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Soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder still need help, support
CLINTON -- Soldiers coming home from war today are different from their predecessors, but they still need help and support when it comes to post-traumatic stress disorder, experts on the condition said. “They are younger and have different needs and expectations, It’s a different generation,” said Katherine Edwards, an outreach director for Illiana Health Care System in Danville. “They are smarter and computer-savvy,” she said. “So, they do research on their medical conditions, and often times can help the doctors with the diagnosis much quicker than previous patients.” Edwards was among those who spoke to about 50 people last week at a seminar on raising awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder. Vince Long, commander of the Illinois State Veterans of Foreign Wars and a Lincoln native, compared today’s veterans to the generation that fought in World War II, widely known as “the greatest generation.” “They have earned that distinction because they saved the world,” he said of the older veterans. “But I also believe the people who are serving in the military now are the most patriotic people I have ever seen in my life. Let’s not wait 50 years though, to tell them that.” People who have undergone a severe psychological trauma often suffer from depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, flashbacks, fatigue or other symptoms. While often associated with combat, people who have been victims of crime or lived through a natural disaster also can suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. Symptoms of the disorder do not often show up until three to five months after someone returns from a war zone, said Debbie Douglas, president of DeWitt County Homefront, a military support group that sponsored the seminar. “As a community, we can make a different in the lives of our returning military,” Douglas said. “But we need to know the signs and symptoms and where to go to get help.” Timothy Kohlbecker, the coordinator of the post-traumatic stress disorder program at Illiana Veterans Affairs Medical Center, defined the disorder as a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. “There are things you do in a war zone to help you survive and sometimes those things stay with you even when you get back home,” Kohlbecker said. “The key is to get treatment and sometimes, it takes family or friends to recognize the symptoms and convince them to get treatment.” Help is available in DeWitt County, said Cory Baxter, the clinical director at the DeWitt County Human Resource Center. “We have outpatient counseling for all different forms of substance abuse and mental health issues,” Baxter said. “The key is early detection and finding help and this is an issue that we are seeing more and more of at this point.” E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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