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By Charlene Rubush, June 30, 2010 8:55 pm

Stunning Fact: 46% of American families lives are touched by alcoholism.

Toby Rice Drews is a licensed social worker/counselor who specializes in treating the families of alcoholics. Her series of books, entitled “Getting Them Sober” have helped numerous families of alcoholics to understand that:

“Alcoholism isn’t just about drinking. It’s a family disease. It causes the wife and kids to become as addicted to the alcoholic as the alcoholic is addicted to the booze. While the alcoholic lies passed out, anesthetized, his family goes through the years of his drinking, stark, raving sober. Their world is like no sane family’s worlds. They believe lies, expect miracles, have him locked up, bail him out, wish he were dead, and pray that he gets home safely.” Continue reading 'Getting Them Sober Foundation Helps Families of Alcoholics'»

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By Charlene Rubush, June 25, 2010 12:45 pm

Unbeaten is an inspirational documentary film that chronicles the exploits of 31 paraplegics as they make their way in wheelchairs and handcycles over a 267 mile treacherous course in Alaska.

The film premiered at Walter Reed Army Hospital in the Nation’s Capitol before an appreciative audience of soldiers who had been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. The film was directed by Steve Barber. Barber is an alumnus, class of 1978, of the now-defunct Augusta Military Academy (AMA) in Ft. Defiance, Virginia.

Barber was interviewed on CNN, ABC, and FOX News, in the company of a trooper who had lost a leg to an IED. Unbeaten is narrated by Dan Aykroyd, and took three years to make.

The course is the famous Sadler’s Alaska Challenge, which includes, among other things, a climb up a 10,000 foot mountain. The film chronicles the incredible planning, training and exertion that allowed these 31 fellows to complete the course.

 A clip of the movie can be found at:

 http://www.unbeatenthemovie.com

 Charlene’s Note:

I am particularly proud to spread the word of this amazing film. My husband is also a proud alumnus of AMA, which has a dedicated alumni organization. AMA has produced some outstanding individuals.

To name a few:

William H. Armstrong, author of the book Sounder

Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, USMC, was the Commanding General, 2 D, Expeditionary Brigade, Task ForceLeatherneck, in Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan

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By Charlene Rubush, June 23, 2010 2:43 pm

• 15-43% of girls and 14%-43% of boys will experience a traumatic event
• 3-15% girls and 1-6% of boys will develop PTSD
• As many as 30-60% of children who have survived specific disasters have PTSD
• According to The National Center for PTSD: “Rates of PTSD are much higher in children and adolescents recruited from at-risk samples. The rates of PTSD in these at-risk children and adolescents vary from 3 to 100%.
• 3-6% of high school students in the U.S. who survive specific disaster develop PTSD.
• More than 33% of youths exposed to community violence will experience PTSD.

 According to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA) children with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, may have intense fear and anxiety, become emotionally numb or easily irritable, or avoid places, people, or activities after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic or life-threatening event.

Not every child who experiences or hears about a traumatic event will develop PTSD. It is normal to be fearful, sad, or apprehensive after such events, and many children will recover from these feelings in a short time.

 Children most at risk for PTSD are those who directly witness a traumatic event, who suffered directly (such as injury or the death of a parent) had mental health problems before the event, and who lack a strong support network. Violence at home also increases a child’s risk of developing PTSD after a traumatic event.

For more info on PTSD, and other anxiety disorders, visit:

 http://www.adaa.org

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By Charlene Rubush, June 21, 2010 2:08 pm

Jack Nickalus is helping combat veterans by redesigning and expanding the American Lake Veterans Golf Course. It’s going to be a one-of-a-kind, 18-hole layout geared specifically for disabled golfers.

Recently, in Lakewood, Washington, Nicklaus handed one of his signature line hybrid clubs to Danny Dudek.

Dudek, an Army lieutenant colonel, paralyzed below both knees, was propped up inside a “SoloRider,” a specially designed cart with a seat that tilts up to support disabled golfers when they swing. Dudek drove the ball into the sunny Northwest sky, past lush evergreens and landed about 150 yards down the driving range.

The dedication and promise for renewal behind Dudek’s drive, is what inspires Nicklaus. The golf great is donating his expertise to design what will perhaps be the most appreciated course he will ever build.

Nicklaus notes “All projects are very important to me. But this one is out of love.” He has designed more than 300 courses around the world and has 100 more in the works. “I’m a hired gun to do things a lot of places. But I’m not a hired gun here. I’m doing this because I want to do this,” he says.

