ptsd Ptsd Suicides Abound, Debriefing?

February 4, 2006

THE WAR AGAINST PTSD STARTS NOW!

(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

This website was created in the memory of our beloved Hero, SPC Joshua Omvig of the 339th MP Company, who was born in Wyoming on November 18, 1983 to proud parents, Randy and Ellen Omvig, and left a hole in his families hearts when he passed on December 22, 2005 at the age of 22 at his home in Iowa.

We will forever love and remember him.

We will NOT REST until NO LIFE IS EVER LOST TO THIS DEMON DISORDER... IT IS TREATABLE! IT IS PREVENTABLE!

We were BLESSED to be informed that THIS SITE SAVED A LIFE in it's FIRST MONTH!

YOU can SAVE A HUMAN LIFE... yes YOU!!! It's as easy as sharing this site with EVERYONE you know, and asking them to do the same... NOW!

...Read on....

Josh, rest now, go to the light.. we will continue to carry your torch....We LOVE YOU...

Love,Your Family

For PTSD INFORMATION, RESOURCES, AND SUPPORT CLICKS on the LINK BELOW:

http://www.posttraumaticstressdisordermilitary.com

http://groups.msn.com/PostTraumaticStressD...derMilitaryINFO

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#### Josh's Story ####

>>THE SHOT HEARD AROUND THE WORLD<<

Josh was a Proud American, an American Hero and a member of the United States Army Reserve 339th MP Company based in Davenport, Iowa. He recently returned from an 11 month tour of duty in Iraq, fighting for his country and it's people in "Operation Iraqi Freedom." Josh was a PROUD member of the Grundy Center American Lutheran Church, the Grundy Center Volunteer Fire Department, and the Grundy Center Police Reserves.

Josh insisted on graduating early from high school after joining the reserves at just 17 years of age. He was so excited about his future, he wanted to get into basic training as fast as he could....He had wanted, his whole life to be a police officer, and to serve and protect his country, and the citizens of his country, America. The Army Reserves was his ticket to achieving that dream.

......then came 911, The War Against Terror, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Iraq.

While serving is duty in Iraq for an 11 month "tour" the conditions where unimaginable, and worse yet were the UNSPEAKABLE "jobs" and "duties" they had to do.

Josh was a proud American, loved his country, and was proud to defend her and the freedoms of it's people. He knew why he had to do the things he and others did, he was just never able to recover from having seen and done them.

He came home a year ago with PTSD (POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER) and was never the same.

Josh's "DEBRIEFING" consisted of 15 minutes of "Welcome Home, Got any Problems? No? Great, See Ya"

THIS IS COMMON AMONG OUR RETURNING NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE UNITS!

THIS IS NOT EVEN THEIR PROTOCOL (rules) FOR DEBRIEFING! IT'S KILLING OUR KIDS WHAT THEY ARE DOING (OR NOT DOING)

We knew Josh was having a hard time, but not in ANY way to the extent it REALLY was. We surely didn't know it had a name, or that it was an epidemic with our American Heroes in and returning from Iraq.

We knew there was such a thing as PTSD, but it just never "clicked" that THIS was what was happening to our Josh!..Josh was the clown, the one with the smile, the one who made others feel better. He hid the magnitude this disorder had on him very well.

On Thurs. Dec. 22, 2005, just six weeks ago, our Josh took his life after leaving a note explaining his torment.

Through the course of Josh's viewing and funeral (attended by an overflow crowd of over 500), his family was made aware there were others suffering the same disorder, in silence, like Josh had.

While sitting in the Emergency Room for ONE HOUR with their dead son's body, being asked and explained about ORGAN DONATION, the nurse got off the phone with University Hospital in Iowa City and told Josh's parents that despite Josh's request to have his organs donated that "OH, I'M SORRY, WE FORGOT THAT HE CAN'T DONATE BECAUSE HE WAS IN THE MID EAST. HE HAS A VIRUS." When asked "WHAT Virus", they were 'put off' an never responded to. When BEGGED by Josh's parents to TEST him to SEE if he had a VIRUS "just in case he COULD DONATE".. They just said "WE WON'T CHECK ANY BODY, EVERYBODY FROM THE MID EAST HAS GOT IT"...it's a blanket policy!!

*note* We are still trying to get SOMEONE to tell us WHAT THIS VIRUS IS! And have since found out that RADIATION (DEPLETED URANIUM) is also a "EVERYBODY from the Mid East HAS IT!"

