RISING VETS SUICIDES / HEART CENTERED APPROACH NEEDED

A bag filled with violence inducing psychotropic drugs are not the answer for treating our returning veterans, especially since for every US soldier killed this year, 25 veterans commit suicide. The US military has lost more troops to suicide than to combat for the second year in a row and a better cause versus symptom based understanding of combat-related risk factors for suicide is now critical. Dr Allen L Roland

A new SFVA study strongly suggests that soldiers who experience killing experiences are twice as likely to attempt suicide ~ which strongly supports the reality of soul damage as a contributing factor for veteran’s suicide as well as the obvious need for a proven heart centered approach toward veteran rehabilitation.

An American soldier dies every day and a half, on average, in Iraq or Afghanistan while Veterans kill themselves at the rate of one every 80 minutes. More than 6,500 veteran suicides are logged every year ~ more than the total number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq combined since those wars and occupations began.

Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times rightfully calls it “The Nations Shame“  See article ~ http://nyti.ms/HJF1rL

Last year, General Peter Chiarelli,  the Army's No. 2 officer, acknowledged there are more effective ways to treat PTSD than just drugs ~ a fact that I have been proving for over two years with our heart centered Healing The Wounded Heart workshops for combat veterans with PTSD in Northern California.

Last year, Megan Sully, The national Journal, interviewed Gen. Peter Chiarelli , the Army's No. 2 officer, who has long been an advocate for soldiers suffering from the invisible wounds of war ~ such as PTSD and TBI. Here are some pertinent excerpts of General Chiarelli’s important interview with the National Journal (NJ);

NJ: Statistics show that more members of the military kill themselves than die in combat. Has the Army made progress in this area?

CHIARELLI: “I definitely think that we have made progress, but we're fighting an uphill battle. The underlying causes, the stress on the force, the things that are causing the stress on the force, still remain when you have operational-tempo levels that are at what they are right now, especially after 10 years of conflict.”

NJ: The Army has long had a stigma about mental health.

CHIARELLI: “Not the Army, not the military. It's everybody. I believe that the stigma associated with behavioral health issues is something that is shared by the general public. We're just admitting it. And what the Army's trying to do internal to itself is to change that culture. We have a lot of folks who are very focused on the mission who don't want to let their buddies down. Sometimes that gets in the way of seeking the help that they want and need.”

NJ: You have expressed concern about the level of research into post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. What worries you?

CHIARELLI: “We do not know how to treat post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury with the same kind of assurance that we know how to treat what I call the mechanical injuries of this war. The science is just not there. There is a lot of wonderful, very important research going on. The problem is if you're an operator like me who likes to fix things quickly. It takes a long time.”

NJ: Is the military's medical culture changing to address these problems?

CHIARELLI: “There's no doubt that we've changed. We've totally done a 180. But have we done enough? No. I want to do more, quicker. I want to have more of these secrets unlocked faster. I want to understand what drugs we should use to treat these symptoms, if we should use any drugs at all. I want to look into alternative pain management. We are finding there are other ways to handle pain that are more effective and allow a person to feel a lot better than throwing a bagful of drugs at them.”

See full article ~

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0611/062411-Chiarelli.htm

In 2007, the US Department of Defense issued $3 billion in contracts for bulk pharmaceutical purchases, many of which are option periods from an original award and that number is significantly higher now ~ we’re talking big money here!

Here’s one of those drugs in that bag. After the recent massacre of 16 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier, as well as scores of military and veteran suicides and homicides, more light is being shed on the military's zombie potion, Mefloquine (Lariam).

Mefloquine is an anti-malaria drug, invented by the military that has been known for sometime to have severe psychiatric side effects including psychotic behavior, paranoia and hallucinations. The drug has been implicated in numerous suicides and homicides, including deaths in the U.S. military as well as Peace Corps. With so many other anti-malarial medications available, one has to wonder why the military continues to distribute Mefloquine (Lariam) at all.

A must see 13 minute Video: Democracy Now

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/10157.html

So let’s take a closer look at the bagful of drugs (Care of big Pharma) that are currently being thrown at Veterans as well as their adverse effects.

A recent study published in the Public Library of Science online journal (PloS One @ www.plosone.org) by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP @ www.ismp.org) listed the top 31 prescription drugs that can cause violent or aggressive behavior in those consuming them. Note that Prozac, Paxil and the amphetamine drugs as well as Lariam are # 2, # 3 # 4 and #5 on the top-ten list:

10. Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) ~ Pfizer’s newest antidepressant (a knock-off of Effexor, note the similarity of the generic terms) that artificially stimulates both serotonin and noradrenaline. The drug is 7.9 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.

