Are Soldiers with PTSD Being Wrongfully Discharged?

[edward]

Many soldiers who are being treated by the Army for PTSD are now routinely being discharged without benefits. The soldiers are given a discharge due to a supposed, "personality disorder" ,even though they have completed one or more tours in Iraq. This type of discharge leaves them with no VA medical benefits. Video included in link.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/WoodruffReports/

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/WoodruffReports/story?id=3368726&page=1

I see a catch 22 in all of this. Soldiers are encouraged to ask for help with PTSD, when they do many are discharged with no benefits.

Edit: It would appear that many of the Misdiagnosed cases and discharges were intentional.

Fort Carson soldiers have accused Army officials of everything from deploying them to Iraq with brain injuries to punishing them for behavior related to their combat injuries.

The soldiers also say that after Veterans for America asked for an investigation by the Army inspector general, no one from the IG’s office talked to them before submitting a report that essentially said no problems had been found.

http://www.veteransforamerica.org/ArticleID/9639

 

[Astronuc]

Many soldiers who are being treated by the Army for PTSD are now routinely being discharged without benefits. The soldiers are given a discharge due to a supposed, "personality disorder"

If that is true, then it is an insult and a slap in the face of US troops by the Bush administration.

I have never met anyone who wasn't affected by direct combat experience, and that includes going on patrol where one doesn't necessarily fire a gun, but one faces the potential of being shot and wounded or killed. Police personnel on the streets face similar stress.

Those back in Washington in their comfy offices far away would be loathe to put themselves in harm's way.

 

[BobG]

Many soldiers who are being treated by the Army for PTSD are now routinely being discharged without benefits. The soldiers are given a discharge due to a supposed, "personality disorder" ,even though they have completed one or more tours in Iraq. This type of discharge leaves them with no VA medical benefits. Video included in link.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/WoodruffReports/

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/WoodruffReports/story?id=3368726&page=1

I see a catch 22 in all of this. Soldiers are encouraged to ask for help with PTSD, when they do many are discharged with no benefits.

Edit: It would appear that many of the Misdiagnosed cases and discharges were intentional.

An old post, but that's because it's a problem that slides along under the radar and because it takes a long time for things to change. (You saw the same thing with "Gulf War Syndrome" after the first Gulf War).

Things have slowly changed and they probably just took another shift: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/nov/08/general-bucks-culture-silence-mental-health/life/

Major General Blackledge was one of the speakers at the http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123125653 held at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Blackledge was a Brigadier General serving as part of the military civil affairs portion of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. They focused on small civil engineering projects such as getting electrical power for hospitals, etc. The fact that he was promoted to Maj Gen after receiving psychiatric treatment for PTSD is pretty significant.

 

[Proton Soup]

An old post, but that's because it's a problem that slides along under the radar and because it takes a long time for things to change. (You saw the same thing with "Gulf War Syndrome" after the first Gulf War).

Things have slowly changed and they probably just took another shift: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/nov/08/general-bucks-culture-silence-mental-health/life/

Major General Blackledge was one of the speakers at the http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123125653 held at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Blackledge was a Brigadier General serving as part of the military civil affairs portion of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. They focused on small civil engineering projects such as getting electrical power for hospitals, etc. The fact that he was promoted to Maj Gen after receiving psychiatric treatment for PTSD is pretty significant.

article says he was following protocol. of course, he passed PTSD training with flying colors and is a model for other soldiers.