Thousands Of Returning Soldiers Face A New Enemy

[k98nights]

Thousands Of Returning Soldiers Face A New Enemy

by NPR Staff

September 4, 2010

Courtesy Colby Buzzell Colby

Buzzell was diagnosed with PTSD after returning home.

September 4, 2010 More than seven years after U.S. troops first invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003, President Obama addressed the nation on Tuesday to commemorate the official end of the Iraq War. However, the legacy of one of America’s longest combat missions will continue to affect the thousands of troops who came home suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.

Many soldiers, like Colby Buzzell, were looking for excitement and purpose in war, but were permanently affected by the combat they saw.

"I didn’t know what I wanted to do or be," Buzzell tells NPR’s Guy Raz. "Our country was at war, this was my chance to be part of history."

"You think of all the things you’re going to do once you go back home," he says. But once he got home, he had trouble coping. He began drinking heavily to avoid reliving firefights and combat missions. Eventually, he became more withdrawn. He and his wife divorced.

When Buzzell received a letter calling him back into the Army, he says he would have done anything to avoid going back. He knew he wasn’t mentally stable and had been suicidal in the past. Finally seeking help, he was diagnosed with PTSD and deemed "undeployable" by the U.S. Army.

Though thousands of soldiers are diagnosed with PTSD, many more suffer without treatment. Among those who do seek treatment, doctors are finding another, distinctly different problem called traumatic brain injury, or TBI.

The two conditions have similar symptoms, but the causes are quite different. While PTSD is a psychological disorder that can be treated with medication and therapy, TBI is physical injury to the brain that requires cognitive treatment to help rebuild function.

"Fundamentally, PTSD is a disorder where you remember too much, whereas TBI is a disorder where you don’t remember enough," says Dr. Gregory O’Shanick, National Medical Director for the Brain Injury Association of America.

"The main differences are that individuals with traumatic brain injuries also will have neurologic symptoms such as headache, light sensitivity, dizziness and will have difficulty, many times, with balance," O’Shanick says.

Individuals with PTSD, on the other hand, will re-experience events or have emotional or behavioral symptoms, like "feeling ashamed, feeling guilty, avoidance types of behavior, things of that nature," O'Shanick says.

Fortunately, doctors are working to develop a better understanding of how to treat the two different disorders and more soldiers are seeking and receiving treatment.

http://www.npr.org/t...881&ft=1&f=1001

[Scarface31313]

I have both PTSD and TBI. I have really bad dreams almost every night. I don't like doing things I use to. I'm paranoid, always on alert. I have been going to the VA and they told me that I have both of these conditions and I have received medication for these issues for over 2 years. Just two days ago I got a packet from the VA and they want me to reprove to them that I have these problems so they can give me a rating. I am so upset with this that I have to keep jumping through hoops for these people. I did my time in Iraq and suffered enough. I have statements from over 12 people who have known me before I went to Iraq and they have notice the changes in me. I just feel like the VA will do whatever they can to discredit a Vet. They say they are here to help us and things have change well I just don't see it. Sorry I just needed to vent.

[DaveH]

A VERY large portion of what I donate is going to help our Iraqi vets.

Their sacrifices made this investment possible for all of us. I will not forget them and will do all I can to help.

God Bless all of our war vets.

I have both PTSD and TBI. I have really bad dreams almost every night. I don't like doing things I use to. I'm paranoid, always on alert. I have been going to the VA and they told me that I have both of these conditions and I have received medication for these issues for over 2 years. Just two days ago I got a packet from the VA and they want me to reprove to them that I have these problems so they can give me a rating. I am so upset with this that I have to keep jumping through hoops for these people. I did my time in Iraq and suffered enough. I have statements from over 12 people who have known me before I went to Iraq and they have notice the changes in me. I just feel like the VA will do whatever they can to discredit a Vet. They say they are here to help us and things have change well I just don't see it. Sorry I just needed to vent.

Be sorry for nothing!

Thank you for your service. I am sure those words mean very little, but when this happens, it is my sincere intention to help as many vets like you as I possibly can.

[Scarface31313]

Thank you I appreciate it. I to have plans on helping as many as possible.

[woookiee]

Thanks for the post.

[All-In-4-RV]

I too plan to help our vets and their families, whom without their bravery, we would NOT be benifiting finanically from a free Iraq! Go USA - Go RV!