PTSD FACTS
A figure of “390,000 Vets have PTSD” is often used - that number is likely underestimating the real number
http://www.factcheck.org/2015/07/sanders-ptsd-statistic/
http://www.factcheck.org/2015/07/sanders-ptsd-statistic/
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This number is based just on veterans returning from Afghanistan & Iraq - in ADDITION it is believed that more than 250,000 Vietnam Veterans suffer from PTSD. Whether the number is 390,000 + 250,000 (Sen. Bernie Sanders number) or 300,000 + 250,000, either way the number is larger than 500,000
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PTSD TREATMENT comes in two forms:
Only about 50% of Veterans who SEEK PTSD CBT Therapy are able to get an appointment. However a Rand study shows that only 30%-40% of Vets with PTSD/depression actually seek help from the VA Health System. (Invisible Wounds of War, Rand Corporation).
- Mental Health Counseling - Cognitive Behavior Therapy Has some success in actually CURING PTSD patients so that they no longer need counseling, nor...
- Medication - this does not cure PTSD, it just helps manage PTSD symptoms
Only about 50% of Veterans who SEEK PTSD CBT Therapy are able to get an appointment. However a Rand study shows that only 30%-40% of Vets with PTSD/depression actually seek help from the VA Health System. (Invisible Wounds of War, Rand Corporation).
SAMPLE MATH
If we take 500,000 veterans (to make math easy) and say that only 35% of Veterans try to get an appointment - that is 175,000 veterans who try. If only 50% of those can get an appointment - that is only 87,500 veterans who actually get to see someone.
If we take 500,000 veterans (to make math easy) and say that only 35% of Veterans try to get an appointment - that is 175,000 veterans who try. If only 50% of those can get an appointment - that is only 87,500 veterans who actually get to see someone.
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WHY do 60%-70% not bother? Veterans are likely to return home after deployment where they have a social network. While only 19% of the USA’s population lives in Rural America, almost 38% of our nation’s Veterans do. A Dept. of Defense task force found that significant number of veterans face constrained access to care when they return to their communities.
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Returning Vets want to go home to family and friends, and if “Home” is Rural America doing so typically means that the Vet will be unlikely to get the Mental Health treatment that they deserve, Appointments at a VA center are too far away to travel and too difficult to schedule. This leaves only Medication as an option (more on that below).
So what happens to Vets who DO TRY to get treatment? The most common mental health therapy is called Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy. It is widely considered to be about 40% effective, and even then Symptom Recurrence happens quite often within a few months following treatment.
Completing the math - so if only 40% of the 87,500 vets who go through treatment have a successful outcome, then just 35,000 have a successful outcome. That is just 7% of all of those who SHOULD be able to get treatment, and be cured.
So what happens to Vets who DO TRY to get treatment? The most common mental health therapy is called Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy. It is widely considered to be about 40% effective, and even then Symptom Recurrence happens quite often within a few months following treatment.
Completing the math - so if only 40% of the 87,500 vets who go through treatment have a successful outcome, then just 35,000 have a successful outcome. That is just 7% of all of those who SHOULD be able to get treatment, and be cured.
We have to come up with a system and solution that offers our Veterans a better than 7% chance of being cured of PTSD.
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Realize that these numbers are for the Veterans who TRY to get a Mental Health appointment.
What about the 60% - 70% who do not bother to try? More than likely they are prescribed Sertraline (also known as Zoloft). It’s hard to find a Mental Health professional who can help a Veteran in Rural America, but finding pharmacies is pretty easy, and writing prescriptions does not take much effort. The problem is that this does NOT give the Vet a chance to be cured. It is just “kicking the can down the road”. The Vet will need more medication the following year, and then again the year after that |
In addition all too often a Vet who has severe PTSD symptoms and is medicated on Zoloft has great difficulty in both getting and holding onto meaningful employment. This means that not only is the Treatment MORE expensive and LESS effective, but there is a likelihood that the Vet will need to go on disability for their PTSD which adds even more expense. Our Vets are from an all volunteer military - people like this WANT to contribute and they have proven it by their service.
We have the best prepared, best trained, best equipped military in the world. Our warriors have prevailed in conflict after conflict because we ensure that they are the best prepared force in the world for Armed Conflict. Unfortunately we don’t prepare nor equip them for what follows. Now we finally have a chance to do that right as well.
We have the best prepared, best trained, best equipped military in the world. Our warriors have prevailed in conflict after conflict because we ensure that they are the best prepared force in the world for Armed Conflict. Unfortunately we don’t prepare nor equip them for what follows. Now we finally have a chance to do that right as well.