High anxiety for veterans: Medical marijuana contradictions
Benson is comfortable with choosing marijuana over prescription drugs to treat his PTSD. The federal and Department of Veterans Affairs bureaucracy, not so much. And that’s led to a new battle for Benson and thousands like him.
Former Marine Erick Benson is off the front line, but readjusting to civilian life has been a new battle. “I was having a bad day,” Benson said, recalling a recent morning while trying to make coffee. He became so enraged when he was unable to get the carafe under the grounds, he threw the coffee maker. It was a classic example of his post traumatic stress disorder. The fits of anger aren’t rare when he’s not treating the malady.
Read more: http://www.aurorasentinel.com/news/high-anxiety-for-veterans-medical-marijuana-contradictions/
Soldiers are telling their war stories one way or another, through blogs, e-mails, and letters home. Now thanks to a partnership between the military and the arts community, they are learning from authors like Tom Clancy and Tobias Wolff how to turn their battlefield experiences into books.
Read more: http://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2005/02/13/fighting-words/PZv3i6mUajFCUIHgOUsNLK/story.html
David Chesser: A Man Changed Forever By PTSD
Three hours before David Chesser, wife Jenifer Chesser was on the phone with her husband.
David had said he was going for a walk. When he called her, it was clear he’d been drinking heavily. Actually, he’d been sober for a month but in the past couple of days he began to unravel again, she said.
Back from the war, Chesser was unable to find regular work and unable to keep it when he did. He was drowning in back rent payments, and their landlord called to say they were out of chances. “It’s hopeless,” he told her over the phone. “If I was dead, at least you and the kids would be taken care of.” Then he hung up.
Read more: http://lakewood-jblm.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/xyxyxyx
The Need for Out of the Box Solutions in Mental Health Treatment
A recent Army Times piece explained that a mental health program aimed at reducing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will be expanded despite their own researchers finding no proven gains since 2009. This revelation is a vivid illustration of the need for out of the box solutions in mental health treatment and the delivery of healthcare at large. Continuing to expand a $50 million dollar per year program (now costing $75 million dollars annually) doesn’t make much sense when there are other viable alternatives that have not been adequately explored.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcus-bright/the-need-for-out-of-the-b_2_b_4093413.html
WASHINGTON — The first suicide was in 2007. Mike Little was preparing to head to Iraq for a year when he heard that his close friend, a National Guardsman who had inspired Little to join the military, had killed himself.
The second was before Little deployed to Afghanistan, about two years later. He couldn’t go to the funeral because he was due on a plane. The next three came during the naval reservist’s yearlong deployment in Afghanistan. Another suicide happened just as he got home, in late 2010. He’s up to nine now.
“At this point, I’m taking it personally,” he said. “I deployed twice, I came home, I struggled. I feel responsible that I didn’t reach out to them. Maybe if I had …”
Little, a petty officer 2nd class in the Naval Reserves, fought his own battle with suicidal thoughts and won, as much as any person still struggling with depression and post-traumatic stress can say they’ve won.
He has trouble sleeping. He calls the Veterans Crisis Line almost weekly.
Read more: http://www.stripes.com/living-through-nine-suicides-1.240240
PTSD – Safe, Natural, and Effective Treatments
In the times of our ancestors, the fight or flight nervous system was very important for helping us avoid predators. Our digestions stops so blood can go to our muscles, our reactions become very abrupt and emotional so we don’t think too long before deciding to run away from the tiger, we become hyper-aware of our environment, which makes it hard to concentrate on one thing… you get the picture.
People who suffer from posttraumatic stress get stuck in that branch of the nervous system. It’s as if the trauma gets stuck in their bodies, and until they release the trauma the nervous system continues to operate in fight or flight mode. Remaining in this state for too long can lead to a number of mental and physical problems, ranging from poor digestive health, to pain, to anxiety. It can also predispose people to re-traumatization because they are seeing the world through the eyes of “something terrible is going to happen.”
Read more: http://integr8health.com/ptsd-safe-natural-and-effective-treatments/
Post-traumatic stress disorder sufferers qualify for medical marijuana
The new law, which went into effect Wednesday, is expected to bring many new patients into Maine’s medical marijuana program.
Retired Marine Corps Sgt. Ryan Begin is one of those veterans already using the drug. Begin lost 4 inches of his right arm, including his elbow, from an IED explosion during his second tour in Iraq in 2004. He started using medical marijuana to deal with the pain, but it has also helped manage his PTSD, which caused flashbacks and nightmares, he said.
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 