Iraqnophobia Must Be Treated

By: Terrence Detoy

Posted: 9/23/05

Veterans who develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) never leave the war - it goes home with them. Their experiences fester in their minds. They are overwhelmed by the trauma seeping into their cognitive processes. The stress becomes a part of them. The flashbacks, cold sweat, severe depression, nightmares, panic, spontaneous rage, insomnia, paranoia, the assortment of oppressive pharmaceuticals - all of it is an intrusive yet integral part of who they have become.

"A culture of excellence in quality care, research, training, readiness, safety, service, partnership and Tri-service collaboration founded on the example of Maj. Walter Reed," reads the mission statement of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a military hospital with an extensive psychological ward specializing in PTSD treatment for veterans. Spc. Alexis Soto-Ramirez was flown out of Iraq after serving with the 544th Military Police Company. He was put into lockdown. Friends that were allowed to visit him noticed he was growing increasingly apathetic and unstable. His medication was administered carelessly and is therapy sessions were led by medical students and army personnel determined to convince him the cause of his condition was not his combat experiences in Iraq. The subjugation, the denial, the numbing medication was too much - Ramirez grew worse.

One morning, Ramirez was found dead. He had hanged himself with the belt from his robe. "The Army does not want to get into the mental health game in a real way to really help people. They want to Band-Aid it. They want you out of there as fast as possible, and they don't want to pay for it," said Col. Travis Beeson, who spent time at Walter Reed after his second tour in Iraq with the Army's Special Operations.

There is one way, however, for PTSD sufferers to escape the trauma of Walter Reed: sign a waver relinquishing all future disability payments PTSD would have guaranteed them from the Army.

PTSD is a collective category of intense emotional responses to horrific experiences. A CNN poll in July found that one in five veterans returning from Iraq developed PTSD - an MSNBC poll found one in eight develop the disorder. There is no comprehensive definition or understanding of just what PTSD is, there are only victims and those pieces of information gained through studying their excruciating experiences. Perhaps this is why the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has employed unnecessarily strict standards and complicated procedures for veterans with PTSD to adhere to before receiving benefits and why the Army has gone through great lengths to frighten them from collecting the benefits.

President George W. Bush's budget seems to slash at programs (and, of course, taxes) indiscriminately. Unfortunately for the perpetually increasing number of veterans returning from Iraq, the VA does not escape unscathed. The funding for state programs in particular has been cut unmercifully. Many veterans' hospitals are now seriously understaffed after having let many workers go. Co-payments for prescriptions for veterans have doubled while an annual enrollment fee of $250 has been implemented.

Interestingly, the cut in veterans' benefits seems to correlate with the VA complicating its registration procedure. Several months after the 2006 fiscal budget was set, the VA withdrew and re-examined over 72,000 registered cases of PTSD, suspecting that "misdiagnosis and fraud have inflated the numbers." The VA is going to great lengths to keep veterans with PTSD from receiving their benefits. Because of the misunderstood nature of PTSD, the newly required documentation is difficult to acquire. Veterans who in the past have been diagnosed with severe PTSD rendering them incapable of sustaining long-term work are being lead in circles chasing their $2,000 benefit checks and seeking psychological therapy in futility.

While Bush disassociates himself from the suffering of Iraq veterans through photogenic handshakes with wealthy World War II veterans, the VA is stuck trying to compensate and balance itself after withstanding drastic cuts in funding. In most states, less than 10 percent of PTSD veterans receive full benefits funding ($2,000 per month). In Connecticut, less than three percent do. Yet, the number of combat veterans with PTSD has soared in recent years. In 1999 the VA had 120,000 registered cases of PTSD eligible for disability benefits payments. In 2004, that number had risen to 216,000. PTSD benefits payments nationwide jumped from $1.7 billion to $4.3 billion between those same years. When Bush cut funding to the VA to finance the War on Terror, the VA was no longer able to shoulder the burden of all those benefits payments.

In response, the VA began to review one-third of all registered PTSD benefits receivers and essentially nullified their status and forced them to re-seek their benefits by registering with the VA for the second time. This time the VA had a much more strict criteria that needed to be met in order to qualify. Valid documentation, among other things, was necessary. The new policy was installed with a complex series of steps and procedures designed to shut out many veterans. Others are thwarted and have no idea what is going on. Many veterans are still checking their mailboxes each morning wondering why their check from the VA hasn't come in.

CNN reports only half of all PTSD victims returning from Iraq are seeking benefits from the VA for psychological help. Many fear retribution from the military, many fear for their professional career as soldiers. The Army has become adept at dissuading individuals from collecting their benefits by means of fear while the VA invents intricate maze-work to discourage PTSD veterans from collecting. It is a disgrace that these organizations have been forced to take such aggressive measures against veterans so funding for the war effort may increase. It would seem that in order for America to support its troops in Iraq, it must sacrifice the ones at home.

Sources:
http://www.wramc.amedd.army.mil/
http://www.afscme.org/action/fy2006. htm
http://www.democracymeansyou.com
http://www.truthout.org
http://www.vaiw.org
http://www.vawatchdog.org
http://www.thenewstribune.com
http://www.commondreams.org/ views03/0328-11.htm