Nicklaus commented “You know, I was married and had children before I even got out of college, so I was never in the service. I never knew what these guys have gone through, and it’s just something to behold. I had a lot of friends who were in and went to Vietnam. They came back and their lives were scarred in a lot of ways. So to be able to give back—even though I couldn’t contribute from that standpoint, I sure can from this standpoint.”

The golfer’s work is the centerpiece of the $4.5 million project at American Lake called “A Course in Courage: Healing America’s Veterans Through Golf.” His design will start becoming reality once American Lake raises about $2 million more funds.

It’s estimated that 8 out of every 10 golfers who play American Lake have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. And those who play keep coming back. Many older veterans now volunteer on the course’s maintenance crew.

More than 12,000 rounds of golf were played between April 2009 and August 2009. The demand is expected to grow soon, as the largest number of homecoming of veterans in 30 years arrives back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Many will have severe injuries and emotional trauma.

“When you lose a limb, lose an arm, all of a sudden you feel like you are ostrasized from society. This puts these guys back into society. It gives them self-worth,” Nicklaus said. “To us their self-worth will never be questioned. But to them, sometimes they worry about that …Golf gives them a new lease on life. Hopefully, this is a prototype for a lot of places around the country.”

Retired Army Gen. John Shalikashvilli, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, suffered a massive stroke in 2004 and is in a wheelchair. The resident of nearby DuPont was among those golfing from a SoloRider during Nicklaus’ visit.

“I think it’s terrific,” the former general said of the course. Because it shows that no matter what the injury is, it’s not life-ending.”

 (Info provided from article by Greg Bell, of The Associated Press)

 View full article at:

 http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2010/06/ap_vets_wounded_nicklaus_course_062010

 Charlene’s Note:

 This article is so inspiring, as we are learning that taking part in sports can be a great healing agent for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as well as for adapting to physical injuries. Kudos to Jack Nicklaus for the great work he is doing on behalf of our veterans.

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By Charlene Rubush, June 18, 2010 3:38 pm

The more research I do on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the more alarmed I am at the enormity of the population that is affected by the disorder.

These statistics are from an excellent website Heal My PTSD. Michelle Rosenthal is a PTSD survivor and writes about the subject, both to inform and help others heal.

 PTSD General Stats

•  70 % of adults in the U.S have experienced some type of traumatic event, at least once in their lifetimes. That’s 223.4 million people.
• Up to 20% of these people go on to develop PTSD. As of today, that’s 31.3 million people who have had or are struggling with PTSD.
• An estimated 1 out of 10 women develops PTSD; women are about twice as likely as men.
• Among people who are victims of a severe traumatic experience 60-80% will develop PTSD.
• 50% of all outpatient mental health patients have PTSD!
• Somewhat higher rates of this disorder have been found to occur in African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans, as compared to Caucasians in the United States.

 Combat PTSD

•  Lifetime occurrence (prevalence) in combat veterans 10-30%.
• In the past year alone the number of diagnosed cases in the military jumped 50%- and that’s just diagnosed cases.
• Studies estimate that 1 in every 5 military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has PTSD.
• 20 % of the soldiers who have been deployed in the past 6 years have PTSD. That’s over 300,000.
• 17% of combat troops are women; 71% of female military personnel develop PTSD due to sexual assault within the ranks.

 Charlene’s Note:

These are shocking statistics, and prove that PTSD is now a pressing national health crisis. Become empowered and learn more about PTSD. Visit Heal My PTSD for more free information and help.

 http://www.healmyptsd

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By Charlene Rubush, June 16, 2010 4:51 pm

About Ms. Vicki:

Ms. Vicki writes an advice column for military members and their families. She is well qualified for her role.

Ms. Vicki is a native of Dallas, Texas, and is married to an active-duty soldier. They have three sons. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, who is working on a Ph.D. She also is working on a host of books that will be published this year. The first book “Restoring the Passion and Romance in Your Relationship” will be released soon.

With a gift for giving quick advice, and steering people in the right direction, her passion lies in helping anyone who is in need.

Currently, Ms.Vicki works as a therapist with military servicemembers and their families. She provides services for a wide array of concerns such as:

• Combat stress
• PTSD
• Couples and marital problems
• Depression
• Grief and loss
• Stress and coping, etc.

 Ms. Vicki’s column appears as “Dear Ms. Vicki” in the Washington Times, The Fort Campbell Courier and the Heildelberg Herald Post.