WARNING THE SITE BELOW IS GRAPHIC WITH HORRENDOUS PHOTOS OF CHILDREN BORN WITH THE BIRTH DEFECTS CAUSED BY DEPLETED URANIUM EXPOSURE IN IRAQ...DO NOT LET CHILDREN OR ANYONE UNDER 18 VIEW IT!!!!

(but it's necessary to accompany the written statements on this site with FACTS):

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?con...&articleId=1777

What will this do to those who survive? What about them having children? What about? What about? WE WANT ANSWERS AND THEY WON'T TALK TO US!~!!!

Since then, his family and I (Josh's Aunt Julie) have been doing TONS of research on PTSD and how our Military Heroes are having to deal with it as well as the problems they are facing with getting PROPER treatment. We have been searching the internet to find other Vets out there struggling, other families and loved ones devastated by PTSD... on message boards, email groups, military news groups, newspaper articles, tv news reports, etc....

there are THOUSANDS!!!

Josh never sought out help. We've also since learned it's very hard for our soldiers to talk about it.. period, let alone seek help! They are AFRAID TO!

STUDY:

Less Than Half of Soldiers With Mental Health Problems Seek Treatment

"For all returning soldiers, there were strong correlations between being shot at, handling dead bodies, knowing someone who was killed, or killing the enemy and the subsequent development of PTSD. And yet of those who met the criteria for a mental disorder, only 38% to 45% expressed an interest in receiving help, and only 23% to 40% reported receiving help in the past year. The participants who screened positive for a mental disorder were the least likely to seek treatment because of a fear of stigmatization, harming their careers, or other barriers."

Adobe Reader Required to View This Study:

http://www.iraqwarveterans.org/readjustment_deployment.htm

>>>This needs to change<<<

"Another Army study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine , found that 17 percent of U.S. combat troops, including Army and Marines, experienced major depression and combat stress, the highest rate since Vietnam."

"Just one-fourth to less than half of those with post-traumatic stress disorder sought help, according to the Army study. And some 65 percent of those questioned said they worry that if they asked for help, it would make them look weak or affect their military careers."

(From the Dallas News December 3, 2005)

The government won't give them REAL help unless they are completely incapacitated (unable to work/function)...this is not the case in almost all I've met/seen. They are nearly all functioning...but in HELL.

One Wife's TRAGIC Story (click link below):

http://www.politicalcortex.com/story/2005/12/22/141235/16

or

http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/schedul...5f/spelkey.html

Chairman Steve Buyer (R-IN) said in that hearing:

“We have, since the days when it was called ‘shell shock’, learned much about PTSD,” said Buyer, who identified access to care as a problem for returning servicemembers. “We have much more to learn so that we can accurately diagnose it and effectively treat it. Congress must ensure VA has the resources to do both.”

Results from that Hearing:

An amendment to the Tax Relief Act of 2005, aimed to allocate an additional $500 million for post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] and substance abuse counseling for returning Vets.

IT WAS VOTED DOWN!

BUT THEY DID OK $ 45,980,000 of your tax dollars for things like THIS:

$1 million to preserve a sewer in Trenton, NJ, as a historic monument....read more:

http://www.areddy.net/mscott/porkabs.html

and this:

http://www.areddy.net/mscott/porkpri.html

worse yet? There's more:

http://www.akdart.com/abu7.html

OUR AMERICAN VETS ARE SUFFERING, IT'S FAR BIGGER THAN JUST ONE STORY! HERE ARE MORE:

The photo of the ‘Marlboro Man’ in Fallujah became a symbol of the Iraq conflict when it ran in newspapers across America in 2004. The man in the photograph is James Blake Miller, now 21, and suffering from PTSD, Military Related...his story:

http://tinyurl.com/e34x6

Andrew Murphy, who developed PTSD after serving with the armed forces in Bosnia in 1993, hopes this will mean others get the help that he found it difficult to receive. read more:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4373607.stm

"Some of what I’ve learned about this disorder pertains to all PTSD sufferers, but most of what I’ve learned pertains to the trauma of war. I am a Vietnam Veteran. I flew Cobra Gunships in Vietnam. After a recent episode in which I had been turned into a babbling, stuttering idiot and locked up at the local Veterans Hospital" read more:

http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/mental_health/ptsd.htm

23-year-old Jesus Bocanegra spent four and a half years in the military, including a year as a cavalry scout in Iraq. He’s now out of the military and living with his family in the town of Elsep in South Texas. But the war is still with him, so much so that he’s been treated for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He shares this story. read more:

http://www.youthradio.org/reflections/npr051123_ptsd.shtml

When scientists study the psychiatric injuries of war, they usually study it in men. But now more women are coming back from Iraq with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Abbie Pickett of the Wisconsin National Guard faces a continuing struggle to get her life back on track. read more:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4676372

