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By Charlene Rubush, November 28, 2012 3:44 pm

Another excellent website for our returning combat veterans and their families is www.militarymentalhealth.org.

On their site, you will find information that includes videos, health care resources, and related articles to help military families. The videos address many topics, including Dealing with Alcohol, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Being the Spouse Left Behind.

Through both interviews and acted scenarios, these videos reassure viewers that no one is alone. There is help for everyone.

In addition to videos, there’s a detailed listing of military referrals showing where to turn to for help and support. If you have questions about military mental health topics or want more facts, the section on related articles provides downloadable documents with important data and statistics.

You can also take an anonymous mental health assessment test.

This is a very expansive site loaded with vital, helpful resources. Check it out at:

http://www.militarymentalhealth.org

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By Charlene Rubush, June 20, 2012 10:28 pm

I love to pass on information about all the excellent websites aimed at helping our combat vets and their loved ones. On www.ptsdsupport.net you will find just about every aspect of PTSD covered.

They define PTSD this way:

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as currently defined, is caused by an overwhelming event outside the range of ordinary human experience, such as combat, a natural disaster, or a physical assault.

Here is just a sampling of what they offer:

Support Groups for:

• PTSD
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Chronic Pain
• Drugs
• Grief
• Female combat vets
• Morphine abuse
• Stress

Other topics available are:

• Combat PTSD
• Combat Stress Control
• Compassion Fatigue
• Deployment Support
• PTSD Symptoms
• PTSD Diagnosis
• PTSD Treatments
• Misdiagnosis of PTSD

This site also offers PTSD Links, as well as personal stories by soldiers who are winning the PTSD battle. Check it out. You’ll be glad you did.

http://www.ptsdsupport.net

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By Charlene Rubush, December 6, 2011 3:28 pm

Recently, I’ve been re-reading Back From the Front—Combat Trauma, Love, and the Family, by Aphrodite Matsakis.

I became aware of her work way back in the late 80’s when she first published Vietnam Veterans Wives. I’ll never forget the shock and excitement I felt when I found the book in a bookstore. I remember thinking “Finally. Someone knows that I exist!”

That book was priceless to me, and has helped in my education of PTSD, as well as in  my recovery. The fact that Matsakis published the book, helped me to feel somewhat “validated.” Up until that time, I had felt invisible and alone.

I believe she is a national treasure. She has worked with combat vets and their families for many years and her insights are amazing.

In Back from the Front, on pg. 439, she offers advice for the significant others of combat vets.

•       Do not tolerate abuse of any kind. Under no circumstances should your veteran’s difficulties be used as an excuse for emotional, physical, sexual, or economic abuse of you or anyone else.
•      Educate yourself. Knowledge is power. Learn all you can about PTSD, clinical depression, dissociation, addiction or whatever type of traumatic reaction and symptoms your loved one is experiencing.
•      Develop a support system for yourself. There will be times when your vet will not be emotionally or physically available to you. Hence you cannot make him the only source of  affection, companionship or affirmation in your life.

                   And always try to remember. Your veteran is important, and so are you!

I hope all of you will become familiar with Matsakis’s work. She is one of the most knowledgeable psychologists working with combat vets and their families. She has been in the field for over thirty years and has many trauma-related titles available.

I have been studying PTSD for many years, and I still continue to learn about this most complex of illnesses. Experts like Matsakis can teach us so much! Her website has listings of all of her books, plus many wonderful, insightful articles.

Check out her website for more information:

http://www.matsakis.com

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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