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	<title>The American Institute of Stress &#187; Combat Stress Blog</title>
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	<link>http://www.stress.org</link>
	<description>AIS imparts information on stress reduction, stress in the workplace, effects of stress and various other stress related topics.</description>
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		<title>10 Actions for Responding to a Veteran in Crisis</title>
		<link>http://www.stress.org/10-actions-for-responding-to-a-veteran-in-crisis/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stress.org/10-actions-for-responding-to-a-veteran-in-crisis/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:15:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Combat Stress Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[911 Calls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military- related]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[negotiating with suspects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[verbal communication]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stress.org/?p=5903</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[10 Actions for Responding to a Veteran in Crisis Calls involving military vets require a different approach and tactics than other subjects. For more than a decade now, our country has been at war in two very different locations, with very different missions. In that time, more than 2.2 million troops have deployed and served in those bloody conflicts. They have endured unimaginable heat, bitter cold, and sand storms that peel the skin off your bones; they&#8217;ve missed births of children, weddings of friends, anniversaries of parents, and funerals of fallen brothers; they&#8217;ve witnessed the wholesale slaughter of innocents and savage acts of hatred and violence, as well as acts of such immense bravery, honor, and sacrifice as to change forever their version of courage. But living through all that does something to you. The civilian world often says with a bewildered shake of its collective heads, &#8220;We&#8217;ve lost so many young people during these wars.&#8221; But in truth, only those who were there, or loved those who were there, have truly suffered the losses. Since only 1% of America puts on a military uniform, the rest of America has remained largely untouched. It is the 2.2 million who bear the greatest burden; most of them lost someone they knew, sometimes right before their eyes. It&#8217;s also the 6,500 families who are devastated by the death of their loved one, who welcome home a flag-draped coffin, and who mourn in silence for years afterward. Living through all that does something to you, too. Tens of thousands of combat-weary warriors are now being discharged out of the military, often without a game plan as to what they will do next. Many of them entered the military right out of high school, so being a warrior is the only job they&#8217;ve ever had. And translating their specific skill set to civilian employment is tricky. Now, after eight years of service, they take off the uniform that is their identity, turn in the weapon that they feel closer to than their own mother, leave behind a highly structured, mission-driven system with a clear chain of command, and enter into a world that looks utterly insane to them—a place where phenomenally popular &#8220;reality TV&#8221; is comic book dumb and bears no resemblance to the hard, cold reality they&#8217;ve lived. Many of them are using their GI Bill and entering college, but are quickly learning that school is a different kind of battlefield, fraught with insensitive professors, clueless peers, and (thanks to getting their bell badly rung by an IED or two) new learning difficulties. Most are adapting, growing, and building new lives for themselves that make all of us proud. But some of them are really struggling. Some don&#8217;t know how to handle the disorienting re-entry, not to mention the bad memories that sometimes run in their heads like horror movies they can&#8217;t turn off. So they drink, they drug, and they isolate themselves, partly because they are trying to achieve some inner quiet,...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="pmpro_content_message">This content is for Fellows, Diplomate, Members, Student Member, Registered User and Complimentary Member members only. Visit the site and log in/register to read.</div>
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		<title>Talk It Out: The Best Early PTSD/TBI Intervention</title>
		<link>http://www.stress.org/talk-it-out-the-best-early-ptsdtbi-intervention/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stress.org/talk-it-out-the-best-early-ptsdtbi-intervention/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Aug 2012 14:04:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Combat Stress Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Counseling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Invisible Wounds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PTSD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PTSD treatment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Service Members]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Talk Therapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TBI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[treatment for PTSD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[veterans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Warrior]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wounded Warrior]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stress.org/?p=5228</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Talking, venting, ranting, no matter what you call it, this simple strategy is the best technique used for early PTSD/ TBI intervention. It sounds overly simple at first, but the sooner you can begin “talking it out” the better your results will be. AIS experts agree that talking with others will produce positive and meaningful changes in PTSD symptoms (or any stress symptoms for that matter) and increase your quality of life. Talking with others that have been through similar situations can help you understand your feelings, change how you think about your trauma—and change