 She also hosts an internet radio show and blogs on her community site with the Washington Times. If you want to ask Ms. Vicki for advice about your military life, please email her at:

 AskMsVicki@military-inc.com

 http://www.military.com/opinion

 Charlene’s Note:

Where was Ms. Vicki when I needed her? Oh, that’s right. After my veteran returned from Vietnam, there was no internet, and no email. How wonderful that today’s vets and their families have a caring, qualified, concerned person available, literally at their fingertips! Another awesome, free resource for you and yours.

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By Charlene Rubush, June 14, 2010 2:13 pm

Perhaps you’re feeling down, depressed, and life seems hopeless. Well, I have days like that too. But I just stumbled across a website that really gave me a lift. Check this out:

 Recovery is not a cure, rather the ability to live our lives with balance and dignity. To be able to see and have real hope.”-

 Chato B. Stewart, Founder of The Mental Health Humor Project

Group Name:

Mental Health Humor Project

http://MentalHealthHumor.com

Description: Do you life to laugh? This group is for ways we can use humor as a healthy coping skill.

What makes us laugh? What do you find funny?

Introduction

“Hi. I’m Chato.  I love to laugh and I love making others laugh too. A few years ago I started drawing cartoons about different mental health issues I was dealing with and it blossomed into a blog and a collection of over 200 cartoons.

My goal was to use the cartoons to help educate others about mental health and also draw something that my fellow peers could relate to. Over the past 2 years my main blog has seen over 200K visitors and the cartoons have been in many different newsletters and newspapers. Not to mention all the blogs and websites that post the cartoons.

Humor is healthy! And not just my humor, but what ever we find funny, we should look for more of it.”

One of the things I found on the site today, really got made me laughing hysterically. Not that this should be anything more than pure fantasy (the therapists of the world might revolt) but it sure is funny to think about.

Tory Wilson offers these Fun Things to Do at Your Therapists Office:

•  Ask to borrow a comb, comb your tongue.
• Take random objects in his office and glue them to the floor.
• Refuse to cooperate unless he trades his pants.
• Never stop smiling.
• Talk to his leg.

Charlene’s Note:

Now that I’ve found this site, I’m going to visit regularly. Since most of what I write about on this blog, is of such a serious nature, it feels good to “lighten things” up. And I have a personal philosophy that I often share with others.

“If you can stay sane in this world, you’re really crazy!”

http://MentalHealthHumor.com

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By Charlene Rubush, June 11, 2010 10:11 pm

Bright Light Therapy has significant effects on sleep disturbances associated with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder. This information was provided in an article from Science Daily. A research abstract was presented June 7, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at SLEEP 2010, the 24^th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.

The results show that bright light therapy produced a significantly greater improvement than placebos, in sleep disturbances specific to PTSD. Bright Light Therapy also produced a moderate improvement in PTSD symptoms and depression.

The study, which was supported by a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Merit Award, involved 16 soldiers who returned to the U.S. with combat-related PTSD after serving in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom. Following a one-week baseline, participants were randomized to one of two four-week treatments.

Eight soldiers received 10,000 lux of bright light therapy for 30 minutes each day. The other eight participants were assigned to the placebo group and received sham treatment with an inactivated negative ion generator.

The Clinician- Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-2) was completed at baseline and immediately following completion of the study. At weekly intervals, depression was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BD-II) and sleep quality was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) with addendum for PTSD (PSQI-PTSD).

Study coordinator Shannon Cornelius, PhD, graduate research assistant for Dr. Shawn D. Youngstedt in the department of exercise science at the University of South Carolina notes, “Because bright light therapy is a relatively simple, self-administered, inexpensive treatment with few side effects, these results are an important step to further establish the efficacy of bright light therapy as an alternative or adjunct treatment for combat-related PTSD.”

Cornelius asserts that sleep disturbance is a commonly reported problem that can play both a precipitating and perpetuating role in PTSD, making it an important target for therapy.

She said “Disturbed sleep is known to interact with depression and anxiety in a vicious cycle. By reducing the severity and occurrence of sleep disturbances, it may be possible to reduce the severity of symptoms such as anxiety and depression in combat-related PTSD.”

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine reports that 70 to 90 percent of people with PTSD describe sleep disturbance. Recurrent nightmares of the traumatic event represent one of the most problematic and enduring symptoms of PTSD. These nightmares may take the form of a realistic reliving of the traumatic event or depict only some of the elements.

Bright light therapy exposes your eyes to intense but safe amounts of light for a specific and regular length of time. Typically it involves exposure to up to 10,000 lux of light for scheduled periods of 20 minutes or more using a small light box.

http://www.sciencedaily.com

 Charlene’s Note:

This sounds like a very promising, simple, therapy, similar to the use of light boxes for Seasonal Affect Disorder (SAD). I’ll be posting more info on this treatment soon. Stay tuned!

