The interesting thing is that he said "If it is caught early." Isn't this an oxymoron? Isn't the moniker "Post-Traumatic" indicitive of it being somehting that happens later? How do you propose that someone "catches" it early? It might be a no-brainer that veterans who return from the battlefield be screened, but some of the symptoms won't surface until years later, and the ones that they "catch" "early" are probably those that needed help dealing with their experience but not necessarily those that would develop the ongoing symptoms of PTSD. What does a statement like this do for those that develop symptoms later?

Just a thought - he said that 70% were "cured." Isn't the ratio of veterans returning that develop PTSD somewhere in the 30% range? Interesting......

caught early = therapy immediately after the traumatic event

I hate it that there is no "cure" for PTSD...

but it's true. there's not.

just continued treatment.

daisy, thanks for always posting informative stuff.

Bottomline; Government still doesn't pay out the benefits it's going to need to help us vets.

I'm a bit in shock over what he said, that people who went to a three week residential treatment center were cured. I've been suffering with PTSD for most of my life and I've had good doctors and some really good therapists. I don't look at myself as cured but I do believe I've done an awful lot of healing through the years. I do have occassional nightmares and I have flashbacks just about everyday, but they are manageable and I know how to soothe myself now. Cured in 3 weeks, I find that very hard to believe.

Good points there RevPatty!

Yeah, he was talking about the Cincinnati VA that is using Processing Therapy.

Still, those people may come back with PTSD symptoms later too.

Though, I truly think that Processing therapy could be a VERY useful component in PTSD therapy...instead of straight Behavioral Therapy.

Thanks .. I have been asking for help for hubby since he returned from viet-nam.. Others do not believe this on the war in Iraq site .. It is very hard to live with and can be transfered to family members.. i wish everyone luck.. I hope the vets coming on will get care sooner then later.. Love D

Yes, Darksign, catching early means right after the traumatic event, but even with that, other symptoms may surface later. I am an example of that. I had pretty intense therapy after I left my abusive husband. I developed the PTSD symptoms about 3 years later, and have been dealing with those for the past 4.

My concern is that a glib statement like this, utilizing veterans fresh back with the war who after a few weeks intense therapy leave with no symptoms, will deny those that develop the debilitating symptoms later. If they were cured, why did this happen. The research that I have done shows that many times the trauma causes irreparable damage - meaning that it cannot be cured, only managed.

If those veterans who successfully completed the therapy and returned to society "whole" and continue to stay whole for the next 10 years or so, then maybe we can begin to talk about them being "cured." It is simply too soon to tell if they are cured yet.

HA! I had 'early' therapy too...right after I confronted about the abuse at 16 y/o....didn't do me any good, I wasn't ready to talk about it. Gee, I showed little to no symptoms of PTSD either after my brief therapy run.

So, here I am at 32, with PTSD....my high achiever, highly competent professional self...bludgeoned with PTSD and Mild Cognitive Impairments....

I absolutely HATE Stupidity...one of my biggest pet peeves.

This totally torks me, and I am not even in the Military...I can't imagine how it torks them. Argh!

That might be why the Army "plan" only offers 6 visits a year then you are on your own.

Yeah, PTSD is not cured in 3 weeks, no matter what anyone wants to believe about it.

I hope it's curable. I think it's curable, but I think it is only curable with some truly intensive, remove one's self from society to retrain brain functioning, in-patient treatment.

Maybe that's just my hopeful side, but I hope it's right. ;)

No matter what, what they are doing now and the standard of throwing anxiety/depression meds and treatments is just making things worse and, as SO many of you (us) said, if one can go for 10 years, THEN we'll talk and HOW THE HE!! is someone supposed to catch it AT THE BEGINNING????

I had NO idea what this was... maybe, if at the beginning. Aw, there is that perpetual hope again. :)

Let's see I started in treatment when I was 25. My abuse started when I was an infant. I suffered terrifying torture at the hands of both of my parents until I could get away from home at 18. I was diagnosed with PTSD some 20 years ago. I'm better than I was. But what will the term "recovered" ever mean for someone like me who was born fighting to survive and was raised in a house of horrors.

I still struggle every day to just make it.

We're in the dark ages where treatment of PTSD, and other mental illnesses are concerned. I lost faith in therapists and pdocs a long time ago. I have put up with more ignorance and incompetent treatment than I could begin to describe.

The VA is so politically motivated. Sure cure the soldiers in 3 weeks. That way you don't have to pay them disability.

BINGO..DESERTDAN.. ONLY A FEW VETS ARE GETTING THE BENEFITS PROMISED AND YOU HAVE TO BE DYING ALMOST TO GET THE FULL PACKAGE.. MY HUBBY DOES NOW BECAUSE ALONG WITH THE PTSD..HE HAS AGENT ORANGE CAUSING CANCER EVERYWHERE.. AND EVEN WITH FULL BENEFITS IT IS MONTHS BETWEEN APPTS..LOVE D

Yeah, DD, you're right.

They're tired of paying them when they can't work and want a way to either release them out of the system or shove them back into work. It's VERY sad.