New Help for Veterans with PTSD, substance abuse disorders

Proposed Rules Change Would Make it Easier for Vets to File for PTSD-Related Benefits

Here's a bit of overdue good news for our veterans who are living with PTSD and/or substance abuse disorders.

First, the Veterans Administration is looking to make it easier for some vets to qualify for PTSD-related benefits. Previously, many vets had to provide evidence of a traumatic event during their military service. (Because, while experiencing the event/s that caused your PTSD, the first thing were worried about was making sure you'd be able to prove it later.)

Under the proposed change, the veteran's lay testimony will be sufficient evidence, subject to review by a psychologist or psychiatrist to confirm that the event/s were sufficient to cause the vet's PTSD and were linked to the vet's military service.

Combat veterans and former prisoners of war are already allowed to qualify using a streamlined process, according to the report, so they will not be affected by the proposed change.

According to the report, "The proposed change is aimed in large part at the many troops in the current wars whose jobs do not involve combat with the enemy but nonetheless may experience traumatic events that lead to PTSD, such as combat support personnel and health care providers."

The VA is accepting comments about the proposed change through October 23rd. If you know a vet with PTSD, are a vet with PTSD, or care about our nation's duty to our veterans, please take a moment to hop over and comment now.

Be Careful! The comment site, www.regulations.gov, is one of the most difficult to navigate that I have ever seen!

New Non-Profit Organization Aims to Fund More Care for Vets with PTSD

Yesterday saw the announced launch of the Veterans Healing Initiative, a non-profit seeking to bridge the gaps between available VA-funded treatment for vets living with PTSD and/or substance-abuse disorders and the huge need generated by the current wars.

According to the VIA's mission statement,

At VHI we will:

• Raise funds for licensed existing treatment centers across the country that provide evidence-based, best practices, dual-diagnosis treatment for substance abuse and PTSD and have a dedicated veterans treatment track
• Fund growth of veteran-focused recovery programs, create capacity and uncover treatment models that can be replicated nationally
• Develop a consortium of treatment programs that will work with federal, state and local agencies to facilitate the growth of and ongoing research into comprehensive dual-diagnosis care for men and women veterans
• Work collaboratively with federal, state and local agencies, Veterans Drug Courts and other charitable organizations to promote and develop veteran recovery programs
• Expand the growing national dialogue about these disorders through public service ads, fundraising initiatives, conferences and on-line resources to create new programs for veterans and their families

The organization's founders and Board of Governors are an eclectic group of business, mental health, and media professionals. They have already recommended some programs -- though there is no indication on the organization's Web site that those programs have received VHI funding yet. And, of course, we'll want to keep track of their budget in terms of how much is being raised and how much ultimately ends up directly helping our vets.

Still, this seems like progress to me. Comments?

Image courtesy of Dom Cruse via flickr.

Insurance Law Changes May Affect Your Mental Health Treatment

The 2008 Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act will go into effect on January 1st of 2010, about five months from now.

This law mandates that health insurance companies cover physical and mental health treatment equally. That is, if the company already provides treatment for symptoms of psychiatric illnesses.

Obviously, this change in the law could be very good for those of us with health insurance who deal with trauma-related symptoms of mental illness.

For more detailed information on how the new law could affect your health insurance coverage, visit the American Psychological Association's help page on the issue.

Ecstasy For Agony?

Forgive the play on the original title; I couldn't help myself. All kidding aside, though, this piece in Mother Jones has some fascinating things to say about the uses of MDMA, also known as Ecstasy, as part of a particular course of psychological therapy for PTSD.

The article is informative on several counts, primarily in discussing studies into the use of MDMA in exposure-based therapies, where clients repeatedly confront their fears in a safe, controlled environment.

"The therapy requires patients to confront their anxieties, but researchers believe medication — including MDMA — can help by making the patient feel safer, more in control, more able to process emotions and less evasive or dispirited."

And did you know that MDMA was being studied as a therapy for psychiatric symptoms back in the 80's? I didn't, but I also wasn't surprised to read the history of our government's ban on the drug and how that ban slowed research for many years. Once again, we're reminded that according to US drug policy, "If it feels good, don't do it -- even if it's good for you."

Finally, the article provides a good overview of exposure therapy. According to the two Norwegian scientists interviewed by Mother Jones,

"There is a common misconception that psychotherapy is a really long process of vaguely defined 'talking' and that it probably isn't that effective anyway. Actually, exposure therapy (in particular "prolonged exposure therapy," as developed by Dr. Edna Foa at the University of Pennsylvania) is short-term, structured, based on scientific behavioral principles of conditioning and extinction, and validated by many controlled studies. For most patients, exposure therapy has clinically significant effects on anxiety after a few hours, and for PTSD, exposure therapy has demonstrated long-term positive results after 10 to 12 hourlong weekly therapy sessions."

If you have an interest in any of these subjects, take a moment and check out the full article.

Note from the Management: to April

For reasons I can't fathom, Blogger isn't allowing me to post replies to comments right now.

This note is to April who commented on the recent post regarding Psychiatric Service Dogs:

April, would you be willing to do a quick guest post about life with your service dog? Details about your partnership, how you adopted him, and your training protocals may well be helpful to others.

Yet Another New Beginning: DBT

Tomorrow I'm beginning a new chapter in my own healing journey.

After 15 years of tearing down and rebuilding my life, I'm at something of an impasse. I've become increasingly proficient at figuring out the why's of my reactions -- after the fact.

After the fact isn't good enough when "during the fact," so to speak, leads to difficulties being with other people, keeping jobs, and occasionally even having a civil discussion with my one living family member.

Which leads me to tomorrow. I'll be going to Wayne State University for a full battery of assessments prior to joining a Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) group. So far, my research (along with the positive advice of a Peer Support friend of mine who leads a DBT group) leads me to believe that this type of therapy will teach me how to respond rather than react to the many things which still seem to trigger me.

In other words, it's time for me to learn a new behavioral Standard Operating Procedure; one in which I'm in charge of what happens when I'm triggered.

This is going to be a six-month process after the group starts. I'll be posting updates on the process here periodically. Perhaps my experiences can help someone else decide whether DBT is for them, or at least provide some solid information from a first-person point of view.

Something New Every Day: Psychiatric Service Dog Society

Sometimes I'm a bit slow.

For example, I've become used to seeing dogs at Peer Support trainings. However, I just assumed that any dogs wearing service vests most likely were helping their owners live with other disabilities.

Yesterday my ignorance on this count was remedied through the good auspices of the Psychiatric Service Dog Society, which I found while bouncing from article to article doing research for this blog.

Thinking about it, it would seem to be common sense that dogs could be a tremendous help to people living with symptoms of both PTSD and other psychiatric conditions, if only through their gift of unconditional love for their owners.

But it's more than that. Psychiatric Service dogs can be trained to help us wake up when we oversleep, for example, or remind us to take our meds. And what could be more soothing to those of us with social anxiety than the protecting, loving presence of our dog with us in a public place?

If there's even a chance that a Psychiatric Service Dog would be helpful to you or someone you know, or you're even just curious, check the site out. It is well-researched and full of information to quench your curiosity, help you make a decision about getting a service dog and/or help you get started.

There is valuable information for clinicians as well, including research into the therapeutic benefits of Psychiatric Service Dogs.

Note from the Management

Apologies for the lack of posting yesterday as I played catch-up from Labor Day. Sometimes it's Good to take time off!