One reason suicides may be going up in Army

If I walked into a training session and heard any plans for starting crisis intervention in the middle of a tornado or hurricane, I would walk out the door. It seems they are doing this type of thing in Afghanistan. Good intentions? Absolutely. I've been complaining there isn't enough crisis intervention in the military and they have not responded the way civilians do when crisis teams hit it head on as soon as the event itself is over. Having them respond in combat areas is not that bad of an idea but when they are doing it to a soldier who already has PTSD, that idea is deadly. You cannot treat them for PTSD caused by traumatic events in combat while they are still in combat! You can't medicate it out of them either.

The other part to this story is for 5,000 soldiers there are two social workers, one psychiatrists and one psychologist! What good do they think this will do with so many men and women begin exposed to combat trauma on top of the stress of being redeployed over and over again? They are being medicated, probably with very little attention from the psychiatrist, and more than likely, no real therapy. All the ingredients necessary to help a soldier heal are spread out too far to do any good at all. Sending them back to help them is like sticking a tornado survivor into a wind tunnel and telling them it's for their own good.

Military keeps distressed soldiers at combat site

By HEIDI VOGT
The Associated Press
Saturday, July 31, 2010; 12:00 PM

The 5,000 troops that make up Task Force Mountain Warrior - which includes the Fort Carson soldiers - are served by a psychologist, a psychiatrist and two social workers. Collectively known to soldiers as "Combat Stress" - as in, "I had to go see Combat Stress" - this four-person team makes the rounds to about 30 bases. They arrive after any potential trauma: the death of a soldier, an arduous battle or a large roadside bombing.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE BOSTICK, Afghanistan -- Sgt. Thomas Riordan didn't want to return to Afghanistan after home leave. He had just fought through a battle that killed eight soldiers, and when he arrived home his wife said she was leaving. He almost killed himself that night.


When his psychologist asked what he thought he should do, Riordan said: Stay in Colorado.

Instead, the military brought Riordan back to this base in the eastern Afghan mountains, where mortar rounds sound regularly and soldiers have to wear flack jackets if they step outside their barracks before 8 a.m., even to go to the bathroom.

Increasingly, the army is trying to treat traumatized soldiers "in theater" - where they're stationed. The idea is that soldiers will heal best if kept with those who understand what they've been through, rather than being dumped into a treatment center back in the States where they'll be surrounded by unfamiliar people and untethered from their work and routine.

However, the policy may serve the military at least as much as the soldiers. Treating soldiers on site makes it easier to send them back into battle - key for a stretched military fighting two wars. It also brings up a host of challenges: Ensuring soldiers get the treatment they need in the middle of war, monitoring those on antidepressants and sleeping pills, and deciding who can be kept in a war zone and who might snap.

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Military keeps distressed soldiers at combat site