"Vietnam War for combat veteran Edward (Robbie) Robinson was leaning over a 19-year old kid with a chest wound received in combat near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). "Don't let me die! I want my mom!" he cried. Robinson, of the 3rd Division, 9th Marines, knew there was nothing he could do. So he cradled him in his arms, gently murmuring, "it's okay, mommy's here." When he died, "the best part of me died with him," Robinson said. "To this day, I tell my wife, and she understands it, that I can never be close to her in an act of love the way I was holding that kid in my arms!"

read more:

http://www.burningofthemarriagehat.com/ptsd.html

And there are TENS OF THOUSANDS MORE STORIES

(we will post more links to them here each week)!

MORE HEROES LOST TOO SOON TO THIS DISORDER:

http://domcampisi.memory-of.com/About.aspx

http://www.becky-marseglia.memory-of.com/

http://steven-logan.memory-of.com/about.aspx

http://suicideandmentalhealthassociationin...emorialday.html

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6886

Heartbreakingly, there are HUNDREDS MORE to be added (we will add more here each week)

>>>PLEASE KNOW<<<

We, Josh's family are NOT Anti-President, Anti-Government, Anti-War, or Anti- ANYTHING BUT...

ANTI-POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

We do not wish to make this site a political forum, we all have the freedom (because our Vets fought for it) to choose and voice our opinions. But please keep THIS site about PTSD and FACTS about it.

*HERE ARE THE FACTS*

*ONE IN SIX Iraqi war vets are suffering from this disorder!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heart/view/

*OUR VETS ARE NOT GETTING THE HELP THEY NEED even when hospitalized!

http://www.catholicpeacefellowship.org/nextpage.asp?m=2110

*More than a MILLION came home from Vietnam with it!

*58,000 plus died in the Vietnam War. Over 150,000 have committed suicide due to PTSD since the war ended".

http://www.suicidewall.com/SWStats.html

*Researchers feel there may be a link to the malaria drug they are taking in Iraq (which has a side effect of causing suicidal thoughts!).

*THERE NEED TO BE IMMEDIATE CHANGES IN HOW THE VA IS HANDLING THESE CASES

http://www.vva.org/TheVeteran/2004_03/feature_VA.htm

* TOO MANY SOLDIERS GET TURNED AWAY FROM THE VA DUE TO GOVERNMENT "LACK OF FUNDS"

http://www.house.gov/defazio/102005VARelease.shtml

*WHAT HELP THEY DO GET FROM THE VA IS A NIGHTMARE AND DISGRACE!

http://vva899.org/_wsn/page5.html

*Approximately 8 percent of all adults – one of 13 people in this country – will develop PTSD during their lifetime.

*There are no borders when it comes to PTSD, all of our ALLIES and their brave Heroes in the "War Against Terror" are vulnerable to this disorder!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4632263.stm

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/7135

*"Puget Sound PTSD specialists call the disorder one of the "hidden wounds of war." It can't be stitched up, earns no Purple Heart and can fester over a lifetime.

*"The specialists predict the trickle of affected soldiers from Iraq now coming into clinics will turn into a flood, with serious consequences for strained Veterans Affairs budgets and for taxpayers who foot disability bills."

*"We hear about the thousands of injuries -- brain injuries, leg injuries, arm injuries -- but rarely do we hear about the psychological casualties in war," said PTSD expert Dr. Evan Kanter, a neuroscientist and staff psychiatrist at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle"

*"There will be tens of thousands of these, and the cost of that will be tremendous."

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If you or someone you love suspects you may be suffering from PTSD

*ITS NOT YOUR FAULT, YOU ARE NOT CRAZY AND YOU SHOULD NOT HIDE THE FACT YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS. RECENT STUDIES HAVE PROVED THE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF THIS DISORDER (WHY ONE GETS IT AND ANOTHER DOESN'T) IS AS SIMPLY EXPLAINED AS BEING RIGHT HANDED OR LEFT HANDED!! ALL PEOPLE ARE RIGHT OR LEFT BRAINED AND THE STUDY PROVES RIGHT BRAINED PEOPLE BY FAR ARE MORE LIKELY TO DEVELOP PTSD AFTER TRAUMA!

http://www.abc.net.au/quantum/scripts98/9813/mindscpt.htm

*CONCUSSIVE SYNDROME (HEAD TRAUMA, EAR DAMAGE, ETC.) CAN AND DOES LEAD TO POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER BUT PTSD SUFFERERS ARE NOT BEING TREATED FOR IT!