doesn´t affect us that much -- we´d use our own money to reach out to these guys.¨