I tend to agree with Geoff here. It's been my experience that folks with PTSD and other mental illnesses judge themselves at least as harshly as the general public. I would really like to see this stop happening. It's counter productive and really unfair. Calling people "whiners" and talking about coping difficulties as "pity parties" is well, kinda cold. It's like picking on someone for wearing glasses: unnecessary and not helpful. I think if you are one of those people who's got solid coping skills it may be hard to understand people who don't, but it's as individual as pain tolerance. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for another.

I count PTSD as MI because I'm more interested in actual manifestation than verbage re:treatment: Reality vs. the ideal/currently accepted definition. Dogs have worked successfully with people that medication couldn't help. It's a system that works when applied within socially appropriate parameters. I respect veterans whether they coped well or not. They did something I don't have the stones to do. I support whatever helps. I'll always lean toward the side of compassion over judgment.

When I got back from Iraq, the VA diagnosed me with PTSD.
Between that and hearing loss, tinnitis and major lower back issues (all due to being blown up), I am rated at 60% disabled by the VA.

The Army, and society do a terrific job of convincing all soldiers that they will most assuredly get PTSD from combat. Over the duration of your training, pre-deployment, pre-R&R, pre-return and every 30 days after your return, you have to sit through briefings about PTSD.

After sitting through all of those briefings, and then turning on the news and hearing constant news reports about PTSD, after awhile, Veterans get pretty convinced that if they DON'T have PTSD, there's something wrong with them.

Then they get taught that PTSD ruins your life. It's a horrible, damning sentance.

We fail to tell Vets a few crucial things.

Having PTSD is not an all-or-nothing equation. To borrow an analogy from the foremost researcher in the field of combat psychology, LTC David Grossman (RET), PTSD is more like being overweight.

A person can be a mere 5 lbs overweight. Barely noticable. The weight may effect them in some mild way in their daily lives, but it really isn't a major problem.

Then you have people who are 100 lbs overweight. The weight will probably kill them. They are painfully aware of the burdern 24-hours a day, and it impacts dramatically everything they do.

PTSD is somewhat like that. And in the past, we were only able to diagnose folks that had 100 lbs of PTSD.
We've gotten better at noticing and treating PTSD, and now we're finding guys that only have 5 lbs of PTSD.

The second thing we fail to tell our Vets, the thing they failed to tell me when I came home and began struggling with PTSD, is that it isn't a life sentance.

You can have PTSD, and it can be very much like getting the flu, or measles. It can really, really mess you up for awhile. I know it did me.
You can be pretty damned sick.

BUT, you can also get better. And guess what, now you've built up an immunity.

You CAN get better. And you will be a stronger person for it. PTSD is NOT a life sentence, and it isn't a permanent thing.
You get help, you fight as hard to overcome PTSD as you ever did in combat, and you get through it.

When you come out the other side, just like when you've had the measles, you're immune. The next time, it won't get you down. You've built up a stress immunity. What doesn't kill you, really DOES make it stronger.

I have seen the system abused; trust me. There is no lab test or CT Scan done to prove whether or not someone has PTSD (or any mental health disorder). It's all based on what the patient reports.

After attending about 10 breifings where the signs and symptoms of PTSD are repeated over and over, how hard is it for someone to lie? Not hard at all. Returning Vets generally get the benefit of the doubt. I've personally seen people scam the VA with PTSD claims.

Myself, I don't collect my Disability money from the VA. No double-dipping. No VA money on Active Duty.
I could easily request a Fitness for Duty board, exagerate the extent of my PTSD, say my back hurts too much, and end up with a Medical Retirement from the Army, and go live comfortably off an Army Retirement, Social Security and the VA.

PTSD isn't a life sentance.
When we approach PTSD with the idea that it is a disability, we only HURT the Vets that have it.

We need to look at PTSD as part of the VERY NORMAL reaction to combat trauma, and as part of the healing process. It's a process, not a disability. By treating it like a disability, we encourage people to accept the way things are and never get better.

I get what you're saying here, and I agree with it - I think PTSD disorder is, for the most part, treatment responsive. But couldn't having a service dog allow some people - maybe not everyone - to help bridge back to wellness? Not a pity party, but simply what works for them?

The problem is, where do you draw the line?

If someone recovers, do you take the dog away? What motivates someone to recover then?

How do you determine if people are being truthful? Anyone can claim to have PTSD. We'll have every Tom, Dick and Mary taking their obnoxious dogs everywhere, because "I have PTSD".

It's definitely more open to abuse than physical disorders. Well, look at DSM-IV - how many symptoms overlap from each diagnosis? Mental disorders are very open to interpretation, and could be 'scammed'.

I guess I'm just not sure that b/c there are unethical people scamming the system that those who genuinely have an issue should not have access to different types of help and treatment.

I think that it is possible to use dogs as a form of therapy and treatment for PTSD sufferers. Essentially, that's what Danke was for me for my first 6 months at home.

That said, I don't think Service Dogs are the answer. If anything, they can become a crutch that prevents real progress and recovery.

Having a dog is great for mental health.

When I had days where I could barely face myself, let along the world, Danke forced me to get up and at least take her for a walk. She didn't have to be a Service Dog to do that.

When I couldn't stand to be around other people, but was scared to be alone- Danke bridged the gap. She didn't have to be a Service Dog to do that.

Therapy Dogs for PTSD, definitely.

Service Dogs for PTSD, No.

 Quote: Jennifer Mullen

It's definitely more open to abuse than physical disorders. Well, look at DSM-IV - how many symptoms overlap from each diagnosis? Mental disorders are very open to interpretation, and could be 'scammed'.

I guess I'm just not sure that b/c there are unethical people scamming the system that those who genuinely have an issue should not have access to different types of help and treatment.

There are scammers everywhere Jenn that is just human nature.

But the bottom line is the person who is 'really' suffering is just that. They suffer.

I don't disagree at all Geoff. That's why I believe that treatment should be set up to help those who are suffering, regardless of the existence of less-than-ethical individuals out there. Because the illness does have to be addressed for those who have it, so that they don't suffer. That to me should be the bottom line. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

I think the issue of fakers is irrelevant. People use guns to kill each other, so should we ban guns? Some medications that save lives have the potential to kill people who are allergic to them, should they be made unavailable to all then? Pain killers are addictive, should there use be illegal by all?

The idea of preventing people from needed treatment just because it could be abused by some is not a great argument IMHO. Go after the people that abuse the system; don't take it out on the people that really need the help. And exactly WHO needs help should be determined by the patient and their doctor, not the mostly uninformed general public.

LTC Dave Grossman hardly qualifies as being the "uninformed general public", and his take on the matter is this:

 Quote: LTC Dave Grossman

Yes, some of our veterans will suffer from PTSD and we have an obligation to give them the best possible support. But we also need a balanced, tough love, that creates an expectation that they will get over it, get on with it, and be better for the experience.