how you react to stressful memories. Sharing stories and knowledge lets all warriors know that they are not alone in dealing with a psychological wound or traumatic brain injury. Talking about the psychological effects of war on service members encourages others to reach out for help. By talking you will learn what others are doing to address these issues and create new opportunities for healing. Combat stress and severe physical injuries can sometimes lead a service member to deep depression and considering suicide. In the short PSA below, produced by RealWarriors.net , Capt. Josh Mantz and Major Ed Pulido describe their very different experiences, but how they each found that reaching out for and receiving psychological support made a real difference. For many warriors opening up and allowing others a glimpse into their darkest thoughts does not seem like an option at all. They have been witness to the worst of the worst and feel hopeless to ever “live a normal life” again. Many of us, civilians and military alike, have a tendency to hold things inside until stress and anxiety build to unhealthy levels. Talking about things, doesn&#8217;t always come natural. Therefore, it must become a learned skill through practice. Professional counseling can help you understand your thoughts and discover ways to cope with your feelings. Whether you just returned from a deployment or have been home for 40 years, it’s never too late to get professional treatment or support for PTSD. Receiving counseling or treatment as soon as possible can keep your symptoms from getting worse. Even Veterans who did not realize they had PTSD for many years have benefited from treatment that allows them to deal with their symptoms in new ways. Consider talking to: • Your family doctor: Ask if your doctor has experience treating Veterans or can refer you to someone who does • A mental health professional, such as a therapist • A spiritual or religious advisor • A friend or family member • A Service Member/veteran Support Group In the beginning, it is not so important who you talk to, but that you start talking. What if no one is available to talk when you need to talk? Consider journaling. Journaling is just as effective as talking in getting the thoughts moving out of the shadows and out of your head. Journaling is an act that helps you sort your thoughts. A good aspect of journaling is that...]]></description>
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		<title>Improve Care for Veterans With PTSD: Report</title>
		<link>http://www.stress.org/improve-care-for-veterans-with-ptsd-report/</link>
		<comments>http://www.stress.org/improve-care-for-veterans-with-ptsd-report/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Jul 2012 14:01:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Administrator</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Combat Stress Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.stress.org/?p=4635</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Improve Care for Veterans With PTSD: Report &#8216;Treatment isn&#8217;t reaching everyone who needs it,&#8217; Institute of Medicine says FRIDAY, July 13 (HealthDay News) &#8212; Access to care for U.S. military service members and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) must improve, says an Institute of Medicine report released Friday that also calls for better tracking of treatments and results. The congressionally mandated report also said that the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs should launch research programs to evaluate the effectiveness of their PTSD programs and make the findings widely available. In addition, service members should undergo PTSD screening at least once a year at defense department treatment centers, as is currently done for veterans seen in the VA system. Of the active service members and veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and screened positive for PTSD symptoms, about 40 percent have received a referral for an additional evaluation or treatment. Of those referred, about 65 percent have received treatment, according to the report. &#8220;DoD [Department of Defense] and VA offer many programs for PTSD, but treatment isn&#8217;t reaching everyone who needs it, and the departments aren&#8217;t tracking which treatments are being used or evaluating how well they work in the long term,&#8221; report committee chair Sandro Galea, professor and chair of the department of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York City, said in an Institute of Medicine news release. &#8220;In addition, DoD has no information on the effectiveness of its programs to prevent PTSD,&#8221; Galea said. An August 2011 editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association said that as many as 20 percent of soldiers returning from war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan develop PTSD &#8212; a condition marked by emotional numbing, nightmares, flashbacks of terrifying events and severe anxiety. The VA and defense department are making efforts to improve access to care for patients with PTSD, but many obstacles remain and occur at various levels, the report noted. Patients may not seek care because of fears that doing so will harm their military career, because they have to travel long distances to see a mental health provider, or because they can&#8217;t take time off from their military duties or jobs to get treatment. Health care providers may have difficulty treating patients because of a lack of training or time and location issues. Organizational barriers may be the result of limited treatment capabilities in combat zones, restrictions on where and when medications for PTSD can be used, and challenges in getting service members or veterans to appointments, the report said. The defense department and VA need to collect more data on barriers to PTSD care in order to better understand them, and any interventions used to remove these barriers should be assessed for effectiveness, the report said. In particular, the report suggested exploring &#8220;telemedicine&#8221; and other emerging technologies. In response to the report, Pat Gualtieri, executive director of the United War Veterans Council of New York,...]]></description>
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