From the Hartford Courant:

Veterans coming home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with debilitating mental ailments are discovering that their disability payments from the government vary widely, depending on where they live, a McClatchy Newspapers analysis has found.

As a result, many of the recent veterans who are getting monthly payments for post-traumatic stress disorder from the Department of Veterans Affairs could lose tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits over their lifetimes.

… McClatchy’s analysis is based on 3 million disability compensation-claims records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, as well as separate documents that the VA provided.

Army medical study: Increasing numbers of returning soldiers cite relationship problems

From ABC News, Time Magazine:

One out of every five active-duty Army soldiers and 42 percent of Army Reservists who have served in Iraq cite mental health concerns months after they return home, according to a new Army medical study.

The study highlights the importance of mental health care for returning Iraq veterans in the months after they return home and the need to spot potential mental health issues early. Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) the study tracked the mental health of 88,000 Army combat veterans by comparing their responses in a mental health questionnaire filled out upon their return home with a second mental health screening three to six months later.

The study found that soldiers are more likely to report mental health problems in the second screening at “significantly higher rates” than in the initial screening. The mental health concerns include symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, mental stress and alcohol abuse.

From an Associated Press report in the International Herald Tribune:

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards will unveil a $400 million plan Monday to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. The plan would widen options for counseling and treatment.

“I strongly believe we must restore the sacred contract we have with our veterans and their families, and that we must begin by reforming our system for treating PTSD. We also must act to remove the stigma from this disorder,” Edwards said in prepared remarks his campaign provided to The Associated Press.

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Minnesota lacks adequate mental health services for veterans returning from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, especially outstate, a study authorized by the legislature concluded.

… “Our study … confirmed that local — and especially rural — services for veterans returning with mental issues including TBI and PSTD are primitive or non-existent; the most common direction given to those seeking help was to [go to a hospital] emergency room,” [the] report said.

Scientists find that one therapy is shown to help disorder; evidence of drugs’ benefits inconclusive

From the Washington Post:

The majority of treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder that are used to treat hundreds of thousands of veterans lack rigorous scientific evidence that they are effective, according to a report issued yesterday by a panel of the federal government’s top scientists.

The report by the National Academies emphasized that the therapies might not be useless. Rather, it said, the evidence is weak when it comes to drawing any kind of conclusion about most of them.

Department responds to appeals of PTSD patient

After a West Virginia veteran was featured prominently in a Washington Post article, The Department of Veterans Affairs has doubled his disability benefits and assured him he will receive mental health services to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder. The action followed a visit to Troy Turner and his wife by Antonette Zeiss, deputy director for mental health services for the entire VA system.

The former infantry scout acknowledged yesterday that VA’s decision will help him, but he expressed concern about others caught in the backlog of claims and appeals. “I just hope they do it for the rest of them,” Turner said. “Not just for me, but for all of us.”

… Acknowledging that not all disabled veterans get their compensation doubled overnight or receive house calls from VA’s deputy chief of mental health, Lisette M. Mondello, VA’s assistant secretary for public affairs, said yesterday, “It was an opportunity to take one person’s experience to see how we are handling it, and translate it to see if there are more things that can be done for other patients.”

See earlier post here.

Georgia focus on mental health system stirs optimism

Accessible park is built to foster relationship between kids

Columnist: PTSD diagnosis can affect the whole family

Sinead O’Connor on her bipolar disorder diagnosis