Vets with post-traumatic stress are offered counseling at centers

The sooner the veterans get help, the easier it will be to overcome their problems.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Despite the Iraq war's relative newness, its mental health casualties are starting to trickle into the Youngstown Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic seeking help, VA mental health officials said.
The type of traumatic events that occur in all wars, including the Iraq War, can cause mental health problems that are some of the most serious and long-lasting, nonphysical injuries suffered by American soldiers, VA officials said.
About 20 percent, or 1 in 5, of combat soldiers who have fought in Iraq (not including those severely injured and removed from their units, or reserve and National Guard personnel) have mental problems re-adjusting to civilian life, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, according to a military study published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine.
PTSD is an anxiety disorder that was called battle fatigue or shell shock in earlier wars.
Thomas J. Mako, a psychologist at the Youngstown VA Clinic on Belmont Avenue, urged veterans who think they may have a problem to come in and be evaluated.
"The sooner the vets get help, the easier it will be to overcome their problems," he said.
The disorder
Dortheann Metzinger, a re-adjustment counselor for the VA Center in Atlanta, Ga., said she has been treating operation Iraqi Freedom veterans for PTSD since December 2003.
Metzinger, formerly of Canfield, said the onset of PTSD is different for each person. Symptoms can appear shortly after the traumatic experience or months or event years later. However, symptoms must last more than four weeks for it to considered PTSD, she said.
Vet Centers, like the one where Metzinger works, were specifically established to address the re-adjustment needs of combat veterans. VA Vet Centers in Ohio are in Cleveland Heights, Parma, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton.
A single exposure to a traumatic event that results in intense fear or helplessness is enough to cause some people to develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, Metzinger said.
Mako, of Poland, said the severity of the problem varies from person to person because the intensity of every trauma varies and because traumas affect every individual differently.
Returning memories
Any number of things can trigger PTSD: a loud noise, battle scenes on television or a movie. Veterans with PTSD have a strong desire to avoid any reminder of any war, said Mako, who did his undergraduate work at Youngstown State University and received a master's degree from Kent State University.
The Youngstown VA offers individual and group counseling for PTSD victims. Group therapy is preferable because it lets the veteran know he or she is not alone, Mako said.
He said the behavior of veterans with PTSD is understandable. But while they may not have had control over what happened to them, they are encouraged to take responsibility for current behavior and decisions.
"PTSD is not curable, but you can learn to manage and overcome some of the symptoms," Mako said.
Coming to terms
One of the natural tendencies of veterans is to forget the traumatic incident.
"Unfortunately, the longer you avoid it, the harder it can be to overcome the symptoms," Mako said.
Metzinger said educating themselves about PTSD is among a number of things family and friends can do to help a returning soldier.
Let him talk if and when he is ready. Allow him to have quiet time when needed and don't push him to participate in activities with which he is not comfortable, she said.
But please, she said, don't tell a returning soldier to put the past behind him or to "get over it"; his memories of war will be with him the rest of his life. And don't ask him how many people he killed or what he saw, Metzinger said.
"I think civilians and military personnel tend to underestimate how hard it is to live with the effects of war after the battle is over," Mako said.
Civilians would prefer that soldiers just "move on" when they get home. Not all soldiers have PTSD, but for those who do, it's not that easy to move on, Mako said.
alcorn@vindy.com