How can we help our brain-traumatized soldiers and vets? Nancy raises a ‘ call for ACTION ’ .

Nancy Martin-Crisco wrote a heart-rending response to a blog I posted  (“How to get PTSD. Twice. Worse.”) that you all should read. Her son Christopher was diagnosed with PTSD after service in Afghanistan. After a few months stateside, he was redeployed to Baghdad. It was NOT good for him. Addiction, divorce, separation from his child, depression, anxiety, anger management issues, problems with relationships, poor focus, still PTSD, a feeling of worthlessness and shame because he’s here, with us, discharged because of his addiction after 10 years in the Army, instead of with his fellow soldiers, who he feels he has let down………. CHRISTOPHER BLAMES HIMSELF. How utterly and totally unfair that is. Christopher, the changes that you experienced in yourself that you find so damn hard to understand ARE NOT YOUR FAULT. If the Department of Defense was a private business, they would be subject to a mega-billion-dollar lawsuit. Their leaders KNOW that redeployment of mentally disabled patients will contribute to further mental health risks, and to a rich harvest of downstream personal tragedies, BUT THEY DO IT ANYWAY. The Martin-Crisco family has personal, special acknowledge of the further risks that can stem from the redeployment of a neurologically wounded soldier. They KNOW what is at stake for other soldiers in the same boat. It is especially poignant to hear, then, that the same scenario is being repeated for another family member. In Nancy...
Source: On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Brain Fitness Brain Trauma, Injury BrainHQ Cognitive impairments Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, et alia Source Type: blogs