The public conception of war injuries is usually focused on the loss of life and limb, but what largely goes unnoticed is that many of our soldiers suffer the long term effects of brain injury. 6% to 11% of veterans of the Afghanistan war and 12% to 20% of veterans of the Iraq war have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI) or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (US Department of Veteran Affairs).
TBI is a form of acquired brain injury that occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. TBI can result when the head suddenly and violently hits an object, or when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue. Symptoms of a TBI can be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the extent of the damage to the brain. A person with a mild TBI may remain conscious or may experience a loss of consciousness for a few seconds or minutes. Further information can be found at the National Institutes of Health.
PTSD is a mental disorder that can occur after living through a traumatic event such as combative warfare. Often individuals suffering from PTSD feel frightened and angry long after the initial event has passed. To be diagnosed with PTSD, symptoms must be severe enough to interfere with your daily routine. Symptoms often include: 1. Reliving the event 2. Avoiding situations that remind you of the event 3. Feeling numb 4. Feeling keyed up (hyperarousal). Further information can be found at US Department of Veteran Affairs.
5 comments:
I agree that we need more support medically for our soldiers when they come home. I also agree that when they come home and are not missing a limb or do not have any physical injuries then they are usually portrayed as healthy. That is a common misconception among many people. Brain injuries often go unnoticed and are very much an injury. Unfortunately a TBI may not always be able to be physically seen. PTSD is also another circumstance in which physical injuries are not noticeable. Rehabilitation and more education about these specific types of problems are important to help our soldiers begin to fit into the community upon their arrival home. I hope we can start to support our heroes who fight for our safety and freedom a lot better in regard to health care in the future. Where will the Dept. of Veteran Affairs come up with the money to train the families, nurses, and medical personnel? Will this be passed along to tax payers?
I think this is a great bill, especially because this impacts so many people! I personally don't think I have come in contact with vetrans suffering from TBI or PTSD, but the training overall could benefit veterans and so many more. I think it's awesome that the family will have a support system/ someone to talk to via telephone as well because I can only imagine how hard it is to adjust after coming back home when everyone else has been doing their day to day normal things and your life has been changed so drastically from all you've been through. I wonder what some of the objections to this bill are? Maybe how much it would cost to receive training or implement resources?
I have enjoyed reading your blog and I think this is an excellent topic. I was rather unfamiliar with the long-term effects that TBI and PTSD have on our soldiers, so your blog was very eye-opening for me. As you pointed out in your blog, I was like the general public in thinking only about the physical injuries that result from war including death and amputation and not looking at the devastating brain and emotional injuries that frequently occur. After reading the statistics on how many of our soldiers are affected by TBI and PTSD, I feel the passing of this bill is extremely important. This bill will not only serve to improve the care these soldiers receive, but it will also spread public awareness of the severity of TBI and PTSD so the public can begin to have an understanding of what these soldiers are experiencing.
-Alison Forbes
(Inflammatory Breast Cancer Group)
http://jmufightsibc.blogspot.com/
In regards to the funding for the Heroes at Home Act, the training of families, nurses, and medical personnel will be provided by the Secretary of Veteran Affairs who will then be reimbursed by the Secretary of Defense. The reimbursement money will be derived from amounts available for the Defense Health Program, which is a section of the military health plan known as TRICARE. In addition, the funding for the telehealth demonstration project will be provided by the joint Department of Defense and Department of Veteran Affairs Health Care Sharing Incentive Fund. Thus, the funding for this act will be derived from the allocation of existing funds rather than being passed along to tax payers.
Although the availability of sufficient funds is a common opposing factor to proposed bills, objections to the Heroes at Home Act may arise from members of urban communities because the bill gives priority to locations that will provide services in a rural area.
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