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By Charlene Rubush, June 9, 2010 11:31 pm

I’ve recently been re-reading Chuck Dean’s outstanding book Nam Vet. I think some facts are worth sharing:

•  Since 1975, nearly three times as many Vietnam veterans have committed suicide than were killed in the war.
• Fifty-eight-thousand-plus Americans died in the Vietnam War. Over 150,000 have committed suicide since the war ended.
• The suicide rate among veterans who have completed the local VA program is estimated at 2.5 per hundred.
• The national accidental death and suicide rate is fourteen thousand men per year—33 percent above the national average.
• Of those veterans who were married before going to Vietnam, 38 percent were divorced within six months after returning from Southeast Asia.
• The divorce rate amongst Vietnam veterans is above 90 percent.
• Five-hundred thousand Vietnam veterans have been arrested or incarcerated by the law. It is estimated that there are 100,000 Vietnam vets in prison today, and 200,000 on parole.
• Drug-and-alcohol abuse problems range between 50 percent and 75 percent.
• Forty percent of Vietnam veterans are unemployed and 25 percent earn less than seven thousand dollars per year.

 Chuck Dean has been instrumental in Point Man International. (800) 877-VETS (8387)

Point Man is a spiritually based veterans-for-veterans support organization. Visit

http://www.pmim.org for more info. They provide free resources for veterans of all wars.

Charlene’s Note:

I am praying that our new generation of combat veterans can avoid such horrendous statistics. They have support sytems in place that were unheard of for Vietnam veterans and their families. My goal as an information provider is to lead them to resources they may be unaware of. Let us hope they will truly take advantage of them.

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By Charlene Rubush, June 7, 2010 12:40 pm

Part Two:

More from the www.helpstartshere.org website article on tips for veterans and their spouses living with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: I’ve added a few of my own ideas too.

Things to Remember

•  Always be truthful with your vet. This builds trust. Tell him calmly when his behavior is not normal. If you don’t know if it’s normal, ask others, and observe others. Don’t walk on eggshells. 
• Accept that he probably will never be totally the same. He is now, in many ways, a different person.
• Grieve for what is lost, and move on. This is your life now, even though it’s not fair.
• Stay on top of medications. Try to notice the changes with new medications or when he stops taking meds, and report this calmly to your vet. Suggest he call his medication prescriber if the side effects are problematic. Running out of meds can trigger depression and other problems.
• Anticipate drug and alcohol problems. Learn about resources for you, your kids and for your vet. Find out what to do. Discourage him from isolating and drinking or doing drugs.
• If he isolates himself, point this out and encourage involvement with family, sources of help. Don’t go with isolation for long periods of time.
• Short periods of withdrawal to help control anger make sense, but withdrawing from life into a “bunker” is not helpful.
• When you have conflict, which is normal and to be expected, focus on the issue at hand and resist bringing up issues from the past. Stay focused on the issue, not the person and seek solutions, not who is to blame.
• If possible, set a time limit for hot topics of a few minutes, and take a time-out with an agreement to discuss this issue later. Be sure to again discuss later.
• If you feel concerned about violence in your home, bring others into the situation: your minister, a trusted friend, a counseling professional and talk about your concerns calmly when things are not escalated.
• Don’t keep any concerns about violence secret. If necessary, to protect yourself and your children, call the police!
• Sometimes war experiences cause a spiritual crisis, a loss of faith. If your vet’s not finding help with this, you might encourage him to keep looking. There are spiritual advisors who understand combat and PTSD.
• Physical exercise helps everyone release anxiety and tension. Stay active and   encourage your vet to do the same. Regular meals, good nutrition, plenty of rest and time for play help everyone cope with stress.
• Take care of yourself in many different ways. You matter just as much as your vet!!
• Handling traumatic stress in a loved one is very stressful for most partners! Learn and use stress reduction techniques, such as meditation, guided imagery, journaling about your feelings, talking to a friend, and joining a support group. Twelve step programs are free and found everywhere.

Enjoy the good times. When bad times come, hang on! Good times will come again.

 Stay tuned:

I’ll be sharing more from this website, and words from this particular support group. The Epilogue to the whole article states:

 “This is an article in progress. We are learning that many of the Iraq vets have traumatic brain injury as well as PTSD, which brings new challenges, and often requires a spouse to remember things for their vet.

We are learning that it is hard to tell how much someone can recover from a traumatic brain injury. We believe that drawing together in a community of support and encouragement is still the best way to face these unknowns, and we are grateful for the good company of one another.”

Visit:

http://www.helpstartshere.org