9. Venlafaxine (Effexor) ~ An antidepressant that has marketing approval for both depression and anxiety. The drug is 8.3 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.

8. Fluvoxamine (Luvox) - A so-called “selective” serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) A drug that is 8.4 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.

7. Triazolam (Halcion) - A benzodiazepine (a so-called “minor” but highly addictive tranquilizer) drug for insomnia that is 8.7 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.

6. Atomoxetine (Strattera) – A psychostimulant drug that is 9 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.

5. Mefoquine (Lariam) – An anti-malaria drug that is 9.5 times more likely to be associated with violence (including homicide and suicide) than other drugs.

4. Amphetamines - This general class of dangerous and highly addictive psychostimulant drugs is 9.6 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.

3. Paroxetine (Paxil) - An SSRI antidepressant, (with psychostimulating, mania-inducing effects) that is 10.3 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs. It is also linked to severe withdrawal symptoms and birth defects.

2. Fluoxetine (Prozac) - A popular SSRI antidepressant drug that is 10.9 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.

1. Varenicline (Chantix) – A dopaminergic anti-smoking drug that is a shocking 18 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.

The original article can be accessed at: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0015337

Are their lingering psychological or psychosocial effects on combat veterans with killing experiences in combat ~ particularly as relating to suicide?

In an important recent April 13, 2012 research study abstract entitled ~ KILLING IN COMBAT MAY BE INDEPENDENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH SUICIDAL IDEATION ~ the SFVA released the following abstract:

BACKGROUND:

The United States military has lost more troops to suicide than to combat for the second year in a row and better understanding combat-related risk factors for suicide is critical. We examined the association of killing and suicide among war veterans after accounting for PTSD, depression, and substance use disorders.

METHODS:

We utilized a cross-sectional, retrospective, nationally representative sample of Vietnam veterans from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS). In order to perform a more in depth analysis, we utilized a subsample of these data, the NVVRS Clinical Interview Sample (CIS), which is representative of 1.3 million veterans who were eligible for the clinical interview by virtue of living in proximity to an interview site, located within 28 standard metropolitan regions throughout the United States.

RESULTS:

Veterans who had higher killing experiences had twice the odds of suicidal ideation, compared to those with lower or no killing experiences, and substance use disorders were each associated with higher odds of suicidal ideation. Endorsement of suicide attempts was most strongly associated with PTSD.

CONCLUSIONS:

Killing experiences are not routinely examined when assessing suicide risk. Our findings have important implications for conducting suicide risk assessments in veterans of war. See Report: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22505038


These findings offer even more justification for our heart centered workshops for combat veterans as well as other heart centered therapy. We’re talking about soul damage here and only a heart centered intervention can effectively treat  that psychic despondency ~ as I have consistently demonstrated with combat veterans who have virtually all participated in killing experiences.

And therein lies my point ~ there are most definitely other effective and proven ways to handle PTSD other than throwing a bagful of drugs at them and one of them is the heart centered Healing The Wounded Heart workshops we are facilitating with Veterans with PTSD in Northern California.  

I have long felt and have now proved that PTSD is really Post Traumatic Heart Disorder for a common symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the inability to give or receive love ~ which can obviously apply to non veterans who have also suffered significant loss or emotional childhood and/or adult pain.

I have clearly demonstrated that only after the heart is touched can true self healing occur for only then does the client (veterans or otherwise) truly want to heal.  Using the premise that what is deepest within us is love (not anger) and utilizing an action oriented approach to face and go through their heart felt fears ~ these veterans, soon discover that beneath their pain, anger and shame is not only love and joy but most importantly their true authentic self.

The purpose then of the Healing the Wounded Heart Workshops is to penetrate the grey zone of guilt, aloneness and unworthiness, that many combat War Veterans diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) experience, and this is done within a supportive group setting through heart centered self exploration, group sharing, guided visualization and action oriented homework ~ where love and joy eventually overcome fear and separation.

I call each one of these 8 week (once a week) workshops The Band of Brothers and nine of them have already been completed since early 2010 and Band of Brothers #10 will commence in early May 2012.

Using Band of Brothers #5 as an example ~ 21 PTSD symptoms were included on the evaluation survey and the veterans were asked to rate their level on the 1-10 scale ( with 1 being “ Very Poor “ and 10 being “ No Problem” for each of the PTSD conditions Before and After the workshop. Here are the after workshop results ~ with an average symptom improvement of 59%.

