Comments on: Too little, too late http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/trouble/2007/03/01/too-little-too-late/ A blog about mental health Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:55:48 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Sally Taylor http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/trouble/2007/03/01/too-little-too-late/comment-page-1/#comment-1652 Sally Taylor Sun, 04 Mar 2007 20:57:53 +0000 http://trouble.pwblogs.com/2007/03/01/too-little-too-late/#comment-1652 This hits close to home for me. My niece was in Iraq and has PTSD. When she finally did go to the VA here in Portland, OR the first line of treatment from them was meds. She had a bad reaction to the meds, tried calling the nurse practitioner that prescribed them. She did not get a return call for 4 days. They then prescribed an anti-anxiety med to help her while she got off the other med. This new med just knocked her out. At her next visit she repeatedly requested (begged for) therapy and was told that wasn't part of the PTSD Program. (WTF?!?) She has been in real crisis and was in severe distress. She continued to request therapy and was repeatedly denied. The so-called PTSD expert she was seeing laughed at my niece, blamed my niece about the bad reaction to meds ("you knew what the side effects would be") and refused my nieces request to see a different doctor. I was livid when I found all this out. This could not be the same VAMC I myself have been recieving care from, could it? But it is. They kept focusing on the fact that she had been in the Air Force so that meant she hadn't been in combat. Well, she got sent over ther with no combat training whatsoever. She was placed at a base in Balad (Camp Anaconda) which was mortared daily. She had a mortar blow up right in front of her. She saw stuff there that would traumatize anyone. I wanted to pass on a resource for anyone reading this that lives in the Portland, OR area. If you cannot get the mental health care you need at the VA, contact Returning Veterans Resource Project NW (503-402-1717)(www.returningveterans,com) and you will be provided with FREE counseling. They have personnel trained in PTSD. I am appalled at how the VA as a whole is failing our veterans. I am not a very good letter writer but you can bet a lot of people are going to be getting a letter from me about this! This hits close to home for me. My niece was in Iraq and has PTSD. When she finally did go to the VA here in Portland, OR the first line of treatment from them was meds. She had a bad reaction to the meds, tried calling the nurse practitioner that prescribed them. She did not get a return call for 4 days. They then prescribed an anti-anxiety med to help her while she got off the other med. This new med just knocked her out.

At her next visit she repeatedly requested (begged for) therapy and was told that wasn’t part of the PTSD Program. (WTF?!?) She has been in real crisis and was in severe distress. She continued to request therapy and was repeatedly denied. The so-called PTSD expert she was seeing laughed at my niece, blamed my niece about the bad reaction to meds (”you knew what the side effects would be”) and refused my nieces request to see a different doctor.

I was livid when I found all this out. This could not be the same VAMC I myself have been recieving care from, could it? But it is.

They kept focusing on the fact that she had been in the Air Force so that meant she hadn’t been in combat. Well, she got sent over ther with no combat training whatsoever. She was placed at a base in Balad (Camp Anaconda) which was mortared daily. She had a mortar blow up right in front of her. She saw stuff there that would traumatize anyone.

I wanted to pass on a resource for anyone reading this that lives in the Portland, OR area. If you cannot get the mental health care you need at the VA, contact Returning Veterans Resource Project NW (503-402-1717)(www.returningveterans,com) and you will be provided with FREE counseling. They have personnel trained in PTSD.

I am appalled at how the VA as a whole is failing our veterans.

I am not a very good letter writer but you can bet a lot of people are going to be getting a letter from me about this!

]]> By: Annette http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/trouble/2007/03/01/too-little-too-late/comment-page-1/#comment-1651 Annette Thu, 01 Mar 2007 18:01:32 +0000 http://trouble.pwblogs.com/2007/03/01/too-little-too-late/#comment-1651 Liz, I have a cyber acquaintance who has been back from Iraq for awhile. She has PTS. She has a heck of a time with the VA's mental health services. She is practically in constant distress dealing with them. It's really sickening, I agree. Every war causes mental heath problems in many people. It's almost like the American VA doesn't want to admit that. The ERs in Iraq are supposed to be topnotch, lowering casualties to a degree never seen before. But the VA health care at home, as you know, has always been sub par, with people even afraid to go to the hospitals for surgery. Liz, I have a cyber acquaintance who has been back from Iraq for awhile. She has PTS. She has a heck of a time with the VA’s mental health services. She is practically in constant distress dealing with them.

It’s really sickening, I agree. Every war causes mental heath problems in many people. It’s almost like the American VA doesn’t want to admit that.

The ERs in Iraq are supposed to be topnotch, lowering casualties to a degree never seen before.

But the VA health care at home, as you know, has always been sub par, with people even afraid to go to the hospitals for surgery.

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