Symptoms / After workshop % Improvements

Sleep Problem              67%

Nightmares                    62%

Trouble breathing          15%

Avoidance                      63%

Isolation                        69%

Emotional Numbing       74%

Irritability/Anger          70%

Anxiety                            53%

Depression                     65%

Suicidal Ideations          41%

Intrusive Memories        58%

Super alert issues         58%

Concentration issues     55%

Energy                            57%

Feeling Joy                   75%

Fear of intimacy           63%

Physical pain                  36%

Emotional pain             65%

Love                               59%

Peace                             69%

Compassion                 41%

Gratitude                       75%

The figures speak for themselves but the one that leap out at me is the 75% improvement in Joy and gratitude. These combat veterans have not only survived the ultimate firefight of battling fear on the journey to their heart but are now experiencing the delight of not only being themselves but the joy and gratitude that they are truly healing themselves and can finally begin to give and receive love.

Here are two participants comments from their workshop evaluation;  "I have progressed farther in the workshop’s 8 weeks than I have in 25 years of on-and off private therapy. I've been given a very informative look at myself. I understand much more about my own experiences. So many answers to so many questions. I feel alive!  Gaining a different perspective on life helps me to see my true self. It's nice to feel love and a sense of self-worth"

"My quick temper and bouts with anger are gone. My dreams are no longer violent and I have not flown out of bed since the workshop. I am able to fall asleep and remain asleep. My relationships with my wife and family have improved immensely. The comradeship that grew with the other participants was wonderful. I feel very strongly that the “ Healing The wounded Heart “ workshop should be added to the VA’s inventory of most effective tools used in re-adjustment counseling to combat the life destroying effects of PTSD.”

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/veterans-respond-positively-to-heart.html

There can be no more excuses for the VA to not fund a heart centered approach to working with Veterans with PTSD which is now being privately funded by the California Veterans Support foundation, legion Posts such as Jack London Post 489 in Sonoma, California and local Vietnam support groups like VVA Chapter 702 in Napa, California.

If combat veterans are responding positively to these once a week eight week action oriented heart centered workshops ~ it’s time for the VA to open the door to alternative healing methodologies which the rest of the country are already acknowledging, supporting and experiencing.

Sal Ueda, LSW, an Adjustment counselor at the Concord Vet Center commented on General Chiarelli’s article and the need for a heart centered approach ~ “Unless we finally realize that true peace is never solved by War and stop continuing to use young men to help resolve world differences, we will continue the consequences of the "rude awakening" of wars, with its wounding of the soul. Through the Healing of the Wounded Heart Workshops we are witnessing war veterans go through transformations in reconnecting with their true self (spirituality) and reclaiming inner compassion, Love and Peace. I express my gratefulness to you General Chiarelli for questioning our state of mental health affair and advocacy. I have great faith in our human capacity to heal, and the availability of complimentary heart centered modalities out-side current mainstream treatment boxes that assist the healing process. The system needs to look at these modalities seriously, incorporate or fund them, and make them readily accessible.”

Four star general Peter Chiarelli should be given a fifth star for finally publicly acknowledging that there are more effective ways of dealing with our emotionally wounded veterans than just throwing a bagful of drugs at them ~ and hopefully shift veteran’s treatment focus from just symptom management and coping toward the real impact of trauma experiences on the human soul - the detachment or quite often further disconnection from one's inner spirituality, well being and above all capacity to give and receive love.

Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them for it alone takes them and joins them to what is deepest within themselves ~ Teilhard de Chardin

Allen L Roland, PH.D
 
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/rising-vets-suicides-heart-centered.html

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his  weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on  www.conscioustalk.net

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Combat Vets, PTSD, Drugs And Suicide

COMBAT VETS, PTSD, DRUGS AND SUICIDE

We know that the 'reported' death tally in combat is more than 6,000. What we do not know is that these do not include suicides or post evacuation deaths induced by lethal wounds received in combat, nor even the deaths of over 1,000 private contractors. If we include all the wounded, the injured and the medically ill, we have a total of well over 75,000: Dr. Evan Kanter, the president elect of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

A U.S. soldier shot and killed five of his fellow soldiers in late 2008 at a counseling center at a base outside Baghdad in "the worst such attack" of the then six-year Iraq war. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that "such a tragic loss of life at the hands of our own forces is a cause for great and urgent concern."

Gates was right about the urgent concern about our combat forces but the American public still needs to know the full truth regarding PTSD, drugs, the stress of multiple deployments, the rising rate of suicide and the TRUE casualty numbers. That soldier who killed five of his fellow soldiers, by the way, was on his third deployment.

This truth will not come from the Pentagon but Dahr Jamail comes very close to it in his must read May 12, 2009 article in Truthout entitled UNFIT FOR COMBAT where he writes ~ " The shocking story of a soldier killing five of his comrades does not come as a surprise when we consider that the military has, for years now, been sending troops with untreated PTSD back into the US occupation of Iraq... War is an atrocity. War is bilateral psychosis. War brings nothing but destruction and suffering to everyone involved in it, whether they be Iraqi civilians or US soldiers occupying Iraq... Complicating things is that the US military has been medicating soldiers before they are redeployed to Iraq, in order to keep enough boots on the ground. An anonymous survey of US troops taken during Fall 2007, used as part of the data in the Army's fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report, found that 12 percent of combat troops in Iraq and 17 percent in Afghanistan were on prescription drugs that were mostly antidepressants or sleeping pills."
http://www.truthout.org/051209J


Dahl further comments that two out of five suicide victims among troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have been found to be on antidepressants and then shared a Gregg Zorova report for USA Today on May 8, 2008, that over 43,000 troops declared medically unfit for combat in weeks prior to their scheduled departure to Iraq or Afghanistan were redeployed anyway ~ Army psychiatrist Col. Charles Hoge told Congress in March 2008, " that nearly 30 percent of troops on their third deployment are mental wrecks."

But the highlight of Jamail's article was the comments from Dr. Evan Kanter, the president elect of Physicians for Social Responsibility, a psychiatrist who specializes in treating vets with PTSD. Kanter spoke on behalf of those that he treats and he did not pull any punches ~ " As a doctor I want to talk about these hidden wounds and hidden costs, many of which are intentionally hidden because if people knew the extent of the costs, maybe they would be less prepared to go to war.. We know that the death tally in combat is more than 4,000, represented by the headstones we see around this hall. What we do not know is that these do not include suicides or post evacuation deaths induced by lethal wounds received in combat, nor even the deaths of over 1,000 private contractors. If we include all the wounded, the injured and the medically ill, we have a total of over 75,000, but the military intentionally camouflages and segregates the numbers in three categories that are extremely difficult to access. "

This confirms my post of July 11, 2007 PENTAGON STILL LOWBALLING U.S.DEATHS & CASUALTIES where I wrote that there has always been the strong rumor that the Pentagon only counts those killed in combat in its daily death totals. So if a soldier was wounded and died in transit to a hospital or in that hospital ~ he would not be counted in that daily death or wounded report. Now we have more evidence according to Veterans For Common Sense that the Pentagon is intentionally underreporting casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2007/07/11.html

Kanter goes on to explain ~ " The huge and growing number of cases of PTSD and major depression among returning soldiers has a direct link with the high suicide rates in the military ... PTSD is no less a war wound than a shrapnel injury. It can be tremendously debilitating. Symptoms include nightmares and flashbacks, triggered physiological and psychological stress, social withdrawal, isolation, avoidance of any kind of reminders of the trauma, emotional numbing, uncontrolled outbursts of anger or rage, difficulty concentrating and focusing and a state of hyper vigilance, which the military calls the 'battle mind.' All these are symptoms that would make it impossible for a vet with severe PTSD to be in the room with us today."
http://www.truthout.org/051209J

This moral outrage starts with the fact that the Pentagon is still intentionally underreporting US casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to a report by veterans' advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense ~ They attribute the discrepancy to the Pentagon's refusal to include medically evacuated troops for injuries and illnesses in its "wounded" reports.

" The purpose of this new distinction is to lower the numbers in Pentagon casualties reports in order to give the impression that "progress" in the war is being made and that harm to US forces inflicted in the war zone is far lower than reality," states Veterans for Common Sense.
http://politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5530/1/32/

It's time for the full truth about the combat casualties of our illegal occupations of both Iraq and Afghanistan and then its time to pull them out of harms way ~ but don't count on it happening soon . The late Robert Anton Wilson nailed it when he said ~ " Every war results from the struggle for markets and spheres of influence, and every war is sold to the public by professional liars and totally sincere religious maniacs, as a Holy Crusade to save God and Goodness from Satan and Evil."

But now Satan and evil have been clearly identified and to most of the world ~ it is ourselves and the human pawns we recklessly send into harms way. Henry Kissinger, quoted in "Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States Betrayed Its Own POW's in Vietnam" said virtually the same thing about the military ~ "Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy."


Allen